Sunday, March 02, 2008

Day 157: Wang Chin to Lampang



Time: 4:34
Distance: 65.8 km
Avg Speed: 14.8 kph
Terrain: Hills
Location: 18˚ 17’ 15.9” N, 99˚ 29’ 46.1” E

Thank goodness for piles of fruit. Leslie and I got off early this morning and instead of the usual rolls from the corner store for breakfast we had watermelon and oranges. It was very tasty, but being mostly water we burned through it quickly. We stopped 20 km down the road for a philo dough biscuit and some cookies. The meal was well timed since we had been climbing from Wang Chin and were just getting to the real climbing. We finally topped out at kilometer 30 where a well intending pickup stopped to ask us if we wanted a ride. If we had more climbing ahead of us we would have grabbed it, but since we had a roller coaster downhill ahead of us we decided to keep on trucking. We had about three smaller climbs before finally descending into Lampang. We found our hotel after lucking out and getting close before asking for directions. We were only 6 blocks off, so we are either getting better at sniffing things out, or just lucky. I think we are more lucky than good most of the time. We did the old show up and see what we get served for lunch. We had a yummy noodle soup with pork and fried tofu. It is interesting eating soup with chopsticks and a little spoon, but when in Rome. We chickened out and ate dinner in the hotel, but decided to go out and for a walk afterwards. The doorman pointed the way to the night market where it was happening for the whole town. The town closes down the street that the market is on and everyone is there. The food, the goods, the music and the people are all present. Our experience with crowds in the U.S. is that there is usually a lot of friction between the people. Here the people are all out having a good time, socializing, chatting and just enjoying a cool Saturday night. It was a great way to unwind after a long hot day in the saddle. The greatest part is that my favorite desert was on hand. I am so easy to please.
CK

No comments: