Sang Khom to Nong Khai - 105km

Sang Khom was an unexpected delight. A fitting end to my stay in Thailand, sleeping in the thatched bungalow next to the Mekong was one of the more memorable nights I've had. With nothing but the 'eh-ow' of geckos to break the silence I had a great nights sleep and was well up for another 100km this morning. The km's came easily today, and knowing it was my last day in Thailand I stopped regularly at roadside eateries. I don't really like thrusting my camera in peoples faces, but I bought a green coconut drink from this woman today, and her laughter and smile was so infectious. I had to try and get a picture as she prepared my coconut, you can just make it out from the side view. It must be people like this upon which Thailand built its reputation as the land of smiles. I think one of the greatest benefits of bike touring has to be the roadside stopovers and small towns that you go to, not really expecting much you can find some really lovely places.

So after banana pancakes, pad thai, grilled chicken and sticky rice, amongst other snacks and beverages I arrived in Nong Khai. It has all the chrams of the smaller Mekong towns, but with a bigger backpacker scene. Unfortunately so too have come a handful of go-go bars and ageing sex tourists that kind of strip away its character. I'm down to my last 700baht, having withdrawn 15,000 ($500 AUS) quite some time ago I managed to string it out all the way to my final stop in Thailand. All things going to plan I will have a short ride across the frienship bridge to Vientiane in the morning, where I will hunt down a new chain and a few other supplies to keep me going into China.

Chiang Khan to Sang Khom - 109km

It's starting to get proper cold of an evening now, a welcome change. Had the blankets on last night, it would have been below 20 for the first time in a while. This morning was misty and cool right up until 9:30, so for the first hour and a half I was pretty comfortable cruising along the relative flat of the Mekong. The highway runs along the Mekong all the way to Nong Khai, so its greenish most of the way. I say highway, but theres not much traffic, 20 cars an hour at a guess. The road surface has deteriorated too, particularly between Chiang Khan and Pak Chom its riddled with potholes. I was daydreaming looking at the river and I rode into a massive pothole that I'm suprised didn't take out a few spokes. I also had to come up with a new strategy for dealing with dogs. They catch me too easily on hills so instead of trying to outrun a pursuing dog, I find its easier to avoid their rabid fangs by getting off the bike facing them, and slowly walking away from them (backwards) while facing them. Worked for me today. If you turn your back, or try to ride away too soon their right on your arse snarling and snapping at your heels.

So I pulled into Sang Khom late arvo. Another chilled out riverside town with very little going on.. I'm tempted to stay a while, but I've just enough Thai baht to get me across the border to Lao, which I'm pretty excited about. Northeast Thailand was for me, much more enjoyable than the south, which in my opinion isn't the greatest bike touring destination. It has served it's purpose to get me in shape for the coming mountains however. I much prefer the green of the cooler mountain areas, and this will surely come in abundance as I continue north through Lao, and after that the temperate forests of Southern China.

Snapped this panoramic of the Mekong outside my guesthouse, its incredibly dry at this time of year, peak of the dry season infact, so it's looking more like the Nile.

Loei to Chiang Khan & Around- 66km

As you can see from my ever diminishing daily targets, I have become lazy. I felt right at home in Chiang Khan where the first people I came across were playing petanque along the riverside. Probably a throwback to the days when Lao was a French protectorate, being a stones throw across the river. I made a short trip to a section of rapids a bit out of town, but the water was so low the rocks were well above the water level, and I decided a boat trip probably wasn't worth the effort. Filled in the afternoon sitting at the markets, eating exotic snacks and listening to the enthusiastic chatter of Thai people going about their business. It's such an expressive language, particularly the women who seem to use a huge range of tones. Later experienced a revelation when I bought a bottle of fresh orange juice, to find it was blended with passionfruit juice. It was so incredibly good. Som Tam, or Green Papaya salad is another delicacy from this region. I prefer it with grilled chicken, but it is also served with marinated squid at many places. I discovered some other treats in the form of candied coconut straps, I'll be using those for riding snacks tomorrow.Chiang Khan is really nice, a bit touristy but in a Thai way - meaning its mainly Thai people that come here. I just had to make sure my guesthouse was well clear of the karaoke scene. Found a spotless room for just 150 baht with fan and shared bath / hot water. Eating dinner I attempted to photograph the Mekong in 'sunset' mode on my lumix, and it turned everything the most outrageous shades of red. It actually looked nothing like this.

