Recently in Thailand Category

We're just about to jump in a cab to the airport. We're flying Bangkok to Singapore to Bali to Darwin. The last few days have been a bit emotional as we realize that the Asia part of our trip is now over, and also because we've experienced so many different things just in the past week or two that it's hard to process it all. Sorry that we don't have time to write more now, but we did put up photos yesterday so I guess that will have to do for now. Bye!

Maybe you noticed from the pictures that 2 weeks was plenty of time for me to already have a favorite--Siriyakorn (I only learned how to spell it correctly from one of teachers, from what I could understand I had previously written 'Siliakon' on her notebook.) She's the cutest thing and would poke her head into the teachers' office everyday and just watch for a while. Her English was limited to "apple", "banana", "My name IS..." (they all say the "is" with a rising tone and then pause before their name, it's funny) and "sticker", but she used those words as often as she could.

I had a wonderful time teaching at the school. The teachers were really welcoming, especially Kai, who in addition to teaching her own class of 30 1st and 2nd graders, doubles as the English teacher for the whole school when there are no farang volunteers. It was difficult sometimes to keep the attention of some of the younger kids, especially because they really didn't understand much, if anything, of what I said. But we played a lot of games, like Bingo, memory and a special version of tic-tac-toe to help them with numbers and colors, and we sang lots of songs. Grades 3 and 4 really liked the Itsy-Bitsy Spider, which they always called Spiderman. (This is also the same class where a few of the boys convinced me the first day that their names were Gamalui and Omba, which I found out later are actually names of some fighting action heroes.)

The older kids were certainly easier to manage, but with them the problem was getting them to speak any English. The little kids would happily repeat anything I said and try it on their own too, but the older kids were more embarassed I think, and just thought of English as another boring subject. But we did some games and songs which I think they liked, and as I mentioned in the photo caption, making a fool of myself generally worked pretty well too.

I usually left the guesthouse around 7:30 in the morning and walked down the hill, arriving at school at about 8. Most of the kids would already be there, cleaning up the school grounds or playing around a bit, with Thai pop music blaring through the loud speakers. At 8:30 they would gather for the morning assembly to raise the flag and sing the anthem. Classes started at 9:00. I usually ended up teaching about 3 or 4 one hour classes per day, with time in between to prepare lesson plans and materials. 12-1 was lunch--the teachers all eat together sharing food that they take turns paying for. The atmosphere at the school is friendly and relaxed, and all the teachers seem to get along well, a nice change after the tension we would often feel in the teachers' office in China. The school day ended at 4, with another assembly and then it was time for the sweaty trek back up the hill. Sometimes I would walk with some of the kids, but usually they would trail off to pick some jungle plants for dinner or catch some fish. It's a really interesting mix up there between modern technology (computers and TVs at the school, teenagers with photo-taking, music-playing cell phones) and traditional village life (most of what people eat still comes straight from the jungle--people go out hunting animals or collecting plants and fruits). One morning I went into the kitchen at the guesthouse to make myself breakfast and I found two dead birds lying there in front of the toaster--I decided to stick with my toast and jam.

We're now in Chiang Khong. We decided to stay an extra day since we didn't get here till after dark last night and the town had a nice, relaxed feeling that we didn't want to miss by leaving early this morning. Today we just walked around, shopped at the market for some boat ride food, and did some reading by our guesthouse, which has a nice view of the river. We'll cross the border tomorrow and hop on the slow boat to Louang Phabang, with an overnight stop in Pakbeng.

Today is our 10 month anniversary of being on the road! When I think of all the places we've been, people we've met and experiences we've had it does seem like quite a long time, but on the other hand time seems to be passing by so quickly--I can't believe it's June already! We're still enjoying every moment of our trip, but lately we've both been thinking more and more about home (even though we don't exactly have one!), and missing family and friends. I think we'll be ready and excited for our re-entry into the States in a few months.

