Recently in Cycling Category

Distance biked: 100.22 kms / 62.28 miles
Time on the road: 4:58
Total Distance biked: 790.86 kms / 491.42 miles
Total time on the road: 38:54

The Riverside Guesthouse was a beautifully designed and decorated place owned by a friendly Belgian woman. The rooms were comfortable and no shoes were allowed to be worn inside because the building was made of rich, dark teakwood and is easily damaged. I went to bed that night looking forward to a good night's sleep. Unfortunately, just as I was dozing off a dog started barking right under my open window at about 10:30PM. I lay there patiently waiting for the owner to come out and take care of the situation. Half an hour later the dog was still barking (and barking constantly) so I stuck my head out of the window and "shushed" into the darkness. Silence. Then more barking. Frustrated I went back to my bed thinking "How am I going to get enough sleep? Why doesn't someone come out and do something about it?"

At midnight, after an hour and a half of non-stop barking I was exhausted and, not thinking rationally, stuck my head out the window and yelled "WILL YOU SHUT UP?!?" The dog kept on barking. Exasperated, I went downstairs and found that the owner was awake (probably wondering why the American was yelling out of his window at midnight) and I asked her if she could do something about the dog next door. She went outside the property and "shushed" at the dog too. Now three dogs started barking. She offered to move me to another room further from the dog. I gladly accepted and at around 1AM I finally drifted off to sleep to the distant sound of barking.

After lacking the strength to make it smoothly up the previous day's hills I chose to get a bit of a late start. At the guesthouse I ordered the American Breakfast of eggs, toast, croissant, coffee and freshly squeezed orange juice. It was pretty filling and, taking a few photos of the place before leaving, I got my things together and started back up highway 11 which would bring me to Chiang Mai.

The ride to Chiang Mai was pretty straightforward - a few hills here and there for the first 50 kilometers but nothing like the day before. The last 50 kilometers were as flat and straight as the southern plains were earlier in my trip. I got into Chiang Mai around 4:30PM, found the "Your House Guesthouse" where Megan stayed a week earlier, and booked a room for 3 nights. I had a feeling I'd need to rest for a few days before attempting to take on the ride up to Chiang Rai. From my map it looked hillier than anything I had experienced so far.

But for the time being I was comfortable and had a nice place to stay. I ordered a full dinner at the guesthouse and had a Singha beer to celebrate the completion of the next-to-last leg of the journey and called it an early night.

Distance biked: 101.61 kms / 63.14 miles
Time on the road: 5:46
Total Distance biked: 690.63 kms / 429.14 miles
Total time on the road: 33:56

I awoke with the sunrise after a hot, restless night's sleep in my hammock and got on the road at 7AM. The big hill I saw the night before didn't seem nearly as menacing the next day and I climbed it with relative ease. After riding for two hours I was finally out of the forest and stopped at the first store I saw. It was a small place and they didn't have a wide selection of food so I bought what I could for breakfast - a can of Sprite, some cookies and these Thai doughnut-like sweets. Not a particularly nutritious breakfast but after only having a Power Bar for dinner I wasn't going to be picky.

After a short rest I got back on the road and headed up highway 11 towards Lampang. I stopped again at one point for a Coke and to get out of the sun. I asked if they had any water because my supply was running low again. The old woman running the stand indicated that there was some behind the shop that I could help myself to. I walked around the side of the building and couldn't find any water tap or cooler - just chickens and some rubbish bins. She came around the corner and pointed towards two large round terra cotta vessels and I looked into the murky water with skepticism. I asked her "Ok to drink?" and did a drinking-like motion with my hands to my mouth. She nodded. Doubtful, I took only a few scoops of the grey water (one of which contained a dead bug) and probably wouldn't have taken any except she was standing there watching me and I (foolishly) didn't want to insult her by refusing it.