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Phu Rhuea to Loei - 52km

Chatted to Sutep until midday, perfected the pronunication of my favourite dishes in thai, drank a couple more of his coffees and the caffiene buzz ensured I eventually got on my way. Road ahead was up and down for 25kms, then a long 25km downhill carried me all the way to the city of Loei. Orchid hotel just off the main street is a good option for 450baht - a/c, hot water, western toilet, cable tv = relaxation.

The greener pastures of Loei.

Nakhon Thai to Phu Ruea - 82km

Considering the generosity my local guide had shown in directing me to the guesthouse last night, free of charge, I wasn't of the mood to turn it down despite the strong stench of mildew, and general state of disrepair. Huge brown patches of mould stained the walls at the rear, and leaking pipes dripped incessantly into the concrete pools of water servicing the squat toilet. It was a truckers flophouse if ever I've seen one, and at 200 baht probably a little on the expensive side. In any other situation I would have knocked it back, I probably could have camped considering the overnight temperatures in these parts (my tent is exceptionally warm, and poorly ventilated - ie. shite for camping in the tropics as I discovered in southern Thailand) but I paid up the small sum and accepted the room, thanking my guide as she went on her way. To make the place more comfortable I stuffed the curtains through the holes in the fly screen, and got all the windows open to relieve the smell a bit, but later this served to exacerbate my second problem - obscenely loud karaoke coming from a bar nextdoor. I endured this without sleep until twelve, by which time I'd worked up enough rage to get out of bed, walk across to the fence and give them a quick burst of shut the f&*k up, like a true australian ocker would, as loud as I possibly could. The singer paused for a moment, and dogs from all across the neighbourhood erupted into a chorus of barking, but to my dissapointment the hokey midi-synth tunes of karaoke continued unabated. I gave them until 1:45am, and this time it worked, someone promptly lowered the volume until it was barely audible and I got some much needed rest.

Quick noodle soup in the morning morning, didn't get away until 9:30 and before long I had pedalled into the midst of a dry empty landscape. Dusty red soil and dead trees adorned the parched hillsides. Traffic had reduced to just the odd car, allowing the hum of powerlines to serve as the soundtrack to this bizzare environment, which seemed out of place in the context of everywhere else so far. The terrain didn't persist for long, and as I gained in altitude the barren foothills of the valley became green, and I started the climb to Dan Sai. The surrounding mountains are not particularly high in altitude, but the gradients are severe in some places. The hardest climb starts around 9km before the Dan Sai township.

While I'm on the topic, Dan Sai is a fascinating little place. A quiet rural backwater for most of the year, it comes alive for a 'merit making' festival just before the rainy season. People from the surrounding areas gather in the streets wearing ghostly masks (see right), hoping to invoke rains for the coming season. The parade has its roots in bhuddist folklore, and participants believe that by dressing as ghosts they can please the spirits and protectors of their lands.

Post Dan Sai, the climbs continue, but with much less severity. As luck would have it on this particular day, my revered Schwalbe Marathon Plus would fall foul of the notourious tyre wire 25km short of my destination. I've read about this alot in other touring journals, but never actually fallen victim to it myself. Car and truck tyres have a framework of wires embedded in the rubber to add strength. Refuse left after a blowout will often have shards of this wire sticking up out of it, so you should always avoid pieces of rubber on the roadside. I had to use pliers to pull the wire from the tyre, and it was almost an hour by the time I had the tube replaced, rack refitted and gear reloaded. During this time a concerned teacher had doubled back to offer me a lift to Phu Rhuea, but I figured I could still get there before dark and kept moving.

Just a few kilometres out of Phu Rhuea, and in failing light police had blocked off the road, leaving a long line of motorists waiting to get through. In the mix I noticed a foriegner, who was touring across northern Thailand on his motorbike. A pretty interesting guy, Surio, directed me to a cheap but exceptionally clean hotel he had been to many times before. The Thai owner Sutep was a real character. He made all sorts of bizzare inventions. One was a coffe machine made of an electric clothes iron embedded into a small bench, on top of which he sat an alessi coffee-pot. He was able to churn out some delicious italian coffees using it. Sutep had an interesting life, during the Vietnam war he worked at an American airbase near Laos, and after that found work with commercial airlines throughout the world, returning to his local area to build the resort after many years abroad. As such his english was excellent so the conversations went on for a long time. Got stuck into the sang-som for the first time in a while, and had a good laugh with Surio about the state of the world. He gave me directions to several guesthouses along the Mekong river for the days ahead.

