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Rather reluctantly (since it was such an amazing place) we left Bangkok and headed down south, excited that we would be at the seaside again after almost 3 months!! The last time we saw the sea was in Istanbul..
Despite the heat of Pakistan (and, to a lesser extent India), and our slow adjustment to it, we were still unprepared for the heat and humidity of Thailand – let alone cycling in it! The temperature during the day soars up to 35C, even in the shade around 30C. So unless you can get a very early start (i.e. 7am) you end up sweating bucketloads as you cycle through the heat of the day, absolutely dripping with sweat and clothes completely soaked through. Neither of us remember sweating so much… ever!!
The humidity makes cycling quite oppressive – almost as if someone is sitting on your chest as you go… But thankfully there are petrol stations and cafes to stop almost every 5 kms. We would often disturb the locals having a midday snooze – as even they feel drowsy with the heat… Normally we would stop for a break every 25kms – now we find we have to stop every 15km to take in fluids. We are drinking 2-3 litres each a day!!!
Nevertheless we pedalled on, enjoying the scenery and the nice tarmac highway 4 with considerate drivers. The highway was nice enough to cycle on, though quite busy. Alas initially we had no other option as it was the only road heading southwest.
Two days out of Bangkok, we arrived at the town of Petchaburi. Having left our bicycles at the travellers’ favourite riverside wood guesthouse, we hired a tuk-tuk for a few hours to take us to some sights around town. First we went to Khao Luang caves – an amazing underground cavern full of Buddhas and is a working temple. There is a bat cave connected to the main cave alas we were not allowed to go in since it was too dark. We then went to two of the many wonderful Wats (temples) in this town – first to Wat Yai Suwannaram which has a fine old teak door bearing a gash made by the Burmese in 1760 as they plundered their way through Thailand. There was also a Buddha in the main Bot (temple building) with 6 toes on one foot – no one knows why! We were the only tourists there, with only monks going about their peaceful daily routine, to keep us company. Next we went to Wat Mahathat (called as such since it houses the requisite Buddha relic to be able to bear the Mahathat title). The entire temple was a piece of art with stucco depictions of angels and demons draped over all the buildings and hanging off from the gutters. A slow walk through the night market back to our hotel afterwards, as it was getting dark. We looked at all the strange food on display at the stalls, having no idea what half of them were.
Next day we left the highway and headed towards the eastern coast about 10km away, taking a quieter coastal road which wasn’t on our map. Nice as the highway was we wanted to cycle through the real Thai countryside and go through small fishing villages… oh and see the sea! We figured that as long we cycle south along the sea nothing could go wrong. It was lovely to have our first drink break on a deserted white sand beach!
Following the coastal road we headed south towards the Thai resort of Hua Hin. On the way there we stopped off to see Phra Ratchaniwet Marukathaiyawan – we had to copy it from our guide book as there is no way we could remember all that!! It is the 1920s lustrous seaside palace of King Rama VI. A very stylish and simple building, consisting of a series of interlocking wooden verandas and walkways, which surround each room.
10km later we arrived at Hua Hin – a horrible westernised resort town that has absolutely no Thai character left whatsoever. In fact we could have been in any Western resort anywhere in the world…
Accommodation was ridiculously pricey, and nearly all full. We were lucky to find a fan-cooled room in one of the wooden jetty guesthouses with rooms on stilts built over water. The town had two redeeming features though – a good fish restaurant where we had lobster, and a Subway where we bought a packed lunch for the cycle the next day!
