Floating in the ocean till our skin turns pruney, sand bubblers, turds on the beach, and the wavy dock. The bikes haven’t moved—we are enjoying island life!

The gloriously warm ocean waves, the powdery white sand, the oceanfront dining—it’s pretty hard to resist! We parked our bikes and they haven’t moved in two days. We are in full-on appreciation for the opportunity to plant ourselves in a patch of shade and stay out of the sun. We make full use of the ocean in front of us, to float and frolick till our skin turns pruney. Then we rest on our loungers till we’re dry, then do it all again!

We just runaround barefoot on beautiful soft sand that extends all the way into the water. No rocks, broken shells, or the like to require the wearing of water shoes. The water is so warm there’s absolutely no acclimatization required.

You’d think that a beautiful Island resort area would be crawling with beach vendors, gift shops and cheesy entertainment, but there’s none of that. In fact, it’s refreshingly devoid of all that touristy biz. The whole thing feels natural and laid back. And that works for us. There’s no music blasting and we are free to lay on the beach listening only to sounds of waves and cicadas. Lots of cicadas.

At low tide the only critters to be found on the beach are the sand bubblers that create little balls of beach sand all around their crab homes which are nothing more than simple holes in the white sand. When we walk nearby they sense our approach and with those teeny tiny legs they turbo-run like heck and retreat into their holes.

There’s nobody trying to sell us the typical beach souvenirs we had almost expected. One vendor had delicious packages of fresh cut pineapple, mangos and papaya, and another was offering beautifully coloured sarongs for reasonable prices which actually have utilitarian uses for physically covering up to prevent sunburn. At one point we were laying there, eyes closed, and the familiar scent of BBQ drifts into our proximity. There’s a lady who is quite literally a walking BBQ, with a rod balanced across her shoulders carrying drinks and condiments on one side and an actively burning BBQ with delicious smelling things on the other.

At night we sit down near the shoreline under a tree. Not just any tree, but one that drops these things from high above that look like turds. Of course we noticed those turd-like objects and initially our minds didn’t welcome them (there are dogs everywhere…if you recall). But then we became curious and investigated. Turns out those oblong roundish structures are tamarind, and an important ingredient in Pad Thai. We feel much better knowing that it’s a Pad Thai tree dropping those things.

The method by which most guests arrive at this little cove is by boat. It’s also the same way goods and supplies are delivered. Several times daily a small ferry boat pulls up to this floating dock that is a confusing blend of an ingenious design and a carnival experience where skills of balance and agility are tested. Passengers disembark with suitcases and children in tow, then they must walk the length of this floating dock as it rises and falls and sways with the crashing waves. Welcome to Ao Vongduean (Vongduean Beach). We watch, amused by the newly arrived as they try to make their way to shore. Once they step foot on the sand they tend to appear happy to be here! And we are supremely happy to be here! We love the island of Ko Samet.

The walking BBQ beach lady.

The sand bubblers.

There are no automated forklifts here—just humans, loading and unloading supplies!

The tree turds (which turned out to be tamarind)

Tamarind tree.

This ownerless beach dog camped out under our table all day.

It’s feeling coastal and tropical now! Swimming & seafood!

The heat was very intense yesterday and today. So hot that the moment we stop pedalling we drip sweat. It’s quite embarrassing really, standing in Amazon Cafe waiting for Strawberry Cheesecake Smoothies along with the others who look all cool and smartly dressed while we make puddles on the floor. Nevermind that…

The coast is different from other parts. That’s the thing when you ride your bike across a whole country…you become very aware of subtle regional differences as they slowly transform. Along the coastal roads we now see mangroves and little villages tucked among them. Fishing boats are colourfully dotting rivers and other waterways, wooden homes are built up high on stilts in the water. Fish markets are everywhere, and it’s a seafood lovers dream. Jumbo Prawns (like 8”!), crabs of various colours, squiggly squid, big round glittery fish, long skinny silvery ones, and they are fresh! In the beachside town of Laem Mae Phim Beach where we stayed last night the seafood restaurants are literally side by side, lining the whole street along the beach. There are big tanks of live seafood in front of them. You just wander up and down the street perusing the restaurants, point to any live seafood that catches your eye and it will be cooked fresh for you on the spot.

