It's still tough getting back on the bike when I leave Ubon but I'll just take it easy and try and be careful so I don’t do any more damage, and I’m pleased that my route out passes a number of ruines and temples which are meant to be very like Angkor, so I can enjoy some exploring.

 
I found my route out and set off towards Si Sa Ket, the roadside shops and stores which mainly consist of bamboo shops selling beds, sunshades/huts, hammocks, baskets etc . many of which have designs painted or burned into them although some are still plain are great. I get lots of shout outs on the road, and loads of thumbs up and it seems like I’d better get used to them, I love it and it makes me feel less mad doing what I’m doing (well if that’s possible).

 
Although I thought I had picked a quieter route than the main road it started off 3 or 4 lanes either side before it eventually cut down to 2 then one however, it built up again before I finished for the day and can be hard going mentally. The first temple I stopped in at was great. I parked up 'LucyLou’ (my bike) and started my usual exploring around and was pleased to see an old ruined temple in the grounds too. After I had visited the temples I got talking to a guy tending the gardens who could speak a little English (makes me so embaressed with my lack of laungage skills), he was demonstrating and pointing for me to go behind one of the ruines to see something and rushed off to get me a bag of pellet type food ... I was obviously going to feed something but I had no idea what!

 
I passed the old temple again and seemed to be heading towards a gateway but as I got closer it turned out that there was a small temple out on the lake. I was pointed on wards and after walking along a pier I got out to the temple and had a look around, looking back I was being pointed downwards so took the stairs down to the edge of the lake and again not knowing what I was doing the gardener was demonstrating for me to throw the food. I opened the bag threw some pellets and I was sooooo relieved to see big catfish coming right up to me, there were lots of them plus they were massive, many a good foot long and opening their mouths for the food. I had visions of all sorts of creatures appearing out of the water given the age of the nearby ruines, but instead I delighted in throwing pellets for the catfish the whole way back to the shore.

 
Once back on the road I only travelled around 10km when I came across more temples/ruines, this time the scale was huge – not only were the ruines massive but it was also the home to huge statues, the biggest gong I’ve ever seen, more temples, strangely explicit artwork and had large crowds gathering and eating undercover . I followed a number of locals into the ruines and was pleased when not only the men but the woman also posed for a photo, it was funny, on the way into the ruines they all wore their towels on their heads but took them off in the shade. This was a really interesting visit which started with the art work, I wouldn’t have expected this at a temple and haven’t added photos of the worst of it! My favorite part was the beautiful frangipani flowers framing one of the temples, which was beautifully colored and had Angkor like statues out front, nice.

 
When I was leaving the temple I went out the wrong way but was rewarded with shouts of ‘hello’ in English by maybe ten older people sitting on the roadside, I was taken aback that they knew English and delighted by their thumbs up at the look of me, this is truly what makes travelling on my own by bike so unique and surprising. I enjoyed the road and I loved getting into Si Sa Ket which proved a fascinating places so much so that I stayed an extra day .

 
On the way in I asked a western guy for somewhere to stay and he promptly showed me the way by following his motorbike, he has a stall where I met him which would be opened in the evening at the night market which I told him I would come back to visit. The night market was great, a real buzz and backed onto the train station with people crossing back and forth over the tracks, it seemed to sell everything from clothes to food and was jam packed with people and motor bikes and scooters alike. I was taken a tour by his girlfriend who is expecting their first child before joining their company and friends in the evening and being overwhelmed by information on places to go and visit while in this area.

 
After finding temples and churches the next day, I then opted for a rickshaw ride to the ‘aquarium’ south of town, this was a real highlight with the two walkthrough tunnels being filled with all sorts of fishy friends, the main tank had even bigger catfish than the lake but so many other species too made it was extremely interesting . In the evening I visited the night market again as it was a special one that only happens once a month and it took me several hours to make my way round it, trying foods and trying on some clothes although I really am the wrong size for Thailand.

 
Setting off again I visited Huai Thap Than and Si Khoraphum before arriving in Surin, the road is now filled with more bamboo but lots of pots and garden centers and more ruines. Once again I find myself asking for a room and a local guy showing me the way while in Si Koraphum which I would never have found, the directions were way off what I had plus he even showed me a great place to eat local food. Before I left I visited the ruines which were set about a moat and were really well kept, they just keep getting better but I suppose my route just now is directly north of Siem Reap. Surin is a big place and oddly filled with elephants which keep sneaking up on me – seriously the first time it gave me such a fright I ended up in stitches, my only defence was the noise of the traffic must have drowned it out .

 
Surin is a lovely place, a real hub with tourist around although not too many, more fantastic morning and night markets, temples galore and I even visit more ruines way north of the city by the local minibus one day and the driver took me to the temple and waited on me then brought me back, there’s silk factories and agriculture projects plus a good bike shop which I got a cleanup done before leaving. The locals are all without exception good with me, friendly and helpful and the owner of the bike shop has advised on the route to Bangkok and what not to miss. They have a large bike team here in Surin and one in Buri Ram, they go 30 km at sunrise before anything else every day and 100 km on a Sunday, nice.


Something to aspire to, now that’s dedication for you, I wonder if I’ll ever be an ‘everyday’ cyclist?