First day on the road (8th March 07)

Khon Kaen to Udon Thani
Distance - 124km
Average - 18.4km/h

On our first day riding it seems kinda odd that we planned a ride of 120km. Yet we wanted to head north from Khon Kaen to the next major town of Udon Thani. We were told by our guesthouse that there were no accomodation options on route, so we had to tackle the whole distance in one day.

So we tried to beat the 40 degree temperatures by heading off at the crack of dawn, after a filling breakfast of Khao Phat (Fried Rice). The road linking Khon Kaen and Udon Thani was a major dual carriageway, which luckily enough had a side lane the whole distance. This ensured our distance from the buses, trucks and pick-up trucks flying along at 150km/h.

Every 5km Nick's 'baby-bladder' needed emptying, and at one such stop, he came running back from the bushes with a pack of dogs snarling close behind. We made a quick dash to the bikes and made a hasty escape. In Vietnam dogs are rarely let outdoors in fear of them being BBQ at the local restaurant, but in Thailand dogs are everywhere.

Along the way the Thai locals were super-friendly with lots of 'Hellos' and 'Sawadees'. Im sure if they new the words they would say 'Are you part mad?' One women we met asked where we were going, and we said 'Udon Thani' which at that stage was 15km away, which she said was very far. When we told her we had already riden the 110km from Khon Kaen, she looked at us with disbelief.

For lunch we sampled the famous Isan-Thai holy trinity of Gai Yaang (marinated BBQ chicken), Som Tum (spicy papaya salad) and Khao Neow (sticky rice). Vendors selling these delights lined the roadside in various towns.

The 125km ride was pretty tough, being the longest ride that either of us have ever done. The terrain was not too bad, mainly gentle rolling hills or flat Mekong landscape. We have two weeks to get our cycling legs ready for the mountains in Laos.