Satun, Krabi, Phuket, Ranong, Hua Hin, Kanchanaburi, Mea Sot, Chaing Mai, Uttaradit, Loei, Si Chang Mai.
Thailand pleases us very well. There?s so much to see and to enjoy. And especially the people are so gentle, friendly and helpful. And although for most of them ?Hello? is the only English they know. They always make the effort to try to understand you.
Also the food is very good. No matter where you are, and how small the place. You are most likely t find some food-stalls or even a small restaurant. And the food is almost without exception, excellent.
Especially the food-markets, where the cooking women appear in the evening with their mobile-kitchen, are very attractive. All these food-stalls, everyone with his one speciality en often nicely highlighted makes it a real food-party in a superb atmosphere.
Till now our route is almost flat and so easy, that we have to admit. This is not some tough expedition experience but just an ordinary holyday. Landscapes are nice, now and than we take a rest on a astonishing beautiful beach, there is always some accommodation close by if we want to stop, so what to tell? But we give it a try?
With a so-called "Long tail-boat" we crossed the Thai border and after some formalities, with went smoothly and 10 minutes of cycling we arrived in our first Thai-village: Satun. Accommodation was half of the cost of what we paid in Malaysia and after a bit of strolling in the rainy weather, we found our first food-market and a seven-eleven shop.
Thailand is really easy cycling and everywhere people, especially the kids, will greet you with a Hello. Even at the end of the day, when you are probably already tired from cycling a whole day in the burning sun and have greaten them back for more than a thousand times, you cannot ignore them. And to be honest, all that enthusiasm which they show, if they spot two crazy white lunatics on a bicycle is overwhelming and hart-warming and lets you forget your tired legs completely.
It remains nice!
The route from Phuket to Georgetown can also be booked (with all the accommodation arranged) in advance. Probably only in Holland and this showed off. Every day we, at least, met one couple of other cyclist. Without exception all Dutch and you recognize them from far with there Dutch-brand bicycles.
In Krabi it was time for a couple days rests and of course a visit to the beach. It is nice place, near to the west coast of Thailand and crowded with backpackers.
Two days later we were already in Phuket, one of the most important tourist attractions of Thailand. This island has changed in the previous years to large resort and it was very hard to find a suitable low-budget place, between al these luxuriously hotels. Eventually we pitched our tent on the area of a complete new and very nice resort.
The owners, a young Thai couple, who opened the place a month ago was very friendly and could use every customer they could get, although we only paid a fraction comparing to other visitors.
The beach was close by and so we gave it a try. But this was not our stile. A crowded stretch of sand. Packed with white, overweight people who all wanted to spend their holyday on the same km and let their greasy skin massage by Thai-girls. In the evening they bring their skin burned corpses to one of the nearby-located German Beer houses and take a ?Schnitzel? or ?Wurst mit Sauerkraut?. They probably are only attracted because it?s cheap and there is a beach and have lack on every kind of interest in country, its culture or it?s food. After two days we had enough of it. Pucket?s word-famous beaches couldn?t charm us. But when we cycled off the island, just before the bridge, we saw one of the most beautiful beaches so far. Without one tourist!! This is not in the Lonely-planet or other guidebooks for sure!! We looked at each other astonish. The idée off pitching our tent on the beach was very tempting but hoping that more occasions would appear during the day we cycled on. Finally we found a very nice place in a National park. The English folder which the gave us told that this was a nature reserve to preserve the giant see turtles, which came there to breed. First they would charge us also entrance fee, but after some arguing we agreed to come back after five and only pay for the tent.
When we entered we again got the same English folder. The ranger offered us to accompany him during the night-patrol in search for turtles who come to shore to lay eggs. It appeared to be great walk, but unfortunately this night no mamma turtle was at labour.
When they invited us to write our experiences down in their guest book we could not find on other foreigner. No wonder that they were so glad to offer us their folder!!
We continued our trip north and now and than took a break. Like in Ranong and Hua Hin (by the way, an even more disgusting resort place than Phuket.) Eventually we arrived in Kanchanaburi. This place is near to where the Burma railroad crosses the river Kwai over the famous bridge. (A few weeks later also our Queen and her son, Beatrix and Alaxander, paid a visited.) This railroad is constructed under Japanese supervision and build with galley slaves who were captured during the war. The Japanese were ruthless and many people lost their life. They say that the number of the people who were killed is at least as high as the number of sleepers.. Most of them from Asia, but also many from Great Britain, Holland an New Zealand.
Beatrix and Alexander must envoi the royalties over here. The King is highly respected. No not suppose to joke about it. If the king announces something, everybody stops doing his thing and listens and obeys. Everywhere you see images of the king, photo?s, postcard, or calendars. When we went to the cinema in Chang Mai we were surprised that the first had to look at a small film with the King as main player walking with his camera over fields, rivers and some projects he sponsors. This seems to be usual and you are expected to rise. Also the safety of his Royalty and his family is not treated lightly.
Several times we cycled on a road on which also a member of the Royal family would pass. The whole road was decorated in full length with a flag at every ten meters and at every hundred meter and at every corner we found a policemen posting, waiting the whole day till finally the big man comes along.
We are now almost already a week in Chang Mai, which is a very nice place. Here as well there are many tourists, but somehow they seemed swallowed up by the place, which manages to remain a city of Thai. After almost two years of travelling it had it happen sooner or later; we had done our first tour. This was the only way to make a visit at some villages of tribal people witch live in the mountainous surrounding near the border of Burma and Laos. The so-called "hill tribes". These people live still in tribes in a very traditional way. They have come the previous years mainly from Burma to here to improve their live standard. Each has his own characteristics and singularities and of course their own very coloured clothing. Although it was all bit fabricated and going to these places is like visiting a zoo and in spite of all souvenirs, which they wanted to sell to you, it was nevertheless impressive.
Everybody was so dressed up, weaving or making music and posing as soon as you pointed your camera toward. But especially the visit to the so-called "longnecks ?made the trip worth wile. The ladies of this tribe become decorated from their fifteenth by winding a massif-copper pipe around their neck. When they reach twenty-five the get their last set of rings. The neck which meanwhile has become very long while shoulders and chest have been pushed down through the weight (+/-5.5kg) of all the copper.
Touring with a group and sitting in a minivan is not our kind of thing en now we are even more convinced to do the rest on our one on our iron ?donkeys.
Se we visited to the villages in the surrounding of Chang Mai, where much old-fashioned "handicraft manufactories "are located, on our one.
After a week in C.M. it was time to go. So far we it has been terrible easily and we were ready for a bit more challenge so we planed something heavier to get a bit in shape for all those mountains to come.
We headed eastward to the Laos border from where we followed, as good as possible downward till the Border crossing via the Friendshipbridge, near Vientiane.
It was a great ride and good to cycle some mountains again. No and than we could camp in one of the many national parks on the route and we even slept underneath the biggest Teak-tree of the world.
The last bit of the route was along the Mekong. After about long period of nicely weather it was very weird to dig up our raining suites. One whole it kept raining seriously and we decided to stay an extra day in our small hut along the Mekong.
Eventually we arrived at the Friendshipbridge and with pain in our hearts we left Thailand behind.