I finished my two weeks of teaching up near the Akha village yesterday. I really enjoyed it, it was fun teaching so many different ages. I could have easily stayed longer, but there are still so many places we want to get to before flying out of Bangkok around the 20th of July to meet Henni, Tilde and Chris in Darwin, Australia. Right now our plans are to go back to Chiang Mai for a few days (to do some shopping at the Sunday night market and send another package home!), then head up to the Laos border and take the slow boat down the Mekong River to Louang Phabang. We'll probably spend a few weeks in Laos, then go into Vietnam, then loop around through Cambodia back to Bangkok.

I just spent a few hours going through photos and posting some. I'm a bit computered-out so I'll write more about the Akha Hill House and school once we get to Chiang Mai.

Day 9: Chiang Mai to Khun Chae National Park
Distance biked: 79.93 kms / 49.67 miles
Time on the road: 4:23
Total Distance biked: 870.79 kms / 541.09 miles
Total time on the road: 43:17

I spent 4 days and nights in Chiang Mai just relaxing and catching up on the reading that I was hoping to do during my ride. I packed 6 books in my bike bag thinking that there'd be lots of free time to read in the evenings or during my lunchbreaks. In truth, I was in bed by 9PM or earlier most evenings and my lunchbreaks were filled with eating, drinking water, resting and writing in my road journal. So it was my mission to finish the two largest and heaviest books while in Chiang Mai and leave them behind. The city is full of great cafes and restaurants so it wasn't very difficult to find a place to sit and read for a few hours each day.

Two days in Chiang Mai probably would have sufficed for me to be rested enough to complete my trip but I think I was stalling for time because I was a bit worried about what the terrain between there and Chiang Rai would be like. Mr. Pumpy's ride ended in Chiang Mai and I hadn't talked with anyone about what the ride to Chiang Rai would be like. From my maps it looked like there were some pretty decent hills/inclines awaiting me. In my mind I imagined huge, fog covered mountains rising out of the green steamy Thai forest with long, steep twisting roads packed full of transport trucks pouring out thick black exhaust as I creaked slowly by inch by inch. Anytime I thought about what the ride would be like I had a nervous feeling in my stomach and would order an ice cream from the nearest shop or 7-11 (ice cream, I've discovered, is my personal security blanket of sorts - offering comfort and reassurance that everything will be just fine).

Wednesday morning arrived and I couldn't possible delay my trip any longer. It's either now or never. So, after giving myself a bit of a pep talk, I packed my bags, had one last cup of coffee at the guesthouse and pedaled up highway 118 for Chiang Rai. I was surprised at how smalls the hills were once out of the city. There were a few steep climbs but they always transitioned into nice long valley roads where I could catch speeds of 30KMH or more which would help me over the next rise. I never let myself get too comfortable though and reminded myself that just around the corner could be the mother of all hills just waiting for me.

At about 3PM it started to rain pretty heavily. I found a bamboo and thatch bus shelter to take cover under until it began to let up. I wasn't tired enough to begin looking for a place to pitch the hammock-tent so I continued biking in the light drizzle. Being wet sure beat biking in the heat and I didn't complain a bit. An hour or so later I entered Khun Chae National Park which seemed to be made up of one long valley. I cruised through most of the park with water and dirt spraying off my tires all over my face and back (no mud guards on this bike) but really I didn't care at all. I just wanted to see how far I could get before sundown.

Happily, I stumbled across a tourist area that advertised hot springs and spas and seemed to be geared more towards Thai tourists. I found a room at the only hotel in the area and, despite it being one of the dirtiest rooms I've ever checked into, I felt pretty lucky to have a roof over my head just as the sun was setting. I went to bed at around 9PM and drifted off to sleep hoping the ants and termites that infested the room would continue doing their business and leave me be.

