May 2005 Archives

Distance biked: 101.61 kms / 63.14 miles
Time on the road: 5:46
Total Distance biked: 690.63 kms / 429.14 miles
Total time on the road: 33:56

I awoke with the sunrise after a hot, restless night's sleep in my hammock and got on the road at 7AM. The big hill I saw the night before didn't seem nearly as menacing the next day and I climbed it with relative ease. After riding for two hours I was finally out of the forest and stopped at the first store I saw. It was a small place and they didn't have a wide selection of food so I bought what I could for breakfast - a can of Sprite, some cookies and these Thai doughnut-like sweets. Not a particularly nutritious breakfast but after only having a Power Bar for dinner I wasn't going to be picky.

After a short rest I got back on the road and headed up highway 11 towards Lampang. I stopped again at one point for a Coke and to get out of the sun. I asked if they had any water because my supply was running low again. The old woman running the stand indicated that there was some behind the shop that I could help myself to. I walked around the side of the building and couldn't find any water tap or cooler - just chickens and some rubbish bins. She came around the corner and pointed towards two large round terra cotta vessels and I looked into the murky water with skepticism. I asked her "Ok to drink?" and did a drinking-like motion with my hands to my mouth. She nodded. Doubtful, I took only a few scoops of the grey water (one of which contained a dead bug) and probably wouldn't have taken any except she was standing there watching me and I (foolishly) didn't want to insult her by refusing it.

I got back on the road and biked for a few more hours knowing that somewhere ahead lie the "three challenging hills" Mr. Pumpy wrote about in his description of the route. I hit the first of the three "hills" at high noon (which oddly seems to be the time of day when I encounter the most difficult part of any ride). The road wrapped itself around the hill in an upwardly spiraling manner like a corkscrew. The road was so steep that the cargo trucks climbing next to me were in their lowest gear, spewing out plumes of thick black smoke. The idea that "one man's hill is another man's mountain" popped into my head. Maybe this was just a hill for Mr. Pumpy but it felt like a mountain to me and my legs.

I turned a corner and could see one or two kilometers of road ahead. It kept going up and up and up and went out of sight around a corner. Did this thing ever end?! I finally had to stop and rest and took a seat on the concrete wall on the side of the road. It was 1:30 and my energy was flagging. My "breakfast of champions" of Sprite, cookies and doughnuts hadn't provided me with enough power to do this kind of physical work. I sat longingly watching the traffic drive by. People were in their air-conditioned cars smiling, listening to music and some of them were drinking and eating. Occasionally they'd honk and give me a thumbs-up. "Easy for you to say..." I thought to myself.

As I sat there I fanaticized about waving down one of the many pickup trucks going by to see if I could put my bike in their empty truck bed and catch a ride over the hill. While this sounded nice I ultimately decided that I'd get over the hill by my own power even if I had to do it little by little. Thankfully I had an orange and some bananas in my bag which I purchased earlier in the day and I ate them hoping it would give me the boost I'd need to complete the hill.

I got back on my bike and started moving upward slowly. I tried to find something to focus on like a signpost and would say to myself with the cadence of my pedaling "signpost, signpost, signpost." Once I reached the signpost I'd rest a bit and look ahead to find something else to focus on as my goal, like a red flag and would say "red flag, red flag, red flag." Like this I climbed the hill.

I'm still not sure if it's better to know how long an incline will go on for or if it's better not to know. If I had known how big the first hill was I might have felt that I could never make it. But I did make it and was happy that the first of the three hills had been conquered. As I was cruising down the other side I thought to myself "Now, that wasn't so bad was it?".

I pulled into the first stand I saw and sat down dripping with sweat and feeling shaky with hunger. I ordered a bowl of Thai noodle soup which is standard fare at many of these roadside establishments. According to Mr. Pumpy there were two more hills ahead but I wanted to know where exactly they were. I asked the shop owner what the road between there and Lampang was like. He indicated that it went down at a decent grade. I asked him about any hills. He said there weren't any hills. I was doubtful and, looking up the word for hill in my dictionary, I asked him in Thai. He again said it was all downhill to Lampang. I was elated! Maybe Mr. Pumpy was mistaken or maybe that one really big hill was actually made up of three separate hills and I failed to notice.

It's much better to have low expectations and be pleasantly surprised than it is to have high expectations and be let down. Mr. Pumpy wasn't mistaken about the number of hills ahead and soon after leaving the restaurant I encountered the second big hill. I was really looking forward to a good night's sleep at a guesthouse in Lampang but I felt that I didn't have the energy to take on this long, slow hill so I rode my bike down a dirt path to look for a place to camp. I came to a clearing and tried to find a spot to set up my hammock. There really wasn't a place suitable and a voice in my head encouraged me to at least try to make it over the hill. I pulled myself together and followed the path back to the road and started to climb. The climb actually wasn't that bad and I made it over without too much struggle.

At 5:00 I saw a sign saying that Lampang was 12 kilometers away. I would be there soon! Then I saw the third and final hill. The first part of it looked to me to be so steep that I wondered how any vehicle could make it up it. My legs were fatigued, my moral was low and I was tired and dirty. It was unfortunate to be so close to a nice, comfortable bed, a shower and good food but not be able to reach it. I wasn't going to ask anyone for a ride - I wanted to get there on my own even if that meant I'd have to do it in the morning. I saw a dirt road leading down through an orchard and it looked like a nice place to camp so I steered my bike down the path and started searching again for a place to spend the night. I thought it would be only farmland but there were a few residential houses nearby. I decided that if I were going to camp in the area I'd better ask for permission first.