I got back on the road and biked for a few more hours knowing that somewhere ahead lie the "three challenging hills" Mr. Pumpy wrote about in his description of the route. I hit the first of the three "hills" at high noon (which oddly seems to be the time of day when I encounter the most difficult part of any ride). The road wrapped itself around the hill in an upwardly spiraling manner like a corkscrew. The road was so steep that the cargo trucks climbing next to me were in their lowest gear, spewing out plumes of thick black smoke. The idea that "one man's hill is another man's mountain" popped into my head. Maybe this was just a hill for Mr. Pumpy but it felt like a mountain to me and my legs.

I turned a corner and could see one or two kilometers of road ahead. It kept going up and up and up and went out of sight around a corner. Did this thing ever end?! I finally had to stop and rest and took a seat on the concrete wall on the side of the road. It was 1:30 and my energy was flagging. My "breakfast of champions" of Sprite, cookies and doughnuts hadn't provided me with enough power to do this kind of physical work. I sat longingly watching the traffic drive by. People were in their air-conditioned cars smiling, listening to music and some of them were drinking and eating. Occasionally they'd honk and give me a thumbs-up. "Easy for you to say..." I thought to myself.

As I sat there I fanaticized about waving down one of the many pickup trucks going by to see if I could put my bike in their empty truck bed and catch a ride over the hill. While this sounded nice I ultimately decided that I'd get over the hill by my own power even if I had to do it little by little. Thankfully I had an orange and some bananas in my bag which I purchased earlier in the day and I ate them hoping it would give me the boost I'd need to complete the hill.

I got back on my bike and started moving upward slowly. I tried to find something to focus on like a signpost and would say to myself with the cadence of my pedaling "signpost, signpost, signpost." Once I reached the signpost I'd rest a bit and look ahead to find something else to focus on as my goal, like a red flag and would say "red flag, red flag, red flag." Like this I climbed the hill.

I'm still not sure if it's better to know how long an incline will go on for or if it's better not to know. If I had known how big the first hill was I might have felt that I could never make it. But I did make it and was happy that the first of the three hills had been conquered. As I was cruising down the other side I thought to myself "Now, that wasn't so bad was it?".

I pulled into the first stand I saw and sat down dripping with sweat and feeling shaky with hunger. I ordered a bowl of Thai noodle soup which is standard fare at many of these roadside establishments. According to Mr. Pumpy there were two more hills ahead but I wanted to know where exactly they were. I asked the shop owner what the road between there and Lampang was like. He indicated that it went down at a decent grade. I asked him about any hills. He said there weren't any hills. I was doubtful and, looking up the word for hill in my dictionary, I asked him in Thai. He again said it was all downhill to Lampang. I was elated! Maybe Mr. Pumpy was mistaken or maybe that one really big hill was actually made up of three separate hills and I failed to notice.

It's much better to have low expectations and be pleasantly surprised than it is to have high expectations and be let down. Mr. Pumpy wasn't mistaken about the number of hills ahead and soon after leaving the restaurant I encountered the second big hill. I was really looking forward to a good night's sleep at a guesthouse in Lampang but I felt that I didn't have the energy to take on this long, slow hill so I rode my bike down a dirt path to look for a place to camp. I came to a clearing and tried to find a spot to set up my hammock. There really wasn't a place suitable and a voice in my head encouraged me to at least try to make it over the hill. I pulled myself together and followed the path back to the road and started to climb. The climb actually wasn't that bad and I made it over without too much struggle.

At 5:00 I saw a sign saying that Lampang was 12 kilometers away. I would be there soon! Then I saw the third and final hill. The first part of it looked to me to be so steep that I wondered how any vehicle could make it up it. My legs were fatigued, my moral was low and I was tired and dirty. It was unfortunate to be so close to a nice, comfortable bed, a shower and good food but not be able to reach it. I wasn't going to ask anyone for a ride - I wanted to get there on my own even if that meant I'd have to do it in the morning. I saw a dirt road leading down through an orchard and it looked like a nice place to camp so I steered my bike down the path and started searching again for a place to spend the night. I thought it would be only farmland but there were a few residential houses nearby. I decided that if I were going to camp in the area I'd better ask for permission first.

