Route: Hua Hin outskirts to Hua Hin proper, and back again
Distance: 43km

It was a rest day today, but somehow a 43km ride and a 5k walk happened. There’s always just so much to see and do.

Firstly, we (Randy & I) woke up at the crack of dawn to go see if the tide deposited my sunglasses on the beach. Surely I have a greater chance of winning the lottery, but it was still worth a try. It allowed a chance to get a picture of the sun rising and for Randy to rescue a fishy that had been stranded on the sand. I thought Fishy was a lump of something-or-other but when I moved it with my foot it wiggled and flapped. Randy picked Fishy up with a few nearby sticks and returned him to the ocean (where my sunglasses now live). A couple of nearby walkers noticed and applauded Randy for the rescue operation.

We made the mistake of reading about dangers of jellyfish, and honestly it gave us the heebies. We decided to skip the ocean swim here and try a beach about 12km away that had installed “stinger nets” to keep tourists and jellyfish separated. We hopped on bikes and made a number of twists and turns on the way there, stopped at a bike shop, sipped smoothies at Cafe Amazon and somehow just felt tired of it all before reaching our swim destination. So, we just headed back to our own resort, without the ocean-swim component. But on the way we noticed a “mall” for home renos. Curiosity got to us and we went in to do a looky. The design, assortment, quality and choice of products was beyond anything we’ve seen anywhere. Clearly targeting the rich & famous (we were far beyond our pay grade in there). Deana didn’t even know that there existed toilets equipped with motion sensors that will raise the lid as you approach, turn on lights, and provide a number of other “services”. 🤪 Ha! We have been using the Thai squatty things, so we found the concept quite amusing. If you don’t know about Thai squat toilets, give it a Google!

After we returned to our hotel we reasoned it all out…. Millions of people probably swim and don’t lose their lives to a man-eating jellyfish in Thailand. Heck, it’s a big ocean afterall. We ride our bikes on multi-lane divided highways, and risk crazy feral dogs daily….really, what are the chances of making contact with a deadly jellyfish? Missed opportunity—today came and went with no ocean-wave-frolicking. Tomorrow we will abandon our jellyfish fear.

On the food front, Randy is enjoying all the nice hot & spicy green curry dishes here in Thailand. Deana is exploring her wild side too. She’s given crab omelette a go (it wasn’t really a go), and seems to have grown fond of chicken cashew stir fries and basil chicken with rice. I’m being brave and trying unidentified foods from street vendors and finding wonderful surprising tastes everywhere. We had a prawn versus shrimp discussion at dinner while enjoying some wonderfully fried prawn-shrimps (we didn’t resolve what they were actually).

Before dinner we had returned to the beach just one more time for low tide (I’m just not ready to say my final goodbye to those sunglasses). Randy did find a pair of sunglasses but they weren’t mine. Nevermind, I was reminded—I got new ones! Shiny ruby coloured ones now. And we got some nice sunset pictures.

Route: Tha Yang, Phetchaburi to Hua Hin
Distance: 45km

Nice & easy ride today! The closer we got to the touristy area of Cha Am Beach, then Hua Hin, we saw fewer soi dogs (except for the scrappy brave one that decided Randy should NOT be there on the bike path) and the more English signage was around to help us decodify words. We finally got a menu that had some reasonable English translations to help out our wholly inadequate brains. Therefore, we were able to order up a crab omelet, coffee, spring rolls and fries!

Everything looks “slicker” in this beachy touristy section of Thailand—cars are more luxurious, landscaping is all polished & manicured and little communities have security guards gatekeeping to keep the likes of us—grubby-looking bicycle tourists—out. The community feels “far from Thailand” and quite westernized. We already miss those friendly “helloooooos” from Thais that we’ve come to love.

Supposedly tourism is picking up, but we aren’t seeing it anywhere we have been. Mind you, we have veered off the beaten track much of the time. We went to an “outlet” mall carrying mostly name brands you’d expect to see at home and in the massive complex, there were exactly three browsing customers—Randy, Deana, and Me.

