Roads of Wonder

December 30, 2025

Ban Rai to Dan Chang, Thailand

Roads of Wonder

We had never been told there was some sort of breakfast included at our guest house but we read it in the reviews on Google Maps. At 7AM we walked over to an area of tables that we thought all along might be a coffee shop. There was indeed jok being offered in an enormous pot. It was good jok too. Jok isn't much but it's something. It's broken rice gruel with small bits of ground pork and some chives or cilantro or other green bits. It's like the Thai equivalent of oatmeal, if oatmeal had any additional protein. It's always nice to have something for breakfast included with our room because often we are in the middle of nowhere restaurant wise. This time we had a wonderful town right nearby but even then, often restaurants might not be open yet.

Interesting tables at our guest house in Ban Rai.

Where we parked our bikes for the night.

I wanted to wear the 0ºCelsius Cafe shirt I was given yesterday and return to the cafe when they opened at 8. We were ten minutes early but the employee with whom we hadn't ever conversed with was there and not the owner. However she was ready and willing to make us coffee. We sipped our coffee for a few minutes but it looked as though we were going to miss the owner because we had to get on the road. The owner was no doubt texting with her employee and just as we were leaving the employee wanted to take our photo. We were with our bikes and wearing our helmets. It might be good for advertising use. We had to get going so we left. Too bad we didn't get to see the owner again but we had not made arrangements to. It was just something I wanted to do and also to get some of their tasty coffee for the road.

We left town on road 3015 to the south but fairly soon turned onto 4015. On Google Maps it appears as 5015 but the road markers were 4015. If you are not too confused yet let me just say that cruising on 4015 to the south from the town of Ban Rai was one of the most joyful rides I have ever had on a bike. It never really looked as though we were going downhill but we must have been ever so slightly because we effortlessly rode fast. Long long stretches we were going a sustained 18 mph which is very fast for us. It was beautiful country too with lots of forested hills in the distance everywhere we looked. I think we did nearly 20 miles on that road before all the fun came to an end when we had to get onto a rather large road, Hwy. 333. In Thailand the fewer the digits of the road name the more pain, pain in the way of the noise of fast vehicles. I never want to be on those roads because I feel a lot less safe next to vehicles going way too fast. Even worse, though, are roads with two digits. And then there is Highway 1. Forget that. We like the four digit roads and better yet are rural roads with no numbers. Those can be unpredictable but unpredictability is where a great trip begins, in my opinion.

The deeper the furrows, or, the more piled up the soil is, the bigger the tapioca roots will develop.

Sugar cane cut right to the ground will sprout again. I think they can get at least three cycles before it starts to peter out.

I don't know what the deal is with zebras. They must be good luck or something.

This is the first garbage dump I've ever seen in Thailand. It appears to be about 85% plastic.

Tapioca will be planted on top of these furrows.

We saw these being dried on mats alongside the road.

Do we put bicycles too high on pedestals?

A billboard showing how useful Highway Police are.

We had ten miles on Road 333 but we disliked it so much that after about six miles we found a very small road that would take us in the right direction we needed to go. We got on that road at the top of a big hill and as soon as we were on it we flew down it. But that very small, very rough, cement-in-places road that was used seldomly felt as if we were not in Thailand anymore. We kept thinking how similar the countryside was to a particular part of Burma. The road, too, resembled ox cart paths in Burma. And we felt like we were definitely in the dry season with the surrounding farms looking pretty parched. It's amazing how quickly things dry out over here. It was raining buckets six weeks ago!

The difference that rough rural road was with Hwy. 333 was dramatic. It was also dramatic how much I loved being on that rough road. It was dangerous in a very different way. The cement was gone in so many patches and dodging the holes was very hard considering how fast we were going steeply downhill. I was thinking a lot about how quickly the pads of my disk brakes were possibly wearing because the downhill just kept going and was very steep.

At one point there were three little kids walking in the middle of the road away from me. They hadn't noticed me yet and then I was on a nice stretch of concrete which meant my panniers were not bouncing around making a racket. I didn't want to scare them but it seemed that was unavoidable even if I had used my bell. I was only fifteen feet away from them when the oldest girl turned around. In shock she grabbed the youngest one close to her and exclaimed in a loud voice in English, "OH MY GOD!" I must have appeared to be like a yellow devil descending on them quickly out of nowhere. I was the opposite of a zombie but just as scary, especially to little kids. The road was the definition of The Middle of Nowhere. I couldn't believe there were three kids on it! And what was she doing speaking English! I can't imagine what they thought about us, where we had come from, where we were going. The whole thing was crazy. When she said, 'oh my god' I just started laughing. And then I just flew past them and kept on going! I'm pretty sure we were the first foreigners on that road ever. What a great road though. I loved it. And those kids are never going to forget the yellow devil cyclist riding really fast!

The start of the descent down the potholed and steep road.

This is one of the best sections of the steep road that doesn't look steep here at all.

These will be the next crop of tapioca. The stems sit in the sun for a few days and are then cut into short lengths and jammed in the ground. Amazing that it grows since it might not rain for months.

Well, I don't have photos of the terrible parts of this road because when I was on the terrible parts I was concentrating on not crashing and I couldn't stop.

The sugar cane harvesting machine rips all the leaves off and leaves them on the field. Some farmers bale them up and I don't know what they do with them.

Why is it that steep never comes through in photos?

Then the steep road turned into dirt the rest of the way down.

That rural road turned to dirt and rocks near the bottom but we still loved it. We turned onto road 3026 which we could see would take us right to the guest house we had marked. It wasn't far. We didn't know that same road would also take us to such a beautifully clean, open-air restaurant but one look and I immediately turned in and parked. We needed lunch and certainly, a restaurant that was that good looking would have something for us. We have not seen a menu in English for hundreds of miles now but fortunately we can ask if they can make certain common Thai dishes and Andrea can read some things on menus too. The three women running the place were really nice and made us a fantastic meal. It doesn't get any better than that in Thailand. Good Food = Thailand.

As always the women wanted to know where we had come from and where we were going (probably like those kids did too). People are always astonished because Thais just don't do cycle touring. They do a lot of lycra wearing, fast riding on fancy bikes but they wouldn't consider putting a pannier on a bike and taking off into the hinterlands. People are always in disbelief when we tell them where we have come from on our little bikes. It's a nice way of interacting because we can tell them the names of the towns we have biked to in sequence. They like hearing those Thai town names and that we have visited them.

A great meal at the end of a day's ride. Pad krapow which is like the national dish of Thailand. Lots of holy basil and this one is with chicken and a fried egg.

I like how open most restaurants are in Thailand. Not much need for walls as we know them.

Just a quarter mile down the same road from the restaurant we pulled into a rather unusual guest house. We think it's called My Farm Resort. We were greeted by a very nice person who showed us two different rooms/bungalows. Each unit has been painted a bright color in a very creative way. There are a large number of rooms and bungalows. They told us breakfast was included in a huge breakfast room. There is a pond with giant fish in it, an outside bar of sorts, and I guess there is food available to order in that breakfast room. It's landscaped beautifully and the entire atmosphere of the place makes me happy. I love colorful things so this place is great.

The person in charge of our new guest house called My Farm Resort coming out of her office when we first arrived.

The fun each day is not knowing how the day is going to pan out. Everyday is unique and interesting in a way where it can't be made up! Maybe that is true no matter where you are cycling. Or maybe it's more true here. I don't know. We're simply enjoying the variety every day, the great food, beautiful bungalows and the wonderfully nice Thai people.

lovebruce

Today's ride: 31 miles (50 km)
Total: 877 miles (1,411 km)

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