Walk in the Park

[Boon Mee]

Good stuff Sea Traveler.

I'm on my bike most days too when it's not raining. It's a 30 km round trip from the house to Don Chedi and my scenery consists of a lot of rice fields. It's a flat run so I make good time. Nothing notable on these back roads but farm machinery and school kids in baht busses but I'll take my camera with next time and bore the shit out of y'all!

good deal Boon. yu riding a road bike? mountain bike? local single speed with basket on the front bike? I enjoy taking sub soi's and back some single track dirt roads. I almost always run across some cows on the road. While on Eastern Star the other day when I took those pictures, I had to go off road and ride through an open field that was just recently cut, to get to the course where I wanted to take a picture. There were some bird chirping and acting all crazy so I was thinking that they had a next on the ground. Shit, I looked down and just in front of my front wheel there was a snake crawling through the freshly cut field grass. Fortunately I was still rolling and I want about to stop for any picture taking.

looking forward to some of your pictures from the ride.

Won't be today as it's still pissing down. We have all kinds of snakes here in rural Suphan too crawling out of the fields due to this rainy season. The snakes are mostly going after the kon kooks (toads). I'll occasionly come across one of those Iguana-looking lizards too that don't have sense to get off the road.

I'm riding an old 10 speed bike with the narrow tires so it's all pavement riding with this bike. Had a garage sale years ago before leaving the States and had a $10.00 price tag on it. Now I'm glad it didn't sell!

[Agent_Smith]

Had a garage sale years ago before leaving the States and had a $10.00 price tag on it. Now I'm glad it didn't sell!

Must have been fun carrying that over on the plane!

[Boon Mee]

Had a garage sale years ago before leaving the States and had a $10.00 price tag on it. Now I'm glad it didn't sell!

Must have been fun carrying that over on the plane!

Actually threw it in the 40' shipping container when we shifted back for good in '09. Did a 15 km run this am and will get some pictures posted soon.

[Agent_Smith]

Did a 15 km run this am

Yeah, I heard them soi dogs can be tenacious. Took 15 klicks to finally shake them off, good stamina Booners.

[SEA Traveler]

23 Sept 2011: I’m getting into the groove these days with the cycling on some of the rural and beach roads around Ban Chang. I enjoy the back sois and off the beaten track roads but also find a lot of interesting things to take pictures of while riding. Yes, I know that it can be somewhat dangerous to take pictures when cycling and I don’t always take the shoot while rolling along but sometime if you don’t you miss the shoot or you moving along at a good clip and just don’t want to break the rhythm. In any even, today while riding I took a few pictures while actually riding, you will probably be able to tell as a result of the pictures being a little blurry, and then there were some other pictures where I stopped the bicycle and took the picture. Here are a few shots from todays ride. Enjoy!

A short distance from the house I cut back onto a sub soi. Typical lower income country Thai residences with dogs laying in the middle of the road, cows and other animals in the fields, grandparents minding young children, and people at the ever present roadside food stands.


Dogs on the road. I rolled passed them and they never moved an inch.




Another meandering sub soi of a secondary soi going further into the countryside and eventually connecting to a secondary soi.




i took this shot while still rolling along. From a distance I saw the cow and a bird sitting on it’s back but by the time I got the camera out of my back pocket of the riding jersey and turned on, the bird was gone. But here is the cow and the greenery around it.




Here is another cow with some sort of white cranes (bird) flying in the back left background.




Following the bird(s) was the focus of the camera and as he was flying, I was panning the camera, therefore the cow and greenery are slightly out of focus.




I saw many spirt houses set up at various points along these country roads and many of them had a large tree with ribbons tied around them. I guessing the site of a late evening motorcycle accident with fatalities with the spirt house erected for a place where the deceased spirt can reside. I’m just taking a guess at this without asking the spouse because not sure I’d get an accurate answer as she is not a country girl (until we moved here anyways... 555). OK, I did ask the spouse and although she said what i think is not actually the case, she could not give me a reasonable explanation, hence, I hold my original claim. Anyone have insight to this issue?




Although this spirt house looks similar to the one in the previous picture, it is at a different location along the same road.




Now this guy has the life. Taking an afternoon nap while the wife is out working.




And his neighbor or relative who got stuck watching the grandkid.




Here’s another cow. This one right on the side of the road.

[SEA Traveler]

As I noted above, I enjoy the off road cycling as much as the riding on asphalt country roads.








Some beach side food vendor stalls.





And the beach. Looking into the beach area from the beach road.





A little further down the beach road and I cut into an alley way that lead to the pier that is used by the local fishermen.








Lots of fishing boats tied up in the as well. Maptaput in the top right background of the picture immediately below.








These coconuts are growing at the waters edge. They looked good.




A dry docked boat.

[SEA Traveler]

I like riding the sub sois. This one here leading from the the beach.





Here is the “Old Pala Beach House” Restaurant. Jeab may be calling it “Jeab’s” now not sure as I stopped eating there when she raised the price of beer to something that I considered highway robbery. An enjoyable place to eat though and it is right on the beach.





Headed back towards home now and I was rolling along when I took this picture but the food vendor clearly saw me in this case.





and some more road side vendors as I was headed home.

[Agent_Smith]

^Very nice photos.

[kmart]

Great photos mate. That's also my neck of the woods, so I mostly recognise all of them.

[SEA Traveler]

Great photos mate. That's also my neck of the woods, so I mostly recognise all of them.

good on you kmart... so your living the simple life as well. do you ride bicycle at all?