Cabin on Highway 12 to Nakhon Thai - 59km

Continued along the green route for an hour or so before I hit a savage climb tlasting 2-3km.  The climb ended right at the turnoff to Nakhon Thai (route 2013 - or the 68km marker if your following the 'green route' map) and was also home to a string of roadside eateries. Gone it seems are the hygenically plastic wrapped offerings of seven eleven I had come to rely on. BBQ chicken and sticky rice is always easy on the stomach, so I went for that, and as I ate caught the attention of a group of midday drunkards that were enjoying a lavish spread just nearby. I sat down and went through the usual, where you come from, where you going parlava, and tried to get my food down as quickly as possible without succumbing to the whisky fuelled revellerly, as much as I would liked to had I been finished for the day. Route 2013 continues on its undulating path for 30km, at which point you will find yourself in Nakhon Thai, a modest township with scant accomodation options it would seem. Another blog spoke of a no-name guesthouse somewhere in the vicinity, so I went about the business of asking all and sundry for directions to it. I was pointed every which way for the best part of an hour, before I resovled to find the pharmacy the blogger spoke of, whom had given him directions to the said lodgings. I eventually found the pharmacy, and she did speak english, just as the blogger claimed. The lady suggested I try somewhere 2km down the road on the left. On the first sortie I had no luck, not suprising as it looked nothing like a hotel and there was no sign, so I returned and she kindly lead me down there on her motorbike. Not the cleanest place I've slept so far, but it will do for one night. I pulled in just before a rain storm set in. Away in the distance a small group of moutains loomed as a taste of things to come. Oh, and I almost forgot to mention I found the most amesome little lizard crawling around on a log behind the cafe. Never seen anything like this before.

Phitsanulok to Cabin on Highway 12 - 50km

In an attempt to make this bicycle journey more enjoyable, I have decided to cut back my daily distances. This way I won't be so tired by the end of the day, and should I happen to meet some other travellers I will able to keep pace, without falling asleep so early. This stretch of road saw the transisition from rice growing, back to forest with the odd farm dotted in between. The forest was home to some rather beautiful looking trees I've not seen before. Their saffron coloured flowers covered the road in many parts.According to the Phitsanulok Tourism Authority, the highway between Phitsanulok and Lom Sak is known as the green route. A favourite cruising area for Thai motorbike enthusiasts, and there are quite a few high end resorts catering to this market. I stopped at the Rainforest Resort, only to find that the cheapest rooms were a bit out of my budget (1800 baht). Before heading off I decided to ask one of the staff whether I was likely to find something a bit cheaper up towards the next village and she then revealed I could sleep in a cabin nearby the resort for 600 baht. The quality of the cabin didn't really justify the price-tag, but nonetheless I was happy not to have to keep riding, and settled in to a nice meal of green papaya salad and marinated bbq chicken, one of the better eating experiences I've had so far.

Sukhothai to Phitsanulok - 67km

Reasonable day, nice short ride relieved my legs of their newfound burden. Found Phitsanulok to be busy and not so appealing. Still feeling tired post ride I was ready to give up scrolling through endless channels of indecipherable thai when I found the sports network playing the Australian Open. I watched Nadal take down some german guy in four sets, and later ate dinner before being hassled by hookers on the way back to the hotel.

More rice growing serenity in windswept northeast Thailand.

Khampaeng Phet to Sukhothai - 83km

Would have thought 83km would be easy after 124, but today nearly destroyed me. I spent a bit too long around the ruins of Khampaeng Phet historical park this morning, so I didn't actually set off until after midday. I comtemplated flagging down a car at 46km feeling wrecked, but I decided this was pathetic so I forced myself to keep going despite the pain and fatigue. I didn't have the energy to take any photos, I had to focus every ounce of strength in getting to Sukhothai by nightfall. The wind was a big factor, I've read in other blogs about the wind in these parts. Apparently its even worse in the eastern parts where I'm headed.

