Our first stop was downtown Muak Lek to take some pictures of rush-hour. It is a Mix Master of siights, sounds and smells and I wanted to snap a few shots. One-shot was all I got.
Stephen noticed that the idler wheel for the chain was sitting at a funny angle so we rode slowly back home to do a repair. It seems that I had not tightened the bolt and the result was while pedaling hard up a hill the pressure caused the bolt holding the wheel to band.
I got lucky on the repair because a motorcycle repair shop within walking distance of the house was able to cut the bolt off and with some searching in a huge bin of scavenged bolts found a suitable replacement. I make it sound easier than it actually was but the end result is the trike is repaired.
Our trikes are a big hit with the people we pass. Thailand is known as the nation of smiles and I am continuously reminded of that as we ride around. People honk, hang out car windows to take our pictures, shout from across the street as we ride by and give us a thumbs up. The one thing in common with all of them is the smile. It gives a person such a warm feeling. Today as we came into town from a ride in the country a car passed us and a little boy stuck his head out the window with the biggest grin and waved with glee. A half-mile down the road he and his mother were standing by the edge of the road, cell phone camera in hand snapping pictures so we stopped to talk to them and pose for more pictures. They never stopped smiling for the five minutes we spent with them. It seems they were happy with the encounter but I cannot imagine that they were as happy as they made us feel.
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