The Sound of the Speed of Crunch

December 26, 2025

Tha Makhuea to Mae Wong, Thailand

Another day beginning without a papaya or even mangoes to make our breakfasts complete and in our room. So, we got all packed up and rode across the bridge over the Ping River to the small settlement, a crossroads really, on the other side to try to find an open noodle soup place. In the past we've had difficulty finding noodle soup at 7:15AM. In fact, we have failed to find it that early so many times that I don't even want to try anymore. It's strange because it is a staple for breakfast in Thailand and it's not something people make at home very much.

But what we found on the other side of the river astounded us. It was bustling like we've never seen anywhere in Thailand. Of course there were soup places open. In front of 7-Eleven there were even several carts selling all sorts of morning foods including a guy making Pa Tong ko. Pa Tong ko are deep fried dough shaped in 'X's. They are very thin walled and hollow. When they are dipped in sweetened condensed milk the Thais call them kanom, which means 'sweets.' They are a uniquely Thai thing to munch on while having coffee.

We picked out a noodle soup place and got some with chicken. It was great but the best part was that we found some at all! It was not even 8 yet when I decided to buy a small bag of Pa Tong ko. They were 1 baht (3 cents) each. I figured we would be finding coffee during the day and thought the kanom would be fun to have. Until then they could dangle from my handlebars in their bag. I don't think I have ever bought a bag of Pa Tong ko. I've always had them offered at guest houses if they are offering coffee in the mornings. I actually don't eat such things normally but today we were going to be riding way out in the countryside and we sure didn't see any towns on the map. We didn't even know if we'd find coffee.

An unexpectedly lively scene in front of the 7-Eleven first thing in the morning.

When we left that bustling crossroads we were soon in quiet peacefulness. And just like that we were back in rice country and few sugar cane fields like yesterday. The new rice crop was quite a bit taller than where we had seen it being planted recently. Maybe because we are just a little bit further south and it's just a little bit warmer. Maybe the last rice crop could be harvested just a little bit earlier. I suspect as we ride further south we will see taller and taller rice plants.

Rice. And the aura that often emanates from my head.

We see these grasses by the sides of all the roads.

Andrea had mapped us on a lot of little rural roads. A few times when we stopped to see where the next turn was she would say that we had missed our turn. But she always followed that up by saying it didn't matter, that there was another road we could take. It sure didn't matter to me because no matter where we were in this part of Thailand it seemed there were lots and lots of birds. There were lots of koels, of course but I was hearing birds I had never heard before, lots of them. We were seeing all sorts of different brightly colored bee eaters and kingfishers on the wires. There must have been dozens of species of birds where we rode. It's a wonderful feeling that the environment must be in good enough shape to support so many species of birds. They sounded happy too!

That wonderful feeling was shattered by a little pickup truck blasting campaign promises of some candidate for something or other. The truck was equipped with large loudspeakers mounted on top of the cab and the entire bed of the truck was full of huge speakers blasting it out even louder from the rear. We have been trapped by such little pickup trucks off and on for at least ten days now. Like today, we have been way way out in the deserted countryside and one of those decibel blasting trucks will be driving on the same road as we are. They drive ten miles an hour which is how fast we normally are going which means we are literally trapped by them. One time there were two not far from each other! Stereo! If we stopped and took a long break we would often catch up to them anyway. Sometimes they would take a break and all of a sudden they would be right behind us again. The decibel levels were in the going-deaf range. They should be outlawed. I wouldn't vote for any candidate who employed a blaster truck. I wouldn't care how great a candidate he or she was. It's insane noise pollution. It's dangerous.

So, today there was another candidate blaster truck and we let it pass us. Just as it went by a woman got to the end of her driveway as I was riding past. I gave her a look. She shrugged and gave me a beautiful smile. That's what I have mentioned in the past, the ability of Thai people to bend with the wind - shrug and be happy. The shrug meant that that loud campaign truck isn't the end of the world. Vote for that guy or someone else. I hate to think that her shrug means that she thinks it doesn't really matter who wins because nothing much ever changes. Or, maybe the shrug meant that she knows things change but very slowly. Go on with your life but cover your ears during elections.

