Heading to Sukhothai: Following the Chao Phraya River

August 7, 2015

To Ayutthaya

05/08/2015

I caught the train out of Bangkok. As I said previously, I don't like riding in big cities. My second class seat to Ayutthaya cost me 60 baht, the bike cost 90. Apparently, it's a flat fee for the bike, whether you are going one stop (Ayutthaya) or all the way to the end of the line (Chaing Mai).

I elect to stay an extra day in town to view the temples. I like the older ones, even the ruins, to the newer (1700's) temples and concentrate on these. There is a 50 baht "white fella" fee for every temple and there are dozens of them, so it get old very quickly. I watch as S Americans and Indians enter freely and the white westerners are turned around and told to purchase the entry ticket. My wife recommends a "one temple / one museum" per day policy in order to avoid burnout. That makes such good sense, I determine to adopt it immediately.

Gold plating, bit by bit: more gold leaf application by devotees.

Temple ruins Ayutthaya: Stupa Tree - somewhere underneath that fig tree is a stupa.

Headless Buddhas: this is what the real Indiana Jones did for a living.

Old school temple, new heads. I prefer them left as is.

Riding around town, I clock up 2,000 km for the ride. Seriously, I don't even know where that 2nd thousand came from; although if they could talk my backsides might offer a dissenting opinion.

As I'm leaving the hotel the next morning I have a conversation with a tuk-tuk driver waiting for his fare. Once we start talking and he realises I'm alone on my bike, and intend to stay on it for the duration of my visit, he shakes my hand, pats me on the back and tells me I'm an excellent fellow and wishes me luck on my journey. How can you not like these people?

To Singburi
06/08/2015

The 70 km to Singburi go off without hitch and are fairly uneventful, following a secondary road that parallels the hiway and river. I cover the ground quite quickly (maybe ditching the extra gear and front panniers does make a difference?) and take a 2 hour snooze in the shade of a bus / rest stop before cycling the remaining 10 km into Singburi. Hooray, for once I don't ride through the heat of the day.

I'm starting to take great delight in crashing the local road side stalls and eateries. I'll pass one and sometimes circle back and ride up. Half of the fun is trying to figure out what they serve and ordering it. 70% of the time I have little if any idea of what they're making. No matter, it's always a culinary and cultural adventure, and a lot of fun.

I took a room at the Baanbudsarin Apartments. There is no "hotel" sign out front and it does look like apartments, not a hotel. But trust in google maps, it is where they mark it on the map. The manager speaks great English and lets me take the bike into the room. At 350 Baht for a good room with A/C and hot water, it's excellent value.

70+ km, with tail winds - a good day.

To Chai Nat
07/08/2015

Leaving Singburi, you head for the river down a back road and spend most of the day on the concrete river levee road that is not marked on any maps (thanks Parn from Granny Bikes). I've discovered Ride with GPS and learned how to import their .gpx files into my offline mapping software, Locus Pro. Sweet.

Breakfast was taken at a roadside eatery right on the levee overlooking the river. Figuring out what was on offer and discussing my bike ride broke the ice and I think we all had a pleasant time. The view certainly was fantastic. Heading down the path, enjoying the river views and scenes of village life, I rode right up and smack into a real life crime scene. It was like something out of an American TV series, but only real. There were so many cops, cop cars and ambulances blocking the narrow levee track that I couldn't possibly have made forward progress, even if I had wanted - and they weren't about to let me ... So I detoured back onto the main road for about 20 km before plunging back onto the levee road. Lunch was a repeat of breakfast, crashing a local village eatery. When I left, the owner came out to inspect the bike and again I was heaped with encouragements and well wishes.

Stupidly, I kept riding in the mid day sun again, even though I didn't have far to go. So, heat blasted and muddle headed, I took the first reasonably priced place I could find as I entered the outskirts of town from the river road. It's a bit upmarket for me, but the room is excellent and being out of town, it's dead quiet here. Dinner was taken at a roadside stall that had a couple of low tables and tatami mats set along the river front. And it was a surprise again: chicken legs, feet and livers soup. It was fantastic. The lady owner was so pleased to have a foreigner eating there that she took some photos. If I recall correctly, the beer cost more than the meal...

Buddha's Gaffer: one of the four spotlight holders for a massive riverside Buddha statue.