We checked into a lovely hotel tonight. We are talking gorgeous! White bathrobes, slippers, a sauna, steam room etc. Hahaha! Like we’re actually going to consider sitting in a sauna after the days we’ve had!! The check-in staffer seemed to anticipate we’d arrive thirsty and greeted us with cold glasses of some sort of fruity drink and facecloths. I’d like to think the facecloths were to just help us feel refreshed but who knows… Perhaps they just wanted us to stop dripping sweat onto their beautiful lobby floor. I asked how to get to the beach and they said it was about a half kilometre away and that we can ride our bicycles there. Or, as they pointed at a big golf cart, they said we can get ride there if we prefer. An even bigger hahahaha—we just rode our bikes 1200+km—we are taking a golf cart to the beach!!!. We went to the beach and acclimatized to the water which took less than 2 seconds cuz the water is that warm. We didn’t go gentle into that water—we barrelled right on into those waves, leaping and frolicking. Body-slamming against every big glorious wave, floating, laughing and marvelling at the size of those big rolly waves. Wave, jump, laugh, repeat. we can’t even begin to describe how much fun it was! And for miles and miles, we couldn’t see another soul swimming! We had the whole coastline to ourselves. Another big giant wave came blasting up behind me and right off my face flew my fancypants favorite sunglasses. Apparently they don’t float, and now I’m out a beauty pair of sunglasses that will probably wash up on shore someday when I’m long gone from here. As we waded toward shore all wave-whipped and happy we noticed the “Beware of Jellyfish” sign. Now we wonder it that’s why nobody else was swimming in the water?

Sunglasses by the way, are essential. It’s what I mount my rear-view mirror to in order to ride safely and know what’s behind me at all times. Therefore, shopping for a replacement will be a top priority.

We debated (albeit briefly) going to a restaurant and doing the menu-battle once again, or just going to the 7-Eleven. The 7 wins. They have pizza! And chocolate milk! (and squid flavoured potato chips, and a big aisle of seaweed snacks! And drinks with weird balls in them.) Not very adventurous to be sure, but rewarding nonetheless. We sat there reflecting on how much we have come to rely on the 7–it’s been a lifeline for all our daily needs (Tiger balm, electrolytes, ice, laundry soap, ham & cheeses, coffee, ice cream). Anything you need—the 7 has it. It’s usually the busiest joint around!

We will spend two nights here. We may even venture out to buy some floaty toys to play on the water with! Now that would be a hoot!

Sunshine, salt water and waves—what more could we want?

Route: Samut Songkhram to Tha Yang, Phetchaburi
Distance: 66km

Today we were excited that we would finally reach the coast! The ride was lovely and the 35C felt so much cooler than other days.

Along the way it had been mentioned that we haven’t seen any monkeys yet. We were counting down kilometres to a bridge that we had pre-determined would be our “arrival” point at the seaside. At the top of the bridge we gazed out and it really felt wonderful to think of how far we’d come—Mountains, ancient ruins, big city traffic and now we were standing on what felt like the top of the world. We have cycled 1,149 kms to get to this point and we were taking it all in.

As we proceeded to descend the other side of the bridge we saw monkeys near the 7-Eleven. Big guys, little guys, chubby ones and skinny monkeys. A number of them were crossing back & forth (and back & forth) on the road. That made our day! One really curious and assertive little guy spotted our bikes parked against the wall of the 7-Eleven and he cautiously but bravely sauntered toward us, until he was about 8ft away. Likely he was hoping to find some treasures he could detach from our bicycles. He just sat there on the pavement and we had a little stare-down. He lost, and decided he best just return to his clan empty-handed.

Every town or city has a wat (temple), but this one was different. It looked Chinese in style, and was stunning both in size, and decor. Shiny, glittery, red & gold. We each stood around in awe of Wat Phet Suwan., a Chinese style Buddhist temple. There appeared to be a monk sitting motionless inside, perched up high, surrounded by all things beautiful.