The greenery at the side of the road looks jungle-like as we hug the coastline. The trees are tall, the twisty vines wrap around and overtake everything, and there are tropical sounds emanating from deep within. We hear new bird sounds down here, audible but not visible.

Most of yesterday’s route was along the “Scenic Route” which is a marked cycling trail that provided a cycling lane for maybe 50km. Financial prosperity seems apparent along the coastline—there were plenty of gorgeous homes to be seen. Refreshingly, they were not overtaking the authentic Thai feel of the villages and towns that we’ve come to love.

Last night we engaged in conversation with a Swedish man who has been living and working in Thailand for 30 years. We asked him one of the burning questions that’s been on our minds. How do locals deal with dogs? Well, he had a solution. A taser! A small portable pocket taser! We want one of those! Apparently they work. (I wish we had one weeks ago) Just the sound alone sends the dogs away. Not sure if it’s a universally accepted solution, but we’re open minded here!

We saw what must have been the biggest banyan tree ever! They are already big and majestic with uniquely ornate twisting roots. But the one at Kung Wiman in Ban Nong Nam Khao Beach was something else. Banyan trees are visually spectacular and are common here. As they grow they shape themselves into inseparable, interwoven trunks and branches, twisting and coiling around each other and things around them.

Today we took a ferry the the island of Ko Samet. It’s an open-air wooden vessel that certainly would not meet any version of Canadian safety standards but it was a great ride. To board we just stepped across the 3ft gap between the dock and the boat hoping we wouldn’t fall in, and the workers managed to slide our bikes onboard and wedged them up against the seats. As we approached the vessel to board, a whole bunch of passengers had these incredulous looks of “holy cow, you guys are coming on the boat with those? Where are you coming from? Where are you going? Omg!” Needless to say there was some lively conversation on the hour long trip over to the island.

What can we say about Ko Samet? There are resorts, plenty of them, but they don’t have that “resorty” feel. They are harmoniously and naturally sharing the environment with Thai citizens living their traditional lives. And there’s the ocean!! Glorious, blue-green warm salt water. A sandy beach that you can walk into barefoot and the water is so warm you can just float around all day long and never want to get out.

We will float on the ocean and relax like lazy bums for three whole days. Life is good.

Us with Lotte and Seppe

Fresh seafood tanks outside one of the many restaurants at Laem Mae Phim Beach

Apparently there are two, not just one, grade-percentage here in Thailand. Every other sign we have seen has said 8%

On the ferry to Ko Samet

A new type of lizard/gecko we haven’t seen

Dinner on the beach!

The super big banyan tree at King Wiman Beach

Randy….smiling even though he’s melting in the heat.

A really big umm…. lady—awaits visitors at Ko Samet

Our beach at the resort—pretty much devoid of tourists. Likely due to the COVID pandemic that has recently been declared.

Passing time while rain passes. Lotte and Seppe. A wedding, and cannonballs at the pool. We have arrived at the Beach!

Yesterday we left Chanthaburi and only travelled 3km before we noticed the gloomy grey sky. There was rain on the horizon, the first we have seen in four weeks here. We decided to pass time under the shelter of an outdoor restaurant where the menu was a mystery to us, but we were hungry. There was a woman cooking something so we indicated we’d like some of what she might be making and we waited to see what would materialize. Randy got a bowl of noodles and broth with a chicken leg inside of it (this is normal here) and there was a deep fried wiener on a stick as well as some sort of chicken balls. All yummy! A few gentlemen dining nearby prepared to leave after about 20 minutes. They went and spoke with the owner, and after a few moments they approached our table and gifted us some little covered dishes containing something that looked white and creamy. We had no idea what it was but surely it would be delicious and we were very grateful for their thoughtfulness and kindness. The Thai people are so wonderful, everywhere we go.

In four weeks we have only seen one other cycle tourist. Imagine our surprise when we were standing outside of our hotel checking in and suddenly we notice another couple on touring bikes! Of course we stopped and exchanged stories from the road, then later in the evening we met up over a beer to talk more. Lotte and Seppe have been touring in the same way as us, cycling each day to new places, never knowing what the next day may bring. Lotte and Seppe started in Belgium and have been touring for a year. Their stories from the past year are inspiring and we talked until late at night. Perhaps we’ll see them again in Canada some day!

