November 30, 2022
Mae Tuen to Ban Hong
Paradise Place to Ban Lung Resort
The owner of Paradise Place had asked us when we would leave in the morning and we had told her that we have been setting out between 6 and 7AM, kind of early due to the heat. She said it was no problem and that she would have coffee for us at the beautiful and huge, live-edge, thick, wood table right outside our door. I looked forward to it.
We ate our breakfast in our room like we have been doing because it is pitch black outside at that time of day. Then we loaded our bikes next to the big wood table and were all ready to leave at exactly 7 but there was nobody around. There was no coffee nor was the owner around. We didn't care if we got coffee but we did want our key deposit. We knew about a bell to ring and we did ring it a couple of times. Finally a door at the other end of the hotel opened and an empty water bottle came bouncing out followed by a groggy man not quite as bouncy as that water bottle. He saw our need for coffee and quickly brought a large hot water container down to the big wood table. He went back for a rack of packets of coffee mix. We like the various Asian coffee mixes but this morning we just wanted to get going. We knew what the heat and humidity would be like and we knew what the highway was like.
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I asked him about the key deposit but he was more concerned about our having coffee. We grabbed a couple of coffee mix packets to take with us and again asked for our deposit. It was kind of frustrating. We had been under the impression that the woman who owned the place was so lonely that she wanted to have coffee with us in the morning. Even though it was early, we totally expected to see her. Before the man gave us our deposit back he had to go into our room and make sure we hadn't stolen anything! I don't know what it would have been that we would have wanted in that room. He took quite a while and it was frustrating but eventually he gave us our deposit back. The owner was apparently not an early riser so we left, past what I thought was a beautiful market and onto the highway we kind of dreaded being on but had to.
More than anything we wanted to take advantage of the coolest morning yet (72F) and the lowest humidity yet (72%) and get a jump on the worst road yet, well, it wasn't that bad, just busy and fast. We have been spoiled by all the tiny, quiet roads we've been on. There was so much fog that we had to put on our rear lights. The road (106) is full of fast moving cars and big trucks. It's the most vehicles moving at the highest speeds of any road we have been on so far. There were no alternative routes that parallel the highway to Lamphun, a fairly large town still 80 kilometers away. Plus, there were hills through forests, not steep hills but hills just the same. We haven't encountered many yet this trip. It turned out to be a good road for building muscles because of all the slight hills and incentive to do them as quickly as possible and do the entire road as quickly as possible. But we knew we weren't going to go the full distance to Lamphun. Roads with loads of huge vehicles whizzing past very near to our elbows give me a headache. I think it's the noise that affects me.
There were times when there were no vehicles and then it was beautifully quiet and we could hear the birds and remember what it has been like for the vast majority of our trip so far.
I had my sights set on a place to take a break I had seen on Google Maps called Honey Pot and Coffee, but apparently Honey Pot was not an early riser either. In fact most places all along the road were closed. I started to wonder if it was an area where no one wakes up early. It would be a new twist on the bric-a-brac section followed by the front yard garden section and the desert rose section; a section where everyone sleeps late! Or, it could be something else like businesses were so hard hit by Covid that they went out of business. Or, they haven't geared up for post Covid yet. Or, was it a holiday? We are usually in the dark about a lot of things.
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With Honey Pot out, I set my sights on my next Google Map dream. All it said on the map was, Khao Soi restaurant. We now brake for khao soi and like I said before, this bike tour could devolve into simply a khao soi quest tour, because we like it so much. It would then be a very boring journal for anyone other than Mark Wiens. There was no indication that the very simple roadside, down-home place we saw at about the right mile had khao soi except Andrea said she smelled something "really good". Even though we were quite early, 9:00AM, and khao soi is a lunch item, they said they indeed had khao soi ready to be eaten. They welcomed us in to sit on their well-worn teak stools that I wanted to strap on my bike and bring home. So many teak tables, chairs, stools and other furniture in Thailand and Myanmar that I want! The people just throw this stuff together sometimes in a very rugged way (big old nails through the top boards!) but it's teak and teak takes on a smoothness and patina that is incredibly beautiful after several thousand people have sat or eaten on it. Floors in old houses gleam from the 75 years of bare feet that have shuffled across them. There is nothing quite like teak and the people here take it for granted. It's just another wood they use. No big deal!
Back on the road and nowhere near as much fun as khao soi. I almost hit a live snake too. The snake was racing after a butterfly to eat! So, here's what happened..... I think the snake had made a stab at getting the butterfly but the butterfly got away and was low to the ground, basically on the ground but moving out onto the asphalt right in front of me. The snake was in hot pursuit of the butterfly and was coming out quickly from the grasses by the side of the road just as I arrived on the scene. I raised my legs and swerved a little cutting between the butterfly and the snake. The snake saw me and the danger I posed and did an immediate about-face back into the weeds. If the snake had kept coming I would have had it wrapped around my bike and I would have swerved even more possibly into a car that was coming on quickly and it would have been a disaster. As it was, I figure I saved both the life of the snake and butterfly and I lived too. I feel pretty good about saving those lives but sheesh!! Having a snake dart out from the side of the road is my biggest nightmare. It wasn't a very big (in circumference) snake but it was long and that's enough for me to freak out about. However, I didn't scream.
Not five minutes later Andrea asked me if I had seen that other snake. NO!!I hadn't. She said it was rather large by the side of the road, coiled around. She couldn't tell if it was dead or alive. I was still freaked out about the snake I nearly tangled with so I'm glad I didn't see her snake too. I probably would have gone to the nearest airport and flown home. Maybe I would have been seated next to the owner of Paradise Place and I would find out more facts to report on. But then I'd be home and would I still be reporting in this journal?
On Google Maps we had each found the same likely set of bungalows we wanted to end up at by noon. It looked new but was really in the middle of nothing. At least with nothing else around it was easy to find Ban Lung Resort. The woman who owned it was very nice and spoke some English too. Yes, the place seemed very new. There were twelve bungalows - two rows of six. They were absolutely beautiful, higher quality materials and fixtures and well designed. We were so happy with the bungalow we didn't care if there were no restaurants around. We had a few things with us to eat for dinner. It didn't matter, it was nice to be in air conditioning and be in, for us, luxury. It was very quiet and there was only one other person there. We lucked out once again.
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lovebruce
Today's ride: 28 miles (45 km)
Total: 449 miles (723 km)
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| Comment on this entry | Comment | 1 |
Bruce saves the day!!
Would I see a smile on your face at the end? Fear replaced by the delight of being a superhero for the butterfly and its family!
The butterflies probably have a big photo of you in their living room now.
1 year ago