November 27, 2006
To Ranong: long day, hot springs bath
Up at 4:30 and cycling by 5:00 am. It's still dark and there are no street lights here to give us any light. The first 20km we ride using our headlamps. At first there are many stars visible, but as the sky lightens they disappear and we start to see the road we are riding on.
The dogs have also risen early, a few give chase this early morning, a wave of the pump by Patrick and shouting makes them change their minds. Kapoe is our halfway point. We take a break and eat a watermelon. We have also still the last of a nice brown bread and a piece of edam cheese that Rachel found in Khoa Lak.
The last thirty kilometers are hard, it has gotten very hot and there are only a few clouds to give some shade. With only twelve km to go, Patrick has to stop for a coke, Rachel takes a cold chocolate milk at a 7-ll in a gas station. That helps us down the last stretch.
115.6 km is a new record this trip and it was not an easy-tailwind kind of day. It was hilly and hot; we had to work for it! But it felt good to be able to do this kind of mileage and we are feeling like we are bike touring again, getting down the road under our own power.
The Spa Inn looks pretty bad on the outside, the white concrete building is full of black moss stains and badly needs a paint job. But the lobby is nice and the people helpful. The room has AC, a TV (no English station, except for a tourist channel that keeps repeating the same cajun restaurant commercial) and best of all...
...wait for it...a bathtub that be filled with hot water from the local hot springs!
We clean-up a bit and then soak in the hot water. After we rest for a while we walk to downtown, quite a ways from the hotel, where we eat and buy supplies for tomorrow.
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Today's ride: 116 km (72 miles)
Total: 2,093 km (1,300 miles)
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