Around the River Kwai

We rented bikes again from the guesthouse and set off across the river and into the countryside.
After a while we came across a tea shop next to a pond with benches and deck chairs around for families to sit and have a picnic. We tried their mulberry tea, which was pretty good, and had very nice iced coffees and a rest from cycling.
Once back on the bikes we began to leave the jungle scenery behind and ended up in a hot, flat and dry area which looked more like the wild west than the typical lush Thai countryside. The area was full of horse farms and some kind of military base. By now there was hardly anyone else on the roads and it was very quiet and peaceful.
We eventually found where everyone else was... at the Giant Rain Tree of course! A surprising number of other tourists had made the trip to see the 26 metre wide tree and there was a wooden walkway around the trunk and a small market to enjoy.
There was an interesting temple nearby which we were going to visit but quickly changed our minds when the local dogs chased us out and along the road! Lucky we had the bikes or we would almost certainly have been eaten.
On the way home we took a different and slightly longer route which took us past lots of farms and crossed over a few bridges where we could see fishing boats and get great views down the river. 30km later, and with very sore bums, we arrived back in town and bought a feast at the street food market to take home with us.Read more