One of those "Nothing to report" days. Which isn´t meant to be a negative statement! Google maps offered me three routing choices and I picked the one that provided me with a good morning and an uneventful afternoon on the bike. Flat like a pancake, even supported by a gentle tailwind for most of the day. Just what I needed after being pushed to my limits several times over the last few days. To be honest, the last fifty kilometers along the # 1318 and #101 were actually boring if not odd. But flat! Enough on the asphalt topic, today was entirely about not having to work too hard and "getting there". Like most of the upcoming days may be in these Central Plains of Thailand.
I chose the Ban Thai Guesthouse as it looked like a nice place on agoda and it certainly is one. Plus the young Thai owners are very friendly hosts. Plus the communal area is delightful with some jazz or classic music being played in the evenings. Happy to be here for 2 nights and the 550 Baht for their "Mini-Bungalows" with aircon are very well invested.
I am sure there are worse places to have your first morning coffee in Uttaradit than the 5th floor lounge in the Friday Hotel. Meagre 475 Baht I had to pay, a meagre breakfast included by the way
Green, green grass.... I can almost hear you yawn but believe me, it makes a difference whether you are looking at the photos hoping for a new sensation every day or whether you get the chance to cruise along this monotonuous but (to me!) still very exciting South East Asian cliche. I will never get tired of this view!
While the general rice harvest is still ongoing, the new paddies are already under "construction". You simply wouldn´t believe the speed this guy was running his machine through the water.....
My lunch today. Not my first choice when it comes to soups but "yen ta for" is very popular all over Thailand. The red colour of the broth is generated by fermented tofu by the way. Some sort of fruity, sour taste...
A danger made visible: dehydration and loss of minerals. I washed my shorts only yesterday and this photos was taken before noon The dry heat and the "headwind" you generate by rolling along dries out your sweat immediately and you don´t notice how much fluid loss you are exposed to. My precautions...
...are: Drink stops every 10 km, if possible at a 7eleven, where I reliably can purchase the "M" electrolyte drink (10 Baht) and the electrolyte powder (5 B) that goes into my drink bottle. Works! Never suffered any cramps yet.
I was already discussing the pleasure of cycling along the rice paddies all day and the possible boredom of you having to look at the corresponding photos above. The same counts for temples. Fellow cyclist and friend Andrea Brown once used the expression "templed out". Sure, you will have seen enough of them very soon when you are travelling Thailand! But.... there are still particularly pretty ones (like this really old wooden one) and I simply like having a break from the sun and the heat on the compounds and the atmosphere of ALL of them is still very inspiring to me. PS. A final, less spiritual comment on the temple compounds: As they are a prime location of local social life and events they will usually have some public toilets too!
Steve Miller/GrampiesA similarly useful tip to the one about drinking water generally being available in cemeteries in France. (The water spigot is there to provide people with water for the grave flowers) Reply to this comment 5 years ago
Frank RoettgenTo Steve Miller/GrampiesMy auntie does live in France but I wasnt even aware of this, Steve. And believe me I spent a lot of money on buying drinking water while cycling there... Reply to this comment 5 years ago
Andrea BrownI would miss the temples if they weren’t there. They are so often a fine place to stop and get some shade under a rustling bodhi tree. And use the toilet, of course. Reply to this comment 5 years ago
