The sweet spot

     I think I've found my sweet spot for bicycle touring.  My formula is going to a city, renting a bicycle, and heading out.  I did a short trip with Spice Roads through Bangkok and then took a day trip to Ayutthaya that was just brilliant.  Elevated sky train, metro and train got me to Auytthaya for $1.96, bicycle rental was $1.65 and I had the day to explore the ruins of one of the old capitals of Thailand.

Ayutthaya 

     Never too far away from cold water, a mango smoothie or a tasty meal and always in the action, it's just what I like.  And if something happened to the bicycle?  I'd flag a truck down, take it back to the rental place and mutter under my breath, "Fix it, bitch."   Sure, the bike you are on may not fit you properly and probably isn't the most reliable steed, but you avoid a number of hassles - packing/unpacking the bicycle, airline fees (both ways) and here's the big selling point for me:  I get to do the kind of cycle touring I like to do.  I'm not interested in slogging out the miles past the water buffalo, roadside snakes and miles and miles of rice paddies.  They're nice to watch from the train, but not quite as interesting in the oppressive heat as you are clocking 18 kph.

     I took the night train from Bangkok to Chiang Mai, where I'm currently posted up, bicycle rental safely locked outside the hotel.  The folks sitting across from me on the sleeper train were from Holland, and like me, in their 50's.  It was their first time to Thailand, and they said they had stayed in the young, hip section of Bangkok.  I told them I knew it well, I used to stay there, back when I was young and hip.  Now I like to stay in the old and crotchety part of the city.  Suits me much better.  And the sleeper is a bargain - $26 gets you a 14 hour train trip, a berth (yes, I do like the turn down service at 2100) and cold, cold, cold ac.

A night on the train

     Chiang Mai is a fairly compact city, the Old City is inside the moat and there is plenty to explore outside the confines of the gates and surrounding water, quite accessible on a bicycle.  I took a trip to the West side of the city today and then circled back to the East where I happened on a lovely market where the bananas weren't Cavendish and the root vegetables still had the dirt on them.  At the end of the market was a woman selling well, I'm not sure.  I saw an organ, a tail, and what looked to be like two bags of blood.  You know, if you happen to know what do do with a few bags of fresh blood.  At least it doesn't look like they're wasting any part of the animal.

I think my oxtail soup may have a hair in it...

    And speaking of food in general, I finally broke the news to Gwyne, who would always helpfully point out the Thai restaurants wherever we lived, perhaps hoping for a meal out.  "Honey.  The Thai restaurants.  You know what I really like?  I like the price of the Thai food in Thailand.  Street food.  A good, healthy meal for under $1."   I do enjoy the food, but I have a Kim Davis like aversion to paying $7 -$10 when I know what the True price should be.  25 - 30 Baht.   Eagle eyed readers may have noticed my wife didn't come with me this time.  We're in the process of looking at potential retirement locations and Chiang Mai is on the short list.  I sold her the idea of this trip by saying that she needed a hero to go forward and explore Chiang Mai more thoroughly.  A hero's hero, that's what she was looking for.  Who fits that job description better than I?   My mission is to hang out, explore the neighborhoods, look at apartments,  examine the +'s and -'s and then report back.  She was lukewarm about the idea of Thailand to start with (we've been there twice before) and a bit cooler about me taking off for an undetermined amount of time on a quasi bike tour through Thailand.   It was a hard sell, and in the end, the deal was closed, and here I am.  We have a 14 point metric on an ideal retirement location, and we know we won't hit all of the bullets, but are looking to fill the majority.  If I come back and tell her that Thailand is the place for us, she won't be a happy camper.  There would be years of selling what she doesn't want to buy.  What about the kids?  Skype.  And you can rustle some aluminum foil in the background when you're done talking with them, and blame the connection.  Bonus! What about the language?  Google translate.  Works like a champ.  I thought I had all the answers, but after this trip, I'm going to come back to a hero's welcome when I tell her that Thailand just won't fit the bill.  Win, win, win.  Just how I like it.