list
February 21, 2005 - 3 days

Eastern Enduro




There is a large tract of preserved forest in Eastern Thailand, but few maps - if any - correctly describes its state of existence. Roughly corresponding to the Eastern Forest Complex, it hosts several national parks and wildlife sanctuaries, with the rest of the area designated as national forest reserves.

Maps indicate that the forest is roughly encircled by major highways (R 3, R 304, R 317, R 344, R 359, R 3245, R 3434) and curiously cut through by R 3259. How much closer to the forest one could approach on minor roads - and what it was like inside the highway loop - aroused my curiosity, thus an inspiration for planning this trip.

I was going to explore the inner-most paved road network around the forest, thereby discovering the smallest paved loop. Notice "smallest" doesn't necessarily mean shortest.

I excluded dirt roads for following reasons:
1. I anticipated an intricate dirt road network among the vast crop fields outside the forest, and to cover them all - or to discover the smallest dirt loop - seemed to be a much more enormous and time-consuming task.
2. Extensive dirt riding was costly for my aged Steed, shortening the life span of the brake pads, fork seals, air filter, chain and sprockets.
3. Even if I limited my exploration to paved roads, the GPS track data, when overlaid on the Landsat image, would reveal remaining and connecting dirt roads in the area.


Day 1: 590km


 Image 1: Overview (526KB)


Image 2: Khlong Si Yat Reservoir and Ban Nong Khok (196KB)


It was heavy even from the start. I woke up at 5pm the previous day, spent an idle night sitting by the computer and, just as I was starting to yawn, dawn neared and I set out at 5:12am.

I got on to R 304 near Ko Kret, crossed Viphawadi-Rangsit Road (overpass, motorcycle OK) and Phahon Yothin Road (dangerous rotary), and headed toward east. The traffic on this arterial highway was still/already rather heavy, but not so much as to cause a traffic jam. Past Minburi, R 304 cut through suburbs. Day broke.

Chachoeng Sao. I passed through the city on R 304 - something I hadn't done for years. The city street was still quiet in the early hour - otherwise, I would have taken the bypass. The city was larger than I vaguely remembered, and more beautified.

I continued on R 304 eastward and entered R 3245. In 9km, I crossed another branch of R 304. Henceforth, I started my survey. The methodology I adopted was to ride into all paved side roads I saw on the left, and turn back at the end of the road - or at the end of the pavement.

1. Y-junction (ref. Image 1)
This is a curious junction for explorers and surveyors. Here the main road - as indicated by road marking - swerves westward, but this is no longer R 3245 but R 3259. The straight branch is the continuation of R 3245, but it abruptly turns into dusty dirt in 9km. R 3245 mysteriously reappears on the western side of R 3359. At the time of writing, these two sections of R 3245 are connected by an obscure dirt road.

2. Khlong Si Yat Reservoir
This reservoir near Ban Nong Khok is a recent creation, sometime around 1998-2000. This caused a section of R 3259 to be submerged, thereby forcing motorists to take a scenic but circuitous detour. In December, 2000, Mark and I took R 3259 on our way from Aranya Prathet to Pattaya. We were awestruck as the road abruptly disappeared into what appeared to be flooded lowlands. At that time, I wasn't aware that the area was part of a reservoir.

This time, however, the water was low, and the submerged section of R 3259 was passable, with some repairing work underway. I wasn't quite sure how to interpret the situation. Could it be that this section alternately disappeared and reappeared with the fluctuation of the reservoir water level?

Ban Nong Khok (Tambon Khlong Takrao, Amphu Tha Takiap, Chachoengsao)
This is a rustic yet lively small town, the biggest commercial center within the radius of 40km. Here you can eat, refuel, procure provisions, or even stay a night at a motel.

After eating noodle lunch, I set out to explore the two branch roads in the south of Ban Nong Khok. The first branch continued on and on until, in 8km, its pavement terminated at a dirt intersection. The second branch, in mere 0.7km, turned into dirt. Here I made an exception to my rule and continued on the dusty dirt road. I thought, perhaps, I'd get on to the nearby R 3259 detour, but the road swerved away and, in 6km, I got on to an unidentified paved road. This marked the beginning of my quest for the smallest paved loop around the big forest [13:07].