Then came the big giant flat areas of land with very shallow water. We had a long time to speculate on what was happening because there were water-fields as far as the eye could see and we rode alongside them for what seemed like forever. At first we guessed some sort of seafood farming, but then we started to notice some where the water had evaporated off them, leaving behind a white substance. Then we noticed a field full of white mounds and we realized we were seeing sea salt works. Sea water is filled into large shallow pools then the sun does its work evaporating the water. What’s left behind is sea salt!

We found a little seaside resort and decided we wanted to swim in both the ocean and a pool. Very touristy around the coast and the price of hotel rooms is starting to reflect that. However, we did enjoy hunting for treasurers on the beach at night with a flashlight as the tide came in. Crabs, quick & crawly, and shells, both twisty and turquoisey.

Every day is a new adventure!

Route: Nakhon Pathom to Samut Songkhram
Distance: 90km
Daytime high: 43C (via Deana’s bike computer)

Randy started out this morning with an adventurous bowl of traditional Thai porridge containing donut-shaped thingies that will remain a mystery forever as to what they actually are. He’s far more a food-risker than Deana or I will ever be.

It was a wonderful hotel we had last night, but our rooms were on the second floor and we had to park our bikes in the underground parking. We appreciated that they appreciated that we are very concerned about the safety and well-being of our bicycles so we were grateful when they sectioned off a parking space and put out an orange cone to keep others out. They try so very hard to please us everywhere we go!

By the way, we love Thai food. We love the restaurants and the waiters. But there is one restaurant protocol that we wish was different—Stresses us in fact, and prevents us from enjoying more Thai cuisine—it’s when the waiter brings us a menu that is always in Thai. They hand us ONE menu, then proceed to stand there at the side of the table, expectantly waiting for us to order. No wandering away to let us de-code or try to translate with our apps. We even ask “can you give me 5 minutes” to which they smile their biggest Thai smile, nod “yes” then proceed to stand there. Pressure is on! They are not leaving. We frequently buckle under the pressure and just panic order something. Anything.

As we headed south from Nakhon Pathom and further away from the urban grip of outer Bangkok, the scenery changed. After some fancy road manoeuvres leaving the city we found ourselves on new terrain. We started out with peaceful rice fields waving gently in the sun. Then suddenly very small country roads, with rivers, and reservoirs full of water on both sides. Rows of paddle-wheels were clues to them being shrimp farms. A little while later we were among gigantic palms that towered high into the air and it was all coconut palm farms. Trucks hauled coconuts, farmers pitched coconuts into trucks, coconuts shells lined ditches and mulched forests. Now Deana can see first-hand where her favorite food comes from! Clearly coconuts are an important crop in these parts.

We were standing roadside for a a little sliver of shade when just off in the distance we noticed a pickup truck had stopped and a family of four had assembled on the road to take a look at us three. We noticed them shyly looking, with their newborn in one arm and their other son standing next to them. Kinda like how a family might stand roadside to watch for the Northern Lights, but in this case it was the Northern Tourists. We decided to roll our bikes over to meet them. Their baby was adorable and they looked absolutely thrilled to have us actually speak to them! Once we asked if we could take their photo they lit up! They were excited and wanting to take selfies with us. When we left we could see out of our rear view mirrors that other bystanders were videoing us as we biked away. Now we really feel like we have achieved stardom.

We stopped at a sidestreet for a smoothie. Randy spotted a little reptilian lifeform making itself at home under the steps. Turns out it’s a Baby Asian Water Monitor.

We love whenever we find a Cafe Amazon—it usually means Strawberry Smoothie, nice public toilets, air conditioning, and an adjacent 7-Eleven to re-load with ice and water. Today we rode in anticipation of one for 28km, and when we were all tired, hot, sore-bummed, and stiff-necked we gave up and planted ourselves on the step of a motorcycle dealership to recover a little in the shade. After 45 minutes we dragged our sorry butts up and rolled out and literally 1 minute away we passed a gosh darn Cafe Amazon….Such is the nature of the unknown road ahead.