I approached the first house and greeted the young men who were sitting on the front porch. They became silent as I approached but nodded at me. I explained that I wanted to camp nearby for the night and wanted to know if it was ok with them. One of the guys spoke English pretty well and said that they were only workers and I'd have to ask the owner. He took me behind the house and called out to someone. An old man, maybe 70 years old, came out and the worker and he discussed the situation. Turning to me, the worker said "Lampang is only 10 kilometers away. Why don't you ride there?". I told them that I knew it was close but that I'd already ridden 90 kilometers that day over many, many hills and didn't have the energy to do this last one. I told him I'd be able to do it in the morning after a good night's rest. He seemed to empathize but there was a tangible tension in the air.

Clearly the owner of the house wasn't comfortable with me staying on his property and I didn't want to inconvenience them any further so I wheeled my bike away saying "It's ok. No problem. Thank you." and resigned myself to struggling up the last 12 kilometers. It was rush hour and the hill was full of traffic and I wasn't fond of the idea of people staring at me on my bicycle panting, sweating, cursing and crawling my way up the hill. With no other option, I put my bike in lowest gear and started up. At that moment the worker rode up behind me on his motorbike, grabbed the back of my bike rack and started pushing me up the hill! We took off at a good 30 KMH! Yes, I felt a little ridiculous and I'm sure the people in the cars next to us didn't quite know what to make of a foreigner on a bike being pushed up a hill by a moped but I really didn't care anymore - I was going to be in Lampang! Showers and comfortable beds here I come!

I pulled into the guesthouse around 6PM, checked in and immediately hopped into the shower to wash off two days worth of sweat, road grime and suntan lotion. Afteward I felt like a new man. As I was eating a delicious dinner of veggie pizza and fresh salad I felt it hard to believe that only an hour earlier I was looking for a place to set up my tent with no hope of having any dinner or a restful night's sleep. I went back to the guesthouse with a content stomach and got into bed, amazed at how a single day can seem to hold a week's worth of experiences and emotions.

I arrived in Chiang Mai late yesterday afternoon but I have a few days worth of updates to do so I'm going to post one a day over the next couple of days until I'm caught up and rested and ready to head up to Chiang Rai. Also, the total time and total distances below reflect my riding around Sukothai visiting the temples, etc.

Distance biked: 114.32 kms / 71.04 miles
Time on the road: 5:51
Total Distance biked: 589 kms / 366 miles
Total time on the road: 28:10

I reluctantly left the Ban Thai Guesthouse in Sukothai early the morning of Thursday, May 26th. It was a nice place to stay with friendly staff, comfortable rooms and delicious homemade food. I decided to customize my route from that of the one Mr. Pumpy followed from Sukothai. I instead opted for highway 101, skipping the city of Uttaradit which wasn't in my guidebook and where Mr. Pumpy said he spent the night on the floor of a cafe by himself. I figured if I was going to end up sleeping on the floor someplace I might as well do it closer to the next point on my route - Lampang.

So, up highway 101 I went and entered an area that, from the official looking signs posted, appeared to be a national forest or park. At 11:53AM I hit some big, steep hills and I had to start climbing. I hadn't had much of a breakfast (the usual 7-11 fruit yoghurt drink) and I began to run out of energy around 1PM just as the sun was really fired up. Also, as soon as I entered the park no roadside shops were anywhere to be found which meant my water supply was getting low quickly. Reluctantly, I asked some people I rode by for a few cups of water from their jug which they happily gave me. The hills kept coming and I continued biking past 2:30 but still didn't see any shops or roadsigns letting me know I was getting closer to civilization. Traffic was almost non-existent too so there wasn't anyone to ask.

I rode past an official looking station of sorts and a guy out front in a camouflage t-shirt waved hello to me. I waved back and almost kept going but decided that maybe he could tell me how long the forest went on and how long the hills would continue. I got off my bike and wheeled it up the dirt path to the station. He was friendly and when I asked for some drinking water his colleague offered to make me some food which I at first politely declined but, my hunger getting the better of me, I finally accepted and had a plate of rice with spicy vegetables with about 6 glasses of pure drinking water.

The two guys spoke only a little English but communicated to me that they were forest rangers and were responsible for protecting the area and other kinds of ranger things. When I asked about what the road ahead was like and when I could expect to be out of the forest they told me that it went on for another 25 kilometers and that I had quite a few hills ahead of me. A bit dispirited I thanked them, filled up my Camel Bak, took their photo and hit the road not really sure if I could make it another 25 hilly kilometers.

At 4:30 I rode around a bend and saw one of the biggest hills of the day in front of me. I felt that I couldn't go another inch and decided to pull off the road to try and find a place where I could camp for the night. I saw a dirt path leading up to a clearing about 200 feet from the road and went to check it out. It appeared that the plot was being prepared for some future use because the ground was leveled and most of the trees had been chopped down and the area seemed to have been burned recently. I decided that it was far enough from the road that no one would see me and yet I was close enough that I could get out if need be. I unpacked my Siam Hammock and, because I had already slept it as a tent, I set it up as a hammock with mosquito net and rain fly.

At about 6:30 the sun was setting and I decided to turn in for the night. I used the remaining sunlight to write Megan a letter and to record the day's riding statistics and my expenses. It was pretty hot in the hammock because the mosquito net was pretty thick so I decided to take off my shirt and sleep in only my cycling shorts.