Every hotel we have been to has been almost empty. When we checked in last night it was quite unexpected to hear that the hotel was full for Saturday night. But there was a pool, we were hot and we wanted the single room that remained. In the morning when we woke up we noticed hundreds of beautifully dressed people, happy children everywhere and a bride and groom. There was a Thai wedding taking place and we were fortunate enough to be able to witness some new cultural traditions. Such as being married early in the morning (6:30 am early!) By the time we emerged from our hotel room for breakfast the celebrations were well underway.

It was a rest day for us, no cycling. We decided to spend it at the pool. It was filled with laughing smiling happy Thai children, and we were the only foreigners. At one point Randy hopped into the pool and all the children took notice. Initially they were a little shy, but then he began to instruct one child how to squirt water with just his hands. Suddenly all the children gathered around for the tutorial. Then came the cannonball. It wasn’t long before children were saying “cannonball time” and leaping into the pool making big splashes. They appeared to very much enjoy splashing Randy and Randy in turn laughed along with them. Laughter is a universal language!

We have traversed Thailand from Chiang Mai to the shore of the Gulf of Thailand. We rode 1287km to get here through hot sun, dry forests, unpaved roads, four-lane super-highways, mountains, cities, small villages in the middle of nowhere, and past beautiful orchards of durian, mangoes and bananas. We have reached the Beach!

Thank you to Suehanna (sorry if I spelled your name incorrectly), and all your wonderful nieces and nephews at the pool today. You have made our day happy and memorable!

Our yummy creamy unidentified dessert.

Coke in glass bottles. This is the way it should be. No need for plastic.

Dogs need to be resourceful in Thailand

A windy rainy day with clouds over the nearby mountain—but the rain somehow escaped us!

A bike path along the canal (the first bike path we have seen) in Chanthaburi

A beautiful orchard lined road near Laem Sing

Someone has a lot of bonsai trees!

We are getting closer to the sea!

We have arrived at the sea!

Poor little fishy on the beach.

The wedding

The children at the pool in Laem Sing

Some unusual flavours we never see at home!

Our resort in Laem Sing

Beautiful flowers at our resort (and everywhere in Thailand!)

Tourists in a city of so few tourists

Honestly, we thought there would be loads of tourists given Thailand’s proximity to highly populated countries so closely situated. But alas, it’s not the case. Given that we’ve not been here before we have no frame of reference. Perhaps it’s no longer peak season for tourism? Is it the Coronavirus? In any case, it’s hot & sunny and we had plenty to see in this beautiful city of Chanthaburi. No cycling today. Funny how walking a kilometre or two in the intense heat feels more exhausting than riding a bike for 100km. The heat and the humidity is fierce.

Today we let the pictures do the talking.

Drinks often have these strange gelatinous balls in them. Randy likes them. Ugh!

Shade under a bougainvillea.

The riverfront community

Traditional Thai home (we think)

Laundry hangs anywhere and everywhere.

People’s homes open right onto the street. We walk within inches of people just doing their daily living.

There are no sidewalks to speak of in some places. Randy walks in the traffic lane.

I can’t imagine how it works when someone calls the electric company to say “My power is out”

There’s an endless supply of food products we cannot identify.

Coffee is available in cans. Haven’t tried it yet…

An amazing tree!

Deafening Cicadas, Crabs, and binge-eating at the Night Market in Chanthaburi

The most challenging part of today’s 65km ride was the narrow shoulder we had, primarily due to construction. If there’s one thing that’s been reinforced, it’s to ride in a straight line, don’t weave or veer, keep both hands firmly gripped to the handlebars and don’t flinch when trucks pass. They pass close. They pass fast. There’s a lot of them. Enough said….

Once the construction ended (more than 25k) we were blessed with a wider shoulder and we could relax a little. We passed through quaint little villages where fruit stands abound, mountains could be seen to the left and the right, and there were the Cicadas. First you hear the mild buzzing, then it grows, and grows, the sound explodes exponentially until it’s so deafening we can’t converse. There were a few time when we imagined the villagers would need to use ear protection from the constant strum. Then it would fade into silence. A few kilometres down the road it repeats itself. At the loudest point, with the tallest trees above us we both imagined sprinkles of moisture fell on us…we won’t begin to speculate on that. Best not to think on it too long.

