We solve our mud problem and meet a well-adjusted 14-year-old.

Part of the reason we lingered so long in Bangkok was because I dreaded the long, busy, hot, polluted, and confusing ride out of town.

But it wasn't so bad. The overcast skies kept us from feeling the worst of the tropical heat that always seems so much worse in cities. We had a few maps and between them found a relatively quiet route out. We went mostly through residential areas instead of industrial ones.

Passing through a university suburb, we rode down a street lined by modern, new 10-story building with attractive office space along the ground floor. The strange thing was that almost all of the buildings looked abandoned. They had never been occupied. Weeds grew in cracks in the sidewalks, glass windows and doors looked like they hadn't been cleaned in months or years. Maybe the development was completed just as the economic crisis hit, or maybe it was just a bad idea.

We pedaled about 40km before we got out of Bangkok's urban reach. In the Chao Phra Ya River valley we found smooth, flat, two-lane roads with excellent wide shoulders. It reminded me a little of Indiana an hour outside of Chicago. The smaller towns were centered on a mix of agriculture and industry.

People found us fascinating again. In Bangkok we had gotten used to being treated just like more tourists. Now on the road, we got lots of waves, friendly honks, and thumbs up. When we stopped for food or a drink at food stalls, the workers smiled at us and tried hard to understand us. We were relieved. A big change from Bangkok. (Of course it would be better if we knew how to speak Thai).

(Service at more expensive restaurants in Southeast Asia is very formal. The wait staff is trained to carefully place a fork here, a knife there, coffee here, a soda there. All one at a time and very carefully, always serving from the same side. It's very painful to watch someone spend a full minute placing cutlery in particular proximity to our plates. At one restaurant in the Philippines, a waitress drove Joan nuts by constantly refilling her water glass from the right, even though Joan was sitting against a wall to the right. To pour, the waitress had to stand behind Joan and put her arm around her. We miss diners where silverware and plates are all splashed on the table without ceremony.)

The first night out of Bangkok we ended up in Ayutthaya. We met some young Aussie women at the hotel. They told us about the great places they had visited. Their energy and enthusiasm were inspiring. They had been in Thailand two-and-a-half weeks and were flying back to Australia the next day. That meant during their whole trip, we were mostly just lying around watching HBO in our hotel room in Bangkok.

One of the women had lived in the Philippines for a year. She wasn't thrilled with it. She thought it was way too dangerous for bicycling. I'm glad we didn't meet her before we went.

When she came home from the Philippines she had a slight American accent (Filipinos speak American English). Some Aussies thought she sounded like a Yank. She said she was "Horrfied!" to be mistaken for an American. I'm sure she didn't intend any offense but it was hard not to be a little hurt. More than a few Aussies have told us, meant as a compliment, that we don't have that 'twang' other Yanks do. Hey, who's got a twang? We keep wondering what people think Americans sound like if they don't sound like us.

The next day we toured the wats (temples) of Ayutthaya by bike. Ayutthaya was once the capitol of Siam and is loaded with ancient and newer wats and palaces. Nothing remained except low brick walls along the ancient foundation of the oldest wats. Our favorite wat had rows and rows of Buddhas wrapped in orange saffron robes. robes were even wrapped around broken Buddhas. Even Buddhas that had completely collapsed--arms, legs and torso in a pile of rubble--had some saffron cloth wrapped around the parts.

The wats offered elephant rides but we were too cheap to buy one. This was the first place in Thailand we saw elephants.

That night I finally solved our mud problems. Our fenders were too short, so in rain and puddles we got mud and sometimes freshly laid tar all over our panniers and backs. We've looked for but haven't found good, lightweight half-circle fenders. Finally it occurred to me that I could cut a plastic water bottle in half lengthwise and attach it to the end of the current fender. I cut two small holes in the plastic fender and in the half bottle and strapped them together with a plastic cable-tie. They work great. We've seen a total of two other bikes with the same kind of fenders, both in China. (Later Eric had to put a bigger tire on his rear wheel, and it rubbed on the fender, so now we've got the mud problem all over again. But mine lasted through Thailand, Laos, China, Tibet, Nepal and France).

The next day we rode our second longest day yet, 130km to Chai Nat (Our longest was 150km up the flat east coast of Malaysia. The road rash from that ride lasted for months). Fortunately the road remained flat and had a wide shoulder. A new superhighway ran parallel, a few miles east, so the old road didn't get much traffic.

We ended up at Chai Nat. It quickly became one of our favorite towns in Thailand. The previous town, Sing Buri, scared us a little. The highway through Sing Buri was lined with tents and sheds shading food stalls, clothing stores, etc. We passed through during the hottest part of the afternoon and lots of dust was in the air. We've been in Asia awhile and we're not that picky but these foodstalls seemed especially dirty, so we found a cleaner place to eat a block or two away from the highway. (I noticed on the way out of town that they were building a new market, which might explain why the shops were in such temporary structures). We worried that Chai Nat would be the same.

It was the opposite. It had the cleanest night market I can remember in Asia. The town was another Mayberry. As we rode down the relatively quiet main street, a man on a bicycle told us where the hotel was and then escorted us there. After we showered we ran into him in the market. He and a friend worked a softdrink stand. We found out that he spoke English because he spent several years driving a truck in Saudi Arabia. His friend offered me some Whisky. I would have tried some except the container he poured it from looked like a paint can. He used the bottom of a plastic water bottle for a cup.

In the market we saw a tray full of golden grilled pig ears and a complete pig face.

Joan wanted a haircut. As we waited in the barber shop a 14-year-old kid came in to talk to us. He was studying English and spit out a couple phrases and then giggled and retreated, singing Thank You, and bowing with his hands together in prayer fashion (classic Thai "Thank You") , as he retreated to his home across the street. He did this several times. He told Joan she was beautiful (Joan: I love this country) and he pointed out his sisters, who were across the street and asked Joan if she thought they were beautiful. "Yes, very beautiful," Joan said, though we could only make out two dim figures in a shadow. He thanked us again and giggled and ran away. Imagine a 14-year-old like that.

The barber turned out to be a bit of an artist and took forever on the guys ahead of Joan in line, so we left without getting her haircut. (Joan: I was hoping for a one-minute razor-job like Eric got in southern Malaysia. This guy took about 40 minutes! on one guy and had more in line. Then I decided I might need more hair on my head by the time we get to the Himalayas anyway).

Next: Amazing traffic circles of Uthai Thani.

Northern Thailand Main Page   World Trip