As darkness fell the sounds of the forest around me began to change. All the night creatures started to emerge and make themselves known - mosquitos, crickets, spiders, etc. Then I heard two roars echo from across the valley. It wasn't a lion kind of roar but it was definintely feline and it didn't sound like any small cat. I was a bit worried that I might look appetizing hanging between two trees only 2 feet off the ground protected by nothing other than a thin layer of nylon. I quickly got out of the hammock, packed my bike bags onto my bicycle, put my clothes back on and got my flashlight and the big LAPD knife my brother Dave gave us as a wedding gift. I was prepared for anything. I got back into the hammock and was resolved that if that panther/mountain lion/house cat came anywhere near me I'd be forced to take action. I'm sure it would have been frightened more than I as I went running and yelling out of the forest trying wave down any passing vehicle for help. I imagined trying to explain to the poor, unsuspecting person I flagged down that there was a big scary animal in my illegal campsite. I probably would have had to imitate it - making claws with my fingers and doing some kind of cat-like roar as I took swipes at the air. I'm sure they would have understood perfectly.

Thankfully for me (and for the animals of the forest) there were no nighttime visitors to my campsite and I awoke with the sunrise the next morning. I laughed at myself for being so easily spooked and, since my bike was packed from the night before, I bundled up my hammock and headed out to tackle the rest of highway 101.

I know I can't compete with Michael's exciting updates, but I figured it was about time for me to write again. Here's what I've been up to:

Last Friday I called the Akha Hill House with the idea that I'd be going there the next day. But they said they currently had a volunteer already who would be there for another week. So then I figured I'd stick around Chiang Mai till Sunday to do the free Meditation retreat offered through the same temple where we went for Monkchat. But no luck there either--when I called the monks, they said the retreat was cancelled for that week because of a Buddhist holiday. I was ready to get out of Chiang Mai so I took a look through my guidebook. I could have gone west to Pai, but from all the tour agencies selling tickets to there, and from what everyone I talked to was saying, it sounded like that was just the next stop on the tourist path and I wanted to step off of it for a little while.

I decided instead to take a bus to Nan, a smaller, less touristy town to the east. I got there in the late afternoon on Saturday and set out on foot to find a guest house. I stopped by a little store to ask for directions, and they ended up calling the guesthouse for me. While the guy was calling, a huge bolt of lightning lit up the sky and seconds later it started pouring. The shop owners invited me to sit down on their sofa while I waited out the rain. But it showed no signs of letting up so the guy drove me to the guesthouse himself. I ended up having the place to myself, and the only other Farang (foreign) tourist I saw the whole time I was there was a British guy who was leaving the day I got there.

After exploring town, the morning market and the museum the next day, I rented a bike and rode a little ways out of town. It was beautiful but way too hilly for the bike I had (just two gears) so I didn't get very far. On the way back I ran into Tao from the guest house who invited me out for a tour on his motorbike. I managed to get a nasty burn on my leg from the exhaust pipe (second time on this trip--when will I learn?) but other than that it was a beautiful trip. We rode through small villages and stopped to buy some bananas from a woman who insisted on also giving us some sticky rice (the staple food up here) and mangoes. Later I visited Tao's house and his sisters brought over dinner.

I was planning on leaving the next day, but Tao convinced me to stay so I could visit his sister's school, as well as an Australian monk that he knew that was living in a forest monastery. Visiting the school was lots of fun--we counted, did the Hokey Pokey, and learned animal names. I even got a kiss on the cheek from my new boyfriend, six year old Gang. I had a great time in Nan thanks to Tao, his sister and her students.

Yesterday I took the bus from Nan to Chiang Rai--seven hours of going up and down hills. I really wasn't sure if we were going to make it up some of them, we were crawling so slowly that I'm sure Michael would have been faster on his bike. I better go now, I'm getting picked up at 4:30 to go to the Akha Hill House. Oh- and I posted some of the cooking photos here.

Distance biked: 64.69 kms / 40.2 miles
Time on the road: 3:04
Total Distance biked: 444.5 kms / 276.2 miles
Total time on the road: 21:00

Ok, quick update tonight - not much time left at the cafe and I've got to go pack for my early morning ride. The trip from Phitsanulok to Sukothai was a short one but because I got a late start that morning it was one of the hottest days yet for me. I've learned that the difference between getting on the road at 6:30AM and 9:30AM is huge. I can usually cover a good 35 miles in the first 3 hours of riding if I start early when the sun is low and air is still cool. If I wait until 9:30 that means I'm biking my first hours through the hottest part of the day. It pays to get going early.

I had to stop many times during the 65 kilometers to Sukothai. Luckily there are petrol stations about every 10 kilometers and lots of little roadside stands selling iced coke in between. At around noontime the sun was out in full force and I actually started to feel chilly which I decided wasn't a good thing so I pulled into a petrol station to find some shade and cool water. Through these pit stops I've learned the Thai word for hot - "lorn" - because everytime I pull into a station the attendants invariably will come over to me and ask me in Thai if it's "lorn" out there on the road. It's sometimes hard for me to communicate for the first few minutes because of how hot I'm feeling and how much the sweat is pouring off of me but eventually I get around to chatting with them and telling them where I'm headed. After sitting in shade for 30 minutes drinking cold water and sticking my head under the faucet I'll shove off and go as far as I can until I need to pull over again. It makes for slow going sometimes but it's really the only way to do it at this time of year.

So originally I was going to just spend the night in Sukothai, skip all the ruins and the ancient city and bike again the next morning. But the guest house I'm staying at - Ban Thai Guesthouse - has a nice, homey feel to it and I realized that it was kind of ridiculous for me to come all the way to Thailand and not spend any time visiting its historic sites. So I booked a room for two nights and pushed my departure back to Thursday morning.

At the guesthouse I got talking to a Canadian guy named Sean about his travels and what his travel plans are. He'll be touring around Thailand for the next few weeks - up to Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai and then all the way down to the southern islands and then later will cross into China. He's been on the road since January. We decided to explore the city a bit that night and had some good food from the street vendors and delicious Thai desserts.