I approached the first house and greeted the young men who were sitting on the front porch. They became silent as I approached but nodded at me. I explained that I wanted to camp nearby for the night and wanted to know if it was ok with them. One of the guys spoke English pretty well and said that they were only workers and I'd have to ask the owner. He took me behind the house and called out to someone. An old man, maybe 70 years old, came out and the worker and he discussed the situation. Turning to me, the worker said "Lampang is only 10 kilometers away. Why don't you ride there?". I told them that I knew it was close but that I'd already ridden 90 kilometers that day over many, many hills and didn't have the energy to do this last one. I told him I'd be able to do it in the morning after a good night's rest. He seemed to empathize but there was a tangible tension in the air.

Clearly the owner of the house wasn't comfortable with me staying on his property and I didn't want to inconvenience them any further so I wheeled my bike away saying "It's ok. No problem. Thank you." and resigned myself to struggling up the last 12 kilometers. It was rush hour and the hill was full of traffic and I wasn't fond of the idea of people staring at me on my bicycle panting, sweating, cursing and crawling my way up the hill. With no other option, I put my bike in lowest gear and started up. At that moment the worker rode up behind me on his motorbike, grabbed the back of my bike rack and started pushing me up the hill! We took off at a good 30 KMH! Yes, I felt a little ridiculous and I'm sure the people in the cars next to us didn't quite know what to make of a foreigner on a bike being pushed up a hill by a moped but I really didn't care anymore - I was going to be in Lampang! Showers and comfortable beds here I come!

I pulled into the guesthouse around 6PM, checked in and immediately hopped into the shower to wash off two days worth of sweat, road grime and suntan lotion. Afteward I felt like a new man. As I was eating a delicious dinner of veggie pizza and fresh salad I felt it hard to believe that only an hour earlier I was looking for a place to set up my tent with no hope of having any dinner or a restful night's sleep. I went back to the guesthouse with a content stomach and got into bed, amazed at how a single day can seem to hold a week's worth of experiences and emotions.

I arrived in Chiang Mai late yesterday afternoon but I have a few days worth of updates to do so I'm going to post one a day over the next couple of days until I'm caught up and rested and ready to head up to Chiang Rai. Also, the total time and total distances below reflect my riding around Sukothai visiting the temples, etc.

Distance biked: 114.32 kms / 71.04 miles
Time on the road: 5:51
Total Distance biked: 589 kms / 366 miles
Total time on the road: 28:10

I reluctantly left the Ban Thai Guesthouse in Sukothai early the morning of Thursday, May 26th. It was a nice place to stay with friendly staff, comfortable rooms and delicious homemade food. I decided to customize my route from that of the one Mr. Pumpy followed from Sukothai. I instead opted for highway 101, skipping the city of Uttaradit which wasn't in my guidebook and where Mr. Pumpy said he spent the night on the floor of a cafe by himself. I figured if I was going to end up sleeping on the floor someplace I might as well do it closer to the next point on my route - Lampang.

So, up highway 101 I went and entered an area that, from the official looking signs posted, appeared to be a national forest or park. At 11:53AM I hit some big, steep hills and I had to start climbing. I hadn't had much of a breakfast (the usual 7-11 fruit yoghurt drink) and I began to run out of energy around 1PM just as the sun was really fired up. Also, as soon as I entered the park no roadside shops were anywhere to be found which meant my water supply was getting low quickly. Reluctantly, I asked some people I rode by for a few cups of water from their jug which they happily gave me. The hills kept coming and I continued biking past 2:30 but still didn't see any shops or roadsigns letting me know I was getting closer to civilization. Traffic was almost non-existent too so there wasn't anyone to ask.

I rode past an official looking station of sorts and a guy out front in a camouflage t-shirt waved hello to me. I waved back and almost kept going but decided that maybe he could tell me how long the forest went on and how long the hills would continue. I got off my bike and wheeled it up the dirt path to the station. He was friendly and when I asked for some drinking water his colleague offered to make me some food which I at first politely declined but, my hunger getting the better of me, I finally accepted and had a plate of rice with spicy vegetables with about 6 glasses of pure drinking water.

