Tag Archives: Thap Sakae

Day 175 – Cool runnings

Awesome limestone cliffs up ahead

Awesome limestone cliffs up ahead

There had been a storm that night, the remnants of which could be felt even this morning. With the temperatures dropped by about 15 degrees, an overcast sky and a gusty wind, we felt homesick for Wellington for the first time in a while.

But it was no good; it was time to leave again. Actually, the cool weather was great for riding. So we hung around just long enough for one more breakfast of Thomas’ home-made bread and got our “horse” saddled. It felt good to be rolling again.

In 18 degrees, this just looked so much like NZ

In 18 degrees, this just looked so much like NZ

The first couple of roadside attractions along the way could not tickle our fancy this day. We therefore stayed on the main road north until we came upon the Khao Sam Roi Yot National park. We turned off the main road towards the coast for a little 60 km detour through this park and the region around. This time, we were quite chuffed about our decision to do so. Jutting limestone cliff all strewn around a flat freshwater wetland. The view was great, much better than sticking to the dual carriage way of the main road all day.

It was here that we finally had some sense and got out our wind and water proof outer jackets we have been carrying tucked away since that one time in Sumatra. A wise decision indeed. This, in combination with the audio book (Book 2 of the Barthemaeus trilogy), got us into an almost zen-like riding mode.

Time for a HOT chocolate, me thinks :)

Time for a HOT chocolate, me thinks 🙂

This might also be the reason that once we reached our rough endpoint for the day at Amphawa (famous for it’s floating markets, which were not on today) we decided to … ride some more. The selection of hotels seemed much better at the western outskirts of Bangkok. Just another hour later, it turned out to be true. We even only got to experience a very small bit of famed Bangkok grid on our way there.

Nina’s comment: We were really happy with riding the bike today but as soon as we got back into towns or cities, accidents seemed to happen. We stopped at a roadside motorcycle shop to buy some chain oil when a scooter with two young ladies on it turned a corner, didn’t watch out for traffic or just simply didn’t care and pushed another scooter of the road. The man reacted quickly and was incredibly lucky that he made it up on the footpath which had a very high step here but there he fell. Parts flew off his scooter and I was seriously worried about him until he jumped up and angrily cursed after the ladies who just drove off. The second accident was nothing we witnessed but something that we stumbled upon. We turned a corner and there was a scooter on the ground. It was picked up in this moment by a helper and then we noticed the woman sitting on the pavement. My first thought “Wow, she’s lucky, not even road rash” when we simultaneously realized that her shin looked odd and her foot was an a strange angle…definitely broken. She was taken care off so we passed but I had my fingers crossed for Bangkok because accidents don’t seem like fun at all.

The only fail, really, of this day was our feeble attempt at getting a cheap, vegetarian dinner. After 30 minutes of looking and not finding, we resigned to Nutella toast and snacks for dinner instead.

Overall, we were satisfied though. Cheap, clean hotel and only 50 km to go to the tire shop. What could go wrong?

Day 174 – Ban Krut temple visit

We had obviously needed a day to simply crash so we extended our stay in Thap Sakae for another night to see at least a bit of the surrounding attractions. After a yummy breakfast (Flo had bought me Nutella and Thomas bakes his own bread!), we slowly got into our motorcycle gear. Despite it being 10.30am, you could feel that it would be a scorcher of a day.

Iconic, isn't it?

Iconic, isn’t it?

The Ban Krut temple is only about 25km away but the ride was long enough to get quite hot. The first thing to notice on the temple hill is a giant buddha statue. It looks out over the land in the calm fashion of all buddhas. Around it, there are smaller statues to which you can apply leaf gold and thus do your bit for the temple (and for improving you standing regarding this life and the next). This practise results in a very patchy look of the statues though.

Walking up the hill, we first passed two big warriors or guardians, one of each side of the road. A big, well frequented staircase, then, leads up to the top of the hill with the temple on it.

Dragon stairway

Dragon stairway

As always, removing your shoes is expected but apart from this fact, Flo and I are lacking the knowledge of rules for proper behaviour in a Thai temple. For example, I wasn’t sure if it’s okay to take photos at all. Though I asked a staff member, I was sure I wasn’t understood when I got a “yes” answer…so really I wasn’t any wiser afterwards. So I quietly took some picture, not disturbing any people who were there for prayer and not zooming in on the devotional statues too much.

Soon, we were too hot again and went back our “flat” with just a short lunch stop on the road. The pool beckoned so we jumped in to cool down before using the afternoon for some administration and reading up on the next countries. Apparently, landmines are still an issue in Cambodia so no going off the roads at all…

Sweet concoction - but yummy.

Sweet concoction – but yummy.

Dui and Thomas invited us to a home-cooked dinner. Dui makes this vegetable dish out of Thai zucchini with some scrambled eggs with a sauce and it is so y.u.m.m.y! NOM! In capital letters! Then, we actually drove into town again to have the rich tea one last time. Unfortunately, we didn’t take a single picture of Thomas and Dui… 🙁

 

 

Day 172 – 20.000 miles over land (well, kilometers really)

Waking up to this cool but eerie view.

Waking up to this cool but eerie view.

Getting up in the Khao Sok National Park, we got a taste of why it is the wettest region in Thailand. It didn’t rain as such but thick clouds were hanging so low that everything was covered in fog and thus also quite damp. Though Silver Cliff had been an awesome accommodation with really good food last night, it was slightly too expensive to stay for breakfast. Instead, we hit the road early looking out for a roadside food stall.

The second one we tried had at least coffee so we decided that it would do. Food-wise, only curries were served: Big pots with fish, chicken, pork and beef curries. But nothing vegetarian. Given that I wasn’t that keen on curry for breakfast anyway, I found some sweet buns in a nearby shop. Flo dug into the pork curry in the meantime and was rewarded with a plate full of cucumber and beans as a side and a bunch of bananas as dessert.

The moment when the fog broke ... wow

The moment when the fog broke … wow

After breakfast, the sky started to clear which made for some great shots of the National Park. The road was fun as well so our spirits were high. Leaving the National Park behind, we had to come up with a plan of where to next. A great dam was advertised as a tourist attraction so we went there to have a look. Leaving the dam, we saw that we missed the iconic “55555” on Rocinante’s display by 4 kilometers and then realized that we have made more than 20.000 kilometers on this trip alone now. Continue reading →