Rain

We have been stuck in Dan Sai for 2 days, prisoners of the rain and cold and the wretched tandem with its broken front derailer cable..

Met Tharee at the local restaurant, who is a 72 yr old Bangkok lady who has come here to look at her land. She taught us a few useful Thai words (mainly food..)

Tandem is now working as well as it will, still jumping a few gears but at least the 3 chains are working. Unfortunately despite many attempts we couldn't put the protective little cap on the shifter.. But we know much about gear cables and chain and derailer adjustment!

The sun has made a short appearance and we have decided to go across the mountains on route 2114 towards the  Mekong, regardless of the weather...

Frozen

Have reached Dan Sai, Mountain Green Resort 

We were supposed to stay in tent (for economy), one of the small blue ones,but splashed out on a room instead

Weather forecast said rain rain cold cold and our front detailler cable broke halfway here!

So we are spending two days trying to figure out how to repair it (mercifully john had packed a spare one) 

And trying to keep warm!

Nakkon Thai

Here we are in the mountains after 90 km of hilly terrain. Mercifully weather was cool (in fact it is positively cold now and we hadron snuggle up in our sleeping bags to keep warm) and we survived!

After we left Sukhothai and the lovely At Home guesthouse we spent a night in very cheap but clean guesthouse by Phitsanulok bus terminal 2. We took ages to find it because nothing was written in English!

It is good to be back on the road, but we find traffic terribly fast and much worse than 10 years ago..

This was during s quiet moment on the road to Phitsanulok, so far we have always a spare lane to cycle in. A godsend with these fast drivers!

Sukhothai

Arrived here a couple of days ago, by train to Phitsanulok and 66km leaving at 3pm.

It is still very hot. Apparently it can reach 43degrees...

Sukhothai (the rising of happiness)'s kingdom flourished from mid 13th to late 13th century, the golden age of Thai civilisation. The Sukhothai dynasty expanded its kingdom to include an area even larger than present day Thailand.

We cycled to the historical park, one of Thailand most impressive World Heritage Sites: the remains of 21 sites and 4 large ponds within the old walls. It was lovely cycling under the shade of beautiful acacia and mango trees

Breathtakingly beautiful Buddhas

Last day in Ayuthaya

We braved the heat once more and cycled around the historical park where we saw a 42m long reclining Buddha at Wat Lokkayasutham 

After a delicious lunch of soup and fried noodles cycled to the most romantic temple, Wat Chaiwatthamaram which must be our favourite 

It is so romantic at sunset that we saw two different beautifully attired couples posing for photos

Elephants

Before we left Ayuthaya we bumped into dozen of elephants..

They waited by the road to be transported by a (strong!) lorry to their Kraal just outside the city. 

There are only 4000 domestic and wild animals in Thailand and the Elephant Stay in Ayuthaya runs a hugely successful breeding program and provides tourist rides around the ruins as well as runs (3 days minimum) stays where visitors learn how to ride, bathe and earn the trust the elephants. Sadly we decided to move on the tandem instead

Ayuthaya

The capital of Siam between 1350 and 1767 it had 400 sparkling temples.

Now, a dozen ruins and several working temples. 

We walked in the heat (body still used to English wet, windy, cold weather) more than 1 km to a grand, informative and air-conditioned tourist office. Have decided to spend a few days here, cycling around the ruins, getting our bearings and generally taking it easy. 

War Phra Ram

Ban Khun Pra (the Bureaucrat's house)

Our view from the guesthouse

Ayuthaya temples

Pleasant stay at Ban Khun Pra watching the barges go by on the Chao Praya river (do they go all the way to Bangkok?). We ve already had to change room twice. It seems now that everyone reserves by Internet and the whole guesthouse gets booked up by groups.. We re getting a little lazy (or old) and are savouring staying in one place for longer and Ayuthaya is such a fascinating place!

Braving the heat we visited (the most visited temple) 

Wat Phra Mahathat

Then off to Wat Thammikkarat (after a cooling off in the shade and rehydrating fresh coconut milk (30Baht)

The guarding lions (singha - like the beer!)

There was also a Buddha shrine flanked by two guarding bright cockerels. Apparently when King Nasueran was taken hostage by the Burmese, his invincible cockerels (he loved cock fighting as a little boy) secured his reputation..