I took a series of small roads, many of which turned into dirt at some stage. The mid-afternoon heat was sweltering, but not too bad as long as I kept moving. There was nothing spectacular about the ride but, all in all, it was relaxed and pleasant. The terrain was moderately hilly, roads sufficiently paved, and there was hardly any traffic.

3. Large Mail Box
If Betong boasts Thailand's largest mail box, this one can be the second largest. Situated at a T-junction in a small village.

4. Caves
A couple of big cavernous erosions halfway up an isolated limestone hill, at the foot of which were school and a temple.

5. Dinosaur Mountain
There was such an English sign along the road. Very interesting, although, to my eyes, it looked more like a gigantic turtle than a dinosaur.

* * *

I parked my bike to observe the Dinosaur Mountain for a couple of minutes and, when I pushed the starter button to resume my trip, the engine failed to start. The starter motor halted after a fraction of a second and the neutral lamp went off. An electric trouble! For all the mechanical troubles of my aged Steed, this was something new. A regulator failure? Or did I run down the battery by keeping low speed with the headlight on?

I tried to push-start the heavy Steed, but the engine didn't catch on. A weak battery was one thing, a dead battery was quite another. Not quite knowing what to do, I took off the side cover and checked the fuse box. All the fuses looked okay, and there was nothing more I could do with the stock tools I was carrying. A helpless situation in the middle of nowhere. A moment of remorse that I hadn't contentedly stayed back home.

Then I noticed that the neutral lamp was back on. Good! I pushed the starter button, but the engine failed and the neutral lamp went off. Desperate, I slapped the fuse box. The neutral lamp came on. Perplexed, I push-started the bike. The engine started but very unstable, and it really did seem like a regulator failure. I felt sorry to admit that the trip was over, and I thought about the long distance I'd have to ride back to Bangkok with an engine problem.

But, somehow, the engine soon stabilized and I could throttle-control it. To go or not to go? What the hell, I chose to go [16:02].

Khao Chamao (Amphu)
After zigzagging my way, I got on to R 3377 and reached Khao Chamao [17:47] - a small town centered around a small intersection. Here, I was going to turn left according to my exploration methodology, but sunset was nearing and I had to start looking for a place to sleep. I had heard that there was a "resort" some distance south of Khao Chamao and, after making a wrong turn which added 12km to my mileage, I located it along R 3377, 6.7km south of the Khao Chamao intersection [18:17]. I rather liked its atmosphere - several small cottages scattered in an unkempt garden - but I was quoted 500B/night and it seemed way above the fair rate. I decided to look for an alternative place to stay.

* * *

I continued southward on R 3377 and, without any luck of finding another place to stay, got on to R 3 [18:48]. Not being familiar with the area, I rode around aimlessly. I had been awake for more than 24 hours and I was exhausted, though fully alert. The prospects of having to ride down to Rayong or Chanthaburi to find a hotel haunted me. I regretted that I hadn't stayed at the 500B resort. It was at such a time that, along R 3161 in the outskirts of Klaeng, I spotted a sign of what appeared to be a motel [19:46].


Night 1: Klaeng / Dumrong Chep Inn Resort (motel) / 350B / Rate B

The room was fairly clean and comfortable, and I would have given it an A, if not for the sulky attitude of the young boy in charge of guests.


Trip Data: Day 1
Trip Odom
590 km
Moving Time
12:06
Stopped
2:41
Max Speed
82.7 km/h
Moving Avg
48.4 km/h


Day 2: 535km

I woke up at 0:30 (am) and couldn't go back to sleep. My circadian rhythm had been completely de-tuned. I'd had only three hours' sleep and this posed a problem. With accumulated lack of sleep, I anticipated a hard day, even harder than the previous day. But there was nothing I could do about it, so I decided to take it easy. I spent the lonesome wee hours reading the map, writing trip notes, musing, recollecting, doing nothing. Close to morning, I noticed that the television in the room had the Star Channel, but it was too late to start watching a movie.

I started at 5:10. After observing the morning market and eating breakfast, I entered R 3430 and headed back to Khao Chamao to resume my exploration. The road was covered with thick morning fog.

