Thai Cycling (again) : 4

Puncture repair in Wang Chin.

From Sri Satchanalai I follow the river Yom north, the going remains flat, but hills are beginning to crowd around me, I will have to start climbing soon.  But not today, although it still isn't exacty easy going, the weather is now seriously hot, it's OK as long as I keep moving with the wind in my face but if I need to stop for yet another puncture - as I regularly do - sweat drips from me.  Destination today is Wang Chin, really not a large place at all, in fact I have broken from my usual habit and booked a room here in advance as I wanted to be sure of finding somewhere.  Turns out to be quite charming with a little balcony looking over the river.

Lampang - still all about the horses and carts.

Nearly there now, but I do have a couple of mountain ranges to cross, firstly to get to Lampang.  I am in fact happy to get into the foothills, the endless flood plains of central Thailand make for easy riding for sure, but not the loveliest of views whereas now I cycle through valleys alongside rushing streams, the unspoilt jungle rising up to either side.  Well, for some of it I manage to cycle anyway - there's a substantial section where I have to push the bike upwards, at least without my weight on the thing I am unlikely to get a puncture!  Well, it isn't too far to the top, and today is a short day, less than 70 kilometres, and of course the long downhill run the other side of the hills gives me a chance to rest and cool down.  In the event I make it to Lampang early enough, and feeling rather better than the last time I was here too.

The high point of the pass between Lampang and Chiang Mai.

The last day!  And, one of the hardest, I have another big mountain pass to get over, and a total distance of around 100 kilometres to do - well, I have done this route in a day before, I can do it again.  Actually it isn't as bad as yesterday, I manage to keep pedalling almost all the way up, assisted at one point by some passing monks who hand me a selection of drinks, Thai versions of gatorade, red bull, and some... interesting... soy based 'milk'.  It is all sickly sweet, and I don't really want to carry glass bottles up the hill but I can hardly say no.  I imagine passing car drivers would be expected to donate in return for this stuff (which has, itself, come from donations of supplies that people make at temples), but I am pretty sure they don't want my money.  Well, I drink it all and find a service area to dump the empty bottles, then just a little bit of pushing and I am over the top, downhill most of the way to Chiang Mai now, then a few more easy, flat kilometres and I am there!

Well, this was all good fun, cycling is an excellent way to see this country, and I was pleased to see how easy it was to move the bike around on the rail system, which is extensive enough that I can use it to get to any of Thailand's five regions - of which, I have really only seen the northern region in any detail.  Maybe cycle island hopping will happen at some point!

Photos to go with this post can be found here.

Thai Cycling (again) : 3

A view over the Naan at Taphan Hin.

Onwards then, I head north from Nakorn Sawan, more or less following the river Naan towards Taphan Hin, this makes for scenic and flat enough riding, although I am having a bit of trouble with the bike, a spate of spokes snapping leaves me worrying that the whole wheel is going to disintegrate beneath me.  It doesn't though, and I find a shop in Thapan Hin where they replace the spokes and indeed align the wheel for the princely sum of ฿150, or about £4, result.  I can't say Taphan Hin is particularly exciting, I struggle to find somewhere open to eat in the evening in fact, eventually ending up in a self described 'food garden' some way away by a main road, I eat dinner and have a couple of beers while a succession of ladies take to the stage to sing a couple of songs each, interesting.

Bridge over the river Yom.  Why yes, I did cycle over it.

I continue along the Naan, next stop Pitsanuloke, a large enough place this, I manage to find a Thai style bar with cheap beer and indeed cheap Pad Thai, all good.  My next stop is Sukhothai, yes I have been here before, a bit of a struggle to get to it this time though.  I get my first puncture of the trip, and it turns out I am not quite as prepared for this as I had hoped - the spare inner tubes I bought in Kanchan turn out to be quite a bit too small, they do go into the wheel but I have to really overinflate them, and unsurpringly each only gets twenty kilometres or so before going flat.  My puncture repair kit doesn't work too well either, I spend an hour or so trying to fix the various tubes without much joy... and then of course, ride back the wrong way for a bit.  Annoying as in fact I was only a few kilometres from Sukhothai, well, eventually I roll into town with a flat front tyre, not the end of the world.  Nice to see the place again, I return to the Chopper Bar near the river, it seems to be christmas here for some reason.

At Wat Chedi Ched Taeow.  Means something like, Seven Rows of Stupas Temple.

I'm not staying though, been there, done that and all, nor am I heading for Taak as previously.  Rather, due north from here there is another ancient site, Sri Satchanalai, dating from the same period as Sukhothai and the second city of the kingdom at that time.  There isn't really a nearby town, but I am hoping that as with the old city of Sukhothai there'll be plenty of nearby guesthouses etc., turns out not so much, but I manage to find one, pleasantly situated on the bank of a new river, the Yom.  They are most welcoming, I even get some much needed washing done with an interesting machine that requires various switches and valves to be turned at appropriate points...

