New Year's party at our friends' house 21km away with an overnight stay. A perfect opportunity to do the right thing and cycle. If all goes well and I don't overdo the celebrations it means starting the new year with a dawn swim in the sea. But first comes getting to the party.
Leaving home in the cooling air before sunset I take my time, enjoying the sights and goings-on of the Thai countryside. In this area that means sugarpalm trees, and lots of them. Most of the ricefields have been harvested bringing with it a change in colour from lush green to dry brown.
I stop to admire this classic entrance to a Buddhist temple and wonder why so much care and effort goes into making something so striking when the inevitable overhead wires will just obscure it. The local population seem to have an impressive ability not to notice.
Further on something odd is happening in this stubbly field!
The answer is ducks. The birds are owned and left to feed in the fields to remove pests such as snails while their shepherd (duckherd?) lingers nearby. For the night they are coralled into the circle of netting for safety while whoever is looking after them rests in the makeshift tent. Being pinioned the ducks cannot fly. After a few days they will be trucked or trekked to different fields.
Mostly on quiet back-roads with almost no traffic, I feel safe enough to quickly take this shadow portrait of me and my bike.
The rest of the outward trip quietly slips into night. I don't usually cycle at night here as some of the driving practices make it too risky but I know this route as relatively free of traffic and reckon the drinking-drivers won't quite be drunk yet.
Then comes the very enjoyable party with me in bed fifteen minutes after hugging in the new year. Having been in Thailand for quite a few years I put ice in my beer and it kept staring at me all night.
I woke up before my alarm clock and was back on my bike earlier than I had planned giving me plenty of time to ride the 9km down to the coast before the sun got up. I was relieved to feel no effects from the previous night except perhaps a yearning for a bit more sleep. More peaceful, empty roads but on a dark stretch I took a wrong turn and doubled the distance I had to cycle making it a race to get to the beach before the sun.
But this just made the rewards of slipping into the cool, calm waters even better. Absolute bliss!
I lolled for about half an hour before dragging myself out for one last look at the sea horizon then the 21km ride home.
The return ride was a pleasant contrast between the early morning peace of the countryside and the bustle of the early morning roadside markets.
This was the second time that I have done this cycling trip as a fantastic way to bring in the new year and I'm hoping to make it an annual event. However, leaving our friends' home so early did mean that I left without thanking them so I might not be invited next year!
