Set off in the rain from Chang Rai for another 100+ km day. The day started with a lovely cycle on rural Thai roads, and a peek at the “White Temple” on the way through. Not to mention armies of Westerners checking it out 🤣.
About half way through the day we hit the highway, not so fun, especially combined with headwind and hills! Lots of traffic and all a bit nerve wracking in the rain!
The one plus of highway cycling is there’s a guaranteed rest stop every 30kms or so. We’ve come to appreciate the big “PTT” signs when we come across them- clean bathrooms, 7/11 groceries and Amazon coffee at every one! We even found a timely KFC at one of today’s stops…can’t even feel guilty about hoeing in to fried chicken when you’ve just ridden 50km!
A bit more difficult to find food at our half way stop, a busy little town but all the noodle places seemed a bit shut…we found a “pizza” stand with a 7 eleven so stocked up with food to eat back at our hotel.
A drier day for the second leg of the Chang Mai route. Plenty of ascent to start us off (not my favourite) but thought we had that out of the way early.
Highway riding is not too difficult with the wide road shoulders but the traffic is still disconcerting.
Neil’s rant…
Chang mai is the first large city we have cycled in, so we made the decision to dig our helmets out of the bottom of the panniers. First time on this trip, so great to have the choice. Wearing a helmet in hot weather only exacerbates the heat
The countries with mandatory helmet laws have poor statistics in relation to bicycle fatalities an participation.
Cycling around SE Asia the respect and consideration shown by all road users is wonderful, I feel safer riding amongst chaotic city traffic than sections of the Huon Highway.
Plenty of temples and giant statues to give us a bit of interest along the way!
Spotted what we thought were patches of smoke rising and stopped to investigate- turned out to be a whole series of hot springs- ie boiling furiously! The locals have of course figured a way to capitalise on the fun of these and you can buy eggs in a basket on a stick to dip in the well and cook in a jiffy!
With Chang Mai in reach we took a tiny detour to have a look at another hot spring, then decided that the detour road was so lovely, quiet and scenic that we’d take the long way around and a few kms to the day. Of course I didn’t factor in the added ( sharp) ascents so a bit of grumbling and a bit of walking on my part….but it was well worth the detour for a much nicer entry to the city.
Different and diverse farms along the route with everything from avocados to big trees ready to transport!
Found a lovely place to stay in the old part of the city and a walking explore of Chang Mai today. Lots to see in this city, love the old part and there are remnants of the wall still standing. And nice to have a day of rest!!!
Let’s go cycling 
Leave a comment