At the Khao Chamao intersection, I headed east on #4005. In just 3km, it turned into dirt. I was disappointed. I had seen on the map that this was a connecting road between two plains - cutting across the big forest - and I had been rather looking forward to visiting it. I decided to make an exception to my rule and continued on the dusty dirt road. Somehow the road got paved again in mere 300m, but turned into dirt again in 3.8km. The second dirt section continued for 6.7km until I got on to a paved road (continuation of R 3406). Along the way on the dirt road, I passed a rustic village. A songtaew-style truck was picking up children to send them to school. The truck had a white license plate, so it must have been a private contract rather than a regular songtaew service. It was kind of a heartwarming sensation to see that, even in such a remote village along a dirt road in the mountain, children were granted a means of transportation to go to school. The quality of education they received was another issue, though.

6. Forestry station
Here, the pavement ended and a rough dirt road ascended and disappeared into the mountain. A chubby forestry official came up to me and started a conversation. He said there was a village further into the mountain, and a branch dirt road swerved back and connected to Amphur Kaeng Hang Maeo. Tempting information, but not on this trip.

Kaeng Hang Maeo (Amphu)
This town was much bigger than Khao Chamao, but still rustic. If one standard of measuring the size of a town was to count the number of motorcycle shops, I saw several of them. I even passed a traffic police checkpoint. A pickup truck without a license plate hurriedly made a U-turn before the checkpoint.

* * *

Another one of those stops at the end of pavement. I saw that the dirt road ahead climbed over a hill in a rather wild manner, and I felt relieved that I didn't have to pursue it on this trip. To head back, I pushed the starter button. The engine didn't start. Weird, I had no problem starting the engine several times in the morning. I didn't have much problem push-starting the bike using the road slant, but the situation was unnerving.

7. Khao Sip Ha Chan National Park
End of pavement with a sign "Nam Tok Nampen 4km" (in Thai). The dirt road looked rather heavy, fit only for step-thru bikes, dirt bikes and 4WD's. Later I learned that this area was a newly designated national park - upgraded from Pakhunsong National Forest Reserve. I didn't see any tollgate or checkpoint. Maybe there isn't any yet.


 Image 3: Southeastern edge (202KB)


Notes on Image 3
The 2003 Landsat image shows:
a. new (dirt) road from the reservoir
b. extended (dirt) road

I was hoping to inspect the mysterious trace c, but failed to locate it. It steeply ascends 680m in 2.8km with the average slant 15o. Perhaps a quarry?
8. Khao Khitchakut National Park
There was a nice restaurant just outside the tollgate and I enjoyed my lunch there. There were some amazing big trees near the restaurant, and it occurred to me that such trees must have been abundant beyond the tollgate. A group of five farangs (Germans?) were eating at the restaurant, presumably having arrived on a rented 4WD. Probably, for them, the discriminative 200B admission fee wasn't much of a financial burden, even less an ideological conflict. This group alone would generate 1,000B in revenue for the Forestry Department. An exorbitant and illicit profit.

One effect of imposing high entrance fees - or high fees for anything, for that matter - is that it mostly affects the poor while the rich can easily afford it, thus leading to social inequity and inequality of opportunity.

The discriminative dual pricing in national parks in Thailand isn't an isolated phenomenon, but should be construed, together with discriminative regulations on motorcycles, in the larger context of human rights violation and social injustice. Those who advocate or approve dual pricing in national parks are indeed tacitly supporting the historically unjust socio-economic structure of Thailand.

9. Krating Country Resort
This vacation site was quite impressive with mansion-styled houses for rent sparsely scattered around a huge premises - seemingly all vacant. Say, the rent would be around 4,000B/night?

Here, I experienced my third engine trouble. I slapped the side cover, the neutral lamp came on, and I could electric-start the engine. It was getting chronical and I was getting used to it.

10. Wat Phluang
It was quite a festivity. The road was lined with food/drink/souvenir shops. I had no idea what was so special about this temple that attracted so many visitors. My post-trip research tells me that this temple is the starting point to visit a Buddha's footprint in a nearby mountain (Khao Phra Bat).

11. Khuean Phluang Reservoir
Hemmed in by two big dams. The color of its water was vivid blue, and I wondered what geological composition of the area caused it. Something to do with Chanthaburi being a producer of gems?

* * *

I got on to R 317 at 14:47. The traffic was heavy with speeding cars, buses and trucks. The traffic sign instructed motorcycles to ride on the shoulder of the road - which was mostly graveled. Ha!

