January 27, 2025 – Non Din Daeng to Tot Wong Som Boon – 58 kms – 

January 28, 2025 – Tot Wong Som Boon to Wattana Nakhon – 68 kms – Areeya Resort

January 29, 2025 – day ride into Pang Sida National Park – 68 kms – Areeya Resort

January 30, 2025 – Wattana Nakhon to near Na Di – 57 kms – Canachari Resort

Gordon:  Looking at our electronic map I noticed a thin line snaking up to 500 metres in Pang Sida National Park.  “We should do a day ride there,” I suggested.

Pang Sida is one of the contiguous national parks occupying a 200 kilometre ridge NE of Bangkok.  The UNESCO designation for the region includes the more famous Khao Yai National Park with a number of these other national parks.

Pang Sida is best known for one waterfall and its butterflies, which come in large numbers to a salt lick in the park.  “But it’s the dry season, so the waterfall is not running and there are only a few butterflies” cautioned the ranger at the gate.  In our Instagram world it is necessary to temper expectations, as nature doesn’t deliver as reliably as social media.

We skipped the waterfall, but we did see a lot of butterflies, particularly near any trickle of water. They swirled around us as we rode, often colliding with us.  It was magical.

I love a ride in the jungle, particularly on a little used road, because there is always the chance of seeing something extraordinary, perhaps a wild elephant or gibbons or monkeys.  We did see a few (impressive) piles of elephant droppings, but no elephants or primates.  Unlike Khao Yai, the canopy in Yang Sida is not continuous, so less suitable for some animals.  We did see a number of giant hornbills.  You don’t need to spot them in the canopy like most birds, because as soon as they fly you can hear the whooshing of their enormous wings.  We also saw many squirrels of various sizes and we heard some exotic birds that were new to Ruth’s life list.

The road, mostly unpaved, undulates 25 kilometres up to a viewpoint.  It was a physically challenging ride and I stupidly failed to drink enough.  By the time we returned to the park gate I was feeling the effects of dehydration.  Easily solved with a long drink, right?  Unfortunately, not.  Every time I had a drink I would vomit a few minutes later.  It seems a bit counter-adaptive of our bodies.  It was a miserable ride back to the hotel and evening there.  It took about 4 hours to get to a comfortable state, and I was still feeling the effects during today’s ride.  An important lesson learned, particularly as temperatures are climbing to 35 degrees over the next few days.  We have booked hotels for the remainder of our time in Thailand and, acknowledging the weather forecast, most of them have pools.

Our tripometer rolled through 3,000 kms a few days ago.