Ok now this is getting ridiculous! 7 straight days of rain!!! I woke this morning around 4:30 and hear the pounding of rain on the window of my room and thanked my lucky Buddhas that I didn't have to load up Big Red and ride today. Colin and I met at 8:30 a.m. for breakfast and commiserated together on this damn weather. I mean, there is a monsoon/rainy season in Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia...and this ain't the time of year it's supposed to happen!!!
So we decided to grab the umbrellas we'd bought a week ago and kept on the bikes and take off to explore the city in the rain. Didn't take long to become less than enthusiastic toward that idea! I told Colin earlier that the bikes really needed to be cleaned as the chains were exhibiting signs of surface rust on the links (from the rain despite the fact we were lubing the chain every other day) and the mud needed to be cleaned from around the brakes as well. So we decided to just buy cheap towels, handiwipes, and papertowels and spend some time cleaning the bikes. We really hadn't cleaned the bikes since we started and I felt pretty strong about taking care of what had gotten this far without any problem. So we found a market and bought everything and headed back and spent an hour or so cleaning the bikes. We knew they would probably get all dirty again tomorrow but at least we cleaned all the crap off that had accumulated from that 14K ride from hell in the mud and dirt looking for that damn bridge. The dirt we will accumulate tomorrow during rain (and it's forecast again) will be on the road and not dirt roads which will be better for the bikes. And we stocked up at a local supermarket of granola bars, peanuts and snacks to eat while riding. I spent some time also on the blog updating it from the day before. Oh, I almost forgot...while we were about town, we spied these brand new tuk tuk's that were for sale at a tuk tuk dealership (hell, I didn't even know these dealerships existed). Now, for those of you who don't know what a Tuk Tuk is...imagine a motorcycle that is chopped off behing the driver's seat and there is a small covered floodbed behind the driver to with seating to where 6 people can ride comfortably. These things are all over Thailand and take people to and about town everywhere. The cost of a new one was only 55,000 baht, or about $1750. I told Colin, let's each buy one, load the bikes on it and take off............These things are brand new, with a 125 Yamaha engine. Very cool....wish we could use them in U.S.....
So we decided to grab the umbrellas we'd bought a week ago and kept on the bikes and take off to explore the city in the rain. Didn't take long to become less than enthusiastic toward that idea! I told Colin earlier that the bikes really needed to be cleaned as the chains were exhibiting signs of surface rust on the links (from the rain despite the fact we were lubing the chain every other day) and the mud needed to be cleaned from around the brakes as well. So we decided to just buy cheap towels, handiwipes, and papertowels and spend some time cleaning the bikes. We really hadn't cleaned the bikes since we started and I felt pretty strong about taking care of what had gotten this far without any problem. So we found a market and bought everything and headed back and spent an hour or so cleaning the bikes. We knew they would probably get all dirty again tomorrow but at least we cleaned all the crap off that had accumulated from that 14K ride from hell in the mud and dirt looking for that damn bridge. The dirt we will accumulate tomorrow during rain (and it's forecast again) will be on the road and not dirt roads which will be better for the bikes. And we stocked up at a local supermarket of granola bars, peanuts and snacks to eat while riding. I spent some time also on the blog updating it from the day before. Oh, I almost forgot...while we were about town, we spied these brand new tuk tuk's that were for sale at a tuk tuk dealership (hell, I didn't even know these dealerships existed). Now, for those of you who don't know what a Tuk Tuk is...imagine a motorcycle that is chopped off behing the driver's seat and there is a small covered floodbed behind the driver to with seating to where 6 people can ride comfortably. These things are all over Thailand and take people to and about town everywhere. The cost of a new one was only 55,000 baht, or about $1750. I told Colin, let's each buy one, load the bikes on it and take off............These things are brand new, with a 125 Yamaha engine. Very cool....wish we could use them in U.S.....
Went and got another 2 hr massage. Had a great Thai massage, again for only about $9 for 2 hrs then dinner at same seafood restaurant we ate last night (if it ain't broken, why fix it??). Oops...I'm looking at something that is taking away my interest in this blog...wait a minute....
Well, looks like I'm about done for the day..time to get some some sleep and prepare for a day of the Rain ride again......................
On the way to Khon Khaen tomorrow.
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