20-Feb-2013 -- This confluence visit is the tenth out of a series of 15 visits in Malaysia and Thailand. The previous confluence is 13°N 100°E. It is in turn part of a 4-months bicycle trip starting in Tasmania at 43°S 146°E.
On five days in a row, I reached one confluence point each morning between 7:00 AM and 8:45 AM. The distance of 111 km was just right to cycle from one point to the next one further north. Such achievement was possible because the central area of Thailand is flat making smooth cycling.
In the morning of confluence day, I woke up at 5:00 AM in the little town Ban Pong (บ้านโป่ง), located 25 km south-west of the confluence point. I took minor road northwards until I reached the busy town Kamphaeng Saen (กำแพงแสน) during the morning rush-hour. There, my GPS device suggested traveling 1 km further to get to the confluence point. There is a dense network of little rivers and water channels that made me cruise around the confluence. Actually I made almost a circle around my goal, until I finally found the right way on the northern waterside of a little river with floating fishing nets. Travelling on asphalt was possible until a distance of 250 m and the last bit I rode on an earth track until I reached the confluence. The exact location is in a rice paddy, such that I was only able to approach it up to 14 m. I took the GPS proof picture without removing the device from the handle bars.
It was a lovely (but already hot) morning with colorful rice paddies, blue sky and lush greens. No farmers or other people were around. It would have been a peaceful confluence visit, if some dogs wouldn't have attacked me.
After the visit, I went on to the town Suphan Buri (สุพรรณบุรี) to have a great lunch. The test of the day, I followed the beautiful road along the Maenam Tha Chin River (แม่น้ำท่าจีน) and stayed the night in a little place called Doem Bang Nang Buat (เดิมบางนางบวช).
CP Visit Details:
- Distance to an asphalt road: 250 m
- Distance to a track: 14 m
- Distance of bicycle parking: 14 m
- Time to reach CP from bicycle parking: 0 minutes
- Time at CP: 8:45 AM
- Measured height: 15 m
- Minimal distance according to GPS: 14 m
- Position accuracy: 6 m
- Topography: flat
- Vegetation: Rice. There is a hedge and some palm trees nearby.
- Weather: fine, 30° C (felt temperature)
- Given Name: The Floating Fishing Nets Confluence
More pictures of the trip can found at mautz.net.
The story continues is at 15°N 100°E.