Another late start, but I couldn’t resist the breakfast at the restaurant at Noon Guesthouse.
The owner suggested Uthai Thani as my destination rather than Chai Nat. He said it was much nicer.
It was another flat old ride today with lots of countryside and villages. The villages looked quite underprivileged, but as is usual, they are the happiest, so the waves and hellos were happening all day.
Food was everywhere along the way and I stopped for lunch with 20kms to go, for bowl of pork and noodle soup.
I was happy to get to Uthai Thani after more than 100kms but faffed around looking for accommodation. I thought I was in the centre of town but was a kilometre away. That meant my initial impression was that the city was only so-so. However, when I found the centre, I realise that the owner at Noom’s was spot on. What a nice town, and full of nice people.
A google search suggested a homestay close by and it was another win. The oddly named Solar Cell homestay is wonderful. It’s a renovated traditional timber house where the owners have retained most of the old character and highlighted the old timber through the use of polished concrete.
They are lovely people and they have great coffee as well (but that’s not why I like them).
Dinner started at the nightarket down by the river and finished at a garden style restaurant. The fun part at the restaurant was that only one of the ladies in the kitchen could speak more than one word of English – I don’t mind that. Sign language went around in circles so I settled for my daily dose of Pad Kapao Moo Kai Dao. Spicy sir ? Nik Noi. That’s fried pork with rice and a fried egg on top and medium spice. They usually serve a saucer of fish sauce and chopped chillies which I’ll empty onto the dish. (I’m still not game to say ‘yes’ to the spicy question).
I also reflected on how easy it is to run a great hostel / hotel / homestay. It is not necessarily the facilities but the nice people around and a bit of thought going into the way the place operates. Plus Hostel in Ayutthaya and Solar Cell, here in Uthai Thani have done it simply and well.
