January 6, 2026
Inching Closer to the Megalopolis
Ban Pong to Nakhon Pathom
Inching Closer to the Megalopolis
Ban Pong to Nakhon Pathom
Most birds go to bed at night which means they quit singing when it's dark. Oh, yes, there is the occasional outburst from a bad dream. But Koels go for it at any hour in the night. They have a loud call that repeats and as it repeats it gets faster and more high pitched until it reaches a bit of a fever pitch; a little frantic sounding. To hear it in the middle of the night is not particularly upsetting though. I don't know why it isn't a nuisance because if humans made that kind of racket in the night we'd be pissed off. Maybe we are used to it like we are used to roosters. I'm not saying we feel as though we have to like the Koel's crazy nighttime behavior because we named our journal referring to their "song." Koels are actually louder than roosters and have much more to say but I don't think we'd ever consider naming a journal after roosters. For some reason we like the Koel's strange incessant call. Frankly, the journal should be named Call of the Koel. There, I said it, after pondering it for half the trip. But the name change will not take place. Call it what you want, it's a song for the duration of this journal.
Anyway, Koels sang much of the night and somehow we slept pretty well. What was on our minds more than the racket of the Koels was anticipation for what the reviews for our guest house on Google Maps said was a very good buffet breakfast. I have this thing about buffet breakfasts in Thailand. I like me a good, well-rounded buffet breakfast to start the day even if it puts us a little behind getting on the bikes. It's not as if we have them very often but actually, upcoming, we have several in a row mostly due to our heading to Bangkok. We always stay in the same hotel in Bangkok because of their elegant, delicious and varied breakfasts. Even before we get to Bangkok we are heading to the large town of Nakhon Pathom, which we have never visited. In light of that we found a very nice hotel, reasonably priced and picturing another fantastic looking breakfast included in the price of $24. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
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First we had to break away from our current breakfast before contemplating our next one. Our ride involved following along the southern banks of the Mae Klang River until we had to peel away from it and enter what I think is the outermost suburb of Bangkok even though Nakhon Pathom sits 35 miles to the west. When you are talking a minimum of 13 million people, Bangkok stretches its arms wide. However. I'm sure Nakhon Pathomians don't see themselves as part of Bangkok.
Like yesterday, we saw a curious number of graveyards; small pagodas or chedis holding the ashes of the deceased. We just didn't see that in the north to such a degree. Everywhere is different in Thailand. The dialect is slightly different than the north's also but not enough to throw me off since I know very little Thal anyway. There is more wealth near to Bangkok and I'm guessing they just have more money to have the small pagodas made to honor their loved ones with a permanent resting spot instead of spreading their ashes somewhere. I say this because I saw some of the pagodas on people's own land and not always at or just outside the temples.
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After a few bike trips now, I find that I love following rivers, or coastlines. There is something definitive about those routes; something you can always see. It's always as if the coastline or riverbanks are showing you what they have whether it is rocky, sandy, lined with houses or lined with promenades to prevent erosion. Sometimes you can see how different each side of the river is. One side may have tons of jagged rock neatly placed on a 45 degree angle with a cement promenade on top and a stainless steel railing. The other side might be totally natural with weeds, big trees and vines. What has always been and what is, for now. In this tropical climate the trees will take hold in the newly placed rock and if we were to return in a few years there might be trees many meters tall. In a few more years the granite rocks will no longer even be seen. Plants do not grow as quickly as they do where I am from.
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Our route didn't keep us near the river for long and then we entered an area of not much. About 99% of the time I leave the routing to Andrea because she's so good at it. Ir was a surprise when we entered an area of not much. I guess there were some watery fields of rice but then an area on a dirt road where there was a lot of garbage and further on the road had had oil dumped on it to keep down the dust. Mostly I was surprised the area was rural at all. Again, I had prepared myself for the encroaching megalopolis not rice fields or even garbage and certainly not an oil covered dirt road!
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The city eventually began but I was very happy to have had the vegetation last as long as it did. It's always exciting to enter a new city in Thailand. I always anticipate the regular stuff but then there is always that odd thing that is unique to that particular city. You just have to find it. First we had to check in to our hotel, The Diary Suite. I kept reading it as The Dairy Suite.
Nice fancy hotels always make you wait for official check-in time of 2PM. We are used to getting into our rooms as soon as we arrive, around noon. I have this sneaking suspicion that the fancy ones hold to that rule of 2PM even if the room is ready for occupancy. They have to hold onto their fanciness anyway they can. So, there we sat in the lobby for nearly two hours subjected to the same few notes over and over and over. I have no idea how the reception staff can handle it day after day. Much preferable would be if they played a continuous recording of the Koel singing or calling, whichever you prefer.
Finally they let us have our room and then told us about the renovations taking place across the hall from our room. I was beginning to wonder just how fancy this hotel was. It was fine though, Quite nice, and the construction noise was nothing compared to what we have experienced on a daily basis.
The first big business we had to take care of was that I needed a new Thai phone plan. I always thought E-sims were invented to make hooking up easier but at least in Thailand it has made it a complete hassle. Only a few places in large towns will even approach the subject.
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The name "Lotus's" (formerly Tesco Lotus) is often viewed as a grammatical curiosity by English speakers. While it may look like an error, it is a deliberate branding choice that follows specific linguistic and marketing logic:
Possessive "S" after "S": In English grammar, when a singular proper noun ends in 's', you can indicate possession in two ways: by adding just an apostrophe (e.g., Lotus') or by adding an apostrophe and another 's' (e.g., Lotus's). Both are technically correct, though the latter is often preferred by style guides to reflect how the word is actually spoken (pronounced "Lotus-ez").
Marketing Focus on "Smart" and "Smile": When the brand was overhauled after being acquired by the CP Group, the company explained that the added 's represents "Smart" and "Smile". This serves as a mnemonic for their customer service goals and technical modernization.
Local Familiarity: Thai shoppers had already shortened the original name "Tesco Lotus" to just "Lotus" in common speech. Adding the 's allowed the brand to claim a unique, trademarkable identity while keeping the name everyone already used.
Visual Distinction: The lowercase 's' in the logo is often styled differently or in a different color, highlighting it as a separate branding element rather than just a grammatical suffix.
1 week ago
1 week ago
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So, we were off to Lotus's which I still don't think is correct English with that apostrophe where it is. The name was changed from Tesco Lotus a few years ago, a switch in their name I do not approve of. Nobody asked me! However, they were supposedly the people who could figure out the E-sim. After a lot of time they did get me a phone plane for one month for $6 and then it was a hunt for the Dairy Queen which is sometimes inside the massive multi-stored, multi-storied store. If Daisy Queen exists I must find it because I love the look on Andrea's face when she licks off that curl. Mission accomplished, we walked back to our Dairy Suite to think about that breakfast we have only seen a few photos of. Life could be a lot tougher.
lovebruce
Today's ride: 20 miles (32 km)
Total: 1,024 miles (1,648 km)
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1 week ago
1 week ago
No, we aren't going to change the name.
1 week ago