13-Feb-2013 -- This confluence visit is the seventh out of a series of 15 visits in Malaysia and Thailand. The previous confluence is 8°N 100°E. It is in turn part of a 4-months bicycle trip starting in Tasmania at 43°S 146°E.
In the morning of confluence day, I started in Ban Na San (บ้านนาสาร) and continued my trip further northwards. Visiting this confluence caused a deviation of 20 km to the east on National Road 401. At a distance of 3.5 km I turned into a minor road. The shape of this road is a loop, where the confluence sits right on the northern most point of this loop. So I went along. The very last kilometer was on dirt surface, but through flat land (although there are steep mountain ranges towering a couple hundred meters from the road).
The confluence point is located in a caoutchouc plantation with young rubber trees. The distance from the road is only 80 m and I was able to bring my bicycle to the exact location. In 50 m distance, there is a little hut with big jars in front of it. My first thought was that they are used as containers for caoutchouc, but more likely they are used as a freshwater reserve.
It is remarkable, how this place has changed within those two 4-year intervals, see 2005, 2009 and 2013. But the big jars seem to have survived these changes.
After the documentation I continued the loop until I got back to road no. 401. Then, I headed further north and stayed the night in the little town Chaiya (ไชยา).
CP Visit Details:
- Distance to an asphalt road: 1000 m
- Distance to a track: 80 m
- Distance of bicycle parking: 0 m
- Time to reach CP from bicycle parking: 0 minutes
- Time at CP: 10:00 AM
- Measured height: 34 m
- Minimal distance according to GPS: 1 m
- Position accuracy: 8 m
- Topography: slight inclination, but steep cone-shaped mountains nearby
- Vegetation: rubber trees, pineapple, grass
- Weather: sunny, 32° C (felt temperature)
- Given Name: The Big Jars Confluence
More pictures of the trip can found at mautz.net.
The story continues is at 10°N 99°E.