We didn’t quite make it to the coast today. We are in a little resort with openings & gaps in the walls big enough to let in baby Asian monitor lizards. House geckos are just a given. The surroundings look very jungle-like and sound even more so. As night falls we hear a huge assortment of croaks, squeaks, chirps, & whistles. I’d be pulling the covers up over my head tonight, except that our not-so-upscale resort provides just a single-sized blanket on our queen-sized bed.

Tomorrow we blast out and head to the coast.

Route: Nonthaburi to Nakhon Pathom
Distance: 70km
Daytime high: 43C (in the sun)

We simply couldn’t pass up the pool this morning so we decided to loiter, do handstands in the pool, and just lay there floating till we were required to checkout at noon. We knew it would be tough starting our ride in the intense mid-day heat, but we figured it would be worth every drop of sweat. We take temperature readings from Deana’s bike computer and our bodies already knew—it was hotter than ever. 43C in the blazing sun. We guzzled water, ate potato chips for the salt, burned through electrolytes, and when it became unbearable we planted our sweaty drippy selves inside of a Cafe Amazon for a strawberry smoothie.

We needed to ride west of Bangkok, because yesterday we skirted the city a little too close for comfort. There is no direct route that doesn’t involve mega-highways so Randy plotted out a route that took all the alternatives. The roads here are generally wonderful surfaces to ride on but there were Home-Depot sized speed-bumps on those side roads so we kerplunked and jostled enough to make Deanas banana go airborne and land on the road. A sweet Thai man ran to the banana’s rescue and made sure that Deana and her banana were reunited. (Thais are so sweet) We were far off the beaten path and grew a little more concerned when we started down this teeny tiny rough gravel road not much bigger than a footpath. A few kilometres in it suddenly seemed to bisect someone’s small humble property with furnishings and belongings occupying the space on both sides of the path. The resident dog freaked out and the lady who was having a siesta was startled awake by what must have felt like a weird dream—to suddenly have three strangers on bicycles invading your personal living space. The dog couldn’t get rid of us fast enough.

You never know what you will encounter with every turn in the road. We rounded one bend in the road and right before our eyes lay this big beautiful Wat Bang Phra. Even though we were on a mission to reach our next destination by nightfall, this stopped us in our tracks. It simply required us to stand in admiration. Gorgeous!

Thailand is a colourful place. The trucks that transport goods to and fro are downright wild looking. It seems as though truck drivers compete among each other to bling out their rigs. The mirrors, the wild paint jobs, the Michelin Men and all things shiny—We’ll let the pictures show what we mean!

We don’t usually begin looking for a hotel room until we are a few hours away. Sometimes we stumble across a gem like yesterday, and other times our accommodation has been fairly basic. They are however, always clean and a good value. Sometimes our room cost just 500 bhats and other times we splurge and fork out the big bucks like 1,000 bhats (about $38). Tonight we are living large cuz we just feel like we deserve this!

As we stood outside 7-Eleven tonight we were entertained by people coming & going, and all the ways that humans transport themselves here. It never ceases to amaze us how few wear helmets. Every single day we see entire families of four riding together on a single motorcycle, even with little babies carried in mothers arms. Trucks run down the highway with goods bursting at the seams and still even more people stuffed together and piled high on top, sometimes just riding on the roof.

Everyday is a new adventure for us!

