June 8 – U Thai Thani
Thanks for writing so quickly again. It's fun to get your e-mails when I arrive in each new town. Today I cycled about 90 kilometers to a town called U Thai Thani. I biked into it and and confronted by a maze of streets with no signs in English. I unsuccessfully asked several people where a hotel was and spent more than a half an hour looking (in a scorching noontime sun) until I finally ran across a building that looked like the Sheraton. Turns out it actually was a hotel (it had no English sign so I had to go inside to find out). It is a fancy place that costs $17 a night. Since I doubted I could find anything else I took it. Boy am I getting to be a big time spender. It sure feels wonderful to take a shower and get de-slimed every day about noon when I find a nice hotel.
I then took a long walk around town and stepped into a place with tinted windows that had a Heineken sign on the door. Turned out it was a bar run by an expatriate from Houston. The only patron in the bar was a merchant marine from Tacoma. They told me that they are the only two Americans that live in the entire area (they are both married to Thai women). I spent the next three hours in animated conversation and will be going back there later tonight. I got a real sense of Thailand from an expatriate’s perspective. They both love Thailand as a place to live. The thing they both missed most about the States was Mexican food.
I am into a biking routine where I just ride hard from about dawn (6:00) until about 11:00 or noon. I then find a hotel and relax for a couple of hours after which I walk around town and check things out. I feel pretty comfortable walking around when I am clean and am wearing non-cycling clothes. It's a lot easier to walk around these towns than it was the Turkish and African towns. No hassles and lots to look at. And, of course, the markets are wonderful to wander through.
June 8
I checked into the youth hostel (my own room with a ceiling fan for $5) after splurging at the $12 a night high-rise hotel last night. I was so utterly exhausted when I arrived in town that I just stopped at the first sign that said "hotel" and was willing to pay whatever they asked. I then had supper at their restaurant and ordered filet mignon ($3) - I got a beautiful piece cooked in mushroom sauce but I was so wasted I could barely eat half of it. I had biked 183 kilometers through completely flat, almost featureless terrain from before dawn until after dusk.
This morning after I talked to you I waited for the local shopping mall to open and then ate at Pizza Hut - God was that good! I really needed some western food that was prepared the way I like it. Thai food is great but I get tired of it quickly. I wish you were here because you have a lot of interests in things that I don't. I get in kind of a rut when I am cycling alone. I more or less bike without stopping, rest in my hotel, go to the internet and then wander around the town for awhile before returning to read in my hotel. I think I will start doing more when I get in places with more scenic beauty. There are a lot of national parks up in the mountains (which I will be reaching the day after tomorrow).
So far I have biked 455 kilometers of completely flat farm land. And I thought North Dakota was flat! The roads are generally excellent – most of the time there is an 8 foot shoulder. The traffic is ok in the towns, as it is fairly easy and safe to ride with the flow (because the traffic does not move very fast). On the other hand, it is almost impossible to cross the street - there are just hundreds of mopeds going by. I don't think that an elderly person would ever be able to cross some of these streets. Also, they make no concessions for pedestrians - no walk/don't walk signs, in fact when you are walking you can't even see any of the street lights.
I have stopped at a lot of wats (the Buddhist temples) and am duly impressed. The monks really have a wonderful presence about them. I see them every morning walking into town with their alms bowls. When I stop at the wats, they are generally cleaning the place or meditating under a bo tree. Communication has been a problem because outside of Bangkok almost nobody speaks a European language. Even the Thais that know a bit of English have a lot of problems with the pronunciation (they have a problem pronouncing two consecutive consonants) and I can't understand them. It's really too bad because I have had a number of people try to converse with me.
June 10
I did plenty of socializing at the youth hostel yesterday. There were five other people there, all from England. One of them was a woman our age whose job is - get this - aromatherapy for horses. Anyway, she pretty well talked my ear off for about three hours. It was fun to hear her stories though. The other Brits were younger backpackers but I had a nice time talking to them also.
One problem I had with the hostel was that the fan was not sufficient to cool off the room so I slept poorly. I am getting really spoiled here - but it is the hot season and so I guess I shouldn't feel too bad. I rode some back roads to Utradit today and had a pleasant ride (even if it was 122 kilometers, about 40 more than I thought it would be). I've found the best maps available and they really are pretty poor. I had to rely on my compass several times today. You definitely can't tell which direction you are going from the sun, particularly at midday. In fact, at noon I looked down and I had no shadow! The sun was directly overhead.
The scenery along these backroads is more tropical with lots of banana and palm trees - very lush vegetation. The houses are built on stilts and a lot of them were surprisingly modern. This is not like Zimbabwe - a lot of people here are obviously well off, even if they just farm rice.
When I arrived in Utardit I had my usual problem finding a hotel (you would not believe how hard it is to find things when everything is written in a barely decipherable alphabet and nobody speaks English or any other western language). I was looking for a room at the local college that the Lonely Planet recommended. Anyway, I finally spotted the classiest hotel in town, a 10 story job and went there to ask directions. They were so desperate for business they offered me a room that normally goes for $50 for $12. Well, I couldn't pass that up! So I have this room with a fabulous view of the city - and it sits right over the ultra modern mall. So I am in fat city again. It's kind of nice going in the off season.
I bought some unknown cooked meat along the road today. I thought it was chicken but I am not so sure because there were so many bones. Then I ate at the food circus here in the mall - rice with a whole slew of unknown ingredients. It was actually very delicious (it cost 50 cents - the big piece of meat I bought on the road cost 12 cents) and extremely spicy. But I like it hot, so it was great. I think I am going to return having eaten all this Thai food without a clue as to what it was. I've tried all the fruit that is in season and I don't really like any of it. They do have small watermelons that are sold in the big supermarkets in town but I can't find them on the road. I haven't seen oranges, mangos or papaya, and I've only seen apples (red delicious) in big supermarkets. This is a real problem, but I don't know what to do about it. You are right about the steak. I doubt that I will be eating any more steak on this trip (although I am sure I will eat pork). I haven't had any sunburn problems, partly because there is almost always some cloud cover. That is one advantage in cycling here at this time of year.