February 28, 2006

February 28, 2006
We left Pakxe on February 25th after spending a couple of days enjoying some good food and staying out of the heat. The town had some really good coffee that is grown in Paksong on the Bolaven Plateau. I wanted to ride my bike up the hill but just couldn’t work up the energy to ride in the heat. I think Jodi and I had become rather road weary and needed some time to gather our wits for our next adventure in Cambodia.
One night while walking back from dinner we ran into Tom and Liesbeth, the Belgium couple that we met in Bangkok. They had many stories to tell and provided some great beta about our rides further south. One particular hint about taking the car ferry instead of the passenger one was especially helpful. They were heading north for cooler temperatures around Vientiane and Lauang Probang, something Jodi and I had also considered because of the heat earlier that day. I was really glad we were able to get to know them better, I hope their travels in the north go well.
The morning of the 28th we stopped at our favorite baguette vender and ordered two stuffed with egg and visited the coffee stand for two iced coffees. We rode out of town thinking it was going to be a short day and we would arrive in our next destination before noon. At the 30km mark we were riding through a small village when Justin came riding up to the highway from the side road to Champasak. Jodi and I said "Justin" at the same time and stopped to hear his stories and journeys. He had ridden up to Paksong and said I hadn’t missed much and he also visited some of the other sights popular with backpackers but found them anticlimactic compared with the days he rode his bicycle. We told him our story and then began discussing our destination for the day. He was riding to "Four Thousand Islands" with his first stop being Muang Khong, a small village on the largest island Don Khong. We told him we were riding another 20km to Ban Thangbeng where we were told there was a guesthouse. We journeyed the next 20km together doing some more catching up. When we reached our destination we found a town that had very little to offer and the guesthouse was nothing special so we had lunch with Justin and decided to ride the additional 85km to Muang Khong. We had a tough time deciding since it was already noon and riding would have put us in at 5:00 PM meaning we would ride through the heat of the day.
It all went pretty well until the 100km point, where I seem to hit a mental barrier and the pains in my feet, shoulders and butt become more accentuated. Jodi was a trooper, she kept encouraging me and really helped me "stay in the game" during the hottest hour of 2:00 PM. We stopped in Hat Xay Khoun for a Pepsi and waited for Justin before taking the ferry to the Island. Justin came along about 30 minutes later and we all made our way to the car ferry. While waiting for the ferry we saw the most amazing sunset over the Mekong that any of us had seen. The Laos on the other hand seemed unimpressed and were wondering what all the fuss was about as we dug our cameras out of our bags. We crossed over to the river island and began the search for a guesthouse. After several attempts we found one run by a Canadian couple that was kind of pricey but it was very nice and the hospitality better.
When we checked in we originally planned on staying two nights and going south to Don Det, another river island close to the Cambodian border but things at Muang Khong were so relaxing we have had trouble getting motivated to go anywhere else. For once on this trip I am content with my current destination and didn’t feel the need to move on. For three days we have had the best food we have had in Laos, found a coffee vender who makes a really nice cup of Coffee Lao and baguettes stuffed with bananas and sweetened condensed milk and a clean guestroom. This morning the coffee lady saw us coming and started making the coffee and baguettes before we arrived.. I love this place! It is what I had hoped to find in all the "must see sights" along the way but I never thought it would be on an Island in the middle of the Mekong. Justin planned on staying two nights but he also can’t seem to work up the energy to move on. Its as if we are all caught in a "potential energy well," spinning deeper and deeper into some trance. Each day we just lay about reading, eating, talking about America, about our future plans and finally dreams and goals until we become too tired and go to sleep. The next day we do it all over again.
This morning the coffee lady shared some of her breakfast with us and we helped her with English. She has a desire to learn and can read but has exhausted the usefulness of her workbook and is hungry for something more. We taught her a few more words and she gave us a postcard for our efforts.
Tomorrow we ride. It is 85km to Strung Treng our first stop in the wild wild west country of Cambodia. Justin plans on joining us since there is safety in numbers and as my favorite school house rock song goes, "3 is a magic number." Jodi and I plan on documenting the border crossing with greater detail to help anyone reading our blog to understand what they are in for. Tomorrow is going to be interesting!

Just outside of Muang Khongsedone 

Another sunrise. 

One hotel had some broken slat in the bed so after toughing it out for a night we decided to move the mattress to the floor. 

A nicer Lao home 

Kids riding with Jodi 

Kirk fixing a flat on Jodis' bike. 

February 22, 2006

February 22, 2006
Today we rode 64km to Pakxe. In the past several rides the road climbed ever so slightly today the pitch swayed the other way and gave us a break. We covered the first 46km without any trouble but with 18km left I hit the wall as a pretty stiff wind came blowing from the South. Jodi asked how I was doing and I said I needed to stop and stretch. We must look like a couple of space aliens doing callisthenics on the roadside because all the Laos slow to see what we are doing and they sometimes laugh after they pass.
The town of Pakxe is a very nice place to us. They have nice hotels and the restaurants serve things other than foe. I like foe but eating it two to three times a day gets old. We checked into a refurbished hotel with a new bed, hot water, satellite TV and a mini fridge. It is our little home for a couple of days. We lunched at an Indian food restaurant, something every town in the world should have, and ate entirely too much; it feels good to have a full belly. In recent days we have felt very run down and I think it is because we have not been eating enough. Neither one of us has a good grasp of the foods available in the small villages. It occurred to me that in Savannaket we ate at a restaurant with 53 different foods listed on its menu with the words written in English and Lao. I wish I had made a photocopy of that menu so I could show it to stall operators to see what they have that suits my tastes.

February 21, 2006

February 21, 2006
Today we rode 110km to Muang Khongsedone. When we awoke at 4:00am I had no desire to get up and that feeling carried over to the first 50km of the ride. We bickered a bit about how tired we were and how we did not think we would make the route described by the German we met yesterday because we needed to rest (we are a bit cranky in the morning). In Muang Lakompheng about 50km we stopped for foe, a basket of sticky rice and some coffee with sweet milk. The women running the stand were helpful in trying to get us what we wanted but it seems all we can find is foe in the morning. In the house behind the restaurant some crazy old man was talking loudly in Lao. I think his cheese had slid off his cracker. The food lightened our spirits and the reminder of the ride went fast and smooth.
Like so many days on the road there are always things happening, some good some bad. For the first time in Laos we had two dogs chase us on separate occasions. One dog a black and white mut was really fast, I sped up to over 30km/hr and she was still catching me. I kicked it a little harder and dropped her but I wondered what might have happened if she had been able to get a jump on me. The kids all said hello but they seemed to yell "falang" more than anything. Jodi and I laughed when we thought more about what they were saying and how it was the American equivalent of our riding through an ethnic neighborhood and having the kids yell "crackers".
We stopped at a guesthouse just north of Khongsedone and like so many guesthouses they were nice except they do a terrible job of keeping them clean. It seems all they do is change the sheets from one guest to the next. The bathrooms gross me out. We thought about staying but there were no restaurants nearby so I suggested we ride another 5km and if we didn’t see anything then we will grab some food and return. Fortunately we found another that was more clean (not saying much) and it was in town where we could find food.
The town even though it was shown as a larger one on our map it isn’t. The people here are very poor and the secondary streets in the town are trails. The fruit venders do not have much inventory and what they do have is of really poor quality. We tried to buy some apples and they were so mealy that most markets would not have sold them. The rice fields are brown and dried up and it is really hot. From 2:00 to 5:00 each day it is really hot so we try to be in for a nap during the "hot hours." It looks like New Mexico, with red dirt, limited vegetation and foot hills in the distance. We both ride along thinking that the scenery looks like home.
Somehow I lost my watch. I found it at Pole early last winter and it has been a trusted companion ever since. The velcro strap wasn’t holding well and I suspect it fell off and is now on the wrist of some Lao. He will be surprised when its’ alarm sounds tomorrow morning at 4:00am. I will especially miss its dual time zone setting where I could see what time it was in Colorado.
Tomorrow we ride to Pakxe the last major settlement before riding into Cambodia. We estimate we have three remaining rides in Laos.