The two guys spoke only a little English but communicated to me that they were forest rangers and were responsible for protecting the area and other kinds of ranger things. When I asked about what the road ahead was like and when I could expect to be out of the forest they told me that it went on for another 25 kilometers and that I had quite a few hills ahead of me. A bit dispirited I thanked them, filled up my Camel Bak, took their photo and hit the road not really sure if I could make it another 25 hilly kilometers.

At 4:30 I rode around a bend and saw one of the biggest hills of the day in front of me. I felt that I couldn't go another inch and decided to pull off the road to try and find a place where I could camp for the night. I saw a dirt path leading up to a clearing about 200 feet from the road and went to check it out. It appeared that the plot was being prepared for some future use because the ground was leveled and most of the trees had been chopped down and the area seemed to have been burned recently. I decided that it was far enough from the road that no one would see me and yet I was close enough that I could get out if need be. I unpacked my Siam Hammock and, because I had already slept it as a tent, I set it up as a hammock with mosquito net and rain fly.

At about 6:30 the sun was setting and I decided to turn in for the night. I used the remaining sunlight to write Megan a letter and to record the day's riding statistics and my expenses. It was pretty hot in the hammock because the mosquito net was pretty thick so I decided to take off my shirt and sleep in only my cycling shorts.

As darkness fell the sounds of the forest around me began to change. All the night creatures started to emerge and make themselves known - mosquitos, crickets, spiders, etc. Then I heard two roars echo from across the valley. It wasn't a lion kind of roar but it was definintely feline and it didn't sound like any small cat. I was a bit worried that I might look appetizing hanging between two trees only 2 feet off the ground protected by nothing other than a thin layer of nylon. I quickly got out of the hammock, packed my bike bags onto my bicycle, put my clothes back on and got my flashlight and the big LAPD knife my brother Dave gave us as a wedding gift. I was prepared for anything. I got back into the hammock and was resolved that if that panther/mountain lion/house cat came anywhere near me I'd be forced to take action. I'm sure it would have been frightened more than I as I went running and yelling out of the forest trying wave down any passing vehicle for help. I imagined trying to explain to the poor, unsuspecting person I flagged down that there was a big scary animal in my illegal campsite. I probably would have had to imitate it - making claws with my fingers and doing some kind of cat-like roar as I took swipes at the air. I'm sure they would have understood perfectly.

Thankfully for me (and for the animals of the forest) there were no nighttime visitors to my campsite and I awoke with the sunrise the next morning. I laughed at myself for being so easily spooked and, since my bike was packed from the night before, I bundled up my hammock and headed out to tackle the rest of highway 101.

Distance biked: 64.69 kms / 40.2 miles
Time on the road: 3:04
Total Distance biked: 444.5 kms / 276.2 miles
Total time on the road: 21:00

Ok, quick update tonight - not much time left at the cafe and I've got to go pack for my early morning ride. The trip from Phitsanulok to Sukothai was a short one but because I got a late start that morning it was one of the hottest days yet for me. I've learned that the difference between getting on the road at 6:30AM and 9:30AM is huge. I can usually cover a good 35 miles in the first 3 hours of riding if I start early when the sun is low and air is still cool. If I wait until 9:30 that means I'm biking my first hours through the hottest part of the day. It pays to get going early.

I had to stop many times during the 65 kilometers to Sukothai. Luckily there are petrol stations about every 10 kilometers and lots of little roadside stands selling iced coke in between. At around noontime the sun was out in full force and I actually started to feel chilly which I decided wasn't a good thing so I pulled into a petrol station to find some shade and cool water. Through these pit stops I've learned the Thai word for hot - "lorn" - because everytime I pull into a station the attendants invariably will come over to me and ask me in Thai if it's "lorn" out there on the road. It's sometimes hard for me to communicate for the first few minutes because of how hot I'm feeling and how much the sweat is pouring off of me but eventually I get around to chatting with them and telling them where I'm headed. After sitting in shade for 30 minutes drinking cold water and sticking my head under the faucet I'll shove off and go as far as I can until I need to pull over again. It makes for slow going sometimes but it's really the only way to do it at this time of year.

