I had spent a fair bit of time trying to sort out a route south yesterday. You would think it would be easy, but because Ron2Wheels had made the effort of riding south with the least amount of Highway 1 as possible, that seemed to be the way to do it, and I was in no hurry either 🙂 The thing is though, Ron does not use GPS, so I had to read his post, interpret the road numbers he rode and find them on a map, then translate that across to my Garmin map program and make way points, it takes time but can be fun 🙂 I think I did it OK but did find that after getting on the road I was using more of HW1 than I expected, but this was to be a 2 day journey. The route I am riding is the purple line on the map ending at a town called Kampheang Phet

So my early start never happened, the kitchen girls were late so I had a late breakfast, before finally getting under way around 11am. I had been trying to source a new rear tyre but had no luck with the local people, I will have to sort that later in Bangkok. Being on the road again was great, after I got out of town of course 🙂

It was along this first section to the south where there were a lot of roadworks that the fun started, if you can call a near head on fun!!! The lack of road signs and basic lane markings meant you had to make it up as you go along, check these out!!!
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I honestly could not say if I was in the wrong in any of those, maybe the bike one, but it sure was confusing!! Anyway once I had turned off the main highway I was amongst a few twisties and out here in the country, there was less traffic and proper fun could be had, keeping in mind the lack of tread on the back tyre of course 🙂

I reached the town of Li and as Ron had done, decided to try the food at the Food Centre, a massive covered area with more food stalls than you could poke a stick at. I looked along all the stalls but could not work out what they were offering, although noodles and meat and soup were there as expected.

I was lucky actually, I saw a young chap with a very tasty looking dish and when I pointed at it he showed me the stall he had bought it from, it was called Pad Thai, a very nice dish which I have had before, but still cannot work out which words mean that 🙂

As I was eating the young fella was heading off and he gave me a present, a cordial/ice and jelly desert, thanks m8, that was cool and tasty too 🙂

After lunch I had more fun in a nice section of twisties, they were more sweepers than tight ones, so more suitable to a bad tyre.

I nearly got pulled over by the rozzers at Mae Prik, but I left Mae Prik safely and unmolested 😉

It was late afternoon, and very hot when I arrived in the town of Khamphean Phet and then found the hotel that Ron had stayed at. It was probably a bit higher priced than I usually stay at, but once in a while, why not, it was still way cheaper than anywhere at home or Europe for example, only 1,000Baht a night or $30. The rooms were quite clean and tidy, which is always good, and aircon as well, good find Ron. Chakungrao Riverview N16.47293 E99.52764

I had some time, so once I was dressed for the heat, shorts and tshirt I headed across to the river for a bit of a decko. There was a big park I had to go past and in it were all these exercise machines and people using them and running around and stuff, I had to stop looking, I nearly worked up a sweat! But the sunset(make that smogset) views over the river were worth the effort of ignoring the sweaty people 😉

Then I headed back for some dinner, avoiding getting washed off the streets by the cleaners along the way.

I was half way through my dinner in the hotel dining room when a group of diners came in and proceeded to do karaoke piano and singing, none of it in tune, gross, I scoffed the rest of my dinner real quick and got the heck out 🙂 Tomorrow I knew I would be in Kanchanaburi, but so far not where I would be staying. I had three places picked out, as reviewed by other riders on the RideAsia.net forums. I would make a decision when I get there and I would probably be there a few days. There is a lot to see, the Bridge Over The River Kwai, the Death Railway Museum, Hellfire Pass to name a few.

Cheers from Khamphean Phet
TravellingStrom