… I Like Driving, But…
Ouch! That was a bit of a painful morning. It seems a good 50% of the only expressway heading north towards Bangkok is under construction.
I was on the road by 6:30am, and the first three hours out of Khanom were plain sailing, but suddenly it was third gear work, sitting behind long lines of trucks, on the only usable lane.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m ecstatic to see the problem of the long stretches of bumpy highway is finally being addressed. Long overdue. But trying to rebuild a few hundred kilometers of road at the same time, does not make sense. As usual, they are throwing a minimum of people and equipment at the problem, in the hope of completing it in the maximum amount of time. By the time they reach Bangkok, they’ll need to go back down to Surat Thani and start again.
For now, the completed sections are a delight to drive on. The rest is not. I need to consult Google Maps to see if there’s a nice quiet coast road for the return journey. A steady 70 to 80kph with a sea view would be a lot nicer than alternating between 120 and 20kph.
I guess overall it wasn’t so bad. I managed to pass 600kms before breaking for lunch, and I arrived at my hotel more or less on schedule at about 3:30pm. And that was after Ms. Chuckles assured me the place was down some rough dirt road that was a dead end.
I am kind of in the middle of nowhere, at the Chawalun Resort near Nakhon Pathom. It’s very pleasant, with a lake and beautifully landscaped gardens.
I’m pretty sure I’ve achieved my objective of missing Bangkok’s traffic. We’ll see tomorrow morning as I continue northeastwards to the Phi Mai Historical Park.
For now, here’s a few shots of the hotel. Beer and food will be sampled shortly.
