An
easy day - slept in a bit, stayed in and worked on some photos [note:
while it was nice outside], headed over to Phanom Rung Historical Park
- and got rained on for the trip back. After that I took a nap while my
clothes dried with the fan [and there was no rain for the rest of the
day....].
Phanom Rung is a restored temple complex. The ruins
were photographed, mapped, documented and then the place was
disassembled. A stronger foundation was added and the pieces moved
back into their proper places. Some job. It took 17 years.
I
"met" three different ladies here - all with a varying degree of
interest and enjoyment. The first, an older lady, came walking up to a
doorway that I was sitting in. I was getting ready to head down / out
and was waiting for the rain shower to stop or to let up. This was not
the main entrance and was more of an odd side-door location - but on
the front face nonetheless. She started talking and I could only shrug
my shoulders and try to say "I don't understand". She started to count
on her fingers - 1 through 10 is what I got out of it - but I'm not
sure that was her intent. She stayed for maybe 3 minutes chatting most
of the time. I couldn't tell if she was drunk or if this was just the
way she was. She even wanted to give me a hug - no harm there.
Eventually she went walking back into the structure and I figured - it
wasn't raining hard enough to stay put. Odd.
Walking partway down
was another lady - one that had a little boy with her. We approached
one set of steps at the same time (I'm to feel this was of her timing).
She asked where I was from in broken English and I said my typical
first response "Chicago". She held out her hand at the steps and I
obliged in the assist down - except after the last step she wished to
keep holding my hand. This isn't going in the right direction but she
semed to be having fun with it. She asked if I came via automobile and
I said, no, motorbike - figuring that would end the issue. She seemed to
think the three of us could fit just fine on a motorbike (and by the
standards of the area it would be perfectly fine - but my intent is
that only one of us would be on it).
I then motioned that I
wanted (or should it be needed!) to stop and take some photos of the complex. With that she
kept walking and I became thankful. I stopped for a few photos - I
don't think any of them made the page as they weren't any good but it
was a reasonable diversion.
On the promenade
there was another group taking photos - a guy with a camera and two
gals - one sitting to the side, one in the middle of the walkway. I
walked to the side, to get out of their way, and then offered to take a
photo of all three of them together. This is where it got a twist -
the seated gal didn't want to get up for a photo and the guy didn't
care to be in a photo either - but he motioned for me to get into
the photo with the one gal. Hmmm - well, OK. They were all giggling and
one photo with their camera and one with mine. I was off again.
Off
again, that is, until I "catch up" to the gal with the kid. She
"waited" for me. Great. I quietly shook my head "no" and gently kept
walking. I was nearing the bike and had put enough space between us so
that I could be gone before they arrived at the entrance area. No need
to dally and put in ear plugs or fasten the helmet (maybe this is why
so many ride about w/o fastening the helmet strap???). With that I was
moving - only to hear some words being spoken. No yelling but I think
it was her talking to me - I didn't look and easily motored out of the
parking lot.
A mile or so away - heading down what might have
been a "back road" to the place - I figured it would be good to stop,
fasten the helmet and put on the rain coat. It was then I noticed my
wallet was missing. Crap! Who could it have been? Most likely would be
the girl in the photo. Maybe the little kid with the other gal? Perhaps
the old lady was giving me a warning - stay away from them, they are
trouble and will keep you from your goal of riding about my wonderful
countryside. Just kidding - the wallet's fine. They would have been good theft opportunities to which I
didn't give it the thought until I started to type this up. I have a
general sense that theft issues are minimal - maybe I'm ignorant.
Hopefully I won't be proven so. If the wallet were to be stolen it
would not be the end of the trip. Now, if the passport or airplane
tickets were - that might be a bit of a hassle.
The
way back was
rainy. I had the rain jacket on but not the pants - I was wearing
jeans. They're soaked. The upside is that since I headed out
the back road I really appreciated having the
GPS. With the breadcrumb trail listed on the screen (no roads though) I
knew where I wanted to go and that I was headed in the wrong direction.
I figured, from the trip odomenter on the gps, that I had about 100
kilometers before hitting reserve on the bike so fuel was OK. I
would just wander my way taking whatever road ended up moving
me back to the north and highway 24. Once on 24 I could just take a
left/west and get back to the hotel. Done deal.
Petrol / Fuel /
Gas stations are frequent enough. The Frog Trog rain jacket isn't
working. My cotton t-shirt was wet on the front when I arrived back at
the hotel. It works decently when over the leather jacket - maybe
there's an interaction with the cotton t-shirt? If
I see a conventional rain poncho for sale I might pick one of those up.
Back
at the hotel I snoozed a bit, worked on the laptop a bit, and scanned
the maps and LP book a bit looking for a next stop: Roi Et, Sakon
Nahkon, or Mukdahan. Not sure where I'll end as I still wish to address
the chain / sound issue either here in town or in the next large town
(Buri Ram).
Nong Rung and the temple is in the top right circle. Bangkok, for relation, circled to the left. |
