Content-type: text/html Ray Manning

Thursday, January 26, 2023 8:02 PM

Thailand


Monday (and Tuesday) are transit days. I take Lyft to the A train, stop at the Rosa Parks station, and get a ride from my nrighbor who works across the street from the station. She has offered to drive me to LAX and we have a nice conversation. I get through ticketing and security quickly and buy reading material for the two long flights. The flights to go smoothly except that I forget to take the Kava root extractg before the flight (that always kills off any jetlag). At Bangkok's airport I practice my Thai and as soon as I speak some Thai the immirgation officer or hotel clerk or 7-11 cashier start rattling away in Thai. And my Thai language ear is not ready for this and they see I am cobfused. So they can ask me questions in English and I can answer in Thai. I have to work on my Thai ear. I get to the short-term hotel after midnight and get down for sleep at 1am on Wednesday.

I'm awake at 7am on Wednesday morning and I go to 7-11 for some snacks before transiting to a real hotel closer to central part of Bangkok. Along the airport link train line I start talking with a Thai man in a typical conversation where he speaks in English and I speak in Thai. What's wrong with this picture? It turns out he's an engineer also and I give him my card so that we can chat in the future. I get into my hotel and immediately set out to the MBK center for Thai food. The spicy Thai curry that I have is killer! After wandering around a bit I go back to the hotel and relax before catching up with a friend for a few minutes and then walking around another Thai neighborhood that I like to walk in and people watch. And I have more Thai curry though this is not as good. I'm laying down for sleep at 11pm with, as usual, no indication of jetlag (despite me forgetting to take the Kava root extract). Is me forgetting to take the Kava root extract an indication of pre-jetlag? No, it just means it had been so long since I traveled that I got out of my rhythm.

I start Thursday at 7am and eventually find a cafe to work as a digital nomad during the hottest part of the day. I don't know what Google maps did, but it has me take the wrong BTS train stop and I end up walking for a long time in the heat to find the selected cafe. Regardless I get in some writing of a proposal for a Long Beach Smart City challenge and then go eat more yummy Thai food. After resting at the hotel I go out late at night walking around to see how the neighborhood and business has changed since Covid-19. Some businesses have changed into other businesses and the crowds are down, otherwise it is the same old neighborhood.

On Friday I check out of the hotel and fly to Chiang Rai for some cooler weather and a small city environment. The transition goes smoothly except that the shuttle bus from the airport, which had not existed for very long, shutdown because of the COvid-19 pandemic and I have to take a taxi. But the taxi driver is nice and he's surprised that I can speak some Thai. And I ask him for a few more words as we encounter things along the drive. I get out walking and find a coin laundry for future use and stop in at a cafe I've been to before. The small dog that had run of the place is gone and I cautiously ask the owner "What happened to the dog?" (in Thai) though I kinda know the answer. He says that the dog died about two years ago because it was 14 years old. And I apologize and show remorse. Late in the evening I walk around the night bazaar and I'm kind of surprised at how empty the place is. It used to be very crowded but now is an easy walk through and the number of vendor stalls is greatly reduced.

On Saturday I have some snacks for breakfast and walk over to the bicycle store that I usually use to rent a bicycle. The bicycle shop has doubled in size as they've taken over the space from next door and knocked the wall down between the two. The bicycle store people and I have a good time with my needs, my Thai, and being silly. I'm just so happy to ride. I ride out of Chiang Rai, I think it's south, to the White Temple and get some water. I guy from Italy and his friend from South Africa come over and tell me about their bicycle toruing in various parts of the world. I don't think they fully understand that I'm not really bicycle touring (meaning going from place to place). I'm just riding wherever I want in a foreign country. After this conversation I ride and start in on the road up to the waterfalls and go in four kilometers to start with since I need to get adjusted to a strange bicycle. Then I turn around and take a slightly different route home. After a shower I walk over to a burger joint because they have veggie burgers. (It's not Thai food, but it's run by Thai people and it's vegetarian.) THe veggie burger is good and I enjoy the frnech fries also. I go back home and work on the smart city proposal and I've implemented an idea that I had while cycling and I debug that and get it working in various shots throughout the day. And late at night I go walking to the night market and notice that you can actually walk now seeing that the crowds are down to more reasonable levels.

I have a great night of sleep on Saturday night into Sunday morning. I finally sleep until my alarm at 7:30am goes off. I'm out the door for cycling at 8:30 am and I go north from Chiang Rai and turn left just past the river. From here I can ride along the river for a fair distance. It's somewhat up and down riding so I also get in a good workout. This is away from tourists so a lot of people stare at me but then they put on a big smile when I greet them in Thai. At some point I turn around and retrace my steps to get back to the hotel just short of three hours of riding. I relax for a while and book a bit more of my trip and then go out to a restaurant that is supposed to have very good curry. The curry is very good but its not my favorite yellow curry and I have to add plenty of chillies to make it spicy enough. I've planned to go to the Sunday night walking street market but I'm tired and fighting some leg cramps. So I just have a slow evening in my hotel room.