Pong Nam Ron (Amphu)
The border road R 3193 started from here toward the Cambodian border. A tourist sign indicated toward that direction the "Border Market," "Canal Rafting" and "Ancient Ruins." I was tempted to extend my trip to visit the border area, but I shrugged off the idea with some effort. I reminded myself that I needed to limit my exploration on the west of R 317 lest I should lose focus of the trip. I should plan a separate trip to explore the border area from Aranya Prathet all the way down to Hat Lek.

I stopped near the R 3193 turnoff and quenched my thirst with a can of Pepsi. A barefooted middle-aged woman came to me and begged for five baht. I ignored her demand, saying,
  "I don't understand. I don't speak Thai."
but she wouldn't leave me, so I left instead. Prevalence of beggars is probably a sign of urbanization and tourism. With the stabilization of internal politics in Cambodia - and opening up of casinos - there must be a steady increase of tourists and gamblers visiting the Cambodian border area.

12. Soi Dao Highland Golf Club
Its huge entrance along the highway was impressive. A few kilometers down the highway, I turned into a side road in search of a waterfall and unknowingly wandered into the golf course from its back door. Inside the golf course wasn't as impressive as its huge entrance.

13. Khao Soi Dao Wildlife Sanctuary
Beyond the tollgate supposedly lay the celebrated Khao Soi Dao Waterfall.

14. Viewpoint
Modest elevation of 216m, and only about 60m higher than the surrounding plains. It was nevertheless a fascinating viewpoint.

* * *

I entered R 3434 at 17:55. Incidentally, this R 3434 runs along the original course of R 317. The present section of R 317 in the east of R 3434 is a later added bypass.

I was hoping to reach Ban Nong Khok before sunset thereby completing the loop, but lengthy side roads emerged in front of me one after another. Riding among rice paddies, seeing the orange sun approach the horizon, I felt strangely tranquil. I was worried if I could find a place to sleep, but this moment - and sensation - were so vivid and precious that I subdued my worries.

I passed an isolated ramshackle house among the paddies. Several children were playfully running around, and their parents were contentedly looking at them. That seemed like one happy family despite their economic hardship.

Even after it got dark, I had roads ahead to explore and villages ahead to observe. I proceeded my way with the feeble headlight. The moon was almost full and gave out mystique light on the paddies. Once, when I passed a sugar cane field, I saw a large flock of sparrows circling around above sugar canes, supposedly after bugs that inhabited there. A thousand of them? Ten thousand? A hundred thousand? I couldn't tell. Reminiscent of the Hitchcock's movie, it was indeed an eerie scene.

I reached the intersection of R 3434 and R 3259 at 19:33, exhausted. I didn't want to ride anymore, but there was no place to stay among the cluster of small shops at the intersection. Had I been traveling by car, I would no doubt have parked along the road and grabbed a nap, which would probably turn into a full night's sleep.

Upon inquiry at a small shop where I bought coffee, I was informed that there was a hotel in Wang Nam Yen. That was a little way off my route, but probably the nearest. The family of the shop were eating supper in the dim light in front of the shop, and they invited me to join them. I politely declined the offer, but I would have jumped on it had they offered to accommodate me for the night. I was that tired.


Night 2: Wang Nam Yen / motel 91 / 140B / Rate B
It was a smooth 21km ride to Wang Nam Yen. I located two motels - 91 and 86 - sitting next to each other along a soi. That was gorgeous. The 91 looked cheaper, so I first checked it out. Their fan room for 140B (!) looked good enough for me and I settled on it.

A problem arose. I needed to plug in my electric mosquito repellent, but the room had no electric outlet. What was worse, the mosquito screen of the window had a big hole. I was exhausted and I thought I'd take a chance on it, but I heard a mosquito buzz near my ear and I jumped out of bed. I had to do something to secure badly-needed sleep.

Using the screwdriver of my motorcycle stock tools, I screwed off the light switch on the wall and managed to connect the electric repellent and the fluorescent ceiling light in a series circuit. This caused the fluorescent light to feebly flicker all the time, and lowered the output of the mosquito repellent, but it was the best compromise I could attain under the circumstances. Fortunately, the trick worked and I enjoyed an undisturbed sleep.


