Into the hills

Hello from the town for Phrae. I originally thought that it was pronounced "fray" and then was going to make an "into the fray" comment, but it's more of a "pray". However, like most place names here, it takes a few tries before Thais can understand my pronounciation, since the language is tonal. The tone for Phrae seems to be, say it as if you're angry: "pray!"

One thing is for certain, Phrae is in the hills. Today there was a sudden departure from flat easy roads to steep thigh-killing climbs. Just as I reached the top of a stetch, I'd round the corner, and oh! keep going up. But the challenge was nice. And the scenery was breathtaking. Through the trees hills stretched out in all directions, peppered with little wooden houses perched up on stilts. Green everywhere. The road was quiet but the people I met along the way were the friendliest so far: twice I was offered rides in pickup trucks (one guy gave me oranges when I refused), a village lady filled up my waterbottles from her rain barrel, and there were many waves of encouragement. What goes up must come down, and in terms of actual speed and progress, the hills today weren't much slower than normal days. The 65km/h speed I hit on the way down doesn't hurt.

I can now impress people with a few keywords in Thai: "lee-o sai" and "lee-o kwah". Those mean "turn left" and "turn right", respectively.

The two days before today I cruised through central Thailand. Stopped in Sukhothai to see one last set of famous ruins. Sang karaoke at a restaurant during dinner. One day I tried to navigate on a rural road to avoid the highway. The map said it was possible. Cruising through very peaceful villages, everyone I asked for directions just pointed and I think they said "well just go left/right and follow it back to the highway" which is sort of the opposite of what I had in mind. But after being lost in the maze for far too long I just gave up and headed out to the big road.

Which leads me to my profound thought of the day: roads. I pour over maps planning my route, and the roads provide the means for this biking adventure. I'll take a big one or a small one. On the other hand, the villagers don't need to know how to travel far distances by rural road, they need to know how to get to the highway. Think about what the building of that highway means for people in a small village. Suddenly they have a means of getting their crops to larger markets, they have easier access to hospitals, to police. Buses can now transport people. Equipment and supplies can be shared and bought with larger towns. Maybe roads help alleviate poverty. Maybe it's building more roads that will enable rural populations, say in Cambodia, to raise their standard of living.

Anyway, too much time on the bike the think about these things. Also, apparently there's a lot of teak (wood) in this province. Do you think that's where the word "antique" came from? "What's that nice old wooden piece of furniture made of?" -"Oh, it's a teak" = antique. Maybe that's absurd. Maybe it was just someone who was afraid of bugs on their old furniture: "Oh no, ant! Eek!" = antique. Lots to ponder today.