On a positive note I found a belgian run cafe flogging leffe and hoegaarden in downtown Sukhothai - its called poo restaurant, shocking title but great beers.

Nakhon Sawan to Khampaeng Phet - 124km

Expecting a brutally long day I started as early as I could be bothered, which was about eight in the morning. The hotel I'd chosen was kind of a bit gross, and I didn't get much rest as for most of the night I was feeling itchy and putting up with noise from the adjoining highway. I had stayed in the highway district of Nakhon Sawan, mainly as it would put me directly on the road to Khampaeng Phet, the so called Asia Highway, or highway 1 through Thailand. Practical for the purposes of riding, but lacking it both atmosphere and charm. A fight broke out near seven eleven as I made my way back to the hotel after dinner. It was really noisy all night, with trucks and other large vehicles rattling past.

I passed the time watching Al Jazeera news, which for some reason I had always believed was the media arm of the Taliban and Al Qaeda. Tuns out its presented by a British anchor, and the news stories are well balanced and  for the most part interesting. The crisis in Haiti dominated, but they were running some other stories too.   

I was riding quite fast for the whole day, around 23km/h average speed. It was rice growing country with an acceptable mixture of scenic rice fields and sprawling urbanisation. The highway looked brand new in parts, and it was decent biking except for the wind which really picked up at times. I made it to Khampaeng Phet in about 5 hours and although it was draining, I wasn't as wasted as I expected to be. Found the famous egg bananas for sale along the way, they were also selling the immature plants, arranged in neat rows.  Other highlights included the discovery of a new and delicious ice-cream; coco hawaii - pineapple sorbet with coconut ice cream. If you ever go to Khampaeng Phet, J&J guest house is a fine example of thai hospitality. The rooms comfortable and sparkling clean, the hosts only too happy to hack up a coconut free of charge if your in need of refreshments. They allow self sevice on the drinks, everything was really reasonable, and when it was time to pay there was no quibbling about price, they actually undercharged me. Dinner was memorable if not for the painful chilli aftermath, but I've come to expect that now, I don't really care as long as the meal tasted good its kind of worth it. Theres a koreana BBQ type place across from J&J, the food is thai, and really nice, you cook it yourself on a hotplate and then slather with a selection of ten different sauces. Half the neighbourhood was eating there so I figured it must be ok, and wasn't dissapointed.

Chai Nat to Nakhon Sawan - 62km

Hello readership,
Today began with a ridiculous sugar binge. Thinking I shouldn't do bacon and eggs for the about tenth time in as many days, I went to seven eleven and bought three sample packs of frosties and a pint UHT chocolate milk, as well as an iced coffee. It was a sickly sweet combination, that left me feeling a bit strange, won't be trying that one again. Maybe a half dozen pork buns will do the trick next time. I've gone off eating curries for breakfast and lunch lately, it doesn't sit as well as I would like on a long ride. So now I'm off the street food, save the kebabs, but almost everything available at seven eleven is too sweet. Including the pork buns which are like the asain equivalent of meat pies. Instead of a pie warmer you have a steamer cabinet full of different coloured pork buns, there are some truly disgusting fillings on offer - I don't know if this was a botched translation but one them is called 'rabbit cream'. The plain pork ones are passable. I was wracked by a mechanical on the way out of town - not a flat tyre this time thankfully - and my hands were covered in thick black grease by the time I had it fixed. This is testament to my overuse of WD40 on the chain, its now completely caked in black gunk and badly in need of replacement.

Ride was ok for the first 15, then became bland as I got to Nakhon Sawan. Today was kind of a nothing day, the shortest so far in preparation for the longest tomorrow.

Chainat Rest Day

This morning I was horrified to find that my front tyre was flat again, I still have no idea how it happened either. I was forced to get a tuk-tuk to the bird park, but upon arrival was disappointed to find that all the best birds were inside cages. They had gone to the trouble of enclosing an enourmous area of the park with netting, so you could walk through and photograph the birds - however none of the flagship birds (pied hornbill, macaws, parrots, vultures, flamingoes etc) were anywhere to be seen in the area. There were mainly peacocks, chooks, and a few another non descript white ones. Everything was in Thai, and nobody spoke even the slighest hint of english to I couldn't work out what was going on. Complete crock of .....