Route: Ayutthaya to Nonthaburi
Distance: 95km
Total distance to date: 905km
Daytime high: 40C

We got an early start. Alarm went off at 6:00 am then we stashed our banana muffins & other small foodables into our bags and off we went, into the busy traffic that one might expect from a busy city. It looked like chaos. Felt insane. We weaved around parked and moving vehicles of all shapes, sizes and speeds. Minutes later we were standing face to face with a 5 lane roundabout that had stop lights. We navigated our way to the front of the pack (as all the slow-movers do). We, being the slowest, moved right up to the very front and began to strategize how we’d make it through the insanity when the light turned green. Green Light! Goooooo!!!!! Let me tell you, it felt like the Daytona 500 and we were at the front of the pack. Engines revved, brakes let loose and they were off! All gazillion of us! Big trucks, motorcycles with workers going somewhere, scooters with families of four, and itty bitty Us. On our bikes. Flowing around that roundabout packed in the middle like sardines. Somehow it all worked out! We spewed out at the correct exit, no horns no squealing of tires. Everyone flowed nice & smooth. Phew! Holy cow, we made it!! Thank you, wonderful Thai drivers, for allowing us safe passage.

Outta Ayutthaya we headed. Didn’t quite anticipate the 6 & 8 lane highway lane-hopping frenzy that followed, but we did it. Up & over bridges with the really big boys, leaping across 6 lanes to our destinations, across highways that look like the 401 Express and Collectors in Toronto. At one point there were three lanes we needed to traverse to reach the fourth that would take us to the right highway when a wonderful Thai man noticed our predicament as we stood at the side of the road. He stepped out into the highway and started to flag drivers to move over several lanes to let us through. We stepped on the gas hard (well, pedalled hard, to be accurate) and again we made it.

As long as you hold the line, keep moving and be predictable you can navigate the situation.

The situation changed when we reached a construction zone. Closed to all other traffic, they were still letting through scooters, motorcycles and itty-bittys like us. Through a sliver-thin little opening in the construction under the overpass we went. Just keep moving was all we could think.

All said, we white-knuckled it all day. Then at the end of it all, we happened upon this wonderful hotel with a supremely gorgeous pool with bath-warm water surrounded by tropicals. Starving, overheated and exhausted, we checked in and then swam. We floated rolled & frolicked in that water till our fingers and toes turned pruney and only our starving tummies drew us out of that pool.

Dinner was a fantastic experience, meeting and connecting with the restaurant owner who, by the time we talked for over an hour, gave us all hugs on the way out. Randy was more starving than we were apparently….he ate two meals!

After dinner we wandered by the pool. On the walkway Randy noticed a very large leaf. This leaf however, was moving slow, had two antennae and was sliming his way across the ceramic tile floor. It was an immense slug. We’re talking gigantico. As big as our cell-phones. Poor little guy, going nowhere fast. We named him Slugger. Slugger will get to where he needs to go to, if he just holds his line and keeps moving too.

We had another non-restful rest day, this time in Ayutthaya where we explored the UNESCO world heritage site Ayutthaya Historical Park. Beforehand we went to the Building of Golden Treasures at the Chao Sam Phraya National Museum where we saw so much glittery gold it was hard to believe it’s all very real, and very old—as much as 600 hundred years old. There were gem-encrusted teeny tiny gold artifacts that contained Buddha relics, ornately decorated miniature sized tea sets, and a miniature of a Royal elephant that has so much detail one can barely imagine the skill involved in creating it. If all that gold wasn’t enough, we went on a river boat ride around the canal surrounding the city and stopped to visit the Buddhist temple next to the river, Wat Phanan Choeng Worawihan built in 1324 and where pilgrims can visit to make karmic merit. An immense 19m high golden gilded Buddha is housed inside. We were advised that visiting was supposed to bring us good luck. We hope!

After browsing the sights, we have determined that in this wild heat it’s easier to ride a bike for endless hours that to walk. There’s no breeze while walking and the sun feels just that much hotter (as if that’s even possible). By the way, we had heard before coming that lots of tourists are returning to Thailand. That’s not been our experience so far. Most accommodations are scarcely populated and the “touristy” areas seem to be quiet. Nice for us, but we empathize deeply with the Thais who have relied on tourism for so much of their livelihood. For that reason we don’t try to negotiate lower prices for most things.

