To Pong Nam Ron: Back in Thailand

January 5, 2017

Dinner at the resort restaurant was mediocre. I ordered cashew chicken, and it was mostly pineapple with a flavor I didn't like. I was getting eaten by mosquitoes, too, so I asked for it to be put in a takeaway box, and put it in the fridge in my room.

The night was one of the most peaceful I've had on this trip, other than a pickup truck coming through at 1:30 am. I know it was a pickup because I got up and looked out the window. The resort has a sign with no driving between 10 pm and 5 am, but clearly it isn't enforced.

I got up early, ate my left over dinner, and was at the restaurant at 6:30 when they opened. I was given a breakfast menu, and ordered an omelette with hot coffee with milk. That caused a lot of discussion. They came back and said "no omelette, fried rice". So I ordered pork fried rice. The waitress put a teapot on the table, which I naively assumed was my coffee. I asked for the milk. I was brought iced coffee that looked like it had sweetened condensed milk at the bottom, and said no. That caused a lot more discussion. I poured from the teapot and found it was tea. That should not have surprised me. Then they brought my coffee, with powdered creamer. That should not have surprised me either, but this is supposed to be a good, natural foods restaurant. Then they brought my meal, which was not pork fried rice but fried pork and a pile of white rice. There was also a side serving of a cucumber salad, but it was Thai spicy. So, all in all, my experience with the restaurant was disappointing. The bungalows are great, and I would recommend them, but maybe not the restaurant. When I left, I saw that there were a couple of food stands at the main road, so there are options.

Leaving Pailin there is a park, with this impressive statue.

It was 15 km to the Thai border. The ride was rolling, but more up than down. I stopped in the Cambodian border town of Phsar Phrom to spend my riels. Not only had breakfast been disappointing, but they said they didn't have dollars and gave me change in riels. It was just a few dollars worth, but aggravating. I bought a couple of cold drinks and 3 bags of dried fruit. I still have some riels. They have no value outside of Cambodia, so they'll become souvenirs.

Workers at the top of the trees. I couldn't quite figure out how they were up there and what they were doing.

The border crossing was easy, and I was not asked for any extra fees. I was stamped out of Cambodia and rode a short distance to Thai immigration. The female agent gave me a big thumbs up when she asked if there was anyone else and I said "just me". She asked a lot of questions about where I've been and where I'm going. I filled out the immigration card for visa on arrival, and the only surprise was that they insisted on the name of the place I'm staying tonight. I picked out a guesthouse that showed up on maps.me, and put it on the form. I heard some discussion about it, but didn't ask if it is a nice place. We finished up, and I got my 30 day visa on arrival which will take me through my scheduled departure at the end of January.

I also got a verbal reminder that new rules went into effect for 2017. We are now only allowed 2 visa on arrival land entries in a year. For cyclists wandering through SE Asia, that could become an issue. There is a letter B in the corner of the entry stamp, and that indicates it counts against the two entries.

I was a little confused leaving the border. There was a very short distance of rutted dirt road, and the signs looked to me to have the more angular writing of the Khmer script. But then I realized that not only was I back on the left hand side of the road, so were all of the motor vehicles. I was back in Thailand, and soon enough there was smooth pavement.

Back in Thailand and the pretty bus stops reappear. The building behind it is under construction.

Rolling hills on the Thai side of the border.

Road constuction (sic). I must be back in Thailand. They are widening the road to the border, but there isn't much impact to traffic...yet.

I went on to the town of Pong Nam Ron. It's a smallish city, and doesn't have any reason for tourism, other than the odd cyclist passing through. I passed one hotel on the road into town, but it seemed a little remote to the center and meal opportunities. The next accommodation was the one I had put on the immigration form, Sai Bungalows. I had a little trouble finding it, mainly because I was looking for bungalows. It is actually a lot like the 24 hour places, a row of rooms with parking in front of each one. It doesn't have the number 24 on the sign, like most places do, and there is no English on the sign. I was shown a fan room for 280 baht and an AC room for 400 baht. As usual, I opted for AC. In addition to the AC, the room is nicer. It only has cold water for the shower, and it uses a bucket flush for the toilet, but it really isn't bad. It has Wi-Fi, but the signal keeps dropping. It's interesting that there is little variation in price between some really nice places with good amenities and fairly basic places. As an aside, one of the benefits to this place is that there is a 7-Eleven half a block away!

My home for the night, the Sai Bungalows in Pong Nam Rong.

The town has a surprisingly active market. I walked through it looking for dinner. The only cooked to order food I found was noodles, not what I was looking for, so I picked up some fried chicken and some fresh papaya and ate it outside my room. There were some other pre-cooked Thai food options, but I didn't want to get something and then have it be too spicy for me to eat. The chicken came with some chile sauce, and just a touch of it on my tongue set my mouth on fire. Fortunately, it was in it's own little plastic bag.

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Today's ride: 44 km (27 miles)
Total: 2,340 km (1,453 miles)

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