December 13, 2016
To Phon Phisai: Following the Mekong
The first part of today's ride was an absolute delight. I left Nong Khai by following Mee Chai Road north out of town. At the edge of town, a separated bike lane started! It was smooth, had lanes for 2 way traffic, and was separated From the cars by a shoulder on the main road. It lasted only 4 km, but hey it lasted 4 km!
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The road was number 2017, and it was a nice quiet rural road.
After about 20 km it merged into the highway, road 212,which was a divided highway and much, much busier. As I approached Phon Phisai, my target for today, I was surprised by the size of the town. I stopped at a gas station to use the rest room, and took advantage of the Amazon Cafe and it's air conditioning and had a cold drink and logged into their Wi-Fi to double check my accommodation options. The hotel that has been popular on CGOAB in Phon Phisai is the Boontowee, which doesn't have any online presence, and I wanted a backup in case I couldn't find it or if it was full. I went into town and found it with only a little back tracking. I got a room for 500 baht. At first I wasn't too happy with it. I took a cold shower because the water heater didn't seem to work, and there was no Wi-Fi in my room. But I asked the owner about these issues, and he showed me how to reset the water heater so it works, and he got a ladder and reset the router for the Wi-Fi, which was mounted high up in the hallway outside my room. So now all is good. My bike is outside with the motorbikes, and there are ants on the desk in my room, but all in all it is okay. I have AC and a fridge, and the room is one of the bigger ones I've had this trip.
I walked down to the promenade on the river front. There is a temple near the center of it, and lots of decorations. There had been a market of sorts going on, and when I arrived it was being disassembled. I'm not sure if it is a daily occurrence or something special.
I went looking for the Khao Soi that Andrea Brown had said was the best ever. I asked some German guys sitting in a restaurant who said they lived in town. They asked some Thai women (their girl friends?) who said it would be near the temple. Near the temple, I asked in a noodle shop, who told me it would be near Soi 18. So I found it. And it really was the best Khao Soi ever.
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2 years ago
I'm not sure why it is in Phon Phisai, since it is a dish typical of northern Thailand, but I was very happy to find it.
Then I went back to the hotel, took another shower, hot this time, washed out the shirt I was wearing which had noodle splash on it. I went out again to catch the sunset.
There was a night market just outside of my hotel. It had some interesting food for sale.
Then I walked back toward the promenade to enjoy the sunset.
Today's ride: 38 km (24 miles)
Total: 1,454 km (903 miles)
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