55 km and an excellent riverside ride down back lanes

Chai Nat to Nakhon Sawan
08/08/2015

Not much going on today, so I’m just recording the fact that I covered the ground, getting from Point A to Point B, a total of 75 km. I’d like to think that I’m learning from my mistakes as I managed to take a couple of breaks during the day and still covered the 75 km in about 4.5 hours and didn’t burn myself out in the process. That 10 days off in Bangkok set back my fitness quite a bit and I’m only now recovering it.

I’m staying at the PA Hotel in downtown Nakhon Sawan. It’s cheap, it’s clean, it’s convenient, but really, it’s just a place to crash for the night. Tomorrow I head for Kampheng Phet, which is about 125 km from here, so I’ll probably be looking for a 24 hr love motel at around the half way point. There’s sure to be at least one…

My back wheel is making an annoying clickity clickity sound at every wheel revolution. It’s been doing it for about 500 km now and is driving me a bit crazy. I've checked the usual suspects (tire tread, brake alignment, spokes and can see/feel nothing out of place. If I spin the wheel or roll the bike without weight on it, not a sound. But as soon as I put my body weight on it, clickity clickity. Driving me nuts, it is. I’m thinking it might be the hub, but don’t have the tools to take it apart. It will have to wait until I get to a decent bike shop in Chiang Mai. I think it may have been all that rain down the west coast. In hindsight, I should have had it checked at Granny Bikes in Bangkok!

75 km and a fairly boring run, which luckily doesn't happen all that often in Thailand.

To Kamphaeng Phet along the Ping River
08/08/2015

I did this stretch in two days.

Heading out from Nakhon Sawan was fairly straightforward and as it was early Sunday morning, the traffic wasn't too bad. There are many Love Motels heading north, some just as you leave town and then at fairly regular intervals every 20 km or so. The problem is recognising them when you go past. Some have the tell tale "24 hr" or "wi-fi" text amongst the Thai script, and some don't. Some are boldly signposted and others you ride right past and have to do a double take to make sure.

The first 20 km or so was a bit busy, but it then settled down to a fairly peaceful ride. It's suppose to be the rainy season, but global warming is having it's impact here too. It was hot and it was dry, but still very humid of course - after all it is the tropics.

My cycle computer decided to add another 10 km to my total for the day - the heat is getting to the both of us, I guess. But it was an honest 76 km for the day. I'm in a small roadside hamlet tonight, about 50 km from Kamphaeng Phet. 350 baht for a cheap and cheerful room in another Love Motel.

Next day was only 50 km into Kamphaeng Phet, and shouldn't have been a problem, but my body sometimes just doesn't listen to logic. I arrive in town pretty well f@#ked up. Don't know what's wrong, but my body is not happy and I definitely need a rest day. So I'm holed up at the Phet Hotel, 500 baht for a good room, including the breakfast buffet. Lots of sleep in on the agenda. Might get out and check out the old city/temples if I'm feeling better in the afternoon.

Highlight of the day was breakfast bamboo tube cooked sticky rice with red beans. I only ordered one tube and could have easily eaten three - absolutely delicious. The old lady at the stall takes them straight off the wood fired charcoal rack and whacks them open with a hatchet - 20 baht a tube. I ate mine at a nearby riverside Chinese temple and fed the zillion fish waiting below for scraps - but they didn't get much from me.

If any of the locals read this, you could make a lot of money doing fly fishing trips down the Ping River.

For the two days, I stayed mostly on the eastern side of the Ping River, on Hiway 1084. In hindsight, I should have probably stayed on the west side of the river, Hiway 1182 and the smaller riverside byways, smaller less travelled roads. The east bank road seems to get almost all of the traffic and was not much fun riding in the heat of the day, especially the last 70 km or so - it was just hot, dusty, busy and boring.

Bike art. I've noticed quite a few roadside businesses with a old school bike or two artfully arranged on the premises.

What Water Buffalo? Come to think of it, I haven't seen any for quite a while.

24 hr Love Motel sign: the only roadside sign for this one, half way up a tree and barely visible. Most are better signposted than this one.

Actual Motel: down a side alley and very easy to miss if you're speeding down the road at 110 kmph.

Fantastic Karst range of hills in the background. Too bad about the GMO placards advertising the rice crop. I noticed many of these as I rode along.

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