We rolled into Chanthaburi with enough time to go to a restaurant that Trip Advisor guided us to named Chanthorn Prochana. We ordered up the recommended dish that included some “crispy crab” and Chanthaburi noodles. It was as tasty as the reviews claimed, but we were faced with a small dilemma. The crabs were itty bitty guys, and they had all their crispy bodies intact. Do we eat them whole? We can’t possibly crack them open. There’s too many and they are too small. We can’t really ask anyone. We deduced that the intention was to eat ‘em whole. Crunch crunch. When in Rome….(as they say).

The Night Market! it seems as though most cities have one (as well as day markets, and markets of every sort). We sampled BBQ’d crab legs, BBQ wieners, deep fried wonton wrapped sausage, some sort of an egg-crepe with sweetened condensed milk drizzled on it, and fresh pineapple. There were food carts and street vendors lining both sides of the street. Motorcycles, scooters, cars and pedestrians all share the road space along with pop-up tables and chairs for people to dine.

Interestingly enough there were almost zero dogs roaming the streets. (Happy people we are!) Instead, we noticed that cats seem to rule these parts. The Siamese cats and their cousins blend in harmoniously with the environment and people around them. Nice & docile!

Pictographs and the number 5 help us anticipate cold water and ice ahead in just 5km.

Dinner. Some sort of noodles and maybe tofu?

Frozen coconut on a stick

A local cycling club out for a ride.

Randy, buying some sort of meat on a stick.

The pool! The pineapple! The green curry! A great rest day at the “squiggly lines” resort for us…but where are all the tourists?

We had enough of the relentless heat! Our hotel with no name (just squiggly lines) has a beautiful, pristine full size saltwater pool so we decided to stay an extra day and just loaf around. Excellent choice!

Did we mention THE POOL? Omg, what an amazing experience. This morning we meandered out to the pool area to claim our lounger chairs. There wasn’t a single other person that even entered the pool area all day long. We just lay there all day, listening to the sounds of tropical birds in the surrounding trees, swimming and floating in the pool (salt water means we can literally float on the surface!). Randy sipped Chang beer, and we ate pineapple. Lots of pineapple!

Before the pool we had ventured about 400m to the nearby small grocery store and on our way back we picked up some fresh fruit from the roadside fruit stand. We really wanted a pineapple but were concerned about how to carve it with our lame travel utensils. No worries! We pointed to the lady’s knife, then the pineapple to see if she understood our request. And she proceeded to carve that yummy delicious fresh pineapple right in front of us. I’ll never cut my own pineapples the same way again! One pineapple, one mango and 5 oranges later we returned to the pool. Where we speculated…

We pondered… Where are all the tourists? We estimate about 35 or 40 rooms here and yet we could only identify three that appeared occupied. Shouldn’t these resorts be full of travellers from Europe and China? Vacationers? Cycle tourists like us? We wondered if it’s the Coronavirus. The few rooms that have guests appear as though they may be a Chinese family with children all staying together. With nothing but time on our hands we entertained a realistic possibility that perhaps they are stranded here in Thailand, unable to return to China? We’ll never know…

Dinner was excellent and tasty as usual. Green curry, rice, prawns, Chang beer and Pepsi. All served in a restaurant that could accommodate fifty. We were there all alone.

Our gratitude for the most fortunate position in life that we find ourselves, for being Canadians, for having the health and freedom to experience this whole journey is not lost on us.

Shopping for groceries isn’t a spacious experience.

The lovely fruit stand lady!

Lunch! Fresh from the fruit stand.

We opted not to get a coconut (not sure what to do with one) but they did look inviting.

The big saltwater pool at our squiggly lines resort.

Baked prawns.

The sunset from our back window

Gary’s cousin. He wants in.

Elephants and Monkey biz, healthcare the Thai way, pizza due the dog factor, and the squiggly lines Resort. Also….time to talk traffic.

We came all the way here to see things we don’t see in Canada. So far, we’ve not been able to report any elephant sighting until yesterday. They weren’t exactly in their natural habitat. Strangely enough, as we were pedalling down the road we looked up and in the back of an open air truck were two elephants being transported to somewhere. Not something we see at home!