Trip Data: Day 2
Trip Odom
535 km
Moving Time
11:43
Stopped
3:26
Max Speed
76.4 km/h
Moving Avg
45.3 km/h


Day 3: 453km


 Image 4: R 3259 (229KB)


I slightly overslept and started at 6:55. I rode up R 317, rode down the upper half of R 3434 and came back to the R 3434/R 3259 intersection at 8:02. I was hoping to explore the area between the big forest and R 359 as well, but I was running out of time - and also out of cash. I decided to put off that part of exploration on another occasion and concentrate on R 3259 which cut through the big forest.

Centennial Royal Forest Department Botanic Garden
The driveway was dusty dirt and botanic species were dried and shriveled. Definitely not an enchanting place to visit for non-botanists.

Khao Ang Rue Nai Wildlife Sanctuary and R 3259
0.6km after the Botanic Garden, I passed a checkpoint which marked the beginning of the Khao Ang Rue Nai Wildlife Sanctuary. According to this article, R 3259 was cut through by the Thai army sometime in the 1980s to send supplies to Cambodian insurgent groups, and that probably included the Khmer Rouge fighting against the Vietnamese-instated Heng Samrin regime. The Khao Ang Rue Nai Wildlife Sanctuary, incidentally, had been designated as such in 1977. Those were the days when, in the face of rumbling political tensions in Indochina, the military exerted a strong say in forming national politics - the last days of military hegemony before it was taken over in late 1980s by parliamentary (read "money") politics.

Krao Ta Krub Nature Trail
There was such a sign in English along the road. Intrigued, I parked my bike and stepped in. The forest was lavish, if somewhat dry, and it turned out to be an enchanting walk. I only proceeded 300m before exhaustion compelled me to turn back. This trail has a potential of leading deep into the wildlife sanctuary, and it's all for free.

* * *

Continuing my way on R 3259, I spotted an unmarked dirt side road. It looked rather rough and I passed by.

Then I spotted an elephant roaming around on the road ahead. I stopped my bike at a safe distance of 50m. This was my lucky day. I took out my binoculars and observed the elephant. It was leisurely eating grass and leaves along the road. A motorcycle came and, upon seeing that the elephant was far enough on the edge of the road, the rider tried to pass through the scene. The elephant took notice of this, walked a couple of steps onto the road and extended its trunk toward the motorcycle. The rider made through, but he must have had a pretty good scare. I stayed there observing the elephant for five minutes and, when it finally disappeared into the forest, I resumed my ride.

Then I spotted another dirt side road, this time marked as 1.5km to somewhere. The road looked rather dusty and I passed by.

Then I passed the second checkpoint in front of some kind of government institution with a big picture of the Queen. Thereafter, the forest along the road turned savanna-like - hot and dry - and I knew that I had already passed the core part of the Khao Ang Rue Nai Wildlife Sanctuary.

5km later, I passed the third checkpoint which marked the end of the wildlife sanctuary. I was looking for the sign of the wildlife sanctuary visitor center - I had seen such a sign in 2003 when I rode through R 3259 with Aaron - but I seemed to have missed it. Perplexed, I turned back and re-entered the wildlife sanctuary, looking for the visitor center. But I couldn't find it.

Somewhat disappointed at the missed opportunity to visit the visitor center, and still unsatisfied with the short ride through the wildlife sanctuary (15km from the 1st checkpoint to the 3rd checkpoint), I decided to check out the marked dirt side road I had passed.

The dirt road was dusty but broad, and sprinkled with elephant dung. I felt nervous, but I was at least assured that I would get to somewhere in 1.5km.

In 0.8km, the road came to a dirt junction.

Western branch
Judging from the wheel tracks, this one seemed to be the main branch. Shortly I was riding along a small but beautiful reservoir. This reservoir doesn't appear on the 2001 Landsat image, so it must be a recent creation. I passed some kind of building along the shore, where a group of boy scouts were camping and drilling. Then I came to a dirt T-junction. The left turn led to a Forestry station. The right turn passed through the aforementioned government institution and came out on R 3259 at the second checkpoint.

Southern branch
The road faded into a narrow trail, and I had to turn back in mere 0.3km.