We broke down and sought out pizza and pasta for dinner. Rather unusual to have a “sausage-filled” crust, but it is just that—a long skinny sausage encased by crust. It was tasty, though we left much of that crust uneaten. Buddhists often endeavour to “make merit” by performing good deeds, and taking care of other living things. We came up with the brilliant plan to make merit of our own with some of those “soi dogs” that that run loose in the streets. We saved those pizza crust ends, and set out to make merit. Down the road we went, feeling pretty good about ourselves and our impending good deed, providing an evening snack to some poor hungry dog. Randy located one and approached, and gently placed our Crusty Offerings on the ground and stepped away to watch the dog snap it up. That poor hungry soi dog approached all right! He took one sniff and walked away. Apparently beggars can be choosers!

Route: Sing Buri to Ayutthaya
Distance: 79km
Total distance to date: 810 km
Daytime high: 40C (again)

Thai’s seem to love interacting with us odd looking foreigners. They light up when we try & speak with them, even when we just take notice & wave. They love to have their photos taken too. Today while we were riding an older man on an even older bicycle took on the challenge of riding with us. He was laughing & talking the whole time, even though we couldn’t understand a word he said. His legs looked strong so we can only speculate that he has ridden that rickety old bike for many years. When we finally parted, he was smiling ear to ear with his accomplishment, keeping pace with us farangs.

We have only seen two other cycle tourists since we have been here. There just aren’t that many tourists here—at least not north of Bangkok where we have primarily toured so far. But this morning, while turning the corner onto the street to get rolling we suddenly encountered a big group of cycle tourists from Hong Kong. Lots of chatter, and we discovered that they too are travelling to Bangkok. All were men, we noticed. Nobody is as lucky as Randy is, to be travelling with two women. 🙂 Maybe that’s why people smile so big at us! We rode with them for a short bit but once we were out in front the gap widened and we didn’t see them again.

We arrived in Ayutthaya, where our hotel has a pool. We can’t tell you how thrilling that is after riding in 40C.  Deana and I quietly dip into the pool while Randy does a big ole yeeehawww cannonball & causes a mini tidal wave. The hotels are so clean & the floors are pristine. Glistening & polished, actually. We felt particularly guilty as we lugged our bicycles up to our rooms on the second floor and the hotel staff followed behind us, spraying and buffing every mark we left on the floor with our tires.

Night Market in Ayutthaya—another gastronomical grazing extravaganza. We barely made it 10m from our hotel before we were sampling some crispy this & that’s. There were ducks rotating on rotisseries, guys grooving to music while making tasty grilled I-don’t -know-what’s, and the food variety was something to behold.

I don’t know if it’s because of the time of year, but trees have so many big giant gorgeous flowers on them. Water hyacinths are in bloom, so too are big gorgeous lotus flowers. It’s so wonderful to see all these beauties in their natural environments where they are welcome to  grow and flourish.

Riding here is hot. Sticky & humid.  Feels much like a convection oven. We have established a routine of waking up at 6am, on the road around 8am, then by mid afternoon we are in full-on roasting mode. We seek out Cafe Amazons when they are on route, and cool down with Strawberry Yogurt Smoothies then head over to 7-Eleven and buy bags of ice to pour into our water bottles—water that in fairly short time goes from cold to cool to warm to ugly-warm. When we stop for a photo, we snap fast and get rolling as quickly as possible because standing stationary even for a few moments becomes intolerable in the heat. If we stop roadside even to check maps we always seek out shade. The upside of stopping even briefly is that you drip sweat which then evaporates as we ride again, cooling us ever so slightly. But hey! It’s not snow, or ice, so we are in our happy places.

We shopped. And we walked. A lot—about 16km on our “day off”. Shopping is a fascinating adventure in this far away land. There’s no sales tax. So, the price you see is what you pay! Randy spent 150 bahts ($6) on a shirt, Deana splurged 100 bahts ($4) on a pair of pants, and we bought a kettle. Yes, an electric kettle—to solve our morning coffee cravings for the days when our hotel doesn’t offer in-room coffee. Randy is going to lug that kettle around for the next 1,300km, so I guess it’s important enough.