This morning we set out for Old Sukothai on our bikes - me on mine and him on a rented one from our guesthouse. We visited some really beautiful and impressive structures. You can see the influence from many different cultures in the buildings. Some Khmer temples that existed in the area were simply taken over by the Sukothai people and converted into Buddhist wats with viharns (worship halls) slapped on to them. It's really interesting to look closely and see where different cultures meet - mixing and blending into one another - in the stone, brick and mortar.

On our way back from Old Sukothai the clouds started darkening and a major storm was brewing in the west. We decided to chance it and just as the first few drops began falling we took off for our guesthouse with 14 kilometers ahead of us. We rode hard the whole way back to the new town with the storm right on our tails and lightning and thunder all around us. We were going a good 19 kilometers an hour and the storm must have been progressing at 18. We were lightly rained on the whole way back but as soon as we pulled into the guesthouse driveway and were under the cover of the restaurant the skies opened up and down came the rain in floods.

Tomorrow I'm off for Dong Ya Thao, a tiny little town on my map at the intersection of routes 11 and 101. It's not in my guidebook and I'm pretty certain it's nothing more than small little village and there won't be any hotels. As Megan says, maybe they'll at least have a tennis court.

A big, big congratulations to my brother Jason and his wife Betsy on their new baby girl! Ainsley Elizabeth Phillips was born on Sunday, May 22nd, 2005 at 5:36PM EST. She's 8lbs, 4oz and is healthy and happy. We look forward to meeting her when we get back!

From the Corrections Department
So, I was wondering why whenever signs said a city was 30 kilometers away my bike computer would show that I traveled only 18.6 kms when I arrived. Well, I wonder no more. For some reason my bike computer shows speed in kilometers per hour but my tripometer is in miles. "KMH" is shown on the speed screen but no where is "miles" indicated for distance travelled. I just assumed it'd be kilometers. Anyway, I've gone back and adjusted all my past distances.

Day 3: Chai Nat to Nakhon Sawan
Distance biked: 60.92 kms / 37.86 miles
Time on the road: 2:45
Total Distance biked: 239.56 kms / 148.86 miles
Total time on the road: 11:27

After my ride on Saturday I slept in a bit Sunday morning and got on the road (highway 1) at around 9:00 after a quick yoghurt shake at 7-11 (which is everywhere in Thailand). It was a short, but very hot ride to Nakhon Sawan. It really felt like the sun was baking everything around me (and I was feeling the heat too). There wasn't a map for Nakhon Sawan in my guidebook so, using my Thai-English dictionary, I asked a motorcycle cop if he could tell me where the tourist information office was. He didn't speak much English but indicated for me to follow him as he rode to the office with me in tow. Unfortunately (or fortunately) the tourist office was closed and I sat on the steps debating my next move as the officer drove off. I noticed that about 100 meters away there was a Coca-Cola stand next to some tennis courts that looked pretty inviting. Thais have this great way of serving Coke. They get a plastic bag, fill it full of crushed ice and then pour the bottle of coke into the bag and give you a straw. Somehow it's much more refreshing that way.

I rode over to the stand, ordered a coke and sat at a small metal table nearby. Business was slow so the owner came over and started talking with me in Thai with a little English mixed in. Again, my dictionary was very helpful and I told him about my ride, our honeymoon trip and showed him pictures of family and friends I had brought with me. He was a really nice guy and we had a lot of fun communicating.

I told him I was looking for a cheap guesthouse for the night but he said he only knew of expensive touristy ones. I mentioned that I had a hammock/tent with me and asked if it'd be possible to stay at one of the Buddhist wats (temples). From what I understood it sounded like it was possible but might be complicated. Then he asked me if I wanted to stay at the tennis court that night. I thought it sounded like a good idea and said "OK." By that time a few tennis players had shown up and started discussing with the shop owner my plans for cycling up to Chiang Rai and my spending the night at the tennis courts. A guy named Jeed took charge of the situation and phoned the court manager and squared things away for me. It was settled, I'd be spending the night up on the second floor where spectators usually watch the tennis matches. Jeed then asked me if I'd like to join him and his family for dinner. He had a 10 year old daughter whom he wanted me to meet and help her practice English. I didn't have any plans for the evening so I said I'd love to meet his family.

We drove into downtown Nakhon Sawan, had a nice dinner and then Jeed told me that it was Visakha Puja, the day of Buddha's birth, enlightenment and death. Jeed asked me if I'd like to go with him and his family to the Nakhon Sawan Wat and take part in the ceremony. I'd never been to a Buddhist service and I told him I was excited for the opportunity to go.

The first thing I noticed as we approached the wat was the sweet smell of incense floating through the large golden gates. The sound of monks chanting over a loudspeaker could be heard as hundreds of worshippers walked in a clockwise circle around the wat with lit candles and incense and a lotus flower in their hands. It had an almost magical and carnival feeling to it. Everyone, from the youngest children to the oldest adults, was excited to be celebrating the most holy day in the Buddhist calendar. When the monk started chanting again Jeed led us 3 times around the wat and then we bowed three times before the large Buddha statue and placed small bits of gold flake on a different Buddha. I'm not sure what it all meant but it was fun to be included in something that was so special to them.

I met Jeed again this morning at 6AM as he unlocked the gate at the tennis courts. Before leaving he gave me a necklace with a picture of a very famous Thai monk on it. He said it was for my protection as I travelled. I thanked him again for his hospitality and pedaled for highway 117 which would take me north to Phitsanulok.

As I said, biking in Thailand has been great. The worst part (other than really hot days) is the amount of roadkill that litters the highway. What I mainly see (and smell) are snakes roasting in the sun. They're really big snakes too - the kind you'd see in a zoo. This photo shows probably the biggest snake I've seen yet (be warned: it's not a pretty picture). The thing was at least 3 feet long and a good 2.5 - 3 inches in diameter. And while I was having lunch today at a roadside cafe one of the workers came by with a plastic bag on a pole and in it was a long, dark snake that was still alive. I asked the waiter if it was poisonous and he said yes, it was. It certainly makes me think twice about just pitching my hammock-tent in any old place along the road.

