Day 13 Bike: To Pattaya

July 26, 2023

That little diversion went on for almost a week. But that's how my style of travel works, you don't quite know where things are going to take you. We were back now on the original course to reach Pattaya.

This segment of the biking had been done so many times already in the past it was almost like a commute. I knew the route exactly so there wasn't much else to do but get an early start and go. My legs were hankering to get back on the bicycle actually.

First half of the ride was all like this, got boring fast

Made killer time, less than 3 hours to reach the halfway point in Chonburi

I was just flying along at the beginning thanks to cooler weather and a tailwind. I blew through the first 30km without stopping then found a 7/11 to start offloading the last of my baht change. The clerk was really thankful actually and she gave me a wai and a big thanks. Apparently they were short on change and I was the guy supplying more. Win/win.

The traffic was heavy and the road was no fun at the beginning so I just wanted to hammer this part out. The worst happened near the Chonburi bypass. There was a steady stream of traffic with no breaks and I needed to merge right in order to get into Chonburi town proper. Otherwise it would mean continuing to cycle with all these trucks and I was sick of it. With some creative maneuvers I got over the two lanes and then the traffic blissfully quieted down.

It was definitely a headphones and music kind of day with all this. The soundtrack really pumped things along and combined with the initial tailwind made for some great riding.

At this point the road basically hooks around 120 degrees so the tailwind turns into a headwind around Chonburi. Still, no big deal, I had caught the winds earlier so it made sense to slow down the pace once the headwinds began.

This place was open since last trip or not? Actually closed. But she said sorry and gave me a free coke.

Since I was making such good time, I figured that all the way to Si Racha would be the lunch stop, and there were only 30km to reach Pattaya after that. This was quite impressive, because during the times I've biked this in reverse I leave Pattaya so late that the lunch stop also happens to be in Si Racha.

Delicious lunch at California Steakhouse

The key moment was coming up next. This was the part I had been waiting for years and wondering during lockdown when it would ever happen again. The final downhill run past the Laem Chabang port and then into Pattaya City itself.

Welcome home for real. I teared up at this point. I had made it!

It was nothing short of spectacular to reach this point. This was the culmination of years of waiting and hoping, after all that time spent in lockdown to return to the best place on earth. The universe must have agreed because that's when the clouds burned off and it was all bright sunshine from this point on. Quite unusual for this season too, and I'll take it.

Still, I had to collect myself because there were a whole bunch of questions as to what would actually happen when I got home.

Given the previous poor service at the condo juristic office, and learning from previous trips, my expectations were rock bottom for anything good happening today. Maybe the keycard might not work, juristic might be out of the office, or some uninvited guest might be staying in the condo without my knowledge. The most likely scenario is that the electricity and water would be cut off.

Juristic knew I was coming, but their email replies were pretty short and it was unlikely they were going to expect me. But that's all part of the adventure. We would find out what actually happened when I got there.

The biggest takeaway is that if you own a condo in Thailand, you have to be in the country and make frequent visits to keep on top of things. If you're not based in Thailand and can't make visits often, then you're just better off not buying. You can't rely on people to "manage" it for you on your behalf because they are lazy. You must be constantly on their ass and supervising them, checking to make sure that things are managed the way you want. Hence the need to be in the country. What can I say, this condo was a mistake. A regret. A dumb thing I did with money. But welcome to the club.

So it wasn't much of a surprise that I had a backup plan in mind with a nearby hotel I stayed at before. All this relied on getting to the condo before the office closed, hence the early start.

As I rounded the final corner to park the bicycle and access the door for the condo building, a sense of nervousness and trepidation was building.

Today's ride: 115 km (71 miles)
Total: 1,575 km (978 miles)

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