So originally I was going to just spend the night in Sukothai, skip all the ruins and the ancient city and bike again the next morning. But the guest house I'm staying at - Ban Thai Guesthouse - has a nice, homey feel to it and I realized that it was kind of ridiculous for me to come all the way to Thailand and not spend any time visiting its historic sites. So I booked a room for two nights and pushed my departure back to Thursday morning.

At the guesthouse I got talking to a Canadian guy named Sean about his travels and what his travel plans are. He'll be touring around Thailand for the next few weeks - up to Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai and then all the way down to the southern islands and then later will cross into China. He's been on the road since January. We decided to explore the city a bit that night and had some good food from the street vendors and delicious Thai desserts.

This morning we set out for Old Sukothai on our bikes - me on mine and him on a rented one from our guesthouse. We visited some really beautiful and impressive structures. You can see the influence from many different cultures in the buildings. Some Khmer temples that existed in the area were simply taken over by the Sukothai people and converted into Buddhist wats with viharns (worship halls) slapped on to them. It's really interesting to look closely and see where different cultures meet - mixing and blending into one another - in the stone, brick and mortar.

On our way back from Old Sukothai the clouds started darkening and a major storm was brewing in the west. We decided to chance it and just as the first few drops began falling we took off for our guesthouse with 14 kilometers ahead of us. We rode hard the whole way back to the new town with the storm right on our tails and lightning and thunder all around us. We were going a good 19 kilometers an hour and the storm must have been progressing at 18. We were lightly rained on the whole way back but as soon as we pulled into the guesthouse driveway and were under the cover of the restaurant the skies opened up and down came the rain in floods.

Tomorrow I'm off for Dong Ya Thao, a tiny little town on my map at the intersection of routes 11 and 101. It's not in my guidebook and I'm pretty certain it's nothing more than small little village and there won't be any hotels. As Megan says, maybe they'll at least have a tennis court.

From the Corrections Department
So, I was wondering why whenever signs said a city was 30 kilometers away my bike computer would show that I traveled only 18.6 kms when I arrived. Well, I wonder no more. For some reason my bike computer shows speed in kilometers per hour but my tripometer is in miles. "KMH" is shown on the speed screen but no where is "miles" indicated for distance travelled. I just assumed it'd be kilometers. Anyway, I've gone back and adjusted all my past distances.

Day 3: Chai Nat to Nakhon Sawan
Distance biked: 60.92 kms / 37.86 miles
Time on the road: 2:45
Total Distance biked: 239.56 kms / 148.86 miles
Total time on the road: 11:27

After my ride on Saturday I slept in a bit Sunday morning and got on the road (highway 1) at around 9:00 after a quick yoghurt shake at 7-11 (which is everywhere in Thailand). It was a short, but very hot ride to Nakhon Sawan. It really felt like the sun was baking everything around me (and I was feeling the heat too). There wasn't a map for Nakhon Sawan in my guidebook so, using my Thai-English dictionary, I asked a motorcycle cop if he could tell me where the tourist information office was. He didn't speak much English but indicated for me to follow him as he rode to the office with me in tow. Unfortunately (or fortunately) the tourist office was closed and I sat on the steps debating my next move as the officer drove off. I noticed that about 100 meters away there was a Coca-Cola stand next to some tennis courts that looked pretty inviting. Thais have this great way of serving Coke. They get a plastic bag, fill it full of crushed ice and then pour the bottle of coke into the bag and give you a straw. Somehow it's much more refreshing that way.

I rode over to the stand, ordered a coke and sat at a small metal table nearby. Business was slow so the owner came over and started talking with me in Thai with a little English mixed in. Again, my dictionary was very helpful and I told him about my ride, our honeymoon trip and showed him pictures of family and friends I had brought with me. He was a really nice guy and we had a lot of fun communicating.

