November 16, 2022
Sankhaburi to Uthai Thani
Rice, Rice, Rice
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We're already getting into a nice pattern of waking at 5AM or even a little before that, eating our wonderful breakfast in our room in our bowls and then heading out by about 6:15. We kind of have to do that because the humidity is so high that we have to at least try to wring out some miles while the temperature is still in the 70's. Once it's in the 80's it's pretty awful because the humidity is in the 90's. I'm surprised how well I'm dealing with it but poor Andrea sweats so much that she is soaked within minutes of our starting out. Fortunately the scenery takes our mind off the discomfort for the most part.
We are still in the flat lands - the central valley - of Thailand. It is so flat that the rice fields cannot be terraced which means they are all on the same level and therefore can be huge. In the north where paddies are terraced and small, the water flows through each paddy by gravity. Gravity doesn't work in the central valley because it is perfectly flat so pumps are used to move water around from paddy to paddy.
This is where most of the rice in Thailand is produced and where a lot of the population lives, or I should say, used to live. A lot of small hamlets have largely disappeared due to people moving to the cities for more opportunity. That means that small plots have been bought up by wealthy agri corporations and consolidated to make vast paddies. Much of the remaining population has become the employees for corporations. Not all, there are still small villages where nothing has changed but for the most part the paddies are bigger here than anywhere else in Thailand.
The paddies, all on the same level and huge, means that rice is not planted by hand here like in northern Thailand where there are small paddies terraced on different levels where machinery does not work well. Also, the labor force to plant rice by hand used to be communal but that has all changed down here as I said, migration to cities.
Here after the harvest of a crop the rice stubble is plowed under using tractors and then the area is flooded and let to sit for a week or two while the stubble rots. Then a specialized tractor of sorts plows the very watery mud leveling it all out. The excess water is siphoned off until there is about an inch or two of water. Then rice seed is broadcast into the water using blowers somehow. The seed softens in the water and after a few days starts to germinate. The rest of the water is siphoned off leaving sprouting rice seeds embedded in the mud. This is a critical time period when water is not welcome because the tiny plants need to spread their roots down as deep as possible into the mud. This takes a week or ten days. Only then can more water be flooded into the paddy but not a lot at first. It seems to be a delicate balance for the first few weeks. After that lots of water is welcome in the paddies for the rest of the life span of the rice. I hope this is interesting.
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So, we've been riding through a lot of rice paddies in these various stages. I don't know how many crops they get down here but judging by the heat and humidity I'd say two crops per year minimum and most likely three. It's the rice basket region of Thailand - the prosperous region for some people. One of the main reasons Thailand emerged to be as prosperous as it is is because of rice production. I believe it used to be number 1 in the world but now they are 6th. Rice easily grown in the central valley is the reason the Thais are the dominant group in Thailand. It's very much the same in Burma for the Bamar people are the dominant group there because of the very similar central valley great for rice production. It's all very fascinating to me because I grew up in Minnesota and the only rice I heard about was wild rice grown by the native Americans way up north.
Because we are seeing a lot of rice I just thought I'd mention a bit about it. We have never cycled through this part of Thailand and I didn't really realize how flat it was. I mean, I have not gotten out of one gear yet! It may be hot and humid but the flatness is a great way to start your bike trip especially if you have not gotten in shape like we hadn't.
We passed through some small communities where everyone seems to grow beautiful flowers. At one point we were slowed to a crawl by a herd of water buffalo walking down the road. They are so timid and cute. We stopped way out in the rice paddies at a surprisingly modern little coffee spot and had tasty lattes. The Thais have really taken to coffee in the last few years and are producing some of the best coffee I've ever had. The young people are really into drip coffee now and we see coffee places everywhere but this one way out in the countryside surprised us.
Then we made our way to our destination for the day, Uthai Thani, a town we knew nothing about but as soon as we rolled in I fell in love with it. Most of the central downtown area is made up of old teak buildings. After we got a guest house we rode around town a bit. We walked through the night market section and saw that there was a Chinese stage and temple with a lot of unexplained ceremonies happening. We are often in the dark about such things because in these towns that we go to, where no one speaks English, we have to figure things out ourselves and we are woefully unprepared to do that! But I was excited to be in Uthai Thani, a town not too small and not too big.
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1 year ago
lovebruce
Today's ride: 30 miles (48 km)
Total: 134 miles (216 km)
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