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.