February 20, 2006

February 20, 2006
Paksong: This morning I awoke with the feeling of dread, it has been something that has been gaining momentum for a couple of days. I suspect I am feeling a bit run down from all the traveling, mixed with some anxiety about leaving Asia for America. Regardless, I somehow loaded my bike and we set out but not before a tasty breakfast. A couple of days ago I suggested we get some sticky rice, sweetened condensed milk and some fruit and mix it together (an idea inspired by the yummy mango desserts we found in Thailand). We both thought it sounded good but for some reason we put it off until this morning. We bought a fresh, juicy mango and we both loved it. It also made a great ride breakfast since I covered the 72km without having to stop for food. It felt like I had swallowed a bowling ball.
The ride from Savannakhet to Paksong was slowed by a really stiff wind from the South. The whole way up route 9B out of Savannaket I kept thinking that when we arrived at the junction with highway 13 we would turn out of the wind but we didn’t. It appeared to be a westerly wind that helped us speed along when we headed to the west but for the most part it just slowed us considerably.
About 22km outside of Savannakhet we stopped to do a little roadside stretching. As we stretched 3 kids waited patiently about 200m up the road so they could say hello. They never took their eyes off us the entire time we were limbering up and when we mounted our bikes they started waving and saying "Sabadee." I was amazed at their patience.
38km South of Paksong we were flagged down by a German cyclist heading north. He wanted some beta about good places to stay between Paksong and Vientiane. We pulled out our map and showed him all the places we had stayed. He then pulled out his map and gave us some great beta about the Cambodian border crossing. He said that it is currently possible to catch a slow boat from the border to Strung Treng. He was unaware the road between Strung Treng and the border is in good shape with the exception of the 5km before and after the border. Then he gave us the best news that the road between Strung Treng and Kratie is improved and there is a guesthouse at the mid point. I was relieved to hear the news since I had been wondering about this stretch of road the night before. He also suggested a route change for us that would bring us through the beach town in South Cambodia and into Thailand.
Paksong is much larger than I expected with 3 guesthouses and some good looking restaurants. It also has a Lao Development Bank where I need to go exchange some money. I keep my amount of kip very slim since it is pretty much monopoly money and most places will take American Dollars but they sometimes have trouble making change for the larger bills. Rolling into town I saw a table decoration fabricated from unexploded ordinances. This area took some pretty heavy bombing during the Vietnam war.
The country side is much greener and the road is climbing ever so slightly. Also it isn’t as hot. I suspect we are making our way up the plateau where the best coffee in the world is grown.

February 23, 2006 (Laos Impressions)

Here are some of our general impressions of Laos:
· The women here wear lovely silk woven sarongs and the girls school uniforms are sarongs with white shirts.
· There seem to be more women and children than men.
· The women work very hard running businesses and taking care of their families, but they don’t seem stressed at all. The pace of life here is very mellow.
· Lao people seem to lie low during the heat of the day in the shade of a small shelter or even slinging a hammock under a truck.
· A lot more of the population here ride bicycles than in Thailand. The bikes have a second seat on the back (instead of a rack like ours) so they can load them up with people.
· Motorcycles and scooters are the main form of transport for locals because they can’t afford cars. The cars we do see look brand new and very expensive (ie: Lexus sport utility vehicles) leading us to believe there is a very large gap between the rich and poor.
· The houses in small villages are either one story woven bamboo huts on stilts or wood houses on stilts and sometimes they are a combination of both. In towns that are a little larger there are two story houses that obviously belong to the folks with a little more money. Those may be wood, bamboo, brick with concrete over the top or a combination of all three.
· Foe is a staple meal and the Laos don’t understand not eating meat. A lot of times (especially in small villages) they only choice for food is foe so we eat the noodles and drink the broth leaving the meat in the bowl. We feel a little bad about that since I’m sure meat is a luxury.
· The Laos people seem to have a very good quality of life as far as living slow paced and seeming content in their lives without having the luxuries that we do.
· The beds here are EXTREMELY hard! It’s like sleeping on a slab. And for some reason they don’t provide top sheets, which can be annoying.
· There are many more cycle tourists in Laos than we encountered anywhere else. We think this is because the highway is in good condition and there isn’t a lot of traffic compared to places like Thailand. It also has a very relaxed feel about this country and the people don’t bother the falangs as much for money, to purchase things or for transport. Then there’s the fact that it’s so cheap to travel here as well.
· We love how excited the kids get when we ride by their houses or encounter them coming home from school about noon. Sometimes they race us on bicycles, by foot or high five us as well yelling, “hello, sabadee, thank you, I love you, goodbye, falang” and we even got a “yo whassup” the other day. It’s so funny to watch the little kids jump up and down and yell sabadee as many times as they possibly can. We don’t think we’ll ever see anyone get this excited over us again!
· As a pedestrian you are the lowest on the food chain and better watch your step because the motorcycles will run over you.
· The people are extremely friendly for the most part. We’ve experienced a few people who shy away from us maybe because we’re scary or they are too intimidated to try to communicate with us. It could be because we look like aliens in our biking gear as well.
· It’s harder to order food here because very few people speak English except in the touristy areas. We use our Lonely Planet since it has some words for food written in Lao and translated in English which seems to help.
· Laos is very dry compared to Thailand and in the evenings it is much cooler. This was a surprise to us since we were expecting it to look more like Thailand.
· Food and lodging here is dirt cheap! The average room costs us $6-7 per night for A/C and hot water showers. We’ve been hard pressed to spend $20 per day for everything.
· They accept USD, baht or kip everywhere. We’ve been enjoying the ability to use our own currency again.
· The doors and windows here are hand carved and are beautiful! I’d love to have some for our future home.
· It’s strange to look across the Mekong and see the development of Thailand just across the river as opposed to the dilapidation of the towns here. Apparently the Lao government rejects the French influence and they are letting all the French buildings go into disrepair. It’s a shame because towns like Savannakhet (our favorite Lao town so far) could be really cute if they were preserved a little better, but instead they look pretty run down.
· As we eat at the little outdoor restaurants that are the front of people’s houses we are amongst scavenging chickens, roosters, pigs, cows, and goats. It’s interesting how we have become used to farm animals grazing around us. It will seem weird to go home again and not have that. It’s also interesting that most little restaurants also try and be small convenience stores selling a few snacks and drinks even though there are a ton of other people along the same road selling the same things.
· The sticky rice is delicious and it’s served in little woven baskets with lids attached by a string. We eat it like the Laos and roll it into a ball with our right hand and dip it in our food. We hope to purchase a couple of those baskets to take home with us.
· We like the Lao silk and fashion better than what we saw in Thailand. Unfortunately it seems like they only sell those items in the touristy areas like Vientiane because we haven’t seen any in the small towns.
· The people at the local businesses keep their money stuffed in buckets just sitting out on countertops or thrown in drawers.
· We’ve never seen so many young kids run around half naked without any pants on. We suspect that it’s because they don’t have diapers or they just want their kids to “go” when they have to. In Thakhek we saw several kids just pull their pants down in front of their parents store right on the sidewalk and pee. That was a busier town too.
· There are a lot of Cyclopes (plows turned into vehicles) on the road probably because it is a cheaper form of transport than a car.
· Plastic bags and bottles line the sides of the road. They have a tendency to give you several plastic bags for EVERYTHING you purchase here…not good!
· The overwhelming smell every morning is always burning trash and plastic. Sometimes it is so thick you can almost taste it. Occasionally on our rides we’ve encountered some other smells along the way that are just plain wrong! We don’t linger in those areas.
· Obviously they are not worried about bird flu. I’ve seen several kids holding chickens or roosters on the side of the road as we ride by.
· We haven’t seen as much road kill here and no snakes!
· Sometimes it feels like it is fall here because of the combination of colors of the dry landscape and vegetation, which reminds us of home.
· Watermelons are plentiful in Laos and watermelon stands line the roads. We bought one for $0.50 and it was ripe juicy and delicious!
· As we go farther South the Lao coffee keeps getting better and better. It’s grown on the plateau just outside of Pakse and it’s probably the best coffee we’ve ever had. Kirk (normally not a coffee drinker) even has a taste for it with it’s smooth chocolaty flavor.