Eastern branch
The road was surrounded with thick trees, sprinkled with fallen dry leaves and dotted with elephant dung. I had a hunch that this road might come out on R 3259 at the unmarked dirt turnoff but, after 1.0km, it swerved away from the highway. It went through the thick jungle on and on. It would have made a fascinating adventure ride if security was guaranteed, but I was terrified with prospects of encountering elephants and risk of dropping my bike on the often uneven road surface. Adding to dotted elephant dung appeared fresh elephant footprints, and I realized that even elephants probably preferred the ease of walking along the dirt road than the hardship of cutting across the jungle. Hey, hadn't I just seen an elephant in the vicinity only an hour ago! It must still have been roaming around nearby. If I were attacked by an elephant on a highway, I would draw sympathy. If I were attacked by an elephant on a dirt road in the wildlife sanctuary, I would probably draw ridicule. What business did I have on a remote dirt jungle road on my unwieldy Steed, anyway?

Suddenly I came out of the jungle and into a savanna. It was kind of a relief for, now, I'd be able to detect elephants from some distance. I passed a couple of dirt turnoffs deeper into the savanna, but I couldn't afford to pursue them. In retrospect, I should have enjoyed this side trip more, stopping often and looking around with binoculars, but survival and safe return were my utmost concern, and I hurriedly rode through.

I came to a small concrete bridge over a small creek. The bridge was 30cm lower than the road, with steep slopes at both ends. This posed a problem for my Steed with low clearance. Upon entry onto the bridge, I hit the bottom of the frame with a bang. Upon exit, the frame got stuck on the concrete and the rear wheel hang in the air. I pushed back the bike and wondered how I could get the hell out of there. I thought I'd try a diagonal exit, but the bridge was narrow and I couldn't possibly maneuver such acrobatics. Stranded on the bridge, I felt very insecure. Then, on close observation, I noticed that the right-side slope was slightly more moderate than the left-side. This was my only hope. I steered the front wheel close to the right-side edge of the bridge. First, the front wheel on. Then I stood on my feet to reduce weight on my bike and opened up the throttle. With inertia, but still with a bang, the rear wheel caught the concrete and I managed to get out of the bridge.

Now the road ran out of the savanna and into the jungle again. My GPS indicated that I was approaching R 3259 at the unmarked dirt turnoff. The road surface got considerably wilder and I could see that this section of the dirt road was less visited than the first jungle section. I didn't want to do it on my Steed, but I didn't want to ride back the long way I'd come from, not to mention that formidable bridge. Once I was terrified to see that the road ahead was blocked with fallen trees, but luckily there was a parallel route (to allow cars to pass?). Close to R 3259, the road was eroded with an ugly big rut, and I carefully read the line so as not to drop into it. All in all, it was a terrifying experience and, when, after 10km of dirt riding from the dirt junction, I finally got on to R 3259, I celebrated my safe return and cherished life.

* * *

I came back to Ban Nong Khok at 13:53, thereby completing the loop - almost. I still had to find the missing link to bypass the 6km dirt road I had taken on Day 1 to get on to the smallest paved loop. This was easily attained and I came back to the starting point of the loop at 14:32. Mission complete.

One hitch is that I cut across on a dirt road near Khao Chamao and neglected to survey an alternative paved route. Post-trip data processing reveals that my loop - excluding numerous side trips and including 7km of dirt riding near Khao Chamao - is about 360km. I roughly estimate that all-paved smallest loop would be around 380km.

Rather than riding back to R 3259, I decided to repeat the initial section of the loop to get on to R 3245 - but this time, taking every paved side road on the right. This didn't add much to my survey - meaning that paved roads were just a fraction of the extensive dirt road network around the area - and I got on to R 3245 at 15:33.

The Rest
I had a couple more hours of daylight exploration time and I was going to make the most of it. My mission was to explore back roads and try to find an interesting return route. I went zigzag, taking 4-digit roads, provincial roads and obscure dirt roads. It was interesting and I was amazed that, just outside Bangkok, there was such a vast and complicated network of adventurous back roads. Like, for example, I passed a rice paddy where fireflies flew around. (It was dark by then.) And I passed an obscure mosque among rice paddies where hundreds of Muslims were gathering for some kind of joyous festivity. (It was a full moon night.) After the trip, I examined my GPS track and was amazed what circuitous route I had taken.

I got on to R 3312 at 20:40. The rest was an easy ride all the way to Don Muang.