Venturing into the markets on foot without bikes means we get to see other things—live squiggly wiggly snake-like things at the market, pigs heads and chickens feet (neither squiggly nor wiggly), but also a lot of things we’d love to bring home and can’t. Big vats of curry pastes that you buy by the scoop. Fresh juicy fruits chopped & sliced before our eyes, and countless other tantalizing things. The aromas are scrumpdillyicous. Little balls of tasty unknowns just waiting to be tried, and fried up oblongular shapes that turned out to be fried bananas (and oh so tasty!).

We made peace with the dogs—but apparently a few of them didn’t get the memo. As night fell we learned that the four-leggeds don’t appreciate our presence. We had a few encounters where one barks and comes out growling, then all his buddies run to join the pack-gripefest. They come up too close for comfort and you just know that they own that section of the lane way. They aren’t inclined to back down and no matter how nice we tell them they are, they want to prove us wrong.

Rest day over. Funny how we don’t feel that we’ll rested!

Route: Uthai Thani to Sing Buri
Distance: 100km
Daytime high: 40C (maybe more!)

We rode. And it was lovely. And just about the time we were wondering what the day might bring we noticed some lights & activity on the road ahead in the distance. At first we thought it was an accident of some sort but as we approached we saw it was a party in full-swing! Music, revellers, adults & children all dancing and moving slowly down the road toward the Wat (Buddhist temple). The festivities were electric and as we drew closer we snapped a few pictures—and then the party goers were thrilled to bits and tried their darndest to include us in the wiggling, laughing, singing, & carousing.

We couldn’t resist! We parked our bikes and began wigglin away with the other shin-diggers, without knowing what the occasion was, just knowing that it was important. There was a young man dressed in a shiny white robe with gold trim, and a woman situated beside him on lawn chairs atop a truck. His head appeared to be shaved.

In the midst of it all, many were encouraging us into the Wat presumably to join the celebration. Of course we declined, but not before they handed us these little gifts that looked like flowers made from ribbon, and little gold ribboned packets which went into our bags. One man thrust some special bottles of drink into our hands which also made their way to our hotel tonight. We felt so happy and thrilled to have been part of the whole event, even for a short bit.

Later in the evening my attention turned to the little trinkets they handed us. I shook the one that looked like a flower and it sounded as though there was something in it. Curiosity prevailed and I carefully disassembled it only to discover some coins inside. Now my curiosity was peaked! We’d been thinking we’d happened upon a wedding, but all indications are that it was something perhaps much more significant. A whole lot of Googling led us to the conclusion it was a Buddhist Buat Nak—an ordination procession for a young man entering Monkhood. Wowwwww and omigosh-almighty! We were lucky recipients of three taan (coins wrapped in ribbon) and three ribbon flowers.

Today was a privilege. And a memory to last our lifetime was made. We have now, in the past week, beared witness to ceremonies for one monk’s exit from earthly life, and now a man’s entry into Monkhood.

Route: Bang Mun Nak to Uthai Thani
Distance: 108km
Daytime max temperature: Don’t know, but stinkin hot!

Slow news day here on the Thailand 2023 cycle tour. So, we are going to talk Traffic and Dogs.

After 631km we can now say that beyond the shadow of a doubt, the wonderful smiley people of Thailand know how to share the road and we at home have much to learn. We ride here on quiet remote roads, navigate hectic main city streets, and traverse multi-lane divided super-highways with all the Big Boys in trucks and cars—and absolutely everywhere we go, Thai drivers share the space on the road. We are given the same respect on our two-wheeled slower moving bikes as we would if we were driving a car or transport truck. Size and speed of vehicle are not relevant. We have navigated through intersections where multiple streets, paths, and bridge access all converge, where there are no streetlights or stop signs—and everyone makes their way through safely. All due to driver consideration for all other road users. We emerge from any busy downtown core feeling good about the experience.

