Day 60: Klaeng - Chonburi - Frankie goes to.....Indochina

March 10, 2018

Day 60: Klaeng - Chonburi

Routing: #344

I still didn´t have a real plan regarding the next few days when I left the hotel in Klaeng this morning. This hasn´t happened to me for ages and I don´t feel uncomfortable with it as such but meeting up with my Californian friend Bob in Bangkok is a must-happen for me and I really want to let him know by tonight when and where this may happen.

The #344 starting in Klaeng is certainly not a bad alternative for rolling towards Bangkok when coming up from Cambodia and/or the southeastern beaches of Thailand where I have just been. I have done the coastal route via Rayong and Pattaya before but didn´t enjoy it at all. You couldn´t be more wrong when hoping for a pleasant ride along some beaches there. From Rayong on it is mostly going past industrial compounds or over-developped tourist resorts and I guess I don´t even have to comment on Jomtien or Pattaya. Not my cup of tea anyway.

Today can hardly be called a "lovely ride" too but I personally don´t mind these Thai dual carriageways. Reliable wide shoulder in excellent condition and the fast flying traffic next to me is no real concern as I fully trust in the Thai drivers. Accidents can happen anywhere but I will talk about this again later. The #344 is not an easy way to go either, at least not for the first 65 km. Rolling countryside without any real difficulties but demanding all the same. And the wind coming towards me certainly didn´t make it easier. But I am in geat shape and have even modified my seat position for this stretch until Hua Hin. I really want to get this behind me as fast as I can and putting the saddle a couple of centimeters forward with the tip of it one cm down at the same time; the stem slightly lowered and the tyres inflated at their maximum capacity allows me to kick bigger gears and roll considerably quicker than my usual travel speed. That´s one of the reasons why the 104 km today were dealt with in only a bit more than 5 hours. And I really enjoyed this hard pedalling. Not the last 15 km into Chonburi though. The road itself is completely flat here but they have sacrificed the shoulder for a third lane which makes for an unpleasant approach in the dense traffic.

After having crossed the intersection with Hway 3 I stopped at a police checkpoint and asked about a hotel. They directed me to the Sang Tong Hotel (Saeng Thong on google maps) and I am delighted with my large fan room for 280 Baht. Perfectly positioned as well and I had a great afternoon and evening walking along the three parks and dining in the nightmarket right in the middle of the parks. Currently I am finishing off the evening in the open hotel lobby typing this while the boys from the staff are screaming their heads off while ManU is beating Liverpool. I am thoroughly enjoying my time in Chonburi!

And I made my decision regarding Bangkok! I just booked my hotel in Bangkok´s Chinatown (the one featuring Bob´s bike) for three nights and one of the reasons to do so became obvious to me when I rolled towards Chonburi. I mentioned the unpleasant dense traffic but it has got one advantage: They have to drive slow whereas on Hway 344 they were flying past me at high speed all day and I kept thinking: Hopefully none of them looses control or has been drinking! The possible impact gives you more of a chance at 50 km/h than at 120 km/. So I thought rolling right through the middle of Bangkok might even be the safest option I have...... Wishful thinking!

I told you I never lost a single Baht while travelling in Thailand/SEA. And at the same time I have noticed this several times now: The spare room keys for the cleaning ladies, all accurately labelled, were openely lying on a desk all night. Nobody takes advantage of it, amazes me!

And that´s probably the weirdest religious place I have been to: Thousands of roosters along the stairs up to some spiritual location

I have to show you a second one from a bit further up. Is the rooster some sort of symbol in Buddhism?

Hway 344: The typical setup of the Thai dual carriageways. I find them rather pleasant to ride on. I doubt the seriousness of that sign though but....

...just in case I decided to ask for some extra protection

How boring would or world be without some people being a bit different.

This Chinese entrepreneur must feel blessed living in a temple

That´s what you get for 280 Baht at the Sang Tong Hotel. Ask for room no.1 as it is the corner one with the extra window

I was trying to capture what makes an outstanding nightmarket for me. Not that I would need the deep fried maggots and insects from the stall on the left but I found the two police musicians very entertaining. I ate at the stalls providing tables and chairs in the background. One of them did actually Thai-western crossover food that I thoroughly enjoyed: pork steak in a typical Thai chili-garlic marinade and salad with Asian herbs. Yummy!

Back in the largest of the three parks directly next to the food market. I sat there for quite a while watching all the very late Thai exercisers

Today's ride: 104 km (65 miles)
Total: 4,664 km (2,896 miles)

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