Day 10: Khun Chae National Park to Chiang Rai
Distance biked: 116.32 kms / 72.28 miles
Time on the road: 5:22
Total Distance biked: 986.80 kms / 613.17 miles
Total time on the road: 48:40

I woke up refreshed and excited. If I could get some good distance in the morning I should be able to make it to Chiang Rai and my trip would be complete! I had no idea what the terrain ahead would be like and prepared myself mentally for the worst. I realized that it might be possible that I would finish the day only kilometers from my goal and I'd have to wait until Friday to reach Chiang Rai. It didn't matter. I was close and I'd get there in one or two days.

Energized, I hit the road and biked hard all morning. Again there were some decent and somewhat challenging hills but nothing that just went on and on. Plus, I've learned to pace myself while attempting to climb them. If I break the hill into smaller parts and take each part one by one I'm able to do it pretty easily.

At 11:50AM I stopped at a roadside restaurant for some noodle soup and a coke. It was a hot day again and I wanted to have a strong finish so I'd take an hour or so to eat and regain some energy. I chatted with another customer in English who was originally from the area but had moved to the southern islands of Thailand and was able to practice and learn English from the many tourists there. When he left the owner came out and sat down next to me. He didn't speak any English but we still communicated using my dictionary and gestures. He asked a few questions about my bike and my trip and I tried best to answer them. He then told me how he was in a motorbike accident and lost his right leg and pulled up his pants to reveal the metal prosthetic limb. I looked up the words for "I'm sorry" in my dictionary and said them. He thanked me and let out a loud sigh.

Thinking of something he got up and motioned for me to follow him as he limped towards the back of his restaurant. I walked slowly behind him into the dark recesses of the shop. He pointed at some really large hand-woven baskets that hung from the ceiling. He sighed again. I guessed that he had made them himself and now, after his accident, he couldn't make them anymore. Then he showed me the motorbike that he had the crash on and sighed, shaking his head. As he walked past me he put his hand on my waist and I moved away towards some animal skins he had hanging on the wall. He explained that he had killed the big snakes and rabbits and other creatures he had nailed there. Another sigh.

He waved me towards the deepest part of the store and out into a courtyard behind the building. There were large, square cinderblock tanks all around the yard. Each one was filled with murky, green water. One had frogs in them and another didn't appear to have anything except weeds and more scummy water. He called me over to the one that looked particularly lifeless, grabbing a handful of feed, threw it into the water. All of a sudden the water exploded violently as the fish fed on the grain. I'd never seen anything like it but it made me think of what piranhas would act like when feeding on the unsuspecting human who walked into their midst. I told him I'd never seen anything like it. Just then some ducks waddled by and the owner pointed to them and the fish and said the Thai word for "alone." Then he put his left arm around my waist and leaned his head on my right should and again said "alone...alone..."

My Thailand guidebook spoke about how Thai men and boys are often very physical with each other. It's not at all uncommon to see them holding hands, hugging or hanging on each other. It's just not meant in the sexual way way we think of it in the west - it's what all friends do as sign of comfort and male bonding. I've seen this behaviour throughout the country during my time here however his behaviour was not mentioned in my guidebook and frankly, it made me extremely uncomfortable. So, I said "Right - nice fish, sorry about the leg, gotta go." and quickly walked to the front of the restaurant.

Creeped out I gathered my things together and was about to get back on my bike when the owner limped out and handed me a piece of paper. On it was his name and telephone number. Obviously this guy wasn't getting the picture so I looked up the word "wife" in my dictionary and said to him: "I'm going to see my WIFE in Chiang Rai. My W-I-F-E. Goodbye!" I cycled off with 70 kilometers between me and the end of my journey. I arrived in Chiang Rai at 5PM and checked into a guesthouse that sounded pretty decent from my guidebook.

Megan and I have been "reunited" as she wrote in her recent entry and tonight we're heading up to the Akha House where I'll spend a few days before coming back into downtown Chiang Rai to clean up my bike and then try to sell it.

Thank you to everyone who followed along during my ride. It was really encouraging to have your support and feedback. I enjoyed the trip and am pretty sure that it will be just the first of many long-distance rides for me. Thanks again!