The other wildlife sighting was today as we rode along and spotted a side road that looked intriguing so we hung a left. About 50ft down the road our eagle-eyes that are always scanning for dogs noticed something else. Monkeys! On the road, in the trees beside us, and one just 20 ft away sifting through some roadside debris. Monkeys everywhere! And the locals seemed to pay them no mind. We of course were snapping pictures, hoping they’d keep their distance because we’ve heard they can be very curious and proficient at re-allocating anything they spy that catches their eye. So, we felt it necessary to protect all our bags and their contents by keeping a distance.

Last evening we wandered over to the Big C (again) and decided to look for some antibiotic ointment for Randy’s irritated eye. We located a pharmacist we hoped might recommend something. He looked at the eyeball, wrote a prescription, packaged up some antibiotics, and five minutes and $3.50 later we were done! It really made us ponder the reality of time and inconvenience it would have been at home.

We had a reasonably situated Resort in town last night, near a whole lot of commercial activity so we thought venturing out to a restaurant we located on Trip Advisor would be easy. Not so. After hanging a right to follow a narrow street, about 50ft in a few dogs came at us. They barked up a storm and out came 20 or so of their friends. They had the upper hand…many more of them than us. And they owned that alley. We were not going down there, risking a dog pack attack. So we backtracked and went for pizza at the Big C. We’d been curious anyways about the pizza here. Now we know The Pizza Company has great food but anything that’s not Thai food is on the pricey side. All relative of course….still cheaper than what we are typically accustomed to at home.

Let’s talk traffic. We are becoming pro at this whole left-side-of-the-road thing. We even prefer the divided four-lane highways now due to the fact that that there’s always a slow lane in which all the scooters, motorcycles, and other slower moving transportation modes can use. And that’s where we ride. We fit in nicely. But when we get just a two-lane road the shoulder also seems to shrink and we are sharing the road with very fast moving cars, trucks, tankers, motorcycles etc. without the benefit of any passing lanes. We frequently experience heavy transport trucks passing in the oncoming lanes with no regard whatsoever for giving us a little space. We find ourselves just a few feet away from oncoming vehicles travelling well in excess of 100km per hour all the time! It’s like we become invisible. So, we feel safer in the congested city areas with multiple lanes.

Each day when we have reached our destination we have a procedure we need to complete. Hand-washing the days laundry, charging our lights and other devices, washing water bottles, seeking water to rehydrate with and then start planning the next day. Sometimes we have absolutely no idea where we’ll stay because every Thai sign is just a series of squiggly lines to us. Unless they use pictographs or numbers, all written indicators are meaningless. So today we blew up the google map really big to look for icons that looked like hotels. We spotted a possibility that may or may not be a hotel so we do a Street View, snap a picture of the sign and run it through google translate (which doesn’t work very well). The sign apparently translates to SO219 Arabia Mountain View and said Room Service. Well, that’s the teeny tiny sliver of information we had to go on, hoping that when we get there it’s a place to stay. We lucked out! Not only is it a little resort, but it has a most excellent gigantic salt water swimming pool! We’ve died and gone to heaven. And there’s a mountain view to go with it! We love the Squiggly Line Resort think we’ll stick around a few days. Our legs are feeling the wear and tear of 1200 km on the bike so far.

Breakfast. It was surprisingly good!

The sign for our resort.

Stairs up to a hole in the mountain. Probably a great view but we chose not to subject our legs to the stairs.

The police, who stopped us to check passports, took our mug shots, then got selfies with us.

We are decidedly non-tourists, but we do like our 7-Elevens, takeout food at the Khaohom Resort, Lollygagging poolside, and the little “Big C” experience.

Its hard to compete with the sights and experiences at Ayutthaya, but as we left the area we both agreed we aren’t really the “touristy” type for very long. You’ve seen one ancient ruin you’ve seen em all! Now that we are halfway through our trip we can stop and notice smaller things.

