July 17, 2019
Ayutthaya Attempt
With not much else to do, we figured why not do mini-tour, and this time without the luggage. The backpack had been quite the hindrance on the last attempt to say the least, and so the idea was to bike up to Ayutthaya and take the train back.
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We cycled out of the city and at first I was worried that the traffic would be nuts but it wasn't too bad. With the help of GPS routes, there was only one busy section paralleling the MRT line up by Huay Kwong and then towards the airport. Qe followed the road underneath the new BTS extension basically all the way past Rangsit. The weather was behaving nicely at the beginning with blissful cloud cover keeping things cool. We were having a great time and enjoyed a surprise lunch market stop with great local foods and cheap prices.
There was a section where we got lost a bit and needed to cycle beside the old railway and this new BTS line. It wan't sure how long the BTS would go for, and ended a little bit after Rangsit. Is this the line they want to go up to Chiang Mai and connect with the railway in Laos? Maybe. There is also another BTS line under construction that might go to Pattaya. But in Thailand nobody really knows what's happening.
For now it didn't really matter because the hot sun was making an ugly appearance again.
We managed to find a road that parallels a canal that goes all the way to Ayutthaya and we were on track to make it. But once again, the hot sun was a killer. The stops were averaging every 3-5km and becoming longer and longer. At one such stop we met a local who told us that the new King Vajiralonghorn is an avid cyclist and encourages more people to ride bikes in Thailand. One of the designated routes is the one we happened to be on. This was really good information actually, but then again, with the hot sun we just wanted to survive.
Through some internet searching, it became apparent that the last train from Ayutthaya back to Bangkok would be leaving in about 3 hours and we could make it in theory. But we would have to push for that. On a day like today, ut wasn't going to happen. Instead the decision was made, let's go to the nearest train station and cut this run short.
As we did that, I poked my head in the door and found the place totally deserted. The station master appeared and seemed surprised that I wanted to buy two tickets to Bangkok from this station. I was even more surprised when it only cost 20 baht each for the tickets. But then it quickly became obvious why the station master was surprised: the trains wouldn't leave until another 5 hours. Ah, ok then.
Apparently what happens is that the more frequently run express trains don't stop here. Only the local trains stop and they hardly run at all.
We basically said fuck it, let's take a taxi. Before that it was a random stop at a restaurant selling steaks and fries. We proceeded to eat them out of business then order a Grab back to the city center. The bikes made their way into the back of the car.
Oh well it was an attempt at least and we got some good distance in.
Today's ride: 115 km (71 miles)
Total: 942 km (585 miles)
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