The call for prayer at 5-something (I had not heard one before in Thailand and had not missed it) and my nervousness matched and so I of course was up before the alarm could ring at 5.
I said good-bye to Babtiste who wanted to stay a bit longer at the hotel and who had to wait for the bike shops to open to get new tubes and a new tyre.
My first stop should be after ~40km at the dental clinic of Pam’s dad and first I had said I could be there between 7:30 and 8:30, but after calculating again, I saw that I would need nearly 2,5 hours. So, I tried to be early on the street and had a ride in the dark that soon became dawn. Because of good roads, not to high temperature, sometimes even tailwind and my ambition to be on time, I arrived there at 7:50.
Pam’s mum came first and she had prepared a package with food, fried rice, sticky rice, fruits and cookies ? – and she was speaking English, more than the whole time we had been in Iconsiam!
Then also Pam’s dad arrived and we took some photos
before they cared for their waiting customers and I went on. I hope, that 2020 the family will come to Vienna (Pam and her brother Santo had been there before, 2014).
I only made my (now) usual stops every 25km, first eating up the sticky rice (wrapped in a banana leaf) and an Rose Apple (Chom-Poo)
And at 50km, I had fried rice and two tangerines and cookies ?
no one was there to tell me that the sunscreen is not apllied properly
Later, I bought a small melon and finally the daily pineapple. The shop keeper cut it for me and the taste was clearly another 10/10. Both the melon and the pineapple had been cut bare-handed and I just hope that the water in a pot they used for washing doesn’t cause any problems.
true colors
When I arrived at the hotel, I had no water left and had eaten the fruits instead, but I didn’t want to buy bottled water close to the end of the tour.
At the room, I again used my filter bottle to drink tap water. I had dinner at the hotel (the prices were the same as at a street-food booth) and could refill my bottles at a water station.
Agoda, the booking platform, had a time-consuming “conversation” with me, because the hotel from last night should replace another hotel and Agoda would balance the higher price.
The strange thing was, that they wanted a receipt for the booking although they themselves had made and sent that. But they asked for a receipt from the hotel, which I have not. And I even sent them photos of my bike in and in front of the hotel to show that I was there. But they stereotypically wrote the same things instead answering my emails.
Tomorrow it should rain. Why? Because I had cleaned my bike. Tomorrow it will not rain! Why? Because I expect rain after cleaning my bike. Tomorrow, HE who decides if it will or will not rain will try not to lose this game.
On the way I had seen one special picture of the king that reminded me strongly on a depiction of a queen being burned (and then becoming holy) in a church of Tbilisi. Unfortunately, I didn’t take a photo at that day.
Sometimes, the Thai sockets don’t keep my plugs. Today, I had to fix this problem with the telephone cable and some weight to tighten it.
