I had stopped about 50km from Phimai to get supplies of food; water and rice were what I needed most.  Looking at the sky and seeing the lightning in the remaining daylight told me I should be ready for rain, so out came the coat.  I got back on the trike and began the last fifty kilometres.  What a show it turned out to be.

Rain fell and lightning laced the dark, ominous sky whilst  I rode along watching an electrifying display.  Lightning seemed to flash continuously in a circle all around me – it seemed that the sky directly above me remained calm, but all the sky in every direction around me looked tumultuous.  I was riding in a ‘patch of calm’.

The highway sat raised about two metres above the huge surrounding basin.  There was no appreciable rise in the land until way over near the horizon.  There was little vegetation within about one to two kilometres from the road on either side of me, and this must have continued for forty kilometres.  Effectively, I was the highest point of electrical contact within coo-ee.  My little flags, pointing way up high, flitted in the breeze while I rode comfortably, feeling the weirdest sensation.  On the one hand I thought my time could be up at any second; that a huge bolt of lightning would take me out. On the other hand I had this amazingly safe feeling, as though I was riding under protection and once again I felt the presence of God.  Flashes would go off all around me - left, right, front and back every one or two seconds - but they were far enough away that the thunder was usually quite soft.  This fearsome display of power seemed to be here for me alone.  There were very few cars around (it must have been near dinner time) and I was awestruck by what I saw.