Day 1: Rang Sit to Ayutthaya

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.