I made haste back to the hotel and commenced the task of patching all the punctured tubes. Disgusted with the ranndonneur cross, I swapped it for my spare tyre; a Continental Top Contact - handmade in Germany, close to $100 worth of tyre.  I hope it outperforms its predeccesor, or I might not make it to China. I can't be bothered going back to Bangkok now to get a Schwalbe, and conti's have a pretty good reputation so I'll get as far as I can with it.

Lop Buri to Chai Nat - 92km

I awoke this morning to find a hive of activity in the streets of Lop Buri. Children and high school students were all congregating in the town square just next to my hotel. Many dressed in traditional thai clothing, some with masks and musical instruments. As I ate breakfast nearby, more and more students arrived until at nine o'clock the procession marched out into the streets of Lob Buri, dancing and cheering to the beat of drums and traditional Thai music. I raced back to my hotel to pack up, hoping to get some really good shots with my SLR before the parade came to end. I quickly packed everything up, and just as I wheeled the bike out of the hotel, I realised I had a flat on front the wheel. I spent the best part of thirty minutes changing the tube, and by the time I was back on the streets the parade had finished and the students were heading off to school. I captured a couple of quick photos as the parade marched out with my automatic, but didn't get to use the SLR. I must admit this bulky expensive camera hasn't seen a great deal of use so far, it's just too big and heavy to take around everywhere, and I never seem to have it handy when the moment arises.

The scenery was again lush the whole way, I saw quite a few water dragons by the roadside and there was abundant birdlife in the surrounding wetlands. About fifty kilometres down the road I had another flat on the front tyre, a supposedly puncture proof touring tyre made by Vittoria. I think you can cross Vittoria Randonneurs off your list of good touring tyres. The first flat was caused by a tiny thorn, fair enough - thorns are known for getting through even the best tyres-but the second looked to be from a shard of glass, something that shouldn't penetrate the aramid belt. Thankfully the Schwalbe marathon plus on the back is still living up to its name, almost 1000km on this trip, and around 800 before I left, so that's close to 2000km with no flats. The rest of the afternoon was largely uneventful, and I found a decent hotel in Chai Nat, so I've settled in here for the night. I'm contemplating a day off with a trip to the forest park tomorrow.

Reading List

Conflict: Journeys through war and terror in South East Asia - By Nelson Rand.

This is a very readable and interesting look at some of the military conflicts simmering in the region. Unlike other books I have picked up on this topic, the historical information has been significantly condensed. Throughout is a sprinkling of anecdotes from Rand's time spent embedded with forces from both sides. The author covers the final days of the Khmer Rouge, as witnessed on the front line - alongside Cambodian Government Troops in Anlong Vengh. He trudges through guerrilla camps in Burma with the Karen jungle militia, documenting their struggle with the Junta.

Later he tells the story of the H'mong people, who were recruited by the Americans in the war against communism. To this day there are still H'mong people hiding in remote jungles trying to avoid extermination by Pathet Lao. In the final chapter he gives a summation of the conflict in Thailand's troubled southern provinces.

The White Tiger - Aravind Adiga

A dark and revealing story about the new India. I really enjoyed it, worth every cent.

Black Virgin Mountain - Larry Hienemann

The pace of the writing is frenetic, and at times overly dramatic but despite all this it still feels genuine. Worth it if you dig reading about the war in Vietnam - and I do.

Mad About the Mekong - John Keay

The author has compiled the original diaries of the French explorers who ventured into the untamed reaches of the Mekong River. Together with illustrations from the 1866 expedition, you get an insight into what this place was like before it was overrun by the profanity of man. Truly a compelling read.

Wolf Totem -  Jiang Rong
Based on real events, Wolf Totem chronicles the struggle of livestock herders living on the inner Mongolian grassland during the Chinese cultural revolution. I found the story to be most compelling.  It carries it's environmental message unashamedly, and I felt it was all the more relevant with China now facing unprecedented levels of pollution and desertification.

Between the Assasinations - Aravind Adiga
Another good read from Adiga.