Day 4: Nakhon Sawan to Phitsanulok
Distance biked: 140.23 kms / 87.14 miles
Time on the road: 6:29
Total Distance biked: 379.80 kms / 236 miles
Total time on the road: 17:56

I couldn't have asked for better weather to cycle in this morning. It was overcast but without the threat of rain. I made really good time up until about noon when the sun came out in full force. I tried to keep my body temperature down by taking quite a few breaks and sipping cold water from my Camel Bak. I reached Phitsanulok at 3:30PM today and registered at the Youth Hostel here in town.

Tomorrow I'm going west over to Sukhothai, the capital of Thailand from 1238-1376. It's just a short ride from here and hopefully it'll be a cool morning.

Distance biked: 128.74 kms / 80 miles
Time on the road: 6:13
Total Distance biked: 181.85 kms / 113 miles
Total time on the road: 8:42

Ayutthaya was an interesting city to spend a day and a half exploring. The ancient wats fill the main part of the island-town but most have been almost completely destroyed during the various battles Ayutthaya witnessed over the last few hundred years (mainly at the hands of Burmese armies). There were hardly any buddha statues with their heads left intact as the Burmese were particularly effecient in decapitating them.

I spent the morning wandering around Wat Phra Mahathat but took shelter when the daily thunderstorm rolled in. It rains hard every day for an hour or so but the torrents cool everything down nicely and blue skies return soon after. After seeing the wat I headed over to Viharn Phra Mongkol Bopit is a replica of a typical Ayutthayan viharn and holds one of the largest bronze Buddhas in Thailand. There were lots of Chinese tourists/pilgrims visiting the statue on the same day and it was interesting to be able to identify them as Chinese by hearing some familiar words.

Today I woke up early and did a quick last look through the city before heading north on highway 309 towards Sing Buri. I was surpised to reach Sing Buri at 11:30AM after riding only 46 kilometers. I had lunch (a double helping of rice Pad Thai) and decided that I was up for a longer ride so, checking my map for a bigger city where I could spend the night, I set out for Chai Nat.

Chai Nat isn't in my guide book so I wasn't sure what I'd find here but a nice lady at a filling station along the way told me that it had plenty of good hotels. She was a retired English teacher and spoke very well. She was extremely nice and we sat and chatted while I cooled off in the shade. When I went to leave I tried to pay her for the bottle of water I got from her store but she refused my money. This level of hospitality is indicative of our Thailand experience so far.

I found a hotel for 200 Baht for tonight (it's more than what I wanted to pay but they wouldn't bargain with me and I was pretty tired from my ride). I just finished having dinner in the night market before coming to the internet cafe. Outdoor markets are my favorite way to eat a meal. You walk around buying big or small dishes from different vendors and get a good taste of many different foods. I'm never quite sure what I'm going to get (unless I wimp out and order Pad Thai) because I usually point at things and hold up my index finger indicating I'd like one of whatever that it is. I've yet to be disappointed by this method.

Tomorrow I'm heading off for Nakhon Sawan, another city that's not in my guidebook. It's written in pretty large letters on my map so I'm betting that means it's a decent sized city. Who says I'm not good with maps?

I've heard a lot about travellers getting stuck here in Chiang Mai for weeks and weeks. I mean voluntarily stuck, and I can see why. There's lots to do--massage courses, cooking courses, organized treks into the hill tribe villages, and besides that it's an easy place to just hang out and relax. Of course that means there are lots of foreigners here and lots of restaurants, cafes, bars, and bookstores to cater to them, which means the place is no longer typically Thai. Probably in other circumstances that would annoy me, and I'd just want to get out of here. But I think because of our two months in China where we didn't have this kind of openness and variety of choices, along with that fact that I'm alone and feel comfortable here and it's really easy to meet people, it makes me welcome and enjoy it all of it for now.

I think both Michael and I have enjoyed giving in to some of the familiar comforts of home--Michael with his Dunkin Donuts coffee and me with...well, let's see... over the past three days I've enjoyed a delicious falafel sandwich, some decent spinach quesadillas (not quite like Cactus or Alero though) and this afternoon I had a baskin robbins ice cream cone. Of course in between all that I've also been cooking and eating all kinds of yummy Thai food. Wednesday I did a one day course with Baan Thai (pictures from our group should be up on their site by Wednesday, and I'll try to get them onto our site too) The course included a trip to the market where we bought the ingredients and had all of the different kinds of produce, noodles, tofu etc. explained to us. Then we started chopping, pounding, mashing and cooking. Luckily they provided us with doggie bags since after second dish I started getting pretty full.

I met Karin from Berlin, Lauge from Holland and Ben and Emma from England and Scotland through the course. The five of us met up later that day to go to Monk Chat at Wat Suan Dok. On Monday, Wednesday and Friday evenings monks who want to practice their English show up to chat with foreigners about Buddhism, their lives, culture, or just whatever. We talked with a Novice from Cambodia and a Monk from Laos who had both come to study there. It was interesting to get a chance to find out more about their lives, and to hear from them what Buddhism is all about. We also found out that Christian missionaries use the Monk Chat as a chance to proselytize--wow! That just seems so wrong, but then I guess it's not that hard to believe. After chatting with the monks, we all went to a Reggae Bar (without the monks though) where long-haired Thai guys served beer and sang along with the Bob Marley tunes.