Hello! We are currently in Pakse enjoying the pleasures of the city like plentiful food options (including Indian food…yum!) and internet. We don’t have much time left in Laos and will be crossing into Cambodia around the first of March. We’re looking forward to the last leg of our cycle journey in what is called the “wild west”.

I just wanted to report that my back is much better since we took that week off between Bangkok and Vientiane. We have been stretching everyday since, both before and during rides, which seems to help us both to feel good. So thank you to all who were concerned.

Jodi

What a dirt bag! 

Sunset on the Mekong 

One of the many rivers we cross daily. 

Panorama 

Another sunset on the Mekong 

Mountain biking 

Tabacco drying house 

Justin infront of a guesthouse 

Kirk on motor scooter 

Sunrise 

Kirk Spelunking 

Jodi you are a very dirty girl. 

Road before a dusting by a truck 

Road after a dusting. 

Another home 

Women putting tabacco on sticks 

Justin racing some kids. 

Traditional Lao home. 

Road side stretching. 

Jodi in Paris, I mean Vientiane 

Home made vehicle. That is a power tiller pulling a cart. 

February 18, 2006

February 18, 2006
We haven’t found internet access for about a week so here’s the scoop on what we did in that time:
Vientiane: Vientiane was great! We stayed five days to sort out our visas and have a bit of a social life. We met a Canadian and fellow cycle tourist named Dave who we enjoyed happy hour beers with along the Mekong. He is also a bicycle mechanic and ended up helping me fix the freewheel on my bicycle since he happened to be carrying a chain whip. Jodi and I really enjoyed having scrambled eggs, baguettes and coffee every morning and along with the good company it felt like we had a life for a couple of days. We managed to extend our Lao visa for another 10 days and obtained a 30 day Cambodia visa since both embassies are located in Vientiane. One thing we learned is the Cambodian Embassy will process the paper work in one day if it is dropped off in the morning and picked up after 4:00pm. This is something the travel agents in Vientiane will not tell their customers in hopes of charging them extra for one day processing.

Thapabat: On February 11th we awoke early in hopes of starting before sunrise but the guesthouse was locked up tight so we spent an hour in the morning waiting for someone to let us out. We departed around 7:00am and had an easy 93km ride to Thapabat. The ride was uneventful other than it seemed we were riding around in circles when we were leaving Vientiane, also the pollution was terrible.
In Thapabat we found a great guest house located behind the drinking water factory. It was a series of turquoise painted bungalows. We met another Swiss couple who were backpacking and had stopped to check out the national park 14km away. After hearing about the park I went for a mountain bike ride into the park. It was nice with several waterfalls and many jeep tracks. The ground was a bit dusty with very fine sand which can trash a bike quickly.
Paksane: On February 12th we didn’t get our usual early start again because there isn’t very good breakfast foods that can be eaten in a guestroom, so we thought we would try the local breakfast of foe. It is a rice noodle soup in beef broth with chives and garlic. We were up early enough that many of the restaurants were not open and we had to wait for one woman to go to the morning market before she could make foe. During our wait the kids fed a mouse to a kitten by combining the two in a 50gallon trash can. While I ate my breakfast I couldn’t help but notice the cat ate the entire mouse piece by piece. Not so appetizing to watch during a meal. The ride was an easy 55km to Paksane.
About 15km outside of Paksane we encountered a French Canadian cyclist coming the other way. He had come from Vietnam where he said things were to busy and he was enjoying the quiet and relaxed world of Laos. We exchanged beta about our destinations for the day and he told us that we would have our choice of some nice guesthouses on the south end of town.
Paksane felt very much like a border town with very little happening. We went straight to the guesthouses on the southern end, one that was bungalows and the other a two story with really nice wood work. We opted for the two story because the bathroom was a little nicer. We walked to a snooker club/restaurant where we had some beers, stir fried vegetables and rice. I think the server skin taxed us for 200% since everything was twice as much as other places we had eaten. While walking to the restaurant we encountered another American cyclist just rolling into town named Justin (who we met briefly in Vientiane). He asked about guesthouses since the one recommended in LP was full and he was beginning to get concerned about accommodation. We told him about the two we found and where we were staying and told him we would maybe catch up later. We didn’t manage to see him that night but the next morning he was leaving the same time we were so we had breakfast together before departing for Pakkading.

Pakkading: We left much later than normal since we had company and we wanted to have some time to talk with Justin. We learned he just graduated from college and is traveling around SE Asia for a year before joining the "real world." His route is very similar to ours, he started in NZ, then went to Australia and on to SE Asia. He originally planned to backpack but bought a bike in Australia so he could cycle tour. He was a good guy and we enjoyed talking with him. We were really happy to learn that he was going the same direction we were and we would have the pleasure of his company for the next night.
The ride was a smoking hot 40km. The late start did us no favors but it was a short ride. Along the way we noticed several tobacco fields and tall square buildings where the tobacco is hung to dry. Many of the women sat under tarps around piles of leaves pushing them onto sticks for drying. Justin tried loading a stick and broke the stem, it appears there is a technique to it. I also saw a woman riding a bicycle with a large log over her shoulder. It seems there are more woman here than men and we see many of them and children doing hard work.
Pakkading was a fun town. As we were arriving the children were getting out of school for lunch and we were greeted by "hellos" and "sabadees". Some of the children would run up to the road and give us five as we passed. The town had a nice guesthouse that wasn’t signed in English but we found it anyway. The town also had some nice restaurants and a really pretty river running into the Mekong on the south end.
We spent some time with Justin comparing stories. It is nice having someone else to talk with. Jodi and I were beginning to run out of new material with each other so Justin is providing a great diversion.
Our lunch was interesting since none of us has a very good understanding of the language. We thought we were getting rice and vegetables but ended up with two very large deep fried catfish, a plate of stir fried pork, foe and when I asked for an extra empty plate for Jodi they thought I was asking for more catfish, so two more plates of catfish arrived on the table. It was a feast that only cost us $8USD total.
That night we met up with Justin again to have a nice happy hour of beer and peanuts. Neither one of us was hungry after the big lunch feast.

