Our original plan was to leave for Italy today but when yesterday turned out to be…substandard, we decided to stay the whole day at Christine’s place to relax and catch up with one of our oldest friends. Luckily, Christine, Torsten and their little one were able to host us longer than they had expected. J
ready for second breakfast?
The day started off with Flo making pancakes for everyone (such a treat!) and they were devoured in record time. To be fair, we haven’t had enough sleep as the catching up part started yesterday evening which stretched into the night and then our two rascals were awake from 5.50am onwards when the Agent of Entropy crashed into the wooden train set with gusto and woke us up with a start. The best thing to do to remedy some of the effects of a night with not enough hours of shut-eye was to immediately plan our second breakfast. At 8pm, Flo, Christine and the Agent of Entropy left for the bakery to buy more baked goods for our indulging shenanigans.
Second breakfast started around 9.20am and after so much yummy food we all agreed to go on a walk before taking advantage of the more relaxed Swiss Corona rules and eat out for lunch. As it is with kids though, it took forever to get three of them ready to leave so by the time we were outside we had about 40 minutes left before the aforementioned kids would demand lunch. -.-
Our walk was postponed until after even more food and we headed straight to the restaurant in the next village up. Neither Christine nor Torsten had been there before so it was nice to explore something new with our hosts. This part (or maybe many parts) of Switzerland are very rural so we passed sheep and chickens and a picturesque fountain on the way. All three kids absolutely loved it.
Ohhh, Pizza Batman!
The restauarant…what can I say?…it’s been almost a year since we went out for food. It was a celebration in itself to be able to do this again. Also, the food was delicious, the place kid-friendly (Number 3 had a Pizza Batman and a scoopf of mango ice cream) and our outside seating had just the right combination of sunshine and shade.
On the way back, we then had to hurry to be home in time to get the kids to bed for their midday nap. Well, two out of three kids had to nap. We still took the scenic route home with time for cows, a tractor and all things Swiss. It was a bit of a task to get the kids to calm down enough to sleep but once the Agent of Entropy slept there even was time to play a boardgame with Number 3.
In the late afternoon we went to the playground where much fun was had.
Back home we opted for more food followed vy a much earlier bedtime. J Tomorrow, we’ll head off to Italy…with a detour (back to Germany o.ô) to refresh our rapid Covid tests first.
are you all awake yet?
ready for second breakfast?
hold this, I need to check out the sheep
too steep
Windows XP with cows?
Hey, look, extra energy
these fountain are so cool
ahh, something tooo sseeeee!!
tight lipped smile, bit cold eh?
why is that person talking to us, papa?
Ohhh, Pizza Batman!
Both all go for dulche
Zum Hirschen is a weird name for Italian resto, but the food was good
Looks like the easterbunny came a bit too close to the chickens …
Making hay, litteraly
Practicing for a career as a professional protester?
We also got to get up in one of the most beautiful places we’ve stayed at so far. The night in the four-post bed under a giant mosquito net had been very relaxing but, in the morning, all our worries came back.
Our lovely host had prepared breakfast. I had been so knackered yesterday that I forgot to tell her I’m vegetarian so I couldn’t eat my rice with shrimps and beef/pork. Feeling very sorry for the waste of food I created, I ate more from my, now cold, noodles from dinner.
Things started to move quickly but also not at all. Our mechanic had already called our host to inform us that the bike could be picked up again. He claimed that he had fixed it and to see if it would be okay for longer distances had ridden it 100km to Trat and back in the night. Flo was overjoyed but still picked up a voltage meter to check if everything was okay. It wasn’t. There was too much current going through the regulator/rectifier which, in the long run, would fry the bike’s other electronic parts. Disappointed, we let the mechanic know who took the bike away again.
Unfortunately, the multi-meter had no good news for us
It got later and later and by 11 am, we decided to stay for another night as it didn’t seem likely that we would be able to check out by noon. Around noon, the mechanic returned Rocinante, this time fitted with the reg/rec from his own Yamaha bike. Flo checked it with the voltage meter and it was looking good! To be absolutely certain, we contacted Jonathan again. Jonathan, the electronic’s wizard from Malaysia, had given us a WhatsApp contact so we were able to ask him about this solution. He replied that Rocinante produces too much electricity for the part so that we should try and use as much of it as we can before the reg/rec has to work with it. That means, charging as much as we can on the bike, having the lights on full beam etc. However, Rocinante would ride again!
Hmm, smoothie!
Now we still had half an extra day in Chanthaburi for some sight-seeing and lunch, of course. Our host lent us a bicycle with an extra pillion saddle on it so Flo drove me around town on a bicycle. 🙂 We went back to the little alley at the river side which turned out to be lovely for almost the whole length. Tiny wooden houses on each side of the one lane street, most of them having food stalls on the ground level made for a pleasant stroll. For lunch, we already had the strawberry place from yesterday in mind though. Again, it was delicious and Flo got another strawberry slushie as a take-away.
After lunch, I insisted on a visit to the “sweet @ moon” cafe. Every cafe that has a sign for cake before one for coffee is my cup of tea. 🙂 So we had a pleasant afternoon stop there before heading further into town. Chanthaburi is known for its gem trading which only happens on the weekends, including Friday. Through our delay with a broken down bike, it was Friday today so we intended to check out the gem market.
Food stalls and trader tables all crammed together
It is nothing for the uninitiated. Many stalls, or long rows of tables in shops were filled with traders, many looking at gems through a magnifying glass. Food stalls were scattered in between and the whole street was clogged up with pedestrians. One of the traders waved at us and asked about our whereabouts. Then, he shortly talked about how beautiful NZ is which is the usual reaction that we get.
On the way back, we rode past the cathedral as well which looked pretty in the afternoon sun. The homestay’s deck was a lovely place to hang out but we used the time to check out our financial situation. It looks pretty dire. We’re at the point where we would have to go back to Bangkok right now to fly home to Frankfurt as our funds are just enough for two flight tickets and a crate back home for Rocinante. So we called family and friends to ask for advise and the possibility for loans. We are blessed and privileged to have such family and friends who are willing to give us interest-free credit so that we can, at least, finish the loop through Cambodia and Laos first. We will also set up a gofundme page if anyone would like to help out, even with small amounts.
deck on day 1
Unfortunately, the multi-meter had no good news for us
Deck on day 2
What a lovely place to catch up on our favorite channels
Hmm, smoothie!
We take pictures of cats … that’s what we do …
Wohoo … (confusing the locals in the back)
super cute alley towards the river in Chanthaburi
The important things first …
No, I am not a cushion – just compfortable.
riding a … cat?
They shall eat cake!
Look who is hiding!
easy to chill … with an outside AC going o.O
Food stalls and trader tables all crammed together
Not only a lot on the sign, also quite talkative
The French influence at work.
Rocinante in the driveway of our homestay Banchan 9
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