Bicycle Touring to Australia: Thailand, Saraburi to Samut Songkhram
My latest bicycle touring to Australia update: cycling through Thailand on Thursday, the 2nd February 2012. Saraburi to Samut Songkhram. 117 miles. I made good progress this morning, and I was in Bangkok by midday. And as usual, I got lost! Although I quite enjoyed it today. My diversion took me through Chinatown, and all the lanterns were still up from the Chinese New Year. I did get a few strange looks, though, when I cycled through a pedestrian zone, whoops!
Just as I was heading out of Bangkok, there was one hell of a thunderstorm! When it started, I was quite pleased. After all, it was so hot and muggy it cooled me down. It also served to wash some of the dust from the bike that I’d accumulated in Laos! And one of the delights of cycling so close to the Equator. Is there’s no need to bother with waterproofs. It’s so warm that everything just dries out so quickly.
My joy didn’t last! The rain just got heavier and heavier, and I had to take shelter under the awning of a shop, along with several other scooter riders. The rain was so hard that it was impossible to see across the road. Along with the rain, the wind got up, and there were claps of thunder and lightning all around! It was almost biblical!
The Suns Out
After about fifteen minutes, the rain started to ease off. But where was the road? It had disappeared under about a foot of water! The water was flowing down the road like a small stream. But about a mile down the road, you would never have known it had rained. Everything was bone dry again! I had one or two more showers this afternoon, but nothing as heavy as the initial one.
The last twenty miles today were tough going. I was surrounded by salt flats as far as the eye could see. And there was nothing between the sea and me and nothing to stop the wind. But maybe the wind wasn’t that bad it was more that I’d cycled nearly a hundred miles! I was glad to finish. Although that wasn’t as straightforward as it usually is!
The first hotel I stopped at was in a sort of motorway service area, so I didn’t even have to divert off the road! But the landlady wanted me to leave my bike in front of the hotel, with nothing to lock it to. Needless to say, I left there. Luckily, I found another hotel just down the road and the bikes in the room with me.
Tour Information
It’s been years since I took this ride, but the memories (and the data) are all archived:
- Photos: See my photos on Flickr
- The route: View my journey around the world
- Videos: Check out my YouTube videos
- Tour page: Ride overview
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