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Thailand Wine Experience

Day 40: Hua Hin to Monsoon Valley Winery, S. Thailand

We look out at the limestone cliffs and next to the elephant sanctuary, there are rows of vineyards right next to the banana trees and pineapple plants.  Seems a bit out of place.  But, we find out, that in 2001, a Thai entrepreneur, after his world travels, decided to invent the Thai wine industry to prove to the world you could grow quality grapes in a tropical climate.  And he was right.  Who knew?

We get to find out more about our fellow bicycle companions as we sip our nice white, rosé, and shiraz.  Rosemarie, part of a couple from the UK, joins me in saying that we will gladly take that extra wine that some others are choosing to just get a sip.  We both agree that we are just being helpful and hate for it to go to waste – I think Rosemarie and I will get along just fine this week. 

The conversation with the Canadian couple quickly moves to the best places to travel as they tell us of their last 12 years of globetrotting the world and how this is their twelfth or fiftieth bike tour.  The other American, a friendly fit guy from Minnesota (who, to my surprise, doesn’t know Euchre, which I thought was a state mandated card game) but he seems to be the ringer in the group and decides to bike back to the hotel – tripling our distance for the day – rather than join slackers returning in the van.  All are within a decade of our age, except for a young woman, also from the UK, but she doesn’t seem to mind tagging along with the ‘old’ group.

We are finishing up our last week in Thailand and this seems to be just the right group to do it with.  All have travelled, all enjoy good conversation, and all seem pretty easy going.  Even our guides, which we have two, and our drivers, which we also have two (yes, it does seem a bit over the top for the eight of us) all seem to enjoy the slow pace of the trip. 

Today was just the warm up – we think it was for our guides to see who is the weak link – and I don’t think there is one. 

Tomorrow, we start early and instead of biking into the hills for a winery, we are headed down the coast for hopefully good views of the beach and finish with a visit to a temple – this one is inside a famous cave.

Now, to sleep … and no more relaxing. 🙂

A nice slow morning on our balcony for breakfast
Meet up with Andy again on the way to the beach – from the UK – that we just met yesterday.  Hanging out in Thailand for one, well maybe two, OK, three months to figure out what is next
Our first bike stop is at the local temple, where this is a distinctive famous monk from the 1300’s honored with an enormous statue – sort of reminds me of Mr. Magoo.
Most of our fearless bike crew
A quick stop at a pineapple farm with the beautiful hills in the distance
We stop to watch how they clean the vegetables – in the local lake – now they are ready to go to market (this is why public health conscious Siri always says have your veggies cooked!)
My view from the back of the pack – Siri’s head – now I can see how it feels to be on the back of the tandem
Our wine tasting at Monsoon Valley Winery
The view down the valley
The old wine barrels
In the running for this year’s Christmas photo
Our last night at Hua Hin Beach – I decided to jump into the waves, which barely reach above my knees, and find out it is warmer than our unheated hotel pool.
We stop at the Night Market and do our final shopping
Want a Rolex? Only $80 – great bargains (?) here
Fresh colorful lobster
The parking lot of scooters
Our meeting place to head home – the ubiquitous 7-11.  Only 50,000 of them here in Thailand, even more than there are temples!
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sirianddavid

Siri and David live in Redmond, Washington, and enjoy living, traveling, and learning about different cultures.

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