Karin (whose friend Michael talked to coincidently in Bangkok the day before I met her--strange!) and I did a different cooking course yesterday, this time a bit out of the city. We still visited the same market though, it seems ALL the cooking courses visited the same small market--good business for them! Today I just took it easy--walked around and discovered new parts of city, read my book at a cafe, and visited the night market. I'll be heading up to the Akha House within the next few days, I'll keep everyone posted. I chatted online with Michael for a bit this evening--he's doing well too and is going to head further north tomorrow morning. Goodnight!

Distance biked: 49.88 kms / 31 miles
Time on the road: 2:31

I found it hard to sleep last night as I was feeling excited/anxious about my trip in the morning. Would I oversleep and miss my 7AM train? Would I be stuck in traffic or get lost in the tangle of streets and alleys of Bangkok? I shouldn't have worried so much because of two reasons 1) one of the loudest thunder and lightning storms I've ever witnessed rolled through town at around 5AM so I was wide awake when my alarm went off and 2)finding my way to Hualamphong Train Station was a piece of cake. I even got to the station with enough time for me to have an early morning iced coffee from Dunkin Donuts (yes, they have DD in Thailand - and I thought it was only a Massachusetts thing).

Per Mr.Pumpy's recommendation I decided to take an early morning train out of Bangkok so I wouldn't have to battle with thick traffic for the entire first day of my ride. I caught the number 111 train to Rang Sit which is roughly 50 kilometers from downtown Bangkok. The train pulled into Rang Sit at around 8AM and, after collecting my bike from the luggage car, I put on all my gear and headed up highway 1, following the signs to Ayutthaya.

Highway 1 was a full on multi-lane highway with lots of buses, trucks and commuters which didn't make for pleasant riding. I knew ahead of time that it would be a really busy stretch of road but I wasn't prepared for the amount of times I'd have to cross lanes to keep going in the right direction. Luckily the left hand shoulder was nice and wide the whole way so I stayed in the breakdown lane, relaxed as much as I could and focused on the road ahead. The thing that made it all bearable was knowing that this was going to really be the only day of serious highway riding. After today the roads will have a lot less traffic and I should be able to hear myself think.

It only took me 2 and a half hours to ride the 30 or so kilometers to Ayutthaya. I found a cool and cheap place to stay called Tony's Place. I got my own room with a fan and a shared bathroom for about $3.75 US (150 Baht). I'm challenging myself to see how cheaply I can travel during the next few weeks. Unfortunately that means no more Dunkin Donuts coffees (I just saw that there's one here too).

I'm staying in Ayutthaya for all of tomorrow to ride around and see all the Wats and old temples that dot the city. Saturday morning I'll get on the road again early to beat the heat and head on up to Singburi.

Now that Megan's robbed me of my chance for some sensationalism, I'll just have to go right into my entry.

I brought Megan to the Hualamphong Railway Station in downtown Bangkok Monday night and walked with her as she found her car and seat. After seeing the train and her compartment we were again impressed with this country. In India the overnight trains had 3 berths per section - a bottom, middle and top bunk - and you couldn't sit upright comfortably in any of them. In Thailand they have only 2 bunks to a section and they are wider and a lot more cushy.

When you've been traveling together for so long it's a lot more difficult to separate than you'd think. I felt like I was taking Megan to her first day of school and was saying things like "Oh look! There are other foreigners in this car - maybe you'll be friends!" This is obviously completely unnecessary because Megan's a strong, independent woman and was flying to Europe unaccompanied when she was like 3 years old.

I'm happy to hear that she's arrived safely in Chiang Mai and is off this morning for her cooking class (which I'm especially excited about because I'm hoping I'll directly benefit from what she learns). I'll be checking our travelogue just as much as everyone back home to see how her adventure unfolds.

Biking Bangkok to Chiang Rai
I've always wanted to do some long distance bike touring and now seemed like an ideal time to do it. The ride from Bangkok up to Chiang Rai (where Megan will be teaching) is about 900 kilometers. I've got 2 weeks to complete the ride before our Thai visas expire which should be more than enough time. I'm going to stop along the way at different cities to see the sites and learn more about Thai history and culture.

A few different web sites I've visited have said that cycling in Thailand can't be beat but I found one web site in particular with all sorts of detailed information - Biking Southeast Asia with Mr. Pumpy. I emailed the owner of the Mr. Pumpy web site with a few questions and mentioned that I was staying in Bangkok. It turned out that he's in Bangkok too so we decided to meet up for dinner. Megan, Andy and Kate and I went to his guesthouse on Sunday evening to pick him up. It's funny when you have an idea of what someone looks like before actually meeting them - it's similar to when I've heard a radio personality's voice but never seen a picture of them. For me, my mental picture has never synched with what they actually look like.

His name is Felix Hude and he's an animator and professor from Australia who's been in Bangkok for the past 3 months working on a book. He's leaving in a few weeks for Kathmandu, Nepal to start another bike journey that will take him from Iran all the way over to the south of France. It was great meeting Felix and hearing his cycling stories and advice about living in Thailand. If you're into cycling be sure to check out his entertaining Mr Felix's Cycling Asia Blog.

Originally I was going to start my ride early this morning (Wednesday) but because I spent yesterday running around buying last minute equipment and necessities I didn't have enough time to pack and plan the last minute details. So, I'll leave Thursday morning and ride 90 kilometers north to the ancient Thai capital of Ayutthaya. It's supposed to be a beautiful city and I'll do my best to keep the travelogue and photo gallery updated as I go.

One of the things I picked up yesterday that I'm totally excited about is a "Siam Hammock". It's a nylon hammock that has a built in mosquito net and I got the rain fly that has a built-in hood so it can be worn as a rain poncho. It promises that "In Siam Hammock, a little paradise on Earth..." How can you beat that?

