Simply cycling around
That’s a crunchy, fresh and healthy day today ;-) I would not say organic though (unfortunately), so maybe it’s not that healthy… Well, it doesn’t matter because I’m talking about travelling, not food. Hey hey hey, wait a minute. Food is important too! With bad food and bad luck (like the nice night I’ve spent in that temple vomiting everywhere) you can not travel anymore. So, healthy food + good cycling = nice travel. This is the magic trick :-) Ok, ok let’s start the visit…
Today we are only two people cycling, Pita and myself. Kate and Grandin accelerated towards Bangkok where they have an appointment. We did not cycling much today because we have visited two places: the Sanam Chandra Palace built by King Rama VI and Phra Pathom Chedi the first and biggest pagoda built in Thailand. A slow and interesting day :-) I told Pita we would travel around 50km per day but today we have been quite lazy haha. That compensates the long distance we have done yesterday :-)
First day travelling towards Chiang Mai. Today we left Ratchaburi with Pita, Kate and Grandin. On the way we visited the most famous floating market in Thailand where we had a brunch. Then we kept on cycling towards Nakhon Pathom and reached Grandin’s friend’s house. His friend invited us to stay for the night. Khunoi owns a bicycle shop. He is specialised in rebuilding Retro bicycles. That evening, he proudly showed us what he does which was very impressive.
Well, that’s not the most interesting day to tell today. I’m going to Bangkok. I did not plan to go there first but I must now. The main two reasons are : visa and GPS. There is an optional reason, changing my camera. I’ve talked many times now about upgrading my camera gear. Apparently there is lots of huge shopping malls in Bangkok and few of them a specialised in electronics. If I can find THE bargain MAYBE I will spend lots of money. Nothing is sure!
On the other side, Pita asked to follow me to Chiang Mai. My “plan” changed for a better option : I’m going to Bangkok by train with my bicycle only when all my stuff stays in Ratchaburi. I do everything I want there and then, I will come back to Ratchaburi from where we will cycle to Chiang Mai. That way, I will avoid all the heavy traffic to get in and out the capital and commuting inside Bangkok could be fun. That’s the plan!
Today is a plenty day! Pita did for us a pro tour with lots different things so see and discover. First we worked on her Adobe house this morning, had lunch and hopped on our bicycles again. The original goal was to visit one of her friend who is an expert in Adobe house. He lives about 20 kilometres from where we started. On the way, we stopped first at a factory where they made traditional textile. Then we stopped at two other places where they do the same but handmade. Then we kept cycling and stopped on the way at a brick factory. The guys were very nice and showed us the whole process. Then, we kept on going until we stopped to the place where Grandin (The monk I’ve been cycling with from Singapore to Malacca) built an Adobe house for a friend. And finally, 4 or 5 hours later, we arrived at Pita’s friend property where we had dinner. After that we cycled the 20km back to Pita’s home.
Yesterday, we stayed in the same area and worked on our blog. We’ve done nothing else special. We moved from the beach to a temple nearby the cafe where we have spent the day. Unfortunately this temple was full of dogs again and a simple movement made them bark. Today we met Sebastien again. He invited us to visit a mangrove which has been renovated and is now protected. Apparently, the King launched that project. Good on him.
This area is full of adventurous cyclists. Today we have seen 7 of them! Yes, seven! We did not stop to talk with all of them but we met those two guys, Manon and Eddie from France who have just started from Bangkok. It was just time for lunch so we spent some time together. Then, this afternoon, we kept on going until we reached Pran Buri where we had an appointment with Sebastien, a Stephane’s friend from France who lives in Thailand since more than 10 years. He his a photographer too :-)