To Non Din Daeng: Slow and easy

December 25, 2016

Merry Christmas. Happy Hanukkah. It's no holiday in Thailand!

Today's ride was unremarkable. I set a goal of a relatively short ride, and took it easy. It did get hot, and there was a section of road construction, but nothing too new or interesting.

Road construction. Widening the road is a messy business. I wonder whether businesses are moved back to make space, or if they have to fend for themselves.

Outside of the construction zone, the road today provided a pleasant ride.

I went past a lot of farm land. Do I have too many pictures of rice fields?

Approaching Non Din Daeng, the road got really busy. I stopped at an Amazon Cafe and had a lychee frappe, cooled off, and went online to double check accommodation options. I could only find 2 places in Non Din Daeng that were mentioned online, but there were a couple of 24 hour places that I had passed in the last few kilometers. One of them looked quite nice, but the business next door was blasting music really, really loudly. I would have covered my ears with my hands, except I needed them on my handlebars. At the cafe, I didn't find any more information. I did see a Thai cyclist, and we exchanged a few words. I tried to ask her where I should sleep in this town, but I don't think she understood. She asked for a picture, and took a selfie with me, so I took her picture, too.

This cyclist at the PT station and Amazon Cafe approaching Non Din Daeng. Notice how covered up she is, including the face mask. Also the black ribbon for the late king.

Then I went on and found the Nonthong hotel. It has mixed reviews, but most say it is clean. The other option in this town is not supposed to be very clean. The Nonthong had a variety of room options. I chose the 400 baht room, with AC, hot shower, tv and fridge. I find myself choosing AC after a hot ride, even if I know it will cool down at night. But mostly I wanted the fridge. I've been thinking about buying a Thai omelet at night, putting it in the fridge, and then having it for breakfast. That could allow a decent breakfast without having to wait for a restaurant to open. The "special" room at 500 baht had the same amenities, but it didn't look clean and the one they showed me opened right to the restaurant. I'm not sure why it was supposed to be worth an extra 100 baht. The bed linens did not look clean and I would not have taken that room at any price.

They must think I'm crazy, or maybe they think all foreigners are crazy. The first 400 baht room I went into had no refrigerator, and the windows didn't close. They're those louvered glass type of window and the knob to turn to close them was missing, and I wasn't able to move it manually. So I went back to the front desk, asked about closing the windows and about the fridge included in the written description of what I was getting. They offered to switch rooms, which I did. The new room was on the second floor in the old part of the hotel. I took a shower, noticed that the AC hadn't cooled the room at all, and walked down to the 7-eleven. When I came back, the room felt warmer than the sitting area outside. So I went back to the front desk and said the AC doesn't work. I ended up switching back to the first room, with windows that don't close and no fridge. But at least it's cool and doesn't smell bad. I'll need to make a special effort to get my earplugs properly seated in my ears tonight, as the traffic noise is bad. And breakfast will be whatever breakfast ends up being, without the benefit of a fridge.

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Today's ride: 41 km (25 miles)
Total: 2,065 km (1,282 miles)

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