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.