At 21:30, I entered the Air Force road just north of the Don Muang Airport. Riding along the reservoir, I saw an airplane slowly and closely slide down above my head. Enchanted, I decided to take the last stop before getting home. I parked my bike and crouched down along the reservoir. Cool and fresh wind was blowing from across the reservoir. Mercury lamps of the airport reflected and flickered on the water surface. And airplanes of various nationalities arrived every few minutes. It was kind of a romantic scene and I recalled, yes, there was such a time when I would take out a girl to visit the waterfront in Tokyo at night.

* * *

The story should end here, really. I was going to arrive home in ten minutes and start drinking beer.

I pushed the starter button and the engine didn't start. No problem, I'd learned the tricks. I slapped the side cover and the neutral lamp came on. I pushed the starter button again, but the engine didn't start. I slapped the side cover again, but the neutral lamp didn't come on. I slapped, I slapped, I slapped.
  Come on!
It looked as though the electric trouble of my Steed had entered into a new phase. I took off the side cover and slapped the fuse box, the starter relay, whatever. No good.
  God damn it, if only I hadn't made this last stop!
The prospect of getting stranded within the Air Force premises wasn't enchanting. I tried to push-start the bike but, with no electricity from the battery, it was beyond my capacity.
  Gotta use the slant. Which way?
Observing the road, it seemed better to push the bike the other way around. I turned the bike. But I had misjudged the slant and pushing was now harder than before.
  God damn it!
Just then, a car stopped a little way past my bike and a man came out. Helping hands? Security guard? He was wearing a civilian white shirt with a red tie (Thai Airways?). I told him that I had a battery problem. He offered to help push the bike. Our first attempt failed. Our second attempt failed. I kept slapping inside the side cover and, abruptly, the neutral lamp came on. I yelled to him that electricity came on and we made a third attempt. The engine started, but very unstable. Throttle control was nearly impossible. My right hand had to stay at the throttle grip so as not to stall the engine, and I fumbled with my left hand alone to wear my helmet. I couldn't fasten the chin strap but, what the hell, I yelled "khop khun krap" to the man and started the bike. Instead of graciously riding back home, I was all sweating, wearing a helmet without a chin strap, and grabbing the handlebar with bare dirty hands.

Just as I was riding up the U-turn bridge over the Viphawadi-Rangsit Road, the engine started to stall. Horrified, I opened up the throttle. The engine backfired like a machine gun, but I barely managed to complete the climb. Riding down was okay.

At the T-junction in front of the Don Muang Police Station, I stalled the engine. The neutral lamp didn't come on and I couldn't push-start the bike. There lay ahead of me a formidable arched bridge over a canal - the last obstacle, so to speak. I did try to push the bike up the bridge, but it was beyond human capacity.

So there I was - hungry, thirsty, exhausted and all sweating. Home was mere 5km away, but I felt like I was stranded on top of Mt. Everest which, in turn, according to Jon Krakauer's Into Thin Air, was just as helpless a situation as stranded on the moon.

Under the dim street lamp, I tried to open the battery cover just for the hang of it. But the cover got stuck somewhere and, in the semi-darkness, I just couldn't take it off.

I thought about possible alternative routes to push the bike back home, avoiding the arched bridge. Basically, I had to cross a canal, so I had to cross a bridge somewhere. But some bridges might be lower than the others. What would be the distance? 20km? 30km? Did I have enough strength left to push the bike all night long?

I thought about parking my bike at the police station and walking back home. Maybe on the following day I could come back with some tools to see what I could do. Nay, I didn't want to leave my bike like that. That would ruin my trip. I had to go back home with my bike to complete the trip.

Battery terminal, how about the battery terminal? I fumbled my fingers through the half-open battery cover and felt the terminal. Why, it was loose! I didn't remember the last time I had tightened the battery terminal screw. Then I noticed that the neutral lamp came on! Whacko! I pushed the starter button. The engine started normally. The battery seemed strong and throttle control was easy.

  A loose battery terminal? That was the problem? Just that?

I rode through the remaining 5km without a problem. I dropped by at the 7-Eleven and bought a can of beer. And I safely got back home at 22:52 - exhausted.


Trip Data: Day 3
Trip Odom
453 km
Moving Time
11:38
Stopped
4:30
Max Speed
76.1 km/h
Moving Avg
38.7 km/h



Total Distance: 1,578km