Ride 4: Prachaup to Bang Sapan

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Late start meant the heat was already turned on before I got on the bike. I was expecting a 100 km bike ride today but as I left the town there was a pleasant sign saying that it was only 87km (it all counts). I had picked a mid way point in case the heat was too much that I could stop of at instead of going the whole way. The mid way point was also a beach town so I had pictures of sitting down by the beach having some food waiting for the mid day sun to pass by. It wasn't long out of the town that the hills started. Nothing massive but with a heavy bike and baggages on the back any sort of uphill is a struggle. This ride is a bit of a blank too. Nothing much to report on when riding on the highway. The scenery started to get better. The number of houses between towns became less, which meant less dogs chasing me, and the amount of time riding through forest increased. The riding started to get a little bit enjoyable.
By the half way point the hills had been quite small so I was feeling ok. I turned off the highway and headed about 5kms to the small town I was aiming for. The town wasn't exactly what I was expecting. it was about 3 kms away from the beach so there wasn't any beach side cafe for me to sit down at and sup a cafe late. There was nothing at the beach in fact so I headed back to the town. At this point I still hadn't been brave enough to try the street carts for food so finding something to eat in this small village was a little tricky. I rode through the town until I saw a place with a bench outside. I pulled over and went in but it turned out to be more of a bulk buy shop. I found the package which was smallest amount I could buy (4 bottles of orange) and went and sat outside. The orange turned out to be a cordial with chopped up orange sweets in it, thats the closest I can to describe it.It was quite horrible but I still drank 2 bottles.
The second half of the ride become a lot hillier. There was one climb that must have been a few kms long that was a bit of a struggle. Again, a bit of a blank as I went into survival mood "turn legs, turn legs". After that it was a down hill ride into Bang Sapan. The town itself was 10kms off the highway. I had to stop several times on that 10km stretch as I was a little saddle sore. Once I reached the town I discovered that similarly to the half way point town that this town wasn't on the beach either so I had to continue on to look for a hotel along the beach. There wasn't much out by the beach, a couple of hotels and a rubbish covered metre of sand so I headed back to the town. The 87kms had somehow become 108kms. I found a hotel just on the outskirts of the town. 700baht, not bad. I checked in, showered and went for food. Walked the whole length of the town looking for a restaurant with a picture menu, nope. It was my first time that I had to go local. I picked what appeared to be the cleanest looking place. Nobody spoke any english. There was a pointing in the direction of a big pot and she said "rice shop", I nodded and sat down. rice soup indeed is what it was. it had some sort of meat in it, a egg and some herbs and spices. Tasted pretty good, I had a second bowl. Cost less than $2 for two bowls and a large bottle of water. Nice.
Back in bed by 10pm to wake to a downpour. Good time for a sleep in. Rest day in bang sapan it is then.
Ride 4 done.

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Comments

[Kellie]

About time you ate local you big girl!