Nam Thone: Another short ride of just 52km, I could really get used to these short rides. Justin said something about riding up highway 8 to see some cave that LP raved about so we might not see him in the next town. Jodi and I cruised, good thing because it was smoking hot. The ride was pretty with a really nice water crossing via bridge at the south end of Pakkading.
At the junction between highway 13 and 8 we stopped for lunch and waited for Justin, we never asked for his email address and we wanted some way to keep in touch. As we were ordering Justin rode up and we had lunch together. I managed to order foe with no broth and meat, it was a nice change because not having broth made it much cooler to eat in the heat.
After lunch Justin started up highway 8 but decided against it since it was so hot and the signs indicated that it was another 70km to his planned stop. Meanwhile Jodi and I were checking out the guesthouse situation and were not happy to find the only guesthouse in town had squat toilets and no lavatory. We both reminisced about the room in Ranot, Thailand and how the bathroom there didn’t have a lav, but we were unaware how much these rooms and the one in Ranot had in common.
While checking in the person running the place appeared to be a large woman. She had a feminine haircut, a purse slung over her shoulder, and cleavage but when she spoke I learned things were amiss. She was a he.
Justin and I had some beers at the guesthouse. It appeared the place hosted events because it had a large hall, with a dance floor, couches and the most serious sound system that either one of us had seen for awhile. We sat outside in the shade drinking beer, while he/she taught us some Lao. It also seemed he/she was flirting a bit with Justin. We also wondered if the place we were staying was a brothel.
That night Jodi and I went to bed early (7pm) and were awakened around 9:00pm by the sound of bass and drum music coming from the events center. It sounded like a rave and we lay there half awake wondering what the hell was happening and if this was the "no tell motel" that Phillip and Ursala had warned us about.. We must have been tired because we slept through most of it and when we were leaving the next morning Justin told us a few details of what had been going on. Apparently the place was a "no tell motel" where young Lao go to get laid. Justin said cars would pull up, a couple would rent a room go inside and leave a short time earlier. He also said the disco hall was mostly empty with only a few kids and adults. We all wondered why they played the music at such high volume for so few people.
While it was still dark, Justin opted to get some more sleep while Jodi and I decided to get an early start for Thakek.

Thakek: The ride was 101km, much longer than our previous three rides. The ride was undulating and we struggled emotionally along the way. The first 50km were easy, we cruised at a very brisk 24km per hour but when we stopped for breakfast the wind was taken from our sails. The next 25km were hard, we both had become accustomed to the short rides and with the heat we were not having much fun. We then broke out the mini disc player and listened to some music and that helped get us going again. The final 25km were not easy but our mood improved the closer we rode to our destination.
In Thakek we went straight to the guesthouse that LP said wasn’t good. It was by mistake but we found it very acceptable. It had air conditioning, a hot shower and an in room refrigerator. The only problem was the plastic coating over the mattress that felt as if we were sleeping on a slip and slide. I did not think the place deserved the bad rap.
Late that afternoon I went out to run some errands. I went to the bank, the car wash to clean my bike and finally the Travelers Lodge to get some beta about "doing the loop". The bank was closed, but the car wash did a great job! I sat in the shade drinking water while they scrubbed, rinsed and dried my bike for 0.50USD. It took some time to find the Travelers Lodge but I eventually found the guesthouse run by a Lao/Dutch couple. They have a very good business that specializes in accommodating western tourists. It had internet (expensive), a restaurant and a very nice garden. I did not see the rooms but it appeared they would be nice. I went there to enquire about renting a motor scooter for checking out some caves and the interesting limestone mountains nearby. They said that it would cost me $10USD per day and I needed to arrive before 7am the day of the rental in order to ensure that they would have one for me. Outside I ran into Justin who was enjoying lunch in the garden. We discussed the ride and agreed to meet later for a beer. I then returned to the guesthouse for some down time. We spent the remainder of the afternoon hanging out in our air conditioned room catching up on the news (nice shooting Dick).
Justin arrived around 6:00pm and we walked around town looking for some dinner. We did not find much and decided on the pub next to our guesthouse. They spoke English which to our delight made ordering dinner easy.
The next day I went to the Travelers Lodge to rent a scooter. I read in the LP how the first 22km of highway 12 had some interesting sights that were worth visiting. We both wanted to be off our bikes for a day and we thought the scooter would be a good way to check out the sites and get some rest at the same time. I had my choice of scooter and picked the one that I thought was best. We did not get the early start that I wanted and set out in the heat of the day. We motored out of town and when we turned onto highway 12 we discovered that it was under construction. Unlike road construction in the USA where they have water trucks that keep the roadway moist to control dust, they do not do that here. Instead the dust flies and everyone wears something over their face to keep the dust out of their lungs. It was very unpleasant! The scenery was very dry and the mountains were made of limestone with trees and vines clinging to their sides. We tried to visit some of the sites outlined in the LP but I think the stress of the road conditions combined with the lack of development made following the directions difficult. In looking for one cave we circled for an hour looking for the right "4 wheel drive track," which we never found. We did find a different cave that we explored and had lunch at its opening. The air coming from it was very cool which was a nice change from the heat that surrounded us.
We both became tired and decided to head back. During our hunt for the cave the traffic on the dirt road increased making the ride back really unpleasant. I had a hard time seeing because my eyes were stinging so much which made navigating the divots, bumps and rocks more difficult. The entire way we motored through clouds upon clouds of dust kicked up by the speeding trucks. When we arrived at the guesthouse both Jodi and I were shocked to look at ourselves in the mirror and see how the fine red dirt coated every inch of our bodies. The dust was in our clothes, underclothes, ears, eyes and mouths, it was everywhere. We had a good laugh about it realizing this was probably the dirtiest we’ve ever been in our lives. We looked like coal miners. We scrubbed ourselves down in the shower which took several iterations and I washed out our clothes. Jodi had a white shirt on that now was completely red but I managed to get it clean. She was impressed since she thought she’d have to toss it. We both agreed that the journey on that road will be nice when the construction is finished but until then it seems like a lot of effort for weary tourists.
Later we caught up with Justin and his experience seemed similar with the added inconveniences of running out of gas and the drive chain breaking on the scooter.

Savannnakhet: We awoke at 3:45am to ride 135km to Savannakhet. We were both concerned about riding the distance in the heat making an early start necessary. We departed around 5:00am and rode 30km in the dark. The morning was a bit cooler than past mornings and as the sun rose we learned why. We had cloud cover! It rained on us from time to time which we did not mind because feeling wet to us is more pleasant than sweltering in the heat. We were lucky to get the weather conditions because it was a long ride and if it hadn’t been cool we surely would have stopped short of our planned destination.
We are currently in Savannakhet and plan on spending several days here just laying low and resting. We both need some time off our bikes before making the push for the Cambodian border.