Goodbye Andy and Kate
Andy and Kate are leaving this afternoon for the next leg of their journey which will take them to Vietnam and then they fly back to the States. It's been terrific spending time with them in Bangkok. Best of luck on the next part of your journey and I look forward to seeing when we're back in Massachusetts.

Sorry to leave that last entry just hanging there... I'll try to do some catching up now.

Walking out of the internet cafe on Sunday we heard someone calling out to Michael. We turned around to find Andy and Kate, friends from the States who we had just that day learned would also be in Bangkok for a few days. It was great to meet up with them, and it confirmed the feeling that I had been having that we would run into someone we knew. We had a few beers together and then set out to meet Felix (aka Mr. Pumpy) for dinner (but I'll let Michael tell you more about him).

Yesterday we toured the Jim Thompson House with Andy and Kate. The teak wood buildings were beautiful and we felt it was another really well-done Thai tourist attraction--thanks for the recommendation Michaela! We ate lunch there too--Pad Thai again! I know I should branch out, but I can't seem to stray from this favorite--I love that lime and peanut combination! After lunch we visited the Wat Po temple and the huge reclining golden Buddha statue. It was the first Thai temple we've visited and we were in sensory overload--it was all very beautiful.

But I have to admit, one of the main reasons we went to that particular Wat was because we had read about the School of Massage there. Our time was limited so we just went for the half hour, but Wow! It was very different from any other massage I've had, I think she cracked just about every part of my body--fingers, toes, back, hips, neck. It was relaxing and invigorating at the same time, and I think a safer bet than many of the other "Massage" places we often passed on the street.

We took the river boat and Sky Train back to our place (we love Bangkok's transportation system!), picked up our passports with our new visas from the travel agent, and headed to the train station to catch my 7:40 train up north to Chiang Mai. Yes, my train, not our train, as Michael has decided to do the trip by bicycle instead. He's planning on taking about two weeks to do the trip. I'm going to spend a day or two here in Chiang Mai and then go to the Akha Hill House up near Chiang Rai where I hope to do some volunteer teaching, and that's where we'll meet up at the beginning of June. I feel like I need to hurry up and post this entry, because I just saw that Michael has also started one, but titled his "Splitting Up", which is a great way to freak everyone out. Just to ease everyone's mind: yes, we are still very happily married, and yes, we will both be extra careful and check in often.

My train ride last night was great--our bunks were made up with comfortable mattresses, sheets, pillows, blankets and even our own curtains for privacy (maybe that would have helped in India!). I woke up really well rested this morning and found a nice guest house called "Your Home". I'm gonna head out to explore town now, and maybe get some more Pad Thai!

(Oops, I forgot about the rest of our Kanchanaburi trip, especially the gorgeous waterfalls we visited nearby. You'll just have to see for yourself when Michael posts the photos--he got the camera, I got the ipod.)

After a few relaxed days in Bangkok, we took a train Thursday morning to Kanchanaburi, home of the Bridge over the River Kwai which was made famous by the book and movie of the same name. We dropped our things off at Apple's Guesthouse, another laid back, friendly place, and set out on our rented bikes. We made it to the bridge and walked across it to find three elephants chained up in the small market area. There was a young one there that kept trying to get free, it was pretty sad.

We then got a map and biked to the other side of the river to try to find the Kao Poon caves that were written up in our guide book. Once we were about 3 kilometers out of town I jinxed myself by thinking what would happen if I got a flat tire out here. Sure enough, I felt the air start to steadlily leak out of my front tire, until I had to come to a stop. There was a little roadside, open air restaurant right there so we decided to get a drink while we figured out what to do. We showed the guy what had happened and his friend immediately offered to take us a little ways down the road to have it fixed (at least that's what we assumed he was saying, our Thai isn't quite fluent yet). Michael hopped on the back of his motorbike and the two of them set off, wheeling the bike beside them. I stayed behind and read my book, enjoying the fan and my cold Fanta. Michael was back in just 10 minutes, with the tire patched for only 10 Baht, about 25 cents. We were pleasantly surprised at how easy it turned out to be, and Michael took it as a good sign for his future plans (stay tuned...)

When we made it to the site of the supposed 'caves' we were a little skeptical, thinking it might just turn out to be a little hole in the rock with a buddha statue in it (Maybe we've become just a little bit jaded from the signs and adverstisements we see for touristy things, especially in China where they tended to make everything look deceptively magnificent on billboards and in brochures). But again we were pleasantly surprised--it was a whole labyrinth of caves filled with buddhas and statues of various Hindu Gods. It was cool to explore through it all, especially because we were the only ones there. The only downside was the stench from all the bat droppings.

The following day we took a bus to Hellfire Pass, so named because of the horrible conditions that mainly Australian, Dutch and British WWII POW's, along with conscripted Asian workers, had to endure while manually cutting through solid rock in order to build the Burma-Siam railway for the Japanese. They've done an amazing job with the museum and audio-guided tour along a 4 kilometer stretch of the old railway. The trail and surrounding hills were really beautiful, but also have a sad, eerie feeling to them because of the history-- over 90,000 men died from building the railway.

Unfortunately, this internet cafe is closing early so I'll have to continue later...

Despite the announcements that came on every few minutes (I guess once just wasn't enough) during our China Eastern flight from Shanghai to Bangkok saying "we are experiencing air turbulance, please use the bags provided if you feel air sick", we made it safely and with our puke bags still unused. It was a long day though, or actually a long couple of days, since we hadn't been getting much sleep between finishing work, packing, farewell meals and goodbyes.

Yesterday morning was of course a mad dash to get everything packed up or given to the right people (it's amazing what you can accumulate in just 2 months!). Fortunately Eric is moving into our room so we could just leave some things there for him. We said our final goodbyes to some of the students and then Wendy came with us to the airport, dressed in her beautiful new dress and shoes! It was a difficult goodbye, but we know we'll see her again, hopefully when she gets a chance to visit the States. But as Michael said, she may just explode from seeing so many new things (she gets really excited about things).