Ayutthaya to Lop Buri - 74km

The overnight stay in Ayutthaya went well, the place seemed to attract actual travellers so I had no trouble finding decent conversation. I met an Australian couple who both spent the past year cashing up in Korea (teaching english), and like me they are now reinjecting the money back into the asian economy. They were into wildlife, and recently returned from a camping trip to Khao Yai National Park. They kind of got the exact opposite to my jungle experience, where we sighted just one macaque, and a dusky langur -  a herd of wild elephants had trampled their campsite in the middle of the night. The elephants stood on a few tents belonging to some Thai campers but suprisingly nobody was injured in the fiasco. I got the impression they had spent the best part of the last 10 years travelling, so they had some pretty good stories from all over. Madagascar sounded about as wild as it gets. I had more than enough Chang listening to all this, and wound up with a pretty bad headache this morning.

After a late start, and a bit of a mission to find the road to Lop Buri today turned out to be the most enjoyable stretch of riding since leaving Krabi. Most of the day I rode alongside a small river, straddled by lush green fields on both sides. The air actually smelt fresh, and mild temperatures made for pleasant cycling.  My hat that I reinforced with coils of wire is working now too, it stops the brim from blowing up at the front so I finished today without any sunburn on my face.

I made in to Lop Buri in the late afternoon, it was such a nice ride I was in no hurry to get there so I stopped regularly and soaked up some the country serenity. Lop Buri seems an agreeable place, the old town has a really laid back feel. According to my newly purchased guidebook - it's one of the oldest cities in Thailand. Theres numerous crumbling temples to be seen around the town, most notably a huge one in the centre overrun with angry macaques. I will have a better look around in the morning before I head up to Chai Nat tomorrow.

Have to say I was pleased to be in Bangkok this time around, I have been once before, and last time I didn't wander far afield enough to appreciate the place properly. If you asked me now, I would say that it is one of my favourite cities in South East Asia. Even Banglamphu, (home to Khao San Road) has some really nice spots if you wander just ten or fiveteen minutes into the surrounding streets. I tried to keep myself busy so I headed down to Lumpini Park, and found ProBike (just outside the park on Sarasin Road) where I had some new brakes fitted. This was a relief, the original brakes were ancient DiaCompe single pivots, and the spring had been warped during the plane transfer. I was worried about it coming loose the whole way from Krabi. Luckily everywhere between Krabi and Bangkok was relatively flat so it wasn't that much of a problem.

It was as usual gloriously sunny, so I had a good look around most of Lumpini Park, with its basking water dragons, contemporary sculpture and colourful orchid displays. Orchids really thrive in Thailand, most places in the South would have a few growing in old coconut shells hanging from the awnings, or simply wrapped in coconut husk nailed to a tree. The display here was something else though.

I also went out to Chatuchak Park for the weekend markets, but unlike last time when I was at the end of my trip I couldn't really buy much. I grabbed a few things to give to my hosts in Japan and tried to get out of there before the traffic got really bad. (By the way Erin, if your reading this, the picture of the t-shirt is here soley for your amusement. I would have brought it back to Australia for you but I haven't any room left in my panneir bags,and it was going at - sincerely - an outrageous 700 baht ($23 AUS). Bangkok traffic is every bit as bad as its reputation. A 5-10km journey can take 2 hours or more during peak hour, and its not unusual to sit at one of the larger intersections for thirty minutes. I think this is one of the few places in the world where people actually value their monorail, if only it went further. Banglamphu, the backpacker district is isolated by around 5km from both the subway and the sky train so the only option is to take to the roads. Riding a bike was definately faster, but dangerous in many places and I wouldn't reccomend it.

I can't speak highly enough of the food in Banglamphu either. I returned to my favourite place from the last visit, the Joy Luck Club, only to find that Wanida (the wonderful chef, and cooking teacher) had handed the place over to her two sisters who looked almost identical. They prepared a fried fish with spicy mango salad and thai red curry. It was great, and I was suprised to find upon paying the bill that one of the sisters was studying biology by correspondace at the computer.

By a strange twist of fate I also ran into the tandem bikers from Germany for the third time. They were eating at the restaurant outside my guesthouse so we had a final farwell beer as they were flying back to Berlin at seven in the morning. I plan on taking the train to Ayutthaya tomorrow to continue riding north.