Gentle Hilly Road – Simply cycling around

Ban Nong Bua Khok > Ban Kok Lurk (54km)

Today is the last day I’m cycling on a “quiet” road. It’s not quiet all day, there is still some big trucks but mainly it’s still enjoyable. I’m approaching the highway I left at Khon Kaen by doing a detour. Even before this city, when I was cycling on that same highway, the traffic was very light and the road very wide. There was no really big cities too so I didn’t feel I should absolutely another way. There was a lot of Amazon Café along this road too. But of course I’m getting closer and closer to Bangkok and the traffic density is increasing. It’s like a funnel and I can not really avoid it unless I do a huge detour. Anyway, I’ve got about 80km of highway coming, so in two days I will be able to get out of the traffic. Let’s enjoy this last “quiet” day then :-)

Khon Kaen, Chinese Park > Ban Non Sawan (34km)

Beautiful sky today! I will have to stop definitely before 11am because if I don’t I’ll melt! Today I met Wimol! You never heard about him but I did ;-) He is a Thai guy we met with Stephane back in Penang (Malaysia). At that time he gave us his address and invited us to stay in case we would come around his living area. I absolutely didn’t know I would finally see him again. Wimol stayed an hour and came back to work. Me too :-) I kept working on my website until the sky urged me to move soon. Another 15km later I was laying down in my hammock in a peaceful spot.

Somdet Park > Nong Thuen, Public Park (56km)

Today I arrived in Kalasin, the second biggest city in Eastern Thailand since I left Laos. Right at on the edge of the town there was another café along the road so I stopped there. Actually I’ve saved most of them on google map so I can easily plan my day. I know it’s not really adventurous but that’s not the goal these days. Mainly, I cycle between 30 to 60 kilometres per day, early morning and late afternoon and spend the rest of the day at my “office” :-) Because of this, you can still read what I’m doing AND I can update technically my website too :-) Anyway, when I arrived in Kalasin, I sent 2kg of stuff back to France. I feel much lighter now! No, not really… In fact, I don’t even feel any difference haha.

Ban Lat Kachoe > Somdet (70km)

Today I’ve done the biggest hill of my trip to Bangkok. After this hill the road will be quite easy normally. Last night a storm came by but fortunately I didn’t find myself in the center of it, just few rain showers. Once I’ve done that “super hill” (which is an easy climb) I enjoyed a long downhill following by a flat road. I arrived at the next Amazon Café this morning and stayed until 6pm. Finally, I’ve found a temple less than 2km away and slept in the garden.

Ban Phongpheng > Kusuman (Thailand) (71km + 3km by bus)

After nearly 2 months spent in Laos (my idea was to stay there only one month at the beginning) I’m back in Thailand for 28 days max, the length of the free VOA (Visa On Arrival). Most of the day, the road was flat and easy but I know some hills are coming soon. That’s a pretty easy day. I feel I came back to civilisation today. Laos was good, and Thailand is different.

Phonsa-at > Namsang (82km)

As you can see, the weather today is a bit, just a bit, covered :-) but lucky me, I didn’t as much rain as I thought. The road was pretty easy today so I did not struggled very much. Sometimes, I get closer to the Mekong and can see Thailand, sometimes the road turns more west and I loose the river for a while. All I’ve done, is cycling, taking pictures and enjoyed this fresh day :-)

Ban Hai > Phonsa-at (91km)

Easy day today but a bit the same all along the way. I did not take much pictures. The sky stayed covered all day but I didn’t get much rain, that was good. I just kept cycling and cycling. Nothing special happened from what I remember. Only two pictures for today.