February 8, 2006

Bangkok: Holy Cow!!!! Singapore was clean, organized and open, Bangkok is dirty, with no discernable downtown and narrow streets that make the daily commutes by car impossible. My impression is that the city was built on a human scale with roads sized for carts, bicycles and pedestrians. With the introduction of the automobile the carts, bicycles and pedestrians were forced from the streets. When we arrived at Hua Lamphong train station it was as if we stepped off of a rocket that had started its’ journey on a nice peaceful planet and arrived on one full of chaos.
Jodi spent 4 days laid up in the guesthouse pumped full of muscle relaxants and Aleve while I ran about the city seeing the sites and running errands. I needed to get our visas for Vietnam, find guide books and maps for the other SE Asia countries and have some repairs done on my bicycle. At first I was intimidated by the traffic on the streets and I was reluctant to ride my bicycle because of the experience of being a pedestrian. It seems in Bangkok that biggest has the right of way, with the pedestrians dashing about to avoid the trucks, buses, taxis and motor scooters. I felt walking in the streets was hard and riding would be impossible. In spite of my trepidation I gave it a go and discovered on my bicycle I had more rights than if I were on my two legs. The motor scooters were nice enough to show me the ropes and if I signaled the cars would slow and let me in. Riding was a joy compared with walking in the city. The pollution was horrendous and I stopped at a pharmacy to buy a dust mask to keep the diesel soot out of my lungs.
On the first afternoon I raced to the Vietnam Embassy to apply for our visas and gave the man at the counter my last 5000baht ($135USD) to process our paper work. When I left and was two blocks away I realized that it was Friday, I had no money and I could not cash any travelers checks because the embassy had my passport and the banks would most likely be closed until Monday. I was screwed so I turned around and talked the guys at the embassy into refunding my money and pulling our paper work. I then went to the bike store (Pro Bike on the back side of Lumpini Park that Eddy recommended) and had my bike re-cabled. My shifter cable housings had rusted from all the salt water riding we had done and were beginning to fail. While waiting I was amazed at all the Europeans who were buying bicycles and equipment to cycle tour around SE Asia. One group of mechanics were putting the final touches on bicycles that a couple from Belgium were going to use to tour northern Laos, another, a Pomme who must have had too much money for his own good, was in the midst of purchasing a folding touring bicycle and was offering the mechanics an extra 1000 baht to do this or that. His behavior ticked me off since the guys working on my bike were enticed by the tips and were helping him instead of finishing the job I was paying them to do. Since I had extra time I started a conversation with a couple of German guys. They had just finished the trip that Jodi and I were planning and were about to ride the same route that we had just completed. We traded beta and had a great time comparing stories about our adventures on the road.
Once my bike was complete I returned to the guesthouse to discover my 34 year old wife was moving about like an 80 year old....Yikes! She was not moving very well but wanted to go down to the local night market for some dinner. One of her hips was two inches higher than the other and watching her walk reminded me of my grandmother and her struggles with osteoporosis. As we walked she seemed to loosen a bit and her pace quickened. The night market was awesome, it was a much larger scale than any we had seen. It had live entertainment, a beer garden and many new foods for us to try. We really enjoyed the non fried spring rolls, drought Chang, cucumber spicy salad and fish ball wantons.
The next morning Jodi was just as crippled so I had to go it alone. My first task was to find a book store to get maps and guide books for Laos and Vietnam. I looked at our Thailand book and they recommended a store that appeared to be nearby. I set off down the busy road of Rama IV and thought I was on the right track but after riding for some time and stopping now and then to look at the map I found I had just done a 1 hour loop of the downtown area without finding the street I was looking for. I returned to my starting point and was looking at my map when a young Thai girl approached me and asked in perfect English "Can I help you?". I explained that I was looking for Sukhumvit so I could go to a book store that sold books in English. She explained that Sukhumvit was close and I handed her my note book and my pencil so she could draw a map. She gave me great directions and because she was going in the same direction grabbed a motor scooter taxi and road along with me for most of the way. She would say turn here and explain where it was on her map. They stopped at her stop and she told me to ride another 300 meters and turn left and I would be on Sukhumvit. It worked but it took me another hour to find the mall where the book store was housed.
Inside the mall the world seemed so ridiculous because the prior week I had ridden through some villages that were so poor and now I was standing in a 5 story air conditioned mall with shops dedicated to designer clothes. On the fourth floor was the book store as described in my guide. The store did not have a very good selection of maps or guide books. I thought about all my troubles in finding this store and wondered how I was going to find another. I walked around the mall and the street below and found three more book stores but none of them had everything I needed. I even found a used book store but none of the books were discounted very much and they did not have the maps or books that suited my needs. I returned to the first store and found a map that would work, and went to another store to purchase guide books. I also found a Boots pharmacy that sold its’ own brand of sun screen (most of the stuff we see is American made and very expensive) and insect repellant. As I was paying I noticed that all the prescription drugs were on display behind the counter and I asked if I could purchase any of those items without a prescription. The pharmacist said "yes" and I asked "What do you have in the way of muscle relaxants and do you have Celebrex?" The prices for each were so cheap I thought I must be getting knock offs but when they gave me the blister packs I saw they were authentic. I was shocked about my ability to buy drugs in this country and recalled all the times I sat in a doctors office just to get the prescriptions for the drugs I already knew I needed (expectorant and antibiotics to clear up my nemesis the bronchial infection). I thought how much time I could save if only I could self medicate like this back home.
I returned to the guesthouse and handed Jodi the drugs and said no alcohol, drink lots of water and take these with food. She gladly accepted my advice and said lets get something to eat so I can start taking them now. We walked to the night market again and tried the things we were too full to try the night before.
The next morning Jodi felt much better but I suggested she stay home and get more rest. I needed her to get as healthy as possible because we had to leave the country in two days before our visas expired. I read about things to do in the guidebook and decide to go to the weekend market. It was too far for travel by bike so I walked to the subway and was pleasantly surprised to learn that it stopped inside the market. The market was one of the craziest things I had ever seen. It had everything, home furnishings, clothing, food, books, shipping agents, rare animals, performers and much more. I had a great time watching the performers and I was able to get several quotes for shipping our bicycles home. As I walked around I thought about my Grandmother and mother and how they love bargains and how they would love the weekend market. I didn’t stay long because I wanted to check out a seedy electronics mall before dark but I did buy a pair of capri pants that I could put over my bicycle shorts to keep the sun off my legs.
Next I went to Panthip Plaza to check out what the bootleggers were selling. I asked the subway information desk how to get to Panthip Plaza and they gave me really bad directions that I discovered required me to walk over a mile in the heat. I could not take a taxi since the street was clogged with buses and cars and taking a taxi would have been an exercise in watching the meter run while we sat still in traffic. I asked one guy how to get to Panthip Plaza and he said follow me. He lead me through a maze of people and sidewalks for over a kilometer until we reached the door. Inside was an electronics extravaganza with kids break dancing, spokes models showing off the latest MP3 players and along the fringes many booths selling the latest pirated software, DVDs and music. Everywhere I walked I would get approached by some young kid wanting to show me his selection of bootlegged copyrighted material. I was amazed that I could buy thousands of dollars in software for just 3USD for each disc. I bought a few things and went out onto the street where I found venders selling nock off watches, belts, purses and electronics.
Next I returned to the guesthouse to check on Jodi. She was feeling much better and when she walked her hip wasn’t higher than the other. It appeared that we might leave the next day as scheduled.
The next morning we loaded up, checked out and went to the train station. We put our bags into the bag storage facility and locked our bikes to the fence outside until we could check them that evening. We then went to the post office to send a few more things home. Somewhere along the way I had my pocket picked and the guy managed to clean my wallet of all my baht. Thank goodness I still had my credit cards and passport. He managed to pinch me for the equivalent of $22.50. I wasn’t carrying much since we were leaving the country. We cashed another travelers check and we returned to the post office to send our package. The remainder of the day we spent in any air conditioned public space we could find. At 8:45PM we boarded the train for a 12 hour ride to Nong Khai on the Laos border.
On the train we met a family that were bringing their daughter home from her year in Japan as an exchange student. The father was a micro biologist and the mother was on the faculty of one of the universities. They were a very impressive family and like so many others we have met in SE Asia they push their children to get educated. They all spoke very good English, something I was embarrassed to learn after I had said some rather unsavory things thinking that nobody would understand what I was saying. When we sat down and they asked where we were from I became mortified and very embarrassed for me, my wife and my country. I apologized to them for anything they may have overheard and I grounded myself from beer for the next week. Sorry America!

Vientiane: On the train I retired to my sleeper for what I thought was a good nights sleep but the longer I was awake the next morning the more I learned how tired I was. I felt as if I had been on an all night bender and the aches and pains in my body from sleeping in the short bed made my body and mind in similar spirits. I was not a happy camper and if someone had offered me the opportunity to go home at that moment I probably would have. It felt so hopeless, my wife was hurt, I was tired,, we still didn’t have our Vietnam visas and the Laos border crossing sounded unpleasant. The 20km ride felt as if it was 200km and all I wanted to do was lay down and call it a day. Jodi gave me a pretty good pep talk which lifted my spirits a bunch and I spent the day leaning on her more than usual. She handled the border crossing while I made sure we had water and food for the 20km ride to the Laos capital called Vientiane. Once we had our visas and paid all our fees we made the 20km trip.