Sorry to ruin any suspense that was building--I know Michael still has a few days of catching up to do on his trip--but I thought I'd tell the funny little story of how we met up again.

For the past week I've been up at the Akha Hill House teaching in the nearby village school. I've really been enjoying it--the kids are adorable and it's interesting because they come from 5 different villages: the Akha village where I'm staying, a Chinese village, a Thai village, a Lisu village and another that I can't remember right now.

Last Sunday I got a ride into Chiang Rai (about 45 minutes) to do a little shopping and email. Michael was in Chiang Mai by then and we agreed to meet on Saturday in Chiang Rai, but didn't plan any specifics about where or when. On Thursday I found out that there would be no school the following day as the teachers had to go to a meeting. I decided to make the trip into Chiang Rai again, hoping that maybe Michael had already made it. I got dropped off at the bus station and went into a bakery across the street for a little breakfast. I noticed that they had internet too, so I went upstairs to check email and find out where Michael was. Yea! There was an email from him saying that he had made it to Chiang Rai. I continued reading..."I'm staying at Mae Hong Son Guesthouse". Ok, same exact guest house that I stayed at, and we hadn't talked about it at all.

"Tomorrow morning I'm gonna check out a good bakery that I heard about for breakfast". Huh? I jumped up from the computer to go ask downstairs if some American guy in a blue plaid shirt had already been in. I got half way down the stairs and started laughing--there he was in the blue plaid shirt ordering an omlette!

Distance biked: 100.22 kms / 62.28 miles
Time on the road: 4:58
Total Distance biked: 790.86 kms / 491.42 miles
Total time on the road: 38:54

The Riverside Guesthouse was a beautifully designed and decorated place owned by a friendly Belgian woman. The rooms were comfortable and no shoes were allowed to be worn inside because the building was made of rich, dark teakwood and is easily damaged. I went to bed that night looking forward to a good night's sleep. Unfortunately, just as I was dozing off a dog started barking right under my open window at about 10:30PM. I lay there patiently waiting for the owner to come out and take care of the situation. Half an hour later the dog was still barking (and barking constantly) so I stuck my head out of the window and "shushed" into the darkness. Silence. Then more barking. Frustrated I went back to my bed thinking "How am I going to get enough sleep? Why doesn't someone come out and do something about it?"

At midnight, after an hour and a half of non-stop barking I was exhausted and, not thinking rationally, stuck my head out the window and yelled "WILL YOU SHUT UP?!?" The dog kept on barking. Exasperated, I went downstairs and found that the owner was awake (probably wondering why the American was yelling out of his window at midnight) and I asked her if she could do something about the dog next door. She went outside the property and "shushed" at the dog too. Now three dogs started barking. She offered to move me to another room further from the dog. I gladly accepted and at around 1AM I finally drifted off to sleep to the distant sound of barking.

After lacking the strength to make it smoothly up the previous day's hills I chose to get a bit of a late start. At the guesthouse I ordered the American Breakfast of eggs, toast, croissant, coffee and freshly squeezed orange juice. It was pretty filling and, taking a few photos of the place before leaving, I got my things together and started back up highway 11 which would bring me to Chiang Mai.

The ride to Chiang Mai was pretty straightforward - a few hills here and there for the first 50 kilometers but nothing like the day before. The last 50 kilometers were as flat and straight as the southern plains were earlier in my trip. I got into Chiang Mai around 4:30PM, found the "Your House Guesthouse" where Megan stayed a week earlier, and booked a room for 3 nights. I had a feeling I'd need to rest for a few days before attempting to take on the ride up to Chiang Rai. From my map it looked hillier than anything I had experienced so far.

But for the time being I was comfortable and had a nice place to stay. I ordered a full dinner at the guesthouse and had a Singha beer to celebrate the completion of the next-to-last leg of the journey and called it an early night.

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.