Day 75 & 76..... Wed 14th & Thurs 15th October .... 734 km (22576 km total)
A flood, classic sights, big statues, ancient ruins & elephants.
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I set off down the main highway from Kamphaeng Phet heading for Kanchanaburi. A flat straight road, good for covering distance but not much else.
Shortly before Nakhon Sawan, I turned right to take a short cut (through the small roads villages). Still flat but more interesting riding, particularly when I came upon this town, where it appeared to have been raining heavily.
A mile further down the road and things were more serious, this was definately a flood in progress. This picture shows a bridge over the canal, the level of which which would nornally be a metere or two below the road - it was flowing across the top!
I debated turning back, but hey, this is an adventure!
Plus, I do actually have some prior experience of riding in floods .....
This is me in the Bangkok floods in 2011, when we had ro evacuate our house
OK, so a mountain bike is a bit easier to pick up if you drop it in the water than my Tiger, but hopefully this flood won't be as deep.
But as I turned the corner, I felt my boots filling with dirty canal water, as it got deeper, 'oh bugger!' - thats going to smell tomorrow.
Also, where is everyone? ... It was getting spooky!
Apart from staying upright & not riding down a drain, one of the things you have to be very careful with is debris floating or sunk in the water. A stick or bottle caught in the chain or spokes can easily throw you off. So I had to constantly scan the water for anything floating around.
A couple more streets and I was back out of the village and on the main road, not much better here through ...
... And quite tricky when somethings coming the other way, their wash knocks the bike sideways.
The fun continued for another 10km, only really stopping when I came to the actual river & crossed over. The other side was bone dry.
After that I stuck to the main (&dry roads) to pick up time & allow my trousers & boots to start to dry out. Stopped at a nice spot on the River Kwai a few miles upstream from Knchanaburi.
Big portions for tea!
The following day it was off to the famous & iconic 'Bridge over the river Kwai' for a photo shoot.
Followed by a ride up the curvey 3199 to the top of the Sinakharin dam
Then I headed off towards Ayuthya using the local roads where possible.
They seemed to have a thing for big statues in this area.
A big Buddha ....
And a while later, a big monk!
And even an elephant for the Tiger to pose by, not a real one though.
These were real, but not elephants unfortunately - and even more muddy than my Tiger.
Another short cut, at least this one was dry ...
But then it turned into soft sand - remember what Russ said, keep the front light & power on through ... it worked this time too, bit squirmy but stayed upright.
And finally into the ancient city of Ayuthya, the old capital of the kingdom of Siam, until it was trashed by the Burmese in 1767.
I've been several times before, its a nice place to wander around for a few hours. The different temples & ruins are spread over a large area.
And they have real elephants!
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