To Tha Ton: To the river

November 26, 2016

I left the hotel as soon as it was light. The days have grown shorter as I've gotten further north and as time has passed. So it wasn't until just past 7 am that I decided it was light enough to leave.

The Chai Prakarn Mansion is in the back of the red building. The English spelling seems to vary. This is in the morning, and the businesses in front are not open yet.

I didn't realize how hazy it was until I got to the outskirts of town. It was comfortably cool, and I guess that goes with fog in the humidity here.

I thought about stopping at a coffee shop to wait for the haze to burn off, but I didn't see one that was open. Of course, I couldn't see too much past the edge of the road.

The haze was gone by about 40 minutes into my ride. It was mostly flat today, going through the city of Fang, a more common stop for people riding from Chiang Dao. I was glad I stopped in Chai Prakan. The riding wasn't bad, but yesterday it would have been in the afternoon heat.

After Fang I passed some rice fields.

Rice fields. Still some haze in the distance.

And some rice processing.

I arrived in Tha Ton early, and went straight to the boat landing. The boats to Chiang Rai leave daily at 12:30. Even though I was early for today's boat, I decided to visit the town and the wat, and take the boat tomorrow.

The Kok River. It's big! From the bridge in Tha Ton.

One of the long tail boats leaving the landing. I'll be taking one of these to Chiang Rai tomorrow and avoiding some hills.

I checked in at the Apple Resort, opposite the boat landing.

They immediately assumed that I wanted the cheapest bungalow, and showed me that one. It is self contained, with fan. I asked about the fancier ones on the river. They have AC and I'm not sure what else. I decided with the cooler night time temperatures the cheaper one would be okay, and went with that at 350 baht. The fancy one is 1000 baht. I need to uphold the reputation of bicycle travelers being cheap! It has been a hot day and I'm second guessing the decision, but I think once the sun sets it will be okay.

I showered and washed my riding clothes, and headed out for lunch. I had chicken with cashew nuts, very tasty and satisfying. Then I went up to the wat. Emphasis on "up". It's a climb. I visited the gold Buddha and the white Buddha, but skipped the standing Buddha, higher up. The sun was strong and the sweat was running down my face.

After that, I went back to my bungalow and took another shower to cool off.

On the way up to the wat. The cow is a statue.

The white Buddha at Wat Tha Ton. It's huge!

Young monks playing at the Wat Tha Ton. On my way up, they were moving the rocks with a wheel barrow. On my way down, they were goofing around.

Buddha with pigeons. This was on the entryway arch going up to the wat.

So tomorrow it's off to Chiang Rai. I'll probably spend a few days there taking in the sights and planning the next stage of my trip.

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Today's ride: 48 km (30 miles)
Total: 958 km (595 miles)

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