While riding through town we were approached by a Swiss couple on bikes as well and we started talking outside one hotel. We had so much to ask each other and so many stories to tell, Phillip suggested we discuss things over dinner that night. We agreed and went about our accommodation hunt and found an adequate guesthouse. It was nothing special but one of the few rooms we found open because the town is so popular with backpackers. We then had a giant lunch and retired to our room for a nap. I awoke at 6:09PM already late for our dinner date, my mouth tasted awful from the onions in my lunch and in my haste to leave the room forgot to brush my teeth. Since we were late they had already left, but luckily we caught up to them at a book store. We settled into a restaurant on the Mekong and had a lovely dinner all the time swapping stories about our adventures. Phillip and Ursala had just completed our planned route down the Mekong into Vietnam and the beta they provided helped us feel more comfortable about our upcoming rides. I enjoyed the evening so much that I was sad to part ways but I was glad to have had the pleasure of their company nonetheless.
The next day Jodi and I discussed our trip, our Vietnam visa situation and how we were going to overcome fitting everything in this last 6 weeks. We came to the conclusion that we would not go into Vietnam. After talking with Ursala and Phillip, we had the impression the riding in Vietnam wasn’t that enjoyable and we would only end up spending 5 days riding and would have to take an 18hr train ride to get between ride origination points. After going over several proposed plans we decided we will go the less traveled option down through Southern Laos into Cambodia. It is a tougher route than our original plan but it seemed the best one for us. We will reevaluate our situation in Savannakhet where we can cross into Thailand if needed or we can get Vietnam visas at the consulate should we learn that road conditions are too much for us.

Train ride into Bangkok 

Laem Sala Beach 

February 4, 2006

Hello. Jodi here. It’s been awhile since I blogged and I finally was inspired to write a few impressions from our latest escapades. Kirk wanted me to catch up from where he last left off so I’ll go with his format. Prepare to be on your butt for a while. This is long winded!

Prachuap Kirhi Khan: We forgot to mention that just before arriving in Prachuap we passed the narrowest section of Thailand that was only 10 km wide. As we continued north, the mountains on our left in the near distance were on the Burma side of the border.

At the guesthouse in Prachuap we met a really nice couple from North Carolina that were staying in the room next to us. We chatted with them for a while and found out that they come to Thailand at least once a year to visit Moon’s family. She is from Thailand and has family in the Bangkok area. She and her husband Rob own a Thai restaurant on the small island they live on in NC. Apparently they were in Prachuap looking for property to buy. Rob was surprised that the banks here will not lend foreigners money and want cash only deals for property. I guess that didn’t surprise us too much. Anyway, we had a great time in their company and exchanged tales of our journeys here in Thailand. We told them how much we liked Ban Krut since it was a small charming beach town that wasn’t too touristy. We must have talked it up enough since they wanted directions to check it out too.

We ended up laying over in Prachuap for a day so we could hit a bank on Monday morning. Here’s a little tip for anyone coming to Thailand in the near future. All the banks charge 30 baht to process each traveler’s check, which is almost $1 USD. So it pays to have fewer checks and higher denominations (go for $100 denominations at the minimum).

We laid low and enjoyed the rest of the day and did our usual tour of the local night market for dinner. We love the fresh blended fruit drinks (we’re partial to the watermelon ones) and trying new dishes that pop up from town to town. The specialty here is squid so we had stir fried squid with veggies over steamed rice. Yummo! Kirk jumps right in there when ordering and tries to speak Thai to the vendors. A lot of times they look at him like he’s crazy and they shake their heads and say “no English”. That cracks me up because he’s trying to speak their language and obviously it’s so butchered they mistake it for English. Usually Kirk ends up repeating the words several times using different pronunciations and speed each time and eventually he stumbles upon something they recognize. Then they laugh and repeat it so he can say it right. So he’ll say it over and over trying to practice, which must be very entertaining for them because they laugh a lot. Thai is a very difficult language because they use sounds that we don’t have in English, which also makes English a difficult language for Thais. We’ve discovered that not one Thai has been able to say Kirk’s name correctly. It comes out sounding like a slurred “Gurg”. Kirk has been quite the entertainer on this trip for me and for the Thais. Occasionally at the night markets we get the feeling they aren’t fond of “farangs” there, but as soon as Kirk or I use at least a few Thai words to communicate, they warm up to us quickly and seem impressed.

Khao Sam Roi Yot Marine National Park: We hit the road early the next morning and planned on riding about 60km to one of the beach resorts short of reaching Hua Hin. We couldn’t really tell from our maps if the back roads went all the way through and unfortunately we found ourselves on Hwy 4 again for a small stretch before finding another back road. There we several mountains ahead of us and we were surprised that the road ended up turning South for a while and taking us around the hills instead of through them or between them. Since this was about the third time in our recent travels that we were redirected around a mountain, we determined that the Thais like to build their roads flat and go around the mountains instead of up them. Works for me! As we rounded a bend turning back to the Northeast we came upon a gang of monkeys in the road. Haven’t seen those little buggers in awhile with the exception of a few larger sized monkeys that we have occasionally seen sitting in the back of pickup trucks as they pass us on the road. Apparently these larger monkeys are sent to a training school where they learn how to harvest coconuts. Kirk read they are quite efficient at it and can harvest up to 1000 coconuts per day. (And I digress…) Soon after that we pulled up to an entry gate for the Khao Sam Roi Yot Marine National Park. They charged us 200 baht each just to ride through on our bicycles, which seemed pretty expensive for Thailand standards ($5 USD each). Kirk was not very happy about that at all. Especially considering that the road wasn’t kept as well as the portion outside the park and there really wasn’t anything to see in the park that we hadn’t seen other places. We felt like it was another “skin tax”…but as I told Kirk that kind of thing is just going to happen sometimes in our travels. Inside the park we passed several homes and some farms. I thought it was interesting that people are allowed to live inside a National Park here. We stopped at the Sam Phraya Beach inside the park just to check it out. It was a beautiful quiet stretch of beach where they rented tents if you want to camp right there on the beach. They had campground type facilities with one small restaurant serving food. We weren’t in the mood to be that isolated and weren’t quite ready to stop so we decided to move onward.

Laem Sala Beach: We eventually rode out of the park and came to a sign pointing to Laem Sala Beach. As we turned onto the beach road it looked like just a tiny local fishing village with one or two high priced resorts around it (one even had a golf course that looked pretty nice). But we rode on further and came upon several bungalows and resorts lined up along the road across from the beach. We were both really hungry after riding 75km so we stopped at one of the Thai owned resort restaurants for some lunch. We enjoyed our meal and observed how quiet this beach was and surprisingly how few tourists were around for the amount of resorts it had. Kirk asked the women at the restaurant how much their bungalows cost and they wanted too much. We checked down the road further and they were all pretty pricey compared to what we have been paying at most of our previous destinations. We decided to try the next beach up the road knowing it was only 25km away. At that point it was during the heat of the day but we were fortunate enough to have overcast skies so we felt up to it.

Pran Buri Beach: We pulled into Pran Buri and found our way to the beach road. It was a disappointing scene as we realized we left a lovely beach to come to a crappy one. There wasn’t even a beach here only an ugly sea break with palm trees planted along it that looked like they were transplanted from else where. The dirt road next to the sea break took us in front of an all-inclusive resort that had far too many chunky tourists sporting their smallest bathing suits swarming around the pool. It was a disturbing sight for Kirk and I since we haven’t been around that kind of Vegasy scene in quite awhile. It looked like the resort sprung out of nowhere, it didn’t fit in with the surroundings and gave off the sense that it was erected for the cheap real estate and the “build it and they will come” theory. Obviously it’s working for them, but we were so turned off that we immediately about faced and rode the other direction in search of a more charming place to stay that still felt like it was in Thailand. Everything along that road was incredibly expensive which seemed ridiculous to me. Several times we have stayed right on the beach in beautiful bungalows for about the equivalent of $10 USD a night and these places charged anywhere from the equivalent of $30 to $80 USD for rooms that were across the road from the sea break and didn’t even face the ocean. I’m not sure what they were charging for. Again…yes we’ve become incredibly spoiled. As we were searching for a place to stay the sun came back out and started melting us. We had done over 100km and really needed to get down and out of the heat. When we couldn’t find anywhere to stay in our price range we went into the town a couple blocks back from the beach looking for a local guesthouse or hotel. No luck there either. We ended up back on the beach road staying at a Thai owned hotel that was next to the “Vegas” all-inclusive resort and paid twice as much as what that room would have gone for anywhere else. Ugh! What a day! We took our punches and collapsed on the bed to take a nap. Later in the evening we woke up hungry and managed to coerce ourselves to get on our bikes to venture a few km into town to find a night market for dinner. Mission accomplished there.