Impressively large free standing elephant statues at Wat Chang Lom.

Definitely worth a day off here, I spend some time assiduously fixing inner tubes, and also ride around the ancient city, much as at Sukhothai there is a square walled area containing many ancient temples, with more or less restored Buddha and elephant images.  Not nearly as many tourists here, think I am off the beaten track a little, the style is a little different too - many of the temples have 'mandapas', small buildings with surviving peaked stone roofs.  Unusually for a Thai city, there is a fairly substantial hill within the boundary walls - apparently when the city was built, a local hermit advised the king that this hill would be a good location for the 'fire ceremony'.  Nowadays there are a couple of ruined temples at the top, and a fine view of the surrounding area, just about worth the climb up in sweltering heat.  My hope that the cool season would last until I finished this trip has sadly not really worked out...

Photos to go with this post can be found here.

Thai Cycling (again) : 2

Through the paddy fields I go.  Who needs tarmac!

Well, time to actually do some proper cycling rather than sitting on my backside in Kanchanaburi, I ride north through central Thailand, to U Torng, Daan Chaang and then Chai Naat - none of them much of a place to be honest.  Seems very agricultural here, I ride past fields of rice and corn, and several times pass herds of sheep or perhaps goats.  I have not once seen goat, lamb, or mutton on a menu here so I assume they are being bred for export...

Certainly nice cycling country this, while I can see the occasional hill off in the distance, the roads remain pretty much pancake flat, and often my route takes me alongside a canal.  The road surface is generally excellent, although sometimes I've been a bit overzealous in getting away from main roads and end up on gravel, still, I and the bike can take it.  I have no trouble from the Thai drivers, all is good in fact.

The substantial Grasiaow reservoir near Daan Chaang.

I reach a reasonably sized town, Nakorn Sawan (literally, Paradise City - the grass is not terribly green at this time of year but the girls are indeed pretty).  This is Thailand's 'gateway to the north', and also noticeable as the place where numerous rivers, including the Ping and the Naan, which have flowed down to here from Chiang Mai and Naan respectively, join to form the Jao Prayaa (or Chao Praya as it is generally transliterated).  That will of course flow from here to Bangkok and the sea...

Seems worth taking a day off here anyway.  Not a great deal to see, obviously there are some big temples, but mainly I just relax, and there is a big and impressive park to go and wander about in.  I'm amused to see a bunch of locals playing petanque, didn't realise it was a thing in this country.  Nice also to be somewhere big enough that I can actually find a bar in the evening, many of the smaller places I'm basically looking at a little restaurant, then returning to my hotel room with beer from the ubiquitous 7-11...

Dragon at the west end of Utayaan Sawan (Paradise Park, of course), in Nakorn Sawan.

Photos to go with this post can be found here.

Thai Cycling (again) : 1

The giant Monkey Pod.

So, about time I had another adventure of some kind eh?  Well, here I am cycling about in Thailand again, what can I say, it may not be the original of things I've ever done, but I do like this country, it is both civilised and cheap, the roads are good and I can be pretty confident that wherever I end up of an evening I will find a decent hotel and some tasty food with a few beers to wash it down with.

It does help that I already have a bicycle in this country, still parked where I left it a month or so ago in Chiang Mai, but I'm not going to start riding from there.  Rather, I take the train down to Bangkok, with the bike in the guard's van, and then ride a little way through the capital - easy enough early in the morning before the traffic builds up.  I'm heading for Kanchanaburi, so I need to get to Thonburi station, and I am expecting to have to wait there for several hours before the 13:35 train leaves.  But in fact there is a train waiting at the station, this one isn't publicised on the internet but it is perfectly serviceable, and gets me and my bike there in a couple of hours or so.

Wat Tam Gaeow - that is, Crystal Cave Temple.

Nice to be back in Kanchan after three years or so - even so, some of the bar owners here remember me!  Some development has happened, generally of a good kind, new bars and restaurants, and for instance the giant Monkey Pod Tree a little way out of town has acquired a charming garden and walkway to surround it.  I check out various cave temples, including Wat Baan Tam, which has the usual long staircase leading up to the temple proper, but in this case they've built a giant Dragon through whose belly the staircase passes, surrounded by murals detailing the history of the area, very cool.

Insane looping water slide.

A fine relaxing time is generally had, I of course revisit the local water park where once more, I am pretty much the only customer.  This time, being able to read Thai, I can report that the three hundred and sixty degree loop water slide claims to accelerate you to fully sixty kilometres per hour - 'sadly' it is still not operating...  I do notice that for all my ability to read the language, speaking it here is not too easy - the local dialect seems to be substantially different to what I have learned, sometimes I figure out that they are simply dropping a syllable I'd expect to be present, but often I can't figure out a word people are saying.  Hopefully things will improve as I move north.

In the belly of the dragon!

Photos to go with this post can be found here.