Thank you to all of our new friends in China, we'll miss you all a lot! And thank you also for the beautiful gifts, and to Eric for the most beautiful gift of all--the Gi dan gua bing was perfect, especially because our meals on the plane were strange to say the least.

So we arrived last night at 1:00 AM Bangkok time, which is an hour behind China time. Everything was super easy--we got our visa right there at immigration, found our luggage and hopped in a taxi to Suk 11, one of the coolest guesthouses we ever been to. It's a little pricier than other backpacker places here, but at about $18 for a clean, big double room including a nice breakfast, we think it's worth it. We slept really well, and today we're just going to take it easy, look into getting our visas for Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, wander around a bit and maybe find a book store. We've haven't really seen much of anything yet, but our first impressions of Bangkok and Thailand are definitely positive and we're excited to be here!

We'll probably be here for at least another 3 days as we get our visas sorted and figure out our next plans.

THANK YOU!!
We met our goal of $1,000 for the Fountain of Hope! A big thanks to all who contributed: Henni, Omi, Papa, Grandma, Brother Dave, Fran, Charlotte, Katie, Alejandra, and Kristine. We know that James, Tabitha and all the kids they take care of will be extremely grateful and will use the funds to move closer to achieving their goals for the farm and orphanage.

How did it get to be May already??? We're both truly sorry about our long lapse in writing updates. We noticed today exactly how pathetic we've been when we saw that our travelogue page is EMPTY at the moment, I guess because it's a new month and it's been so long since our last update. Again, our deepest apologies, hopefully you haven't given up on us completely yet.

This past week has been really busy for us, full of goodbyes and trying to get things done in the last minute (seems to be a reoccurring theme for us!). Friday was the students' last day before their week-long May Day (Labor Day) Holiday, also known as Golden Week. Besides fitting in oral exams for all of them before Friday, we also put on a farewell awards and talent show on Wednesday evening. It was lots of fun and we were so impressed with the students' hard work. A group of my students put on a funny "tourist in America" skit in which Jackie Chan was the tour guide. Michael's students performed a special Phillips version of MacBeth which included the phrases "Let's Party!" and "Give me a break!". Other highlights included the principal singing Italian opera, a Titanic reenactment to "My Heart Will Go On", and Simba as a Chinese Emperor.

The award for students in Michael's sophomore class was an American pizza and movie night in our room. Thursday night we had pizza delivered from the best pizza place we've found so far (for about the same price as it would cost us back home, except that compared to 'normal' food here, it's insanely expensive) and watched the Incredibles. I'm not sure how they felt about the pizza (a lot of Chinese don't seem very fond of cheese) but they did enjoy the movie, and it was fun to share a different kind of evening with them.

After saying goodbye to the students on Friday, we went for our last Tai Chi and Kung Fu lessons. Although none of us are ready for any 'mountain retreat', we did get our teacher's approval during our final practice, and he told us that we all graduated. Andy and Christina joined us for a goodbye dinner, and after that we headed to the Bohemian bar to play some foosball, followed by the inevitable migration to the Havana Bar where the same people seem to listen to the same music (My neck, My Back and the Pizza Hut Song--the worst get-stuck-in-your-head-song ever!) weekend after weekend. The best part of the night was definitely sitting out on the side of the street at three in the morning eating wonton soup and barbequed bread from the street vendor.

Saturday was Allen's barbeque party. Allen is the most amazing host we've ever met (not to mention a great gift-wrapper as we learned on Wednesday when we were desperately trying to get ready for the awards night!). For most people, a barbeque party would simply mean throwing some meat on the grill and grabbing some drinks. But for Allen it involved spending most of Friday and Saturday marinating all kinds of meats, seafood and vegetables, and otherwise preparing to pamper his guests. The only problem arose when we all agreed that grilling INSIDE of his apartment seemed like a fine idea (it was a little sun room that gave the illusion of being well-ventilated). We soon realized that maybe it wasn't such a great idea after all, as the guest bedroom and his entire apartment began to fill with thick smoke. But luckily the grill was successfully moved outdoors and the party was saved. The two of us even managed to be among the proud group of all-nighters.

Yesterday we were invited to visit the home of one of Michael's students, Tina. It was a bit of a struggle getting there, as there were eight of us trying to find spots on a bus during Golden Week, when all of China seems to be traveling, but we finally made it and it was certainly worth it. Tina's mother prepared a huge, delicious meal for us, and her 10-year-old sister enjoyed 'flirting' with all the boys. We even ended up spending the night and enjoying a filling breakfast this morning. Thanks to Tina's family and to Michael's sophomore class for being so great!

We are so happy about our decision to stay here an extra month. If we had left at the end of March as originally planned we wouldn't have made such a connection with our students and we would have missed out on some great friendships. As our departure gets closer, we're getting that lump-in-the-stomach feeling again of having to say goodbye to a place, and especially to people that we've become close to. I think it's the most difficult part of our year of travel--the goodbyes.

But of course at the same time we are excited about our next destination. We've decided to head straight to Southeast Asia from here, specifically to Bangkok, because we feel that otherwise we might not have enough time there. We want to see parts of Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia before we meet Henni, Tilde and Chris in Australia at the end of July. We don't have our flights finalized yet, but it looks like we'll be leaving this Sunday, May 8th. We've been using the Southeast Asia guidebook that Michael's parents sent us to do some planning (thanks again!), so we'll write again with more specifics before we leave.

It's getting late now and we're waking up early to go hiking tomorrow, so I'll finish up the photos and links tomorrow. Good night!