Like 7-Elevens and our dependence on them. In a land where we know not a single Thai word, 7-Eleven feels like comfort food. We choose routes now that will ensure rest stops there. They have all the right things! Air conditioning, an ice machine, pineapple turnovers, cold lemonade, and beer for Randy. Unless of course it’s between the hours of 2 and 5pm, in which case they aren’t selling to him or anyone else. There’s regulations around that, and apparently it’s because they don’t want school aged children getting their paws on beer. Randy feels quite confident that no child, rabid dog or otherwise is getting hold of any beer he be in possession of after a 100k ride (not during a ride, mind you), but he’s not about the change the laws, so he wanders a few doors down and gets his beer from an independent seller who is a little flexible on the issue.

Night before last we checked into the Khaohom Resort and it turned out to be a cute little, super clean, roadside motel-style accommodation near Srimahapho. The operators there spoke no English but we managed to communicate anyways. Too exhausted after our 106k day to seek food so we looked at a takeout menu they had and with the help of google translate selected a dish and hoped for the best. A half hour later the friendly Thai guy on the motorcycle brought our food right to our door with steaming hot pots full of shrimps with glass noodles, along with real plates & cutlery. Such a nice experience. That wonderful young Thai man assured us (with the very little English he knew) that he was there ALL night and would watch our bicycles ALL night while we slept. He then did his rounds on his bicycle, diligently riding up and down the length of the row of rooms (there were only about 10), ensuring ours, and the other two guests’ security.

Yesterday we saw the most crazy busy 7-Eleven. It was at a busy intersection, almost no parking, a steep driveway to get into it, and street vendors were setup all around it, almost right up to the doorway. Pork balls, noodle dishes, BBQ bananas, chicken on sticks, fresh fruit of every origin, bags of strawberries (bought some of those!), clothing enough to dress an entire country, flip flops, brooms, veggies, dollar-store housewares, dried mangos, you name it. There were vendors lined right out to the street and almost a half kilometre down the road.

We had two fairly hard days of cycling. The heat compounds our efforts exponentially. The first day was 106km in 36c heat and the second day was about 63km in the same but the added dimension of strong headwinds. It’s like an open-air convection oven and we are roasting inside of it!

So, when our hotel in Prachinburi showed a pool, we just knew we needed to have a rest day, sitting in the shade staring at the pool, occasionally cooling off in it, and wondering how everyday citizens deal with the heat. Since we could not in good conscience just sit motionless ALL day, we ventured across many lanes of traffic on foot and checked out a Thai shopping mall & grocery store called The Big C. Randy read somewhere that it was a “little” one, but hey….we needed to see how Thai people experience grocery shopping.

The Big C is like an open-concept shopping mall/food court/Walmart-style department store/movie theatre/shoe store all combined. There was a KFC, a DQ, and a Mr. Donut among a whole bunch of Japanese & Thai foods. Parking outside was predominantly for scooters & motorcycles and cars were relegated to the outer perimeter of the parking facilities.

Walking through the aisles of the Big C was an experience. Mostly hunting down snack foods, we saw things that simply don’t appeal to us. Like Basil Seed Drink with Peach Flavor, or the Shredded Seasoned Cuttlefish, or the sheets of Roasted Seaweed. We left the Grilled Seaweed Giant Sheet Paprika Flavor behind in favour of Gummi Bears.

We noticed that ground meats and pork chops etc were sold in a scoop-it-yourself style, much like we do with our fruit and veggies, and then they are weighed. Not quite sure about how refrigerated these meats were, but they did appear fresh.

Prices of things are such that if it’s an internationally recognized brand, expect the prices to be similar to home. Domestic brands that we are unfamiliar with are super-bargains. Shoes were going for about 180 bhat which equates to about $7.50 and there was great selection. Clothes were equally bargain priced.

We typically spend evenings planning the next day. Looking at maps, doing Google Street views, checking out hotels on Agoda.com and looking at weather. Temperature and sunshine don’t vary much. Pure sunshine every day, 35 or 36c. Still not a drop of rain has fallen since we arrived.

The guy we met at a roadside bicycle shop.

The Khaohom Resort

Takeout food! Baked shrimp and glass noodles.

Our Thai menu that we couldn’t read.

The forecast seems pretty consistent

Strawberries! (Not really a bargain…$6 for a kg) but worth every bit!

Weird grey dessert thing at our hotel breakfast buffet.

Our pool at our fancypants Hotel! ($46)

Parking at the Big C

Good thing we have any space in our bags for shopping!