I think he wants two votes from you. The election is to determine the House of Representatives and will be held on Feb. 8th.

I'd rather vote for any of these people.

We listened to the decibels slowly diminish. With each curve we heard more bird song. With each kilometer the silence was more noticeable. We rode on loving the roads and countryside again. Then I heard some beautiful old style Thai music playing. That is one of my favorite things while riding a bike in rural Thailand. Thais love music and it seems that way out in the country there are a lot of older people and they are the ones who love the old style music. We do as well, not because we are also old (ha), but simply because we prefer the old style Thai music. It's very beautiful. As we got closer to the source of the music I realized it was coming from a junk collector's house or buildings. It was hard to say where his house was. All I saw was a whole lot of old junk like old TVs, beat up fans, air conditioners, pieces of motorbikes, etc. But forget all the junk, the most beautiful music was coming from within. I mention this because this is the second time beautiful old style music was wafting from a junk collector's place. Maybe it makes sense. Maybe a person who picks up old TVs does it because he admires and loves the old style of TVs. That would fit with the old style music as well. He collects, respects and loves old stuff, including music. I can relate to that.

The former Queen was loved by most Thais.

Sweetest crematory I have ever found. I mean, it's yellow!

Another crematory but this one has a covered area at the base of the ramp. Never seen that before.

Further on we could hear loud music that was pretty good. It wasn't totally old style Thai but very close. When I say 'old style' I mean from the 40's, 50's and 60's. This stuff was maybe early 70's, still within the realm of my appreciation for it. It was no doubt music coming from a wedding party in progress just off the road in someone's yard or driveway. It was a live band. I have never understood why at weddings they crank the music up to the point that there is no way to converse if you are in the party area.

Just a couple of blocks, (I say blocks but this was really in the middle of nowhere), past the wedding party we did finally find a coffee shop. It was a nice, cute, new one and the woman owner seemed pretty thrilled to have us foreigners stop at her shop. She got on her translator on her phone and wrote, "Can you listen?" I had no idea what that meant. Sometimes the translator app fails! She tried again, "Can you hear music?" Oh, yes, it was still pretty loud at her shop. I got my translator app working on my phone and wrote, "We love Thai music." That made her happy and she got going on making our lattes but occasionally had to ask other questions. She was very curious about us - the usual, where we are from, where we are going, etc. She could have asked all of that in Thai but I just let her use her translator app. When she had our coffees ready we sat at her little table outside in the shade and ate our long-awaited-for Pa Tong ko. And enjoyed the live music.

Back on the road but just a few meters down the road I slammed on my brakes because there was a guy deep frying small bananas, one of my favorite snacks. They looked like really good ones because he had dipped them in something first so they were coated with lots of crispy crunchy bits. The bananas used for this are very small ones but they are not fried whole. They are cut lengthwise in about three pieces and then dipped and fried. No idea what he dipped them in. I bought a small bag of them for $.60 and they took up the position on my handlebars where the recently eaten Pa Tong ko had hung. It was an unusual day for me because I normally don't buy so much junk (deep fried stuff). I guess I was buying all that type of food because I was pretty convinced we were going to be in the middle of nowhere all day. I had to stop and buy the stuff when I saw it.

We had planned on a guest house only 20 miles from where we had started but when we got there it seemed too early to stop. We looked at the map and actually saw a small town not too far away. We decided that if we could find food there we should eat and then just go on to the next guest house that looked reasonable. That would make our day a 40 mile day. It took some effort finding a restaurant in that small town but we finally did.

The no-nonsense owner just nodded when I asked if he could make us pad siew with chicken. He had a look of, 'Well, of course I can make that.' Normally women are the cooks but this guy looked like he had the confidence to make anything. I wondered if he had retired from the military. He made the best, most vegetable-filled pad siew we have ever had. It was a huge amount of food too. Just what we needed. And I also needed the cup I had picked from his array of mugs, glasses and cups. Every restaurant we eat at in Thailand has a cooler of ice and a container of water for customers. When we arrive at a restaurant the first thing we do is get the water situation figured out. This time there were some very interesting water glasses to drink from.