After sleeping well on Sunday night I'm out the door for cycling at 8:30 am. It's actually a bit cool or even chilly when you get out this early. I make a couple of reconasaince loops before I start east from Chiang Rai. At one intersection of main roads where I would usually turn north towards the airport, I continue east into unknown territory. Soon I'm out of the crowds and traffic is sparse. I'm thinking this will be an out-and-back ride until I see directions to go south. And I take this turn which means it'll be a loop ride on mostly previously unexplored roads. On the way home I take another detour to see if I can find the park where the concerts are, but I cannot find it. I'll try again later. And I stop at 7-11 for snacks to bring back to the hotel for lunch. In the late afternoon I walk over to a restaurant that I've been to before which promotes family planning and safe sex called "Cabbages & Condoms". I have a spicy red curry that has a lot of tofu and very few vegetables. It's tasty, but needed more vegetables. And late at night I walk over to a bar near the hotel and make a few friends who, of course, want me to come back again tomorrow night.

I start Tuesday with a ride going north from Chiang Rai at 8:30 am. This isn't the most interesting ride, but it's a stright shot and I don't have to think much about directions. As I turn around to come home I see a mileage marker and realize that this will be a sixty kilometer ride - the farthest that I've ridden since the accident (and not on a road bicycle). When I get home I take a shower and I can tell I'll be wiped out for the day. I walkk over and have some good spicy red curry at a restaurant that gives part of the profits to an orhphanage. And then I go to the bus station to get a bus itcket for Friday travels. The entire transaction is conducted in THai and I'm pretty proud of myself and starting to think with a little bit of work I could live here. If it were not so hot. I walk back home and I'm wiped out. At one point I'm checking some websites and look up at the mirror behind my laptop and I can see the haggard look that I get when I'm exhausted - the drooping left eyelid, the nodding head to one side, etc. Yes, this trip is going well.

On Wednesday I start out on the bicycle and check out a coin laundry on the way. I ask the lady attendant if they have soap and change and they do. I continue on my bicycle ride past the White Temple and up the climb to Khun Korn waterfall again. The last three kilometers are fairly difficult. I'm surprised to see a rider ahead of me in the last kilometer or two. It provides a target and I jsut keep cranking along and I almost catch him at the top - coming in about 40 meters behind him. When he stops he's surprised to see another rider right behind him and we have a nice discussion as we both take a break at the top. He's riding an Akunimum frame road bicycle with high pressure tires and I'm on a heavy hybrid with intermediate tires and he keeps looking at my bicycle and looking at me as we speak (mostly in Thai). Finally he says in English "You're a very string rider". I'm not sure of that, but I was happy with my climb. We do the 11 kilometer descent together and at the end I yell in Thai "turning left" and he is not so we roll along and say our goodbyes. At the hotel I get in a quick shower and walk over to the coin laundry with my dirty clothes. The place is crowded with some women having stacks of bags of clothes to sequentially go into the washers. I turn around and walk back to the laundry service that I've used before and my clothes will be ready on Thursday morning. I then walk over to the Connect Cafe for Thai food and they are closed on Wednesdays. It's a sign so I start walking back to the hotel and stop in for pizza - my first real western food in eights days. And then I walk back to the hotel to recover from the long, difficult ride.

On Thursday I pick up the laundry and get out for my last ride in Chiang Rai. I ride past the blue temple and out small small, dinky road. As I ride I'm thinking that I've dsicovered a new route. But then I recognize a few things and I realize I rode this route once before. I keep riding until the road turns to gravel and there certainly have not been any tourists out here. At a certain point I turn around and head for home - getting lost in the process. Maybe I'm out of blood and brain sugar. After a shower I return the bicycle and tell the people at the bike store how happy I am that I could ride for six days. (Speaking in Thai, of course). And then I walk to lunch and have a nice, spicy curry. I relax for a bit and then go shopping for second hand shoes with Person Be_Th who I've recently met. And then I relax because I am so worn out from the cycling. It's a good thing tomorrow is a transfer day to Chaing Mai.

Friday is a transfer day and the entire bus trip and movement over to my hotel goes very smoothly. I contact Person Ta_T, who I have not seen for more than three years, and we arrange to meet up later tonight for dinner. In the meantime, I go back to working on the Smart City Challenge which I have put off for almost the entire week at Chiang Rai. The idea of a strategy has been bubbling in my head as I've been riding and now I need to try it out and see how it works. Person Ta_T and I have a nice visit as we eat dinner and walk around the night market area. Person Ta_T shows me the new night market areas that have opened up. After Person Ta_T takes leave I go back and find the solution for Smart City Challenge. It just took some debugging to get the process to work and yield a factor of four efficiency improvement. I start to write the results up to include in the Smart City Challenge proposal that is due in the middle of February.

