After 8 months of no-excuse laziness, I got out my 21-speed mountain bike for some early morning exercise with a ride around a small lake near the house – Bueng Nong Khot.

I headed out the door at 0555 after pumping some air into my tires and dusting off my seat ready for a spin around Bueng Nong Khot.  Need to get out the water hose and give my bike a cleaning later.

21-Speed Mountain Bike

The weather was absolutely beautiful with no wind, and fairly cool.  The sun was just about to rise and I wanted to get some shots of sunrise over Bueng Nong Khot.

It was nice to see that the dirt road that goes part way around Bueng Nong Khot was packed hard and there were no indications of the heavy rains we had for about 3 months.  The Bueng was flat and there were only a couple people out jogging or riding their bicycle.

There were some new things to see are Bueng Nong Khot – after all – I hadn’t been out this way for about 8 months.  New sidewalk and a new 24-hour fitness center at about the 1/2 point in my bike ride.

You can see behind the fitness equipment there are a bunch of construction vehicles.  I have no idea what they are building but am guessing that the sidewalk will continue around the back side of the lake.

I didn’t see any of the “regulars” that I used to encounter before my extreme bout of laziness took over, but I did see some familiar activities – recycling and fishing.

I always see plenty of billboards advertising stores, concerts, houses, whatever.  In many cases, it is how I find out what is going on in Khon Kaen.  If I can’t read the Thai language, I just take a picture and ask my wife when I get home.

The area where the blank billboard is located is normally full of advertisements but I guess that the new sidewalk and fitness area construction has put a halt to it.  And, the house prices here in Khon Kaen continue to rise.  That is the starting price in one community – 6.57 million baht.

Also, good to see are the morning vendors near our house.  The amount of vendors is about 50% that of 8 months ago with some shophouses being built.

Once I get back to where the vendors are, I am just about home.  I pass the last of the shophouses on the left and make a right turn on the dirt soi to the house.  Thanks to the local Tesabaan we have a bit more dirt and mostly smoothed out.  I guess the city got some flood money and have a few extra baht for dirt.

All in all, a very pleasant 35-minute ride around Bueng Nong Khot.

Bike Ride Around Bueng Nong Khot 22 November 2011 is a post from: Khon Kaen

Incoming search terms:

• dirt bike tyres khon kaen
• khon kaen lakes
• khot22
• retire in khon kaen

Almost every time that I ride my bicycle around the small Khon Kaen Lake near my house,  Beung Nong Khot, I see fishermen.  I see them with their fishing rods and reels, in small boats or rafts, sometimes floating on Styrofoam, or walking with a net and an inner tube wrapped around them.

Today I saw something different in this small lake in Khon Kaen.  I saw ladies standing waist deep with bamboo poles and a large net attached.

Khon Kaen Lady Fishing

I wasn’t surprised to see ladies fishing as I was to see the fishing device.  This is the first time I have seen this here in Khon Kaen.  I have seen it elsewhere, but never here.

There were 5 or 6 of these ladies angling away and then I saw the boss.  There was a pick-up truck with a male driver and he had about 6 big coolers sitting outside of his truck waiting for the catch.

Lady Fishing Beung Nong Khot

There was no chit-chatting here – just fishing.  This was business and these ladies were out to catch some fish.

Lady Fishing Lake Nong Khot

This style of fishing takes strength and patience.  Once you put out your net, you have to wait, and wait, and wait until the opportune time when you think. or can see, fish above the net.  Then, you have to quickly lift up your net and get your catch to shore.

Lady Fishing and Waiting

The waiting is always the hardest.

Now, what do I call these Khon Kaen anglers?  Lady fishermen?  Fisherwomen?  Lady Anglers?

Whatever, they are hard working ladies, as this was at 0630 and they had already been there awhile.  Cheers to the Lady Anglers with their bamboo poles and nets in Khon Kaen on Beung Nong Khot.

Khon Kaen Lake Fishing is a post from: Khon Kaen

Incoming search terms:

• fishing in khon kaen
• fishing in Khon Kaen Thailand
• fishing khon kaen
• fishing in khonkaen thailand
• fishing khonkaen
• fishing lakes in kohn kaen
• khon kaen fishing lake
• lift net fishing

Spent yesterday at my buddy Tom’s house (Isaan-Live) in preparation for watching the Khon Kaen International marathon and also got in some walking exercise.

Much nicer than running 42 kilometers.Went to Wat Nong Wang in the morning and spent about an hour there along with a bunch of school kids.  A beautiful temple and a nice way to start the day.

After this Khon Kaen temple visit, it was time for some lunch – BBQ chicken, sticky rice and a few cold beers.  Then, a short nap, and out to the lake – Beung Kaen Nakhon for a four-kilometer walk.

Beung Kaen Nakhon is right across the street from Tom’s place, so very easy to get to and get started.  There were a few folks walking around and riding bicycles, but not too many.

Wat Nong Wang Across Beung Kaen Nakhon

As usual, there were the street vendors selling their food and some with ceramics for you to paint.  This was something I had not seen before in Khon Kaen, but there were about 5 or 6 vendors with these.

Beung Kaen Nakhon Ceramics

And, there has to be somtam – spicy papaya salad made with these peppers.

Beung Kaen Nakhon Chili Peppers

There were families scattered about having a family picnic.

Beung Kaen Nakhon Picnic

You can even rent a bicycle built for three to ride around the Khon Kaen Lake.

Beung Kaen Nakhon Bicycle

Or, if you are a young Buddhist monk, you can play hooky from the local temple.

Beung Kaen Nakhon Young Buddhist Monks

Or, grab a book and read with your daughter while lazing in a hammock.

Beung Kaen Nakhon Book Reading

Yes, Khon Kaen’s little lake, Beung Kaen Nakhon, is a nice place to spend a Saturday afternoon with lots of lazy activities to participate in.

Beung Kaen Nakhon Khon Kaen Thailand is a post from: Khon Kaen

Incoming search terms:

• beung kaen nakhon
• bicycle rent khon kaen
• hire a bicycle in khon kaen

The muddy road has dried up leaving deep ruts where vehicles tried to navigate the road when it was wet. But, it was dry enough to allow me to ride around the lake this morning, 28 September, 2010.

At 0600, it was absolutely beautiful.  The sun was just coming up, there was very little traffic on the road, and the lake was as peaaceful as ever.

Peaceful Lake Nong Khot

There were very few folks around the lake – a couple of early morning joggers, a couple of fisherman, and a couple guys sleeping by their motorcycle.  And – no dogs!

A very nice ride and I am glad I was able to go back to my old routine.

Have a look at the video and enjoy some Morlam music.

Lake Nong Khot Bicycle Ride is a post from: Khon Kaen

After being home from a 3-week holiday in Jomtien, I am getting back to the normal routine. Up at about 0500 and check email.  Then it is time for the morning bike ride for about 45 minutes.  And, then back to the house for the daily chores (Internet web sites updating).

In between all of that is feeding and playing around with the dogs, eating a couple times a day, catching a nap, and reading news items on the web.

Today’s bike ride was a slightly different route as the road around Lake Nong Khot is too muddy and wet to navigate.  So, I headed towards Central Plaza shopping mall and went to the outside of a temple I had see on previous rides.

Entrance to Temple in Khon Kaen

Temple Dragon

Making Merit

So, life goes on in Khon Kaen.  About the only difference I see is the housing construction that is going on all over the place.  No recession or lower prices on housing here.

Housing Project

If anything, prices for houses and for construction material keep going up, up, up.

Back in Rhythm is a post from: Khon Kaen

Incoming search terms:

• rhythm khonkaen facebook