Ugh. Floaties in drinks seem to be popular here

The fresh meat section of the Big C

Giant Milkweed. Growing everywhere here!

Ancient Ruins, a boat ride around the City, and the biggest Buddha imaginable! We looked and played the part of Tourist.

After another night in a traditional Thai wooden Guesthouse we decided to stay an extra day, be tourists, and head for the ancient ruins that the city is built around. They are old, majestic, and mesmerizing. Not wanting to disrespect Buddha at the ancient Wat, we paused at a nearby store to pickup a pair of long pants ($6) with pretty elephants all over them to cover-up my Canadian legs.

Ayutthaya is 70km from Bangkok and was founded in 1350. It was the capital of Siam for 400 years until about 1767. The city is surrounded by waterways, important for trade for hundreds of years. The city fell in 1767 when the Burmese brutally attacked it, much of it by fire.

After the ruins we hopped into a rickety TukTuk to take us to the start of our river expedition through the surrounding waterways. What a fascinating way to see the City! We finally did more than just photograph a Wat from the outside—we took off our shoes and quietly went inside. Absolutely amazing! The Buddha housed inside the Buddhist temple Wat Panan Choeng is one of the oldest, largest, and most worshiped in Thailand. Great. Big. Gold. Buddha!!

After the boat tour we walked the 1.5km back to our Guest House, and passed another market. We couldn’t resist a few chicken dumplings and some fresh oranges. We noticed that most of the vendors were preparing Halal food and the place was busy with locals but very few tourists. They were all at the touristy Night Market a few kilometres away.

It was a great day for picture-taking! So many to choose from!

What a fantastic day—No dog encounters, beautiful scenery, and the historic City of Ayutthaya. We are living the dream!

Every day is different, and this was no exception. Not a single dog encounter. Oh, they were all there, just laying docile on the road—perhaps we are starting to blend a little with our surroundings and they paid us no notice.

With overcast skies most of the morning it looked like it might rain but didn’t. We haven’t seen a drop of rain since arriving. We we’re so grateful for a break from the sun! We made it to our destination with fewer lemonade stops than usual.

Approaching Ayutthaya, we travelled alongside the Chaya Phrao River for some of the 75km. Omg! There was gorgeous, traditional looking Thai architecture lining both sides of the river and equally beautiful gardens. We noticed (as we have for several days now) that many properties had very large water reservoirs (ditches) in in front of their properties. Mamy were filled with water lilies, water hyacinths, and all sorts of various tropicals in bloom.

As we get closer to Bangkok we notice that the greenery is more lush. We are also beginning to see very large corporations and manufacturing facilities. There’s a lot of commerce going on in these parts,

We love flowering tropicals! Bougainvillea are in abundance and especially striking when they are mixed with multiple colours, all in bloom. Bananas are sprouting in trees, mangoes hang from branches. We are far from home, that’s for sure!

There are literally Wats in every town, and always impressive. Today we happened across a few that just made us stop pedalling, get off our bikes, and take in the spectacular elaborate details. Wow….just wow!

The Night Market in Ayutthaya was a feast. That, and many other experiences today are best described with pictures!

An outdoor gym. This one looks a little better than others we have seen.

Bougainvillea

Boring grey buses are not a thing here….

Thats a gorgeous riverfront home!

Bananas!

Lazy dog (we like those kind)

Randy is buying some jack fruit

Pink eggs are a “thing” here

The things in front look gross and we don’t really want one.

Beautiful Roads, (“beautiful” now means fewer dogs), and resort-ing it in the City of Sing Buri.

The “beauty” of our days are directly proportionate to presence/absence of aggressive dogs, while either cycling or making our way on foot. They are everywhere and it’s a real deterrent to exploring as much as we’d like. We make road and route choices hoping to minimize encounters. They seem more prevalent on city streets. However….yesterday there weren’t many. We enjoyed long stretches of country roads with pretty scenery. After several days of heat and fairly long distances we decided to stay two nights in our resort in Sing Buri in order to enjoy the pool, and our beautiful surroundings.

Our resort is a beautifully manicured place, with a restaurant, a pool. We noticed that there are only 4 rooms that we can see, and there is not one other couple here. We had the pool entirely to ourselves today.

