December 15, 2016
To Nakhon Phanom
An early departure, the navel of the Mekong, a spur of the moment bus ride, and a tough time finding a hotel
I left the resort at 6:30, and rode through Ban Hokham hoping to find some breakfast. I passed the monks going into town, and provided some entertainment for people who were waiting for the monks to give alms and get blessings. I found one small shop that was just opening up. It seemed to be mostly liquor, and a guy there offered me whiskey, but I found some fermented milk drink and a few crackers, which I loaded on my bike to avoid the spectacle of my eating them then and there.
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Then I rode the few short kilometers to Ban A Hong, and the navel of the Mekong. Hey, I didn't name it. Its the spot in the river where it's supposed to be deepest. There are some rocks, and during the rainy season when the river is high, it supposedly forms little whirlpools. The site was interesting, with huge rocks near the temple. It is set up for tour buses, but since I was early I was the only person there. I ate my crackers and drank my fermented milk there, and hoped to find more food soon.
It was really windy. Phenomenally windy. And I was in and out of patches of road construction. I passed a truck spraying water to keep the dust down in one section, and then rode about a kilometer of road with freshly sprayed tar before passing (in the opposite direction) the truck making another pass spraying tar.
And I wasn't seeing any food stalls or other eating options. The towns were off of the main road, but the smaller roads were not continuous and just connected back to the highway, so there really was not a good alternative route.
As I approached Bueng Kan, businesses started to show up. I stopped at a location with a restaurant and a coffee shop and some food stalls. They were just setting up the food stalls, so I went into the restaurant. The owner seemed anxious to show me where the toilet was, but when I indicated that I wanted to eat, he pointed to the coffee shop. So I went into the coffee shop and had a drink, but couldn't get any food.
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I set my mind on the Tesco Lotus that was still a few km away. The traffic became heavy, but I was still on the highways, not going through town. The Tesco Lotus was on the right side of the road. That is to say, the wrong side since Thailand drives on the left. So I crossed over, parked my bike and went in and bought both an immediate snack and some supplies to keep me going when food was difficult to find.
Just past the Tesco is a big hotel, and past the hotel is the bus depot. Since I was already on that side of the big divided highway, it was hard to miss. And when I bus depot presents itself, how can I not go in and ask about buses? And when there is an information desk with a woman who speaks very good English and really wants to help, how can I not take advantage? By now it was nearly 10, and there was a bus to Nakhon Phanom at 1:30. It was a bit of a wait, but would save me a couple of days of riding on a road that I didn't especially like. The bus depot was fairly new and clean and had restrooms and air conditioning. So I waited. The bus ticket was 130 baht for me plus 100 for the bike.
The bus actually left at closer to 2:00, and made a lot of stops. We got to Nakhom Phanom at about 5:30, right around dusk. I headed for the river area on the south side of town, where I had read that the tourist hotels are. I stopped at 3 hotels, each of which told me they were full. There is some big event going on. I didn't understand when someone tried to explain it to me. At the third hotel, I got onto their Wi-Fi and onto Agoda, and found a couple of hotels showing rooms available, but at the other end of town. I booked a room, and then pedaled the 9 km north to the hotel. I'm at the Pak Ping Inn. When I arrived, they also said they were full, but when I showed them my reservation, they somehow found a room. It's a big room and is really quite nice, except that it has the hardest bed of this trip (even harder than at the meditation retreat) and (writing this the next morning) the other guests got really noisy at about 5 am. Also, there isn't a real window to the outside. There are some glass blocks up high. But the room is big, and it doesn't feel claustrophobic.
Nakhom Phanom is a good size, and may have been an interesting place to spend a day, but with a room that's out of town and not sure about another night, I'll be moving on.
Today's ride: 46 km (29 miles)
Total: 1,578 km (980 miles)
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