February 28th: Pa We to Ban Na Doem District – 65 km
Day 138
Waking up at 5:30am was early enough for the past couple months, but the seasons are changing. We woke up at 5:00am today to get on the road just as the sun was rising. Cycling in the early morning is invigorating. Traffic is light, roosters are crowing and most importantly it’s cool. We started fast today and even with some small hills and headwind we averaged 18 kmh.
Scenery was pleasant at times, but since we were back on the highway, it was quite noisy and there was a fair amount of garbage, roadkill, and noisome smells. However it was incredibly smooth which made an enormous difference in efficiency. Cher saw a couple of monkeys, which are used to pick coconuts, hanging out on the back of a pickup truck. We also saw some fighter jets coming in to land as we passed a Thai Air Base.
We arrived around noon and checked into a love motel. We’re not sure what the business plan is for these places and we wonder if they expect to have normal customers coming to stay. Our room has 2 enormous pictures of naked couples in “affectionate” positions. We are not put off by their decor since the non-love hotel we saw before this one cost 550 baht. Here at the love motel, we have WiFi and air-conditioning for 350. I wouldn’t let children play on the floor but it’s clean enough. Arriving so early we ate lunch, did laundry and had a nice siesta before dinner and will be back in bed before 9. We are like an old couple, but when you working sleep is the one thing that you miss most and since this isn’t a job, we have sweet sweet regular slumber.
We are only 2 days of peddling from Krabi, and looking forward to staying in one place for the next couple of weeks. Cher’s parents will be there the day after and we are looking forward to some relaxation and family time.