I wouldn´t have thought that cycling in Thailand can be that odd. Particularly disappointing was the #4110 that looked like a nice alternative parallel to the #41. It reminded me very much about the hard time I had when cycling across Borneo a few years ago. No shoulder, very fast traffic, nothing but palmoil plantations. On top of that the strong northeasterly did not only generate a much appreciated tailwind but some very black clouds too. I was hoping I could make it dry to Lam Thap, my target destination for the day, but not to be. Initially just some drizzle increasing to a serious downpour further down the #4001. I was wet anyway so I decided to continue, believing my clothes and boots would be in a dry room very soon. Coming into Lam Thap I found a crossroad settlement as inviting as Lamae the other day. In the dry I would have immediately continued but I was very wet and actually feeling cold. There is one nice looking hotel (Till Thong) in town but the friendly receptionist told me: Hong tem! - All rooms full. Nothing worse than being drenched and having to go out there again. There are two resorts a couple of kilometers towards Nakhon Si Thammarat but I heard the same thing: Hong tem. Some sort of cinematic event in town today I learned.....Fortunately the tailwind had brought me into Lam Thap around 3 pm so I still had almost 3 hours until sunset and decided to continue down the #4038 to Khlong Thom, making it a very short day to Koh Lanta tomorrow.
At least the very friendly welcome by Aaron, the owner of the Vanilla Ville Resort, and his good rooms at 550 Baht made for a more pleasant end of the day.
Talking about black....Thai people love their big bulls. They tend to present them to the world being hog-tied in front of their house in the bright sunshine. Very cruel I believe. This one enjoyed grazing in the shade while I was glad being off the #4110
I was just back on asphalt when I saw this accident happen a few hundred meters ahead of me. Nobody else anywhere around and they still managed to crash because that 12 or 13 year old boy came flying out of a side road. A real problem in Thailand! They are worldwide no. 6 when it comes to fatal road accidents and more than 80 % of those killed are boys not wearing helmets..... When cycling the major problem with them is the incredible noise their pimped up 100 cc scooters produce. Very annoying!
As there was nothing else around than oil palms and rubber trees all day I had to go for those Isaan sausages at a little village market for lunch. They are actually quite nice and come at 1 Baht per ball
As the rain started to get heavier I stopped to store my camera away. This fellow decided to take advantage of me blocking the road and crossed. Many of them around in Southern Thailand, some at a size you better avoid having contact with
I thought the dogbite wounds were healing well but no band-aid sticks on the sweaty skin and all the dust of the last few days seems to have generated some pus. Itchy!
Dinner: Any of the noodlesoup stalls will sell this version too: ba mee haeng moo - dry egg noodles with pork. The pork will usually be the red, cured version, called moo daeng
Frank RoettgenTo Henna JanieschThank you for your concern, Helmut. Applied Betadine every night and finally it seems to be drying up Reply to this comment 5 years ago