[SEA Traveler]

Sunday, 25 September 2011: What a beautiful day out today. Good day for an extended bicycle ride in and around Ban Chang. Headed out to Phayun Beach way today and decided to take a few pictures of various eateries and enterprises along the way in passing that are either operated by the spouses of Farlongs or otherwise have some Farlong interest.


Here is Moon’s (or also known as Dave’s) where both Thai noodles, the normal Thai lunch foods, and some Farlong dishes. I’m told that a good English breakfast is available here. For lunch and early evening one can usually find a few farlong from the area there having a few beers and chatting it up.








A little further into the ride I passed Bee’s as the sign say’s (but I only know it as Tony’s). Again, an afternoon and early evening place to get some Thai or Western foods and a cold beverage and some conversation with some of the local Expats. There is a pool table on the premises and i’m told that a nice fish and chips can be gotten here.







The next place I passed was Sang's. Sang’s has a nice garden area surrounding a few tables. Thai and some Western foods available and there is always cold beer in the cooler.




A little further out from Ban Chang and just 100 meters off of Phayun Beach is a slightly more up scale place called Bella Vista. This is their relocated location and I have not been there to eat since moving from their previous location but i am told that they have a nice steak dinner and other Western Danish and Scandinavian foods is their specialty I think and then they also have the tradition Thai menu. Beer served as well. Slightly more pricy than the other places mentioned.




Riding on, I saw this lady and her male accompaniment collecting some vegetables that I suppose were going to be used for their consumption at one of the meal times.




Here is a sub-soi I frequently ride that leads to Phayun Beach.





and here is the road the leads down to and overlooks Phayun Beach.

[SEA Traveler]

Here are a few pictures along the Phayun Beach.
























and then here is a picture looking up at this run down, dilapidated, and what appears to be abandoned condominium from the beach. No windows or doors and obviously no caretaker but someone is living in them. Probably some people that otherwise would be called homeless. You can see the laundry hanging from the balcony.

[SEA Traveler]

After the turnaround and headed back towards the Villa, i cut down behind the temple at Pala Beach and in the field behind the school that sits right on the beach beside the temple, there was some kind of bird show going on.





I stopped and watched for a while, took some pictures but could not figure out what the show intent was. It almost seemed like some sort of competition but the whole process did not make any sense to me from spectating it and there was no one around that I saw who might be able to explain it to me. Anyway, here are a few more pictures of that event.









On the way home and on the final stretch about 5 kilo from the house, I stopped at Harry’s Mini Mart for a cold soda water. Peter and and wife operate this establishment that they call a Sweet Shop. Peter has beer, smokes, ice cream, things that the school kids need for school and might want to snack on when going home from school. Things that you might normally find in a small mini mart.

[nigelandjan]

Thanks for taking the time and trouble to post the pics ST ,,,,,,,,,,, as Louis Armstrong sang " What a wonderfull world " I am so envious ,, allthough to be fair as we are nearing October here in the UK we are enjoying a late Indian Summer ,, forcast to reach 27 degrees by Friday . Today I have just planted out 50 odd garlic cloves to get growing before the frost hits the ground .

[SEA Traveler]

nothing to be envious about Nigel, we all live our life the way we choose and as I'm out of the rat race anymore, I am enjoying the simple life. Cheers!

[nigelandjan]

^ well hope to follow you soon mate as and when finances allow

[Agent_Smith]

there was some kind of bird show going on.

Maybe its more of a social club for the birds?

[somtamslap]

Great effort. These pics definitely make me want to relocate closer to the coast - and to get a decent bicycle too.

[SEA Traveler]

there was some kind of bird show going on.

Maybe its more of a social club for the birds?

right, could be. I don't speak the language so could not get the insight from the birds. lol.

[SEA Traveler]

Great effort. These pics definitely make me want to relocate closer to the coast - and to get a decent bicycle too.

The roads I ride are flat for the most part and the pace is rather leisurely but interesting because of the scenery. I stop and talk to some people along the way when inclined but for the most part slow and steady checking out new roads that appear interesting. My mountain bike is is about 15 years old but I've maintained it so it rides well and looks in good condition. I left my road bike in the States as the days of racing are long gone. I bought the road bike frame, it is a "Viner", Italian hand crafted frame and then built it up with top notch Japanese components but heck that must have been 25 or so years ago. That bike was light and had a short wheel base that I used for road races. When I see a group riding over here on road bikes, I sort of wish I had the road bike here but realize that it is just a dream to be riding like that again.

Plenty of bike shops around that sell nice name brand bikes STS. Not sure what the prices are over here though.

[pickel]

Glad you made it away from this one alive SEA.

[SEA Traveler]

Glad you made it away from this one alive SEA.

how right you are pickel and you noticed the distance I have between her and myself. I kept a wide birth from that side of the road while peddling by. LOL.

[palexxxx]

there was some kind of bird show going on.

Looks like it's more of a gathering for silver utes. (pickups)

[kmart]

Thanks for more great photos. SEA T. Answer to to your earlier question; I'm still working here, not retired yet. ^^Those abandoned condo buildings have been dilapidated and empty for as long as I've been in Banchang (15 years). Apparently they were built without Navy permission, or the developer fell out with someone influential, and they've never been touched since.. The people living in them must be quite a recent phenomenon..

[SEA Traveler]

Thanks for more great photos. SEA T. Answer to to your earlier question; I'm still working here, not retired yet. ^^Those abandoned condo buildings have been dilapidated and empty for as long as I've been in Banchang (15 years). Apparently they were built without Navy permission, or the developer fell out with someone influential, and they've never been touched since.. The people living in them must be quite a recent phenomenon..

I believe they call them "squatters"..... better than sleeping in a hammock on the beach when it's raining.