I told him I was looking for a cheap guesthouse for the night but he said he only knew of expensive touristy ones. I mentioned that I had a hammock/tent with me and asked if it'd be possible to stay at one of the Buddhist wats (temples). From what I understood it sounded like it was possible but might be complicated. Then he asked me if I wanted to stay at the tennis court that night. I thought it sounded like a good idea and said "OK." By that time a few tennis players had shown up and started discussing with the shop owner my plans for cycling up to Chiang Rai and my spending the night at the tennis courts. A guy named Jeed took charge of the situation and phoned the court manager and squared things away for me. It was settled, I'd be spending the night up on the second floor where spectators usually watch the tennis matches. Jeed then asked me if I'd like to join him and his family for dinner. He had a 10 year old daughter whom he wanted me to meet and help her practice English. I didn't have any plans for the evening so I said I'd love to meet his family.

We drove into downtown Nakhon Sawan, had a nice dinner and then Jeed told me that it was Visakha Puja, the day of Buddha's birth, enlightenment and death. Jeed asked me if I'd like to go with him and his family to the Nakhon Sawan Wat and take part in the ceremony. I'd never been to a Buddhist service and I told him I was excited for the opportunity to go.

The first thing I noticed as we approached the wat was the sweet smell of incense floating through the large golden gates. The sound of monks chanting over a loudspeaker could be heard as hundreds of worshippers walked in a clockwise circle around the wat with lit candles and incense and a lotus flower in their hands. It had an almost magical and carnival feeling to it. Everyone, from the youngest children to the oldest adults, was excited to be celebrating the most holy day in the Buddhist calendar. When the monk started chanting again Jeed led us 3 times around the wat and then we bowed three times before the large Buddha statue and placed small bits of gold flake on a different Buddha. I'm not sure what it all meant but it was fun to be included in something that was so special to them.

I met Jeed again this morning at 6AM as he unlocked the gate at the tennis courts. Before leaving he gave me a necklace with a picture of a very famous Thai monk on it. He said it was for my protection as I travelled. I thanked him again for his hospitality and pedaled for highway 117 which would take me north to Phitsanulok.

As I said, biking in Thailand has been great. The worst part (other than really hot days) is the amount of roadkill that litters the highway. What I mainly see (and smell) are snakes roasting in the sun. They're really big snakes too - the kind you'd see in a zoo. This photo shows probably the biggest snake I've seen yet (be warned: it's not a pretty picture). The thing was at least 3 feet long and a good 2.5 - 3 inches in diameter. And while I was having lunch today at a roadside cafe one of the workers came by with a plastic bag on a pole and in it was a long, dark snake that was still alive. I asked the waiter if it was poisonous and he said yes, it was. It certainly makes me think twice about just pitching my hammock-tent in any old place along the road.

Day 4: Nakhon Sawan to Phitsanulok
Distance biked: 140.23 kms / 87.14 miles
Time on the road: 6:29
Total Distance biked: 379.80 kms / 236 miles
Total time on the road: 17:56

I couldn't have asked for better weather to cycle in this morning. It was overcast but without the threat of rain. I made really good time up until about noon when the sun came out in full force. I tried to keep my body temperature down by taking quite a few breaks and sipping cold water from my Camel Bak. I reached Phitsanulok at 3:30PM today and registered at the Youth Hostel here in town.

Tomorrow I'm going west over to Sukhothai, the capital of Thailand from 1238-1376. It's just a short ride from here and hopefully it'll be a cool morning.

Distance biked: 128.74 kms / 80 miles
Time on the road: 6:13
Total Distance biked: 181.85 kms / 113 miles
Total time on the road: 8:42

Ayutthaya was an interesting city to spend a day and a half exploring. The ancient wats fill the main part of the island-town but most have been almost completely destroyed during the various battles Ayutthaya witnessed over the last few hundred years (mainly at the hands of Burmese armies). There were hardly any buddha statues with their heads left intact as the Burmese were particularly effecient in decapitating them.

