Chanthaburi to Laem Sing: Travelling in the rain - The third step ... The rising sun upon our backs - CycleBlaze

September 16, 2017

Chanthaburi to Laem Sing: Travelling in the rain

We were woken up by a thunderstorm this morning and the rain has continued for most of today. We finally got going after nine o'clock when it seemed the rain was abating but stopped soon for some breakfast and shelter as the rain started falling more heavily.

Waiting for breakfast while the rain starts falling
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The ride to Mae Wanna Resort just outside the national park was dryer and wetter in patches and we rode with our jackets on for almost the entire way. Checking in was a bit of a circus because it seems there had been an enormous wedding at the resort the night before and the guests were milling around, still eating breakfast, packing the curio shop etc, so it took a while to find someone who could help us.

Once the weather looked a bit better, although it never really stopped raining, we cycled the couple of kilometers to the national park. It is known for a chedi built to commemorate the visit of King Rama V in the late nineteenth century and its waterfall with pools filled with a species of barber. Leigh had a go at swimming in the pool at the bottom of the waterfall but never made it into the water. Neither did many of the crowds of Thais who were also there.

The chedi to mark King Rama V's visit
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Leigh almost made it into the water
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Afterwards we took a walk up to the national park's campground and did a bit of birding, picking up a lifer in Little Spiderhunter.

We made it back to our digs just in time because the heavens really opened once we had got inside. We can't complain about the rain at all because we have hardly had a drop fall on us during more than two months of South-East Asia during the rainy season with most of the rain we have had coming overnight in the form of thundershowers. This might change over the next week because lots of rain had been forecast.

Today's ride: 22 km (14 miles)
Total: 5,774 km (3,586 miles)

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