a few days cycling in Thailand
I've been cycling in Thailand for the past six days, beginning in the Northern city of Chiang Mai and travelling over the mountains to Lampang and now onto the Central Plains town of Kamphaeng Phet. So far, we've travelled 560 kilometres on a variety of roads, from the main highway over the mountains to quiet back roads in parts of the country that rarely see tourists. Today, on one such road, every child who saw us smiled and called hello. Even a bunch of roadworkers seemed thrilled at our appearance, all waving and smiling as we rode past.
I've cycled in Thailand before, but I'm always amazed at the quality of the road surface - smooth with a wide shoulder, perfect for cycling. On one section of road today, there were two wide lanes in each direction and a shoulder large enough to drive a truck. I kid you not. We could have ridden three abreast if we'd chosen and still not infringed onto the dual carriageway. This was not a main highway, but a secondary road.
Every few kilometres, no matter where we are, there is a simple store selling food and drinks. Sometimes it's only a shanty-built shop operated by an old man resting in a hammock under a tree. He sells items that appear mystifying to we Westerners. Yesterday, there was a stall selling what looked like shreds of paper in a large plastic bag. It was a taro-based sweet that is much enjoyed by the locals. In fact, I sometimes think the national food of Thailand is sugar. In the market just down the road, you can buy freshly sliced fruit wrapped in a plastic bag, with a small sachet of sugar attached, just in case the mango or dragonfruit isn't sweet enough. Sugar syrup is added to iced tea, all juice drinks and many desserts.
We had fantastic roast chicken from a ramshackle highway stall yesterday. I asked the owner his secret and he readily confessed to four added ingredients - pepper, garlic, soy sauce ... and sugar. The cost of the whole chicken cut up into sections and served with steamed rice? A little over three dollars. In my spare moments after a long day in the saddle, I wander the aisles of the 7-11 store admiring the prices. A bottle of Chang beer - $1. Three hundred ml of Yakult (for drinking after too much spicy chicken) - 30 cents. The cost of a double room in the best hotel in town - $35. A black bean and coconut ice-cream - 50 cents. What more could a cyclist need?
We stop regularly to look at the beautiful Wats. Today, Cathie and I were industriously taking a photo of ourselves in front of a ten metre long reclining Buddha, covered in gold paint. It was very impressive. A smiling monk came up to us and pointed towards a large building a few metres away. We bowed and followed his directions. The building housed an eighty-metre reclining gold Buddha. His prostrate form was perhaps ten metres high. It was like standing next to a 747 in the shape of Buddha. Surrounding this Gulliver of a deity were numerous jade and gold Buddhas. The Buddha dated from the 14th century. This was a priceless treasure we were walking around, all for free, all with the good graces of the monks who live in the complex.
We hop back in the saddle and pedal away slowly, ready for the next treat up the road - a stall selling Pad Thai cooked to perfection; a Chedi dating from the 15th Century; a water buffalo languishing in a roadside canal or a giggling waving burst of school children calling out 'hello' to the strange falang people riding across their beautiful country.
Every few kilometres, no matter where we are, there is a simple store selling food and drinks. Sometimes it's only a shanty-built shop operated by an old man resting in a hammock under a tree. He sells items that appear mystifying to we Westerners. Yesterday, there was a stall selling what looked like shreds of paper in a large plastic bag. It was a taro-based sweet that is much enjoyed by the locals. In fact, I sometimes think the national food of Thailand is sugar. In the market just down the road, you can buy freshly sliced fruit wrapped in a plastic bag, with a small sachet of sugar attached, just in case the mango or dragonfruit isn't sweet enough. Sugar syrup is added to iced tea, all juice drinks and many desserts.
We had fantastic roast chicken from a ramshackle highway stall yesterday. I asked the owner his secret and he readily confessed to four added ingredients - pepper, garlic, soy sauce ... and sugar. The cost of the whole chicken cut up into sections and served with steamed rice? A little over three dollars. In my spare moments after a long day in the saddle, I wander the aisles of the 7-11 store admiring the prices. A bottle of Chang beer - $1. Three hundred ml of Yakult (for drinking after too much spicy chicken) - 30 cents. The cost of a double room in the best hotel in town - $35. A black bean and coconut ice-cream - 50 cents. What more could a cyclist need?
We hop back in the saddle and pedal away slowly, ready for the next treat up the road - a stall selling Pad Thai cooked to perfection; a Chedi dating from the 15th Century; a water buffalo languishing in a roadside canal or a giggling waving burst of school children calling out 'hello' to the strange falang people riding across their beautiful country.
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