Speaking of motorists, it should be mentioned that there are countless motorists that pass us constantly. They all give us space, some give little beeps on the horn in support—others slow down, roll down the window and lean their heads out with gigantic smiles just to yell “Helloooooo!!!”

And now the dogs. In 2020 we had aggressive dog encounters that just freaked us out—caused us grief & anxiety. This year we have made peace with the Dogs of Thailand. Those wild-eyed street-smart territorial beings are part of the experience now. No, we don’t love when the come out barking & chasing….but we have learned to co-exist. When one of us spots a dog(s) we alert each other. “Dog alert on the left!” or “Dog right!” and then just as those furry four-leggeds are alerted & ready to chase us, we stop pedalling, make eye contact and say (in our most peaceful Buddha voices), “Nice doggy, you a good boy, stay where you are….” and wave our hands to motion them to lay down. Miraculously it works!

We started out with plans to ride 62km today. The sun was mostly hiding behind clouds and despite it being uncomfortably hot and humid, the reprieve from the sun meant another opportunity to make hay while the sun didn’t shine yet again. The terrain is flat as a pancake, we felt strong and we even had a little tailwind. We just felt like rolling & rolling so we rode 108km and landed at a cute little resort with a pool.

The day wasn’t boring, just uneventful. But we still saw cows laying in a watering hole to keep cool, a dude cutting down rice in an impossibly large field all alone, and we saw a corn-picking farm machine that looked more suitable for a carnival than a functioning farm. And of course , there was a really big ginormous gold Buddha that was visible for miles around. Another lovely day in this beautiful country.

Route: Phichit to Bang Mun Nak
Distance: 68km
Daytime high: 39C

The big gold Buddha on the hill, the roadside party, rice field irrigation, and a monk’s funeral at the Wat. Travelling by bike is like no other. Things pass by our field of vision slower and we see real life everywhere. Every turn presents new adventure. Today as we were just meandering down a country road, we noticed a big gold Buddha up on a hill. Of course it can’t go un-explored so we entered the Wat to take a look and we were invited to venture up the hill to see the big gold Buddha in all its splendour. Viewing the height of the steps and the length of the trip up, we opted to just let Deana venture upward, and just give us a verbal and photographic report. We are told it was quite grand, peaceful, and stunning up there…

Further down the road we suddenly found there was a full-on street party taking place, occupying most of the two lanes of roadway. Live music at 10am, people bopping and dancing, and they seemed quite welcoming of our curious presence. We squeezed out a few wiggly dance moves, snapped a few selfies and enjoyed the moment. Nothing like a random party!

Agriculture too is fascinating here. We stopped to marvel at this flooded field (likely a rice field) where this Thai farmer was navigating a jet-ski-like-paddle-boat-roto-tiller. Never seen anything like it in our lives before!

Tonight as we headed back from dinner on our bikes we passed the local Wat. There was something glorious, elaborate and fantastical taking place. Our curiosity drew us into the Wat (another Wat experience!) and we learned that we were witnessing the funeral proceedings of an important monk who had passed. The grandeur, the lights and the beauty of the visual that stood before us made the message clear—this was an important individual. His casket was raised very high off the ground, and was surrounded by lights, flowers, and beautifully ornate structures made a scene to behold. There were monks sitting reverently paying their respects, and lots of other visitors filing into the Wat to participate in relevant rituals. We were invited to admire and take pictures if we wanted. Gratefully and respectfully, we quietly did so. Buddhists believe in perpetual reincarnation. We can only believe that this individual has made another progression toward the blissful state of Nirvana.

On a totally different note, let’s talk food. Thai food can be hot. Really gosh-darn-make-my-mouth-burn-hot. Randy tends to score lots of extra food when Deana and I place orders for food waayyyyy outside of our heat-league. We best just stick to Pad Thai….

Every day reveals new adventure, enriching our lives and filling our reservoir of Life.