Jingle Bikes

Today we went on a biking tour. For five hours. I almost died out there.

Exhaustion aside, there were some interesting things about today.

We started out the day with a long car ride over to our biking start point. We got to explore a temple while the bikes were being set up and tested.

The Thai on the gong probably says "please do not touch hammer".

After that brief adventure, we started our tour. Along the way, we saw a giant bee, its length slightly more than that of a quarter. We also encountered a couple of cows (with a baby), two chickens (each with FIVE REALLY CUTE BABIES), a couple of cats, and seventy dogs. Apparently, dogs are very popular in Thailand.

Chicken with babies. Do not melt.

Biking Botany:

While we biked, we ran into rice paddies, which apparently turn yellow when they can no longer be harvested. Rice grows shortish stalks that look similar to wheat. We also saw tobacco plants, which have slightly sticky l eaves.

We also saw a banana flower tree, which produces one flower in its lifetime that gives off one cluster of bananas. It can be chopped down to let a new one grow from the stump.

Interestingly, when we stopped for a break, one of the drinks offered was... a coconut. The clear juice inside had an unnaturally sweet, almost intoxicating taste.

Dogs are also apparently quite friendly in Thailand. On one of our stops along the tour, this little fellow warmed up to me quickly:

At first, the biking seemed leisurely, but it definitely seemed to intensify at the end. One word: uphill. After the agonizing, gut-wrenching torture was over, we had lunch at a hot spring location. We dipped our feet into the small stream generated by the spring afterwards.

We then visited another hot spring in the same area, this one severely warmer- enough to boil an egg in ten minutes! We tried our luck at hard-boiling by hanging two small baskets with three eggs each. They didn't quite boil, unfortunately, and had an off-putting, gooey, sticky texture.

This innocent-looking pool radiates heat.

Bonus photos: Aidan's photobombs