I spent the morning wandering around Wat Phra Mahathat but took shelter when the daily thunderstorm rolled in. It rains hard every day for an hour or so but the torrents cool everything down nicely and blue skies return soon after. After seeing the wat I headed over to Viharn Phra Mongkol Bopit is a replica of a typical Ayutthayan viharn and holds one of the largest bronze Buddhas in Thailand. There were lots of Chinese tourists/pilgrims visiting the statue on the same day and it was interesting to be able to identify them as Chinese by hearing some familiar words.

Today I woke up early and did a quick last look through the city before heading north on highway 309 towards Sing Buri. I was surpised to reach Sing Buri at 11:30AM after riding only 46 kilometers. I had lunch (a double helping of rice Pad Thai) and decided that I was up for a longer ride so, checking my map for a bigger city where I could spend the night, I set out for Chai Nat.

Chai Nat isn't in my guide book so I wasn't sure what I'd find here but a nice lady at a filling station along the way told me that it had plenty of good hotels. She was a retired English teacher and spoke very well. She was extremely nice and we sat and chatted while I cooled off in the shade. When I went to leave I tried to pay her for the bottle of water I got from her store but she refused my money. This level of hospitality is indicative of our Thailand experience so far.

I found a hotel for 200 Baht for tonight (it's more than what I wanted to pay but they wouldn't bargain with me and I was pretty tired from my ride). I just finished having dinner in the night market before coming to the internet cafe. Outdoor markets are my favorite way to eat a meal. You walk around buying big or small dishes from different vendors and get a good taste of many different foods. I'm never quite sure what I'm going to get (unless I wimp out and order Pad Thai) because I usually point at things and hold up my index finger indicating I'd like one of whatever that it is. I've yet to be disappointed by this method.

Tomorrow I'm heading off for Nakhon Sawan, another city that's not in my guidebook. It's written in pretty large letters on my map so I'm betting that means it's a decent sized city. Who says I'm not good with maps?

Distance biked: 49.88 kms / 31 miles
Time on the road: 2:31

I found it hard to sleep last night as I was feeling excited/anxious about my trip in the morning. Would I oversleep and miss my 7AM train? Would I be stuck in traffic or get lost in the tangle of streets and alleys of Bangkok? I shouldn't have worried so much because of two reasons 1) one of the loudest thunder and lightning storms I've ever witnessed rolled through town at around 5AM so I was wide awake when my alarm went off and 2)finding my way to Hualamphong Train Station was a piece of cake. I even got to the station with enough time for me to have an early morning iced coffee from Dunkin Donuts (yes, they have DD in Thailand - and I thought it was only a Massachusetts thing).

Per Mr.Pumpy's recommendation I decided to take an early morning train out of Bangkok so I wouldn't have to battle with thick traffic for the entire first day of my ride. I caught the number 111 train to Rang Sit which is roughly 50 kilometers from downtown Bangkok. The train pulled into Rang Sit at around 8AM and, after collecting my bike from the luggage car, I put on all my gear and headed up highway 1, following the signs to Ayutthaya.

Highway 1 was a full on multi-lane highway with lots of buses, trucks and commuters which didn't make for pleasant riding. I knew ahead of time that it would be a really busy stretch of road but I wasn't prepared for the amount of times I'd have to cross lanes to keep going in the right direction. Luckily the left hand shoulder was nice and wide the whole way so I stayed in the breakdown lane, relaxed as much as I could and focused on the road ahead. The thing that made it all bearable was knowing that this was going to really be the only day of serious highway riding. After today the roads will have a lot less traffic and I should be able to hear myself think.

It only took me 2 and a half hours to ride the 30 or so kilometers to Ayutthaya. I found a cool and cheap place to stay called Tony's Place. I got my own room with a fan and a shared bathroom for about $3.75 US (150 Baht). I'm challenging myself to see how cheaply I can travel during the next few weeks. Unfortunately that means no more Dunkin Donuts coffees (I just saw that there's one here too).

I'm staying in Ayutthaya for all of tomorrow to ride around and see all the Wats and old temples that dot the city. Saturday morning I'll get on the road again early to beat the heat and head on up to Singburi.