Cha-am: The next morning we woke up early since we were anxious to take our last ride in Thailand for a while before moving on to Bangkok. As we rode through the town of Pran Buri in the morning light Kirk made the comment that this town really looked third world because it was so dug up. He said if he didn’t know better we could be riding through the streets of Beirut. He was right. The roads were the dustiest we’ve encountered yet. We think they were upgrading their water and sewer systems, which made the place have a very rough feel.

As we found out way to the right road (after asking a local) we rode behind a share taxi (a pick up truck with a roof over the back and benches inside) that was stopping frequently to pick up kids for school. The school kids are packed in like sardines and stare at us as they go by sometimes being brave enough to wave or say “hello”. When we respond with a wave and hello it sends them into giggle fits. It’s interesting because all the kids wear uniforms to school here and a lot of them look like boy scout and girl scout uniforms.

We estimated it would be a short 60km ride to Cha-am where we would stay for the night. The next day we would take a train the last 200km to Bangkok since we heard the traffic beyond Cha-am is crazy fierce and not worth the brain strain.

We were planning on stopping about halfway in Hua Hin to enjoy a western breakfast. We pulled into this buzzing little metropolis and were immediately thrown into several lanes of crazy fast traffic that was moving in all directions. I found it quite difficult to change gears in my head that quickly. All along we’ve been riding mostly back roads with little to no traffic. We were able to ride side by side a lot of days and enjoy conversations while riding. Here we were suddenly in the center of a beehive and I was completely overwhelmed. We tried to get off the main road and find a back road, but there wasn’t one and navigating that ended up being just as scary. We had to go through several intersections that I like to call “4 way gos” since no one stops and you just pick your way through. Kirk and I quickly learned the best thing to do was pick a motorcycle buddy going the same direction in the intersection and when they go you go. Seemed to work okay since we survived, but it takes a little blind faith. I watched Kirk pull out across a couple lanes of traffic and cringed thinking he was going to get squashed, but he made it. I think the traffic here is a little different in that they seem accustomed to the craziness and someone is always willing to give way. We managed to survive it and trust the drivers around us, which goes against everything I’ve learned from years of driving in the States. At that point I was ready to get out of there and just go on to Cha-am which sounded a lot more pleasant from the description in our guide book. So we got back on the highway and off we went. Once out of Hua Hin the traffic wasn’t so bad anymore. We pulled into Cha-am and were pleasantly surprised. It was a fun beach town bigger than any of the other ones we’ve visited but not nearly as crazy as Hua Hin. Whew! We found guesthouses everywhere that were cheap and clean so we checked into one and were quite happy to have an easy day on the bikes and be done so early in the day. We found a nice outdoor restaurant that served scrambled eggs with ham and a side of toast. Yay! Just what I wanted. Thais eat their eggs fried not scrambled so it’s hard to find that here unless you’re in a touristed area. We enjoyed our meal and went back to our room to lay low during the heat of the day. Later we went to a seaside restaurant to have our happy hour of Chang beer and nuts to celebrate our ride from Singapore to Bangkok. Woohoo!

I asked a girl at our guesthouse when the train left for Bangkok and she told me there was one at 11 am the next day. I was happy to hear that since I was eager to sleep in the next morning and still be able to go have a nice breakfast before hopping the train. The next morning went as planned and after breakfast we packed up our bikes and rode the 5 minutes over to the train station. Unfortunately the girl at the guesthouse gave me the time for the train that was going south from Bangkok not north to Bangkok. We talked to the ticket guy and he explained there was a train in the afternoon but it was a passenger train only and didn’t have a cargo car for our bikes. He said the only train with a cargo car to Bangkok came at 4 in the morning. So in our disappointment we took that information and went to check out things at the bus station across from our previous nights accommodation. There was a bus heading to Bangkok that was leaving in 15 minutes. We decided against taking the bus because it was more expensive and it would have dropped us outside the main area of Bangkok where we would have to find another mode of transportation to the inner city area. We read that the train would take us directly into the city even though it takes about an hour longer than the bus and obviously runs at a less convenient time. At that point we checked back into the guesthouse and decided to make the 4am train. We had lunch on the beach from the cart vendors of fresh roasted squid on a stick and spicy peanut salad. It was delicious! I find myself able to eat things here that I wouldn’t normally eat before. I’ve always liked calamari, but I’ve never been fond of the tentacles. Here we watch them pull out a raw squid, cut out the eyes and then pull out the cartilage and some of the guts (which they save to grill and eat themselves). Then they cut up the squid and pop it on the grill for a few minutes. It’s ready to eat with some spicy salsa type dip. I like it even though it’s still a little raw and sometimes I have to pull some of the remaining guts out. Crazy eh? I also notice that I can eat much spicier food here than I’ve ever eaten before. Kirk LOVES spicy food so he fits right in here and is always encouraging the cart vendors to make their dishes spicy Thai style for him. I’ve always enjoyed some spice in my food but often cannot take the same heat that Kirk likes. Here it’s no problem. I think I’ve built up a tolerance for it over the last couple of weeks and now I like it! It also helps that the Thais have perfected the perfect blend of hot and cool flavors. Often a hot dish is served with slices of cucumber or other green veggies to help soothe the palate. Every meal here is a treat and we find ourselves looking forward to our next meal time with great anticipation.

Okay, so back to the story….Kirk and I enjoyed one more day in Cha-am and weren’t too upset about moving our schedule back by one day since we were both feeling tired. We went to bed early and woke up at 3am to make the 4am train. We arrived at the train station to buy tickets 20 minutes early as directed but the guy selling tickets told us the train was late and wouldn’t arrive until 5:35am. Ugh! I wish we knew that before. We decided to just wait it out. So we waited patiently and the train pulled in around 5:45am. It sat there until about 6:30am so now we couldn’t expect to arrive in Bangkok until 10:30am. Fun fun! We realized we weren’t asked about what class ticket we wanted so they sold us tickets in 3rd class. On our one other train ride from the border of Thailand to Hat Yai, we rode 2nd class with A/C. The difference in this car was that the seats were less comfortable (bench type and stiffly upright), it had operable windows, was much dirtier, and had no other tourists. They sell you tickets with seat numbers on them so we had to kick an old man out of our seats as all the Thais were spread out sleeping everywhere and we didn’t know where else to sit. He was a happy guy though and it didn’t seem to faze him since he had family members in the seats across from us and next to us so he scooched in with them. I felt a little uncomfortable as everyone was staring at us probably wondering what we were doing in 3rd class with them since I think most tourists take 2nd class. But Kirk said, “Hey, if this is good enough for the Thai people, it’s good enough for me”. Good point. So we settled in for the ride.

Bangkok: I noticed since I woke up yesterday that my low back was unusually sore. It got worse on the train and I spent the whole ride shifting around in my seat trying to get comfortable. I had a feeling this was a bad sign since a similar thing happened to me last year just before returning to Pole. I was told my back “went out” due to stress overload. Great! I’m on vacation here and not supposed to be stressing, but apparently I am because my back says so. I toughed it out though and we made it to Bangkok yesterday around 11am.

