July 22, 2019
Day 2A - Crushing It
Chachoengsao to Aran
With plenty of energy I had now and time needed to be made up, I wanted to bike all the way to the Cambodian border in one day. Started off a bit later than expected because the Thai Muslim friends who treated me to dinner last night and showed me around town wanted to continue the hospitality over breakfast and see me off. I had heard of the legendary Muslim hospitality before but was even more astonished to experience it firsthand.
Today was looking at over 12 hours of cycling and certainly the most epic day of the tour. The conditions were absolutely perfect for a long ride and it never got hot, as well the tailwinds propelled me along. It seemed more delays would happen at a coffee shop along the way as I met some random people who took an interest in my cycling trip.
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I started out on Route #304 and that soon linked up with #331 near the chalet which is the where I had stopped off earlier with James. Here marked the point where things had started going haywire last time, but this time around it felt completely different. The weather had also returned to normal now.
The plan was to make the exact same stops as last time for the sake of a comparison. The first restaurant I got a cheerful smile from the servers and also a wai greeting so this was unprecedented. Last time was all scowls and no service. Whatever had happened? As for the flies, they were holding off. Last time I saw the attraction of those flies as a symbol of evil or maybe it was because I was reading too many Lord of the Flies books.
Next stop, the Lemin Resort to see if maybe I had left behind my passport there and they had found it. They were super friendly and remembered me from 10 days ago but there was of course no passport. It really must have been nicked then. They did give me a pair of black pants which I had no idea were even left behind.
Another stop of course had to be the gas station of doom, and by this time it was dark. The security guy at the gas station showed up instantly and was wondering what I was doing there taking pictures at night.
He could have been more useful if he was doing his job last time during the day and deterring the theft from occuring. As of now I felt better getting into the habit of putting all valuables in a money case directly on my person at all times. It was the only way to prevent crime by being streetsmart.
After arriving in Aran I was absolutely famished and found the food market along with the Market Hotel. It was an awesome day of touring that couldn't have gone any better from start to finish.
Today's ride: 173 km (107 miles)
Total: 1,175 km (730 miles)
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