Friday December 19, 2014Two days 147 miles We are a few days ahead of schedule so instead of cycling to Bangkok we are headed south away from Bangkok to explore more of Thailand and will turn around in a few days. The riding is simply great through the coconut, papaya, and banana plantations. There are times we are required to be on a highway to find the smaller road connections but that is fine with us. Jocelyn is doing a great job at keeping us off the major roads. We have met a few more cycling tourists.
Today we found the beach! Yes, our first since the Black Sea in Georgia. We swam in the Gulf of Thailand at the end of today’s ride and are staying in a very nice but somewhat inexpensive ($45) bungalow right across the street from the beach. It is the highest we have paid since northern China but it does have a pool too that we enjoyed after the salt water swim. Tonight we had our best Thai food yet and no camera. We had shrimp and broccoli, stir fried vegetables, and a too spicy for me scallop dish. I had to mix it up with other food and it was great.
Tomorrow we continue south for another day or two. We hope the wind changes or it could be a long ride north to Bangkok.
The following four pictures from Jocelyn. A road less traveled. The trucks and buses are very unique in the decorations. The drivers are very polite.No matter where people live in this world they are happy, or seem to be anyway. They all smiled and waved to us.What great Thai food!Temple statues.Wat Bang Phra Temple.A major temple where it is possible to get tattooed by a monk.Large catfish.
Jocelyn received another tattoo. The price – a flower and two packs of menthol cigarettes, 75 bahts or about $2.This is where the tattoos happen. It was very busy. She had no choice on the tattoo as the monk, who spoke no English, decided on an appropriate one for her. This one is for good luck and is called Hah Taew and represents the magical spells of Buddhism which includes fire, water, air, and earth.We have seen several of these lizards in the water and smashed on the road.Another beautiful Thai sunset/Our ark for last night.
Such a beautiful ride today!
Cool carving.A great canoe trail.A mid-morning papaya break.A live one!We ate lunch here. These three women were fishing for these tiny clams and brought up baskets full.We met Jose from Spain off on a tour of Se Asia.The fishing fleet is in.What a beautiful seaside.The beach again!Swimming in the Gulf of Thailand. Wonderful!In the pool too. Our bungalow and covered bikes on the patio. Another well deserved rest for our bikes.In Louang Prabang, Laos we met the Huckleberry Fin of Laos. He also wanted to head south to Thailand on the Mekong River on a slow boat. But since the water level was low the slow boats were only headed north, like we took. So he bought a boat and headed south with a small motor and paddle. Robin from Germany is the ultimate traveler. He made it until his boat was trashed then he simply got on his bike again and continued into Thailand!
