December 16, 2019
Winning the Lottery is One Thing, Hills Another
Nakhon Thai to Dan Sai
Nakhon Thai to Dan Sai
2435 feet elevation gain for the day. 1811 feet loss.
Maximum grade: 11.2%
It was only 26 miles from Nakhon Thai to Dan Sai - no problem… except there were hills. First we needed money which means we needed to change money at the bank. We would have liked to have gotten an early start but first thing in the morning in terms of banking hours meant it opened at 8:30. Unfortunately we arrived at 8:40 and the place was packed. It was sort of chaos and I started to think there was a run on the bank like in It’s a Wonderful Life. It was Monday morning but I couldn’t believe every Monday morning was so chaotic. Something was going on. You pull a number when you enter banks and my number was 24. They were helping number 5 when I took a seat! They were on number 5 for quite some time. There was exactly one person dealing with customers. Andrea was waiting with the bikes in the parking lot and I went to tell her the bad news. She had information; there was a very large pot in the lottery and everyone was withdrawing money to buy lottery tickets.
And they certainly didn’t have far to go to buy those tickets. The lottery sellers were lined up on either side of the line to use the ATM machine and over at the front doors to the bank!! Crazy. There should be a law about lottery sellers right on bank property. A kindly policeman had given up his plastic chair to Andrea so she was fine. They were up to number 7 when I returned to my seat inside.
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It took nearly an hour but finally we were on the road with cash in our bags. That was a costly hour because it was already getting hot and the road was already climbing. We had been dreading the day and maybe we should have just stayed in Nakhon Thai where there was a gourmet cook; buy a lottery ticket and lie around our nice bungalow waiting for the announcement that we had won the Thai National Lottery. But if we had done that then there would be the next day and the hills would still be in front of us.
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There were hills lots of hills. Hills afford great views! We pushed at times and found no Thai Baht. It was a slog up those hills due to the steep grades. There was also a stiff headwind which harshed our downhill coasting; a rude wind for sure. But it was a cooling wind as well and maybe I should be more thankful. It was also trying to push the smoke to the west.
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We knew of a really big hill that was the top but what we hadn’t counted on was a false top which was just about as hard to get up as the big one. When we were trying to go up the steep, winding, switchbacking two boys sidled up to me on a motorbike and all smiles were asking me questions in Thai. When you are huffing and puffing, sweating and pushing as hard as you can so you don’t have to get off your bike and two little rug rats are cool as cucumbers on a motorbike pestering you right at your side, I tend to get angry. The thing about it was that, well, there were lots of things about it.
First and foremost was that they were way way way too young to be operating a motorbike. Second, the road was the most dangerous road at that point of any we have been on in Thailand so far. I wanted them to go on their way but they wanted to talk to me as if I knew Thai fluently. They assumed I knew the Thai language which told me how unaware they were of a lot of other things including the road danger. They finally left saying that they would see me at the top and there we (I) could take photos.
I continued on but was still bugged by them. I was most angry at their parents for allowing them to take the motorbike. The driver couldn’t have been more than 11 and his little friend 7. The one on the back fell off at one point but fortunately they were going slowly at the time. The worst thing about it was that they were completely unaware of the danger they were in or the danger they were putting me in as well.
They returned to my side because they were completely unaware of how much effort and how long it takes to ride a bicycle up a hill like that and were a bit irritated that we hadn’t made it to the rest area on top yet, where THEY had been waiting. They were completely unaware of a whole lot of things and it irritated me. No, I don’t expect kids that young to be aware. That’s the point! They simply should not be on a motorbike.
They left to the rest area again and returned again. Each time I saw them I was madder at their parents. And then my anger crept over to the police who, if they were around, would probably not have thought a thing was wrong anyway. But at least there would have been a chance of them telling the kids to move along. But police are pretty much non-existent in Thailand and enforce no rules that I have ever seen. It’s a wonder that Thais conduct themselves as nicely as they do, actually.
When we finally got to the top, which was the false top, and pulled in to the rest area there were the two boys all ready to have fun and games. But neither Andrea or I were in the mood. The first thing I saw when approaching the edge of the overlook was trash, lots and lots of trash. It was as if people had been using the scenic overlook as a garbage dump. That put me in a worse mood and I didn’t want to have any interaction with the boys. If I had been able to speak Thai fluently I would have had harsh things to say to them. Instead they were left baffled why we didn’t want fun and games and eventually they left the two sourpuss farang on the false top. Some things don’t get communicated.
We have seen lots of trash alongside the roads in Thailand. People think Thailand is above such things but I’m here to tell you that Thailand is basically still a third world country. When a society can’t conduct themselves better than a simple thing like controlling littering and dumping of large quantities of trash at scenic sites I say they have not progressed very far. When they burn everything in sight all winter and the air gets so bad that the sun is blotted out, the society has failed. And there are a lot of other conditions in Thailand that are actually going downhill rather than getting better which I may or may not talk about later. I don’t mean to make this journal into a real downer but I don’t shrink from describing reality either.
Before we got to the real top a most wonderful thing came into sight; a cafe with an amazing view. It was called appropriately, The Oasis. We ordered the same sort of thing that had kept us awake all night three nights earlier; espresso with milk and ice. It was marvelous and we sat at our counter gazing at the view. Eventually we had to face the inevitable big hill. At first we followed a really nice ridge so the views continued for quite a few more miles.
Then we met the first cycle touring couple of our entire trip to date. They were Dutch, buff and traveling light. We talked to them for some time and it was so nice to meet people like them. They were inspiring because they had done way bigger hills than we had having gone from Chiang Mai through Laos and were on their way back to Chiang Mai - a rough route for us to contemplate. We have done a lot of that route in the past but the section from where we were to Chiang Mai I wouldn’t even want to negotiate. They were an energetic couple and we liked them a lot.
We eventually got to the top somehow and when we started our descent we really descended. It was steep and never let up all the way to Dan Sai, 2.6 miles away. It was so steep that we had to stop to let our rims cool. And all the while we were whizzing down all I could think of was how that Dutch couple hadn’t mentioned a thing about how difficult the ascent was for them. Wow! The first words out of my mouth if I had had to ascend something like that would not have been very kind words. But they hadn’t acted like it was nothing. They hadn’t even said a word about it!
We coasted right into town and right into the S.B Resort - 350 Baht - ($11.66) cheapest room in Thailand for us so far. While Andrea took a shower I went off to find the market. It was on the other end of town but with the ride I got to see how nice the town was. The market was beautiful. I went a little crazy and bought two large papayas, five oranges, 12 bananas and a mango. We had a nice meal at a restaurant right next to our resort.
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I could have acted like the hills were no big deal but I’m not like that and they were a big deal to us. We don’t foresee hills that big in our future so it was time to celebrate, take a day off and explore Dan Sai. We had noticed a pretty impressive temple as it flashed by coming down. Tomorrow we explore.
lovebruce
Today's ride: 26 miles (42 km)
Total: 552 miles (888 km)
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4 years ago
I'm sure the ice coffee helped shake off the ordeal with the motorbike kids, a little bit at least.
That experience would have unglued my nerves. The hill, sun, and headwind were quite enough!
Certainly the abundance of fresh fruit will help make tomorrow a better day!
4 years ago
4 years ago
4 years ago
4 years ago