I'm awake on Saturday at 7 am and grab breakfast before walking over to the bicycle shop. As I'm walking up to the bicycle shop the owner gets out of his chair and keeps stairing at me - and then he finally recognizes me. Though I have been away for three years, I had rented from him three or four times. And we catch up on things as he prepares a bicycle for me. I get out riding up to the lake but the hole in the fence that I used to sneak through to get to the lake has been repaired. So I just make a couple laps of the 5 kilometer outside loop and then ride back home. A starter ride for Chiang Mai. Late in the afternoon Person O_T and I meet up. Except that Person O_T flakes on me so I have a nice fried rice vegetable dinner.

After breakfast on Sunday I do the traditional Chaing Mai to Lamphun ride. It's not the most scenice ride, but I can just get going in a straight line and view things and not worry about directions. It's more than 60 kilometers when I finish the ride. After a shower I walk over to the Thapae gate and have lunch and then sit in the shade and people-watch. A Thai man sits in the shade near me and minds his own business - waiting for a friend. When his friend shows up he reaches for some coins and fumbles them. I don't know why, but it just comes out of me spontaneously, "Mai bpen rai". Which means "Not a problem" or "It's okay" in Thai. I don't know why it came out to this stranger, but it did. The man looks at me and we start speaking Thai, as best as I can, and I tell him about where I've been and cycling and where I live. Anyway, it's time to go so I greet him and take leave. Later in the evening I go walk around the night bazaar and grab dinner.

I start Monday a bit slow. After breakfast I head north on the roads that parallel the Ping river. I see they have built an underpass since I was here last so there is no detour around construction this time. I have a decent ride of about 50 kilometers. I spend the afternoon relaxing. Person Ta_T and I hang out after his work and we go have dinner and then we go walk around more. And later we go to a bar so that he can have a beer and I have a Sprite and we continue catching up on everything since the last time I saw him three years ago.

I get out the door after breakfast at 9am for a ride east from Chiang Rai. This is a familiar ride and I keep going all of the way to Wat Pa Tueng, which I visited a number of ears ago. I turn around and head back to the hotel for a good ride of 56 kilometers. After a shower I go eat at a vegan restaurant that I've been to in the distant past. The manager sees me and greets me and satys, "Welcome back. How long has it been?" and I'm not sure if she recognizes me or says this to everyone. But I answer three years in Thai and she almost echoes me as I say it because she knows it was just before Covid started. Though my food takes a long time to arrive the curry is super! Then I go relax in my hotel room as I'm getting worn out. Later I accompany Person Ta_T shoe shopping and we try to grab dinner. We walk to two different restaurants that Person Ta_T has his heart set on and they are both closed. One is closed on Tuesday and the other has converted to a bar or something else. So we start walking to a third candidate retaurant and I teasingly suggest Burger King as we walk by. And Person Ta_T wants Burger King. I have a craving for salty frnech fries anyway, so we eat Burger King. And then we walk back to my hotel so that I can see Person Ta_T off to his apartment.

I'm supposed to have an easy day cycling on Wednesday. I start out on a new set of roads that I've never been on before. Maybe this is the road that the bus takes from Lampang to Chiang Mai, but probably not. Even if it was, that would have been back in 2007. So I cycle out and enjoy the new scenery even if I am tired. At a convenient place I stop for a water break and check Google maps to see where I'm at. I'm already 27 kilometers from home. So I turn around and ride back home with a stop at the Taphae gate again to people watch. So much for a shorter day of cycling. I just have snacks for lunch and relax in the room. I try to write some of the Smart City Challenge proposal, but I don't get far. Later I walk to the night bazaar and find that the vegetarian food stall that has been closed recently is open now. So I have a spicy yellow curry that is super. Then I walk around and buy some gifts for neighbors watching my house. And I start talking with this couple who are Japanese and we talk about their acting careers, travel, reading people, and other things. And I tell them that I will look for Sasi (the man) and Hari (the woman) in screen credits from now on.

I sleep very well on Wednesday night into Thursday with a ton of deep sleep to help the body recover physically. I'm out the door near 9am for a bicycle ride. Today I just go north from Chiang Mai to see what's out there - a route I've never really taken before. And a route that I won't take again. There are a lot of drainage gratings that I need to be careful of and it seems that some of the cars get close to me. And it's not that scenic out to Mae Rim. I turn around and get back home for about a two hour ride. After a shower I return the bicycle and pick up snacks for lunch. And then I walk to the coin laundry to clean all of my dirty clothes. In the early evening I walk over to the night bazaar and have one last dinner in CHiang Mai on this trip.