The Thai Tooth Fairy

Liddy

The Thai tooth fairy had to make another visit last night, with the second of Sam's teeth falling out. I promise that I won't bore you all senseless with a constant update on the state of our children's teeth.... reporting on the first two to fall out is enough. But he now has a good lisp which is fun with a name like Sam.

We bade goodbye to Elaine and John a few days ago and a temporary goodbye to Kathie, Alistair and kids, and got back on the bikes for our first bit of cycling in Thailand. I have to confess that it wasn't too dreamy. The roads are in tip top condition but this means that not only can we rocket along, so can every 4x4 driver, bus, lorry, tuk tuk and motorbike. We thought we were taking back roads but they were still pretty busy and the verges were strewn with rubbish. The view wasn't very scenic either. As you can see, I'm not yet a convert. On the plus side, we did manage 75km in a day, which is a Pleasants record, though we were all absolutely exhausted at the end of it.

We stopped for a couple of days in a town called Khampaeng Phet, which has some beautiful old ruins, much like those in Ayutthaya and Sukhothai but completely deserted. We spent a wonderful day cycling around through the forest, clambering over ruined temples and crumbling walls, playing hide and seek (though not always successfully.....I found a great hiding spot but it was so great that the kids gave up and I was sitting there for 15 minutes before I realised they had wandered off).

We are now in Chiang Rai, up in the far north of Thailand, and hope to go find some hills to cycle around tomorrow.