First order of business as always when coming off public transport is to find a bathroom. So Kirk ran off to find one and ran into a couple that were also cycle tourists and had just come off the train. The woman was on crutches and told Kirk that she got hurt and wasn’t able to finish out their trip. Bummer! I would hate it if that happened to us! Making our way to the exit we ran into another cycle tourist. He was an older Belgium gentleman (Eddy) who just finished the same route we will be starting in Laos (riding along the Mekong river over to Vietnam and back through Cambodia to Bangkok). He must have been in his 70’s, but he was a spry little man. He told us he completed 9000km in 2 months! He was going on from Bangkok to ride down the West coast of Thailand and into Malaysia. Wow! I was totally impressed. It made our progress over the last 2 months seem tiny in comparison. Good for Eddy! I have some serious respect for that guy. Kirk and I looked at my cycle computer the other day and saw the total trip distance read 2500 km. We figure we’ve actually done about 3000 km since it wasn’t working for several of our long days in Malaysia. That still feels like a long distance and quite an accomplishment for us in 2 short months even though Eddy totally kicked our ass.

We left the train station and walked our bikes across the busy streets to the sidewalk on the main road that we were trying to find. There are crosswalks, but the cars must not be required to give way to pedestrians because they don’t unless they have a red light. It was like being the frog in the game Frogger where you try to navigate yourself across several lanes of a busy road without getting squished. It was smoking hot out of course and so we were sweating buckets and trying to figure out where we were and which direction to head. I was totally overwhelmed so I suggested to Kirk that we go back to the train station and sit down, get some lunch and talk about a plan of action. He agreed and it turned out to be a good decision since we don’t work well together when we’re hungry. Then compound being hot, tired and overwhelmed and well….let’s just say it’s not pretty. Kirk had read in our guidebook about an area by a park that sounded good so we asked for directions and off we went. We walked our bikes for several blocks because I was too intimidated to ride in the traffic. It reminded me of riding in Sydney with how fast the cars go except here you have hundreds of motorcycles weaving in and out of the lanes as well. Kirk pointed out a guy going past us on his bicycle riding in the left most lane of traffic and so I realized that maybe we could do it too. Thankfully I did because it would have been a really long walk otherwise and it actually put less pressure on my back to ride than it did to push my bike. It was scary nonetheless and I find myself often putting my faith in the drivers behind me because looking back is pretty dangerous when you’re focusing on staying as far to left as possible, avoiding parked cars, pot holes, cars pulling out, buses pulling over, motorcycles whizzing close by, pedestrians, cart venders, etc. It’s a lot of input and every time I look behind me it causes me to swerve out into traffic…so I don’t do it anymore and I hope my hand signals are enough to allow me to survive. Thankfully the driving here seems to be crazy but courteous.

We made it to our landmark and Kirk went in search of accommodations while I stayed with the bikes. It was amazing to sit on the sidewalk and watch the action around me. It’s also very very hot in the city! About an hour later Kirk came back to tell me he found us a room in a guesthouse. He had to go to several before finding one that wasn’t totally booked. Kirk carried our bikes over the footbridge and we rode the few minutes to the guesthouse. I took a shower and then laid down to try to get the pressure of my back while Kirk went out to run some errands.

It’s very inconvenient to be in Bangkok and be holed up in a guesthouse feeling crippled because it hurts to move very much. We have to move on though because our visas expire on the 8th so we’re going to take the night train to the Laos border on Monday night. I’m hoping that a couple of days of R&R here will get me back in order before heading out. It’s just a drag since there are things I wanted to see and do in Bangkok and now that will have to wait until the end of our cycle trip when we come back here for a couple of days before we fly out.

I heard a good saying that sometimes comes to mind on this trip. It’s “Want to make God laugh? Have a plan.” It’s tough sometimes to be flexible in our remaining schedule knowing that our time is running out. I counted how many days we have left in SE Asia and I’m sad to say we’re down 47! I know that sounds like a lot of days in American vacation time, but it’s really not in cycle tour time. Since we’ve been on the road the days have quickly passed (as full as they seem) and I expect the next half of the journey will fly by as well. Kirk and I love SE Asia so far and Kirk even halfway joked about reconfiguring our itinerary to just keep going and bike through China (but don’t worry mom…we’ll be home as scheduled). We’ve spent a lot of hours lately trying to plan our time left and we just can’t fit everything in! But we know we will be back here again as there is so much left for us to see and do.

Lately we’ve noticed how 100km days don’t seem to faze us as much. We can sit on our bikes for longer periods of time with fewer breaks while keeping a pretty good pace all day. As our cycling gets stronger we also notice some of the pangs that come with cycle touring. Our backs, wrists, butts and legs are often sore from riding so frequently. I’ve noticed the tip of my pinky seems to be constantly numb and we always have to move our hands around and shake them out while we ride to get our circulation going again. Sometimes towards the end of our rides we will also feel discomfort in our toes from being pushed in the end of our bike shoes all day. During one of our layover days I had a weird continuous twitch going on in my bicep. So needless to say we have our fair share of ailments due to riding, but thankfully they are small and don’t hinder us from enjoying our rides along the way. (Can you tell I wrote this paragraph before my back went to hell?)

All in all I have to say that Thailand has been absolutely spectacular! We really love it here. The people are friendly and helpful, the food rocks, the rooms are always clean and cheap and the scenery is top notch. Riding up the East coast was such a pleasure and we’ve loved seeing how the people, the food and the landscapes change along the way. We noticed that the closer we rode to Bangkok the more tourists we saw, the beaches became less impressive and littered with high price resorts and the Thai people seemed less intimate towards us. So looking back it’s no surprise that Kirk and I have the fondest memories of the tiny little beach towns with wonderful unspoiled beaches and the most charming people. It sure seems like the some of the “must see” touristy destinations that we’ve paid more money for leave us feeling disappointed in comparison. I think it’s because we have so much adventure in our everyday road experiences by bicycle that “normal” type vacation things just don’t hold enough luster anymore. We end up wishing we were back on the quiet little roads that we can always count on to lead us to good times, if that makes any sense.

This journey so far has been such a rich experience for both Kirk and I individually and as a couple. Some days it is hard as I find myself struggling to get out of bed and talk myself into getting on my bike. But once I do I’m happy to be there. I have had a few intense moments of heat exhaustion where I find it hard to keep pedaling, feeling as if I’m drowning in my perspiration, trying to overcome my mental “melt down”, and pushing my body to go on when it just wants to quit (and probably driving Kirk nuts in the meantime as he has a little more tolerance for those type of things). But every time we get through a really hard day, which have been few and far between, it makes me realize that most of our days have been spectacular and we’ve been pretty lucky overall. The whole way from Singapore up the coast of Malaysia and even into Thailand we had people telling us that had we been there a week earlier we would have been in floods. So our timing has been impeccable without planning it that way…it was just luck! We’ve also found our way to our destinations without too much effort. Every time we have felt like we might be lost or in trouble, something or someone comes along to steer us in the right direction. I think we have a pretty good guardian angel. J

On January 31st we were riding along and realized that last year on that day we were flying back to the South Pole for our second winter. We talked about how our hardest days on the road here are just a blast in comparison to our lowest days at Pole. We are loving life when we think like that and even though the sun (the “Death Star” as we call it sometimes) is scorching here, I’ll take that over no sun any day of the week! It’s weird but we both still have dreams about being back at Pole. It’s good to wake up in Thailand and realize it was just a dream…believe me!

In a way we are sad that our ride to Cha-am was our last ride in Thailand for a while. We really wish we had more time to explore this country as it is so much fun! But, we’ll just save that for another journey, as we definitely do not think this will be our first and last cycle trip. There’s a whole big world out there to explore!