Parked inside the building next to the wood tables of the restaurant was a vintage Datsun 1500 pickup truck. It was in mint condition. The cook noticed us admiring his truck and he told us it was 50 years old! It was beautiful. He definitely was a no-nonsense guy. The place was immaculate and yes, I believe he could cook anything perfectly. And I think he maybe was retired military.

The cooks 50 year old Datsun in immaculate condition.

I had grown so fond of the cup I had chosen I decided to ask him if he was willing to sell it to me. When I asked he just waved his hand and told me I could have it. The way he waved it was as if he didn't care and, 'Just take it and you can leave now.' No nonsense. He didn't care about a stupid cup that said in English, "A Moment of Indulgent Pleasure". But I could tell he cared a great deal about keeping that truck immaculate.

The cup I wanted and the owner/chef gave me.

This town reminds me of a wild west town, Asian style.

This is a Chinese tuolaji. They are used all over SE Asia for farming. They are quite versatile in that different equipment can be hooked up to the engine for a variety of purposes. We have been seeing them used for plowing as well as pumping water from irrigation ditches into rice paddies. They are really loud machines and very awkward to drive. They are also quite good at polluting the air.

A field of very poor looking tapioca plants.

Well fortified we set out for about 20 more miles. It really wasn't hard either because we are in much better shape now than our pathetic selves were at the beginning of our trip. Not far from our new destination we turned onto a small road lined with young teak trees that had been planted. Even young teak trees have huge leaves and because it's fall the road was littered with huge, bone- dry, brown, teak leaves. Andrea and I have always had a game of riding over them to see who can make the biggest crunching sound. We had a lot of material to work with on that road and it was afternoon when the humidity was lower. Oh, yes, it's all about humidity. In the morning, when the humidity is extremely high there is no crunch when riding over a huge teak leaf. But conditions when we turned onto Road 4045 were perfect and we perked up seeing all the leaves scattered on it.

Andrea and I got to work weaving around on the road to crunch teak leaves under our tires. There are two crunches, you know, and the biggest leaves have the loudest crunch, or, double crunch as it were. Going faster downhill meant a faster double crunch. It's different but not always what you want. You want the loudest crunch and that is usually achieved by going fairly slowly. Perfecting the crunch - it's a skill, and hard to explain. The sound of the speed of crunch.

I named the road Teak Leaf Crunch Road and we kids were really going at it. People know the road as Road 4045 but how boring is that! It's Teak Leaf Crunch Road for sure. It was so juvenile, us weaving around the road hitting leaf after leaf. Like the saying on the mug, it was, 'A Moment of Indulgent Pleasure'. We were making jokes. "Yes, doctor, I was going for the biggest leaf over on the other side of the road when I got hit by the car." "Uh huh. Sure." "No, really, doctor, it was going to be the biggest crunch of all. I was going to win!"

Teak Leaf Crunch Road. Most of the leaves we were after were on the shoulder so it wasn't actually that dangerous.

Eventually the two rows of teak trees gave out and we entered another crossroads near to where we thought we would find a guest house. As we approached the intersection there was a very small Friday Market and I had to check it out for possible papayas. Junk food was still on my mind too. I guess some days you just have junk food on your mind. So, I bought two sticks of khao lam (sticky rice inside bamboo), some little round batter things fried in cast iron that we call ebelskivers and also two Thai iced teas. No papaya which means we seem to be in an extremely papayaless region.

Khao lam - sticky rice inside shaved down bamboo.

The same stream our guest house was on but further downstream. The river comes out of the nearby hills and was more clear than most streams we see.

Very nearby we found a beautiful guest house with fancy modern bungalows. The owner was really nice and he showed us his property that went down to a beautiful little stream where he had chairs and tables placed. It was set way back from the road and so peaceful. Our bungalow was the furthest one from the road. Even if a campaign blaster truck were to go by on the main road I don't think we would have been bothered. Too bad there wasn't a junk collector next door though.

lovebruce

Our bungalow on the right. Straight ahead the land drops down to a beautiful little stream.

At our guest house down by the little stream.

Today's ride: 40 miles (64 km)
Total: 764 miles (1,230 km)

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