City streets are busy and are always buzzing with activity. There are vendors selling everything from roasted corn on the cob, to watermelons, to bbq fish. Cats and dogs wander in and out of traffic, and motorcycles carry entire families here and there (usually without helmets). They just throw Little Baby in front, balanced between Mom and the handlebars and off they go! Curiously, we’ve also noticed how locals cover up from head to toe with full face masks, hoodies, long pants etc. Obviously not a sun-worshipping society. We sweat just looking at them! 35C here and people don’t seem to notice.

We really feel for those in the tourism industry here. So few tourists, plenty of minimally occupied resorts, and mostly just us and a few visible Europeans when we go to restaurants.

Unfortunately, the only real part of Sing Buri we’ve seen is our hotel and a coffee house a kilometre away. Just too many dogs….

Flooded rice field

Many towns seem to have a beautiful “grand entranceway”

We won’t talk about this….

A bus shelter

Getting closer!

Not sure what the are intended for, but we see a lot of them for sale. We figure they are “portable” wats.

That’s the local variety store where Randy picked up his Chang beer.

Fish at the Amazon Cafe (much like Starbucks)

Our room (on the left)

Big giant fruit hanging from a tree at our hotel.

Lots to choose from on the menu

Our gorgeous room (complete with one live gecko on the loose inside)

Randy tried them.

So many pretty tropicals here!

Sunset, sitting poolside

One fall off the bike, one snake on the road, lots of highway riding today and pizza, Thai-style

We got off to a slow start. About 6k into the ride we were presented with a dirt road to tuen onto. We’re not falling for that again, we told ourselves. The bikes get filthy, we get grimy with all the red dirt, and there’s almost always dogs. So, we backtracked and ride back to the beginning to start over. Once on the main highway (yeah, sometimes we gotta take those!) we pulled over to the side to consult the map and somehow, some way, I managed to fall off my bike again, and injure my wrist again. Twice in as many weeks! Fortunately the lady we’d been talking to was able to provide ice for my throbbing wrist. We had been talking to her for a while. She’d seen us at the roadside looking at our map and walked over with a baby to meet us. We are quite a novelty here, apparently. She wanted to get a picture with us. We’ve had a number of people wanting to get their pictures taken with us. We feel a bit celebrity-ish!

It was a rather uneventful next 90km during which we saw very loooooong stretches of flat roadway, banana groves, rice fields, mango trees, and a variety of small modest villages. We rode through some countryside and nearly ran over a rather large, menacing looking snake. It was curled up on the roadway but looked quite alive, and we didn’t want to stick around to snap a picture.

Sometimes we take highways. Not itty bitty ones like highway 2, but big ones with big trucks exceeding 100k per hour, like the 401. But at least here inThailand there are a lot of road users with scooters and small motorcycles so there is always a very wide shoulder provided where most of the two-wheeled traffic makes its way. So we actually feel relatively safe riding the main highways. They are however, noisy and there’s not much in the way of interesting things to see. Only one nasty dog encounter today!

We were starving by the time we checked into our hotel. It’s easy enough to locate hotels with maps.me, but in practical terms it becomes a challenge actually locating it in person. There’s rarely English on a sign, and that applies to resorts. Tonight’s accommodation took a very long time to locate and we’d been standing right on the street in front of a laneway that led to the hotel and we didn’t even know it because the sign was in Thai.

After checking in, we went for pizza (it was a stroke of luck to find that place!). Not sure what to expect when they took our order and asked if we wanted cheese on it. (Really? Cheese is an option?) then they asked if we wanted sauce (again, really?). In any case, it arrived and by “sauce” we discovered they meant ketchup which nicely decorated the top in a pretty swirl pattern. But it was tasty, we were starving, and it went down fast!

And now we are in a city called Uthai Thani (usually unable to remember city names, we just kept referring to it as Uma Thurman all day) about 200km from Bangkok. Not sure where we’re headed next, but every day is a new adventure.

The nice lady who brought me ice for my wrist who wanted a family picture with us!

“Shots of fruity power” (frozen treat from 7-Eleven)

The sign to our Hotel (I wish I could read squiggly lines)

The hotel is a collection of mini-cabins. We are Cabin #5.

Pizza with the “sauce and cheese” options.