17 – 19  April- Katmandu – Bangkok - By Air

 After what was quite a rushed visit to Nepal, we finally left for Bangkok, Thailand. In order to be in time for our flight we left our room at 05h00 and cycled through the quiet dark streets to the Airport. There was however no need for our early arrival. The flight, which was scheduled to leave at 9h00, only left at 11h15. We landed in Bangkok after 15h30 (local time) - a 2hr30min flight.

On arrival, we immediately experienced the sweltering heat of Thailand. After a rather costly taxi ride into the city, we found a guesthouse in the very touristy area of Banglamphu. We huffed, puffed, sweated, and at last got the bikes reassembled and our bags in the room.

A short walk down the very touristy street of Th Khao San, with its bars, restaurants and street food vendors, gave us our first taste of Bangkok.

Bangkok is a culinary feast for the brave of heart. Ernest, never one to be put off by a “smiley” (roasted sheep’s head in South Africa), was enjoying all the available food including steaming bowls of Thai noodle soup with offal and, who knows what all, is in it!

20 – 22 April - Bangkok

Modern Bangkok was a bit of a shock, there was no hooting and drivers obeyed the traffic rules, they even stopped to let you cross the road!! After months in India, it came as a bit of a surprise (a pleasant one).

The alleys of Bangkok however never failed to amaze me; here one could buy anything from amulets to secondhand false teeth and bridges! Chinatown with its narrow and crowded pavements offered everything from food to fluffy teddy bears and jewellery.

The river is still a major means of transport and ferries continuously run up and down the river. It was also easy to get around by ferry as one could buy a day pass and just hop on and off at the various jetties.

23 April - Bangkok – Samut Songkhram - 78km

I was itching to get on the road, and it was far less stressful getting out of Bangkok that what it was getting out of any large-ish Indian town. Soon we were on the highway heading South-East. The heat and humidity, I could see, was going to be a major factor. It was boiling hot, even early in the morning, but just the fact that there was a shoulder to the good roads and motorists obeying the traffic rules made it a pleasured being out. We cycled past salt farms, which made me thirsty just looking at it.

We reached Samut Songkhram at around 15h00, and although still early, we decided to stay for the night. We found a room in a hotel with air-con, bar fridge, clean linen and TV!! What luxury!!

24 April - Samut Songkhram – Puk Tian Beach - 78km

Unfortunately, we had to leave our luxury room with its air con and brave the heat again. We turned off the highway soon after we set off and followed a far smaller road along the coast. Ernest being the "highway-man", did not appreciate this but tagged along. Past marshy areas and small villages, until we reached the beachy areas of Thailand. No beaches where one could lie in hammocks yet (which I have envisaged).

Finding food was a bigger problem than I had expected. Being vegetarian is not a concept that the Thai’s understand. Cooked veg is considered a salad and a salad is not the usual green salad which I’m used to, but rather a lightly steamed crispy veg and noodles (chillies & sugar is added to most dishes, and if you say “no sugar” they look at you in amazement). Add to that the problem that we are now often out of the touristy areas, language becomes a real problem. (Ernest enjoys the food, with all sorts of meat and seafood in the dishes – sometimes a surprise or even a mystery).

In Puk Tian Beach village we found a nice little bungalow, a block away from the beach. We went out for T/A food, but as expected Ernest had more success in this venture than what I did.

25 April - Puk Tian Beach – Hua Hin 49km

We were slow in leaving Puk Tian Beach, but eventually we got under way. Along the way we passed the resort town of Cha-Am where the locals were in full swing enjoying the Saturday morning at the seaside. We decided to carry on, and soon we reached the large holiday town of Hua Hin. It looked far too good a beach to pass by, so we found a guesthouse on stilts in the touristy area overlooking the ocean. There are not really any waves, but the breeze brings up a swell which laps under the wooden deck of the building.

The beach is lined with deck chairs where one can sit and sip a beer with the ocean at your feet. Hua Hin is also famous for its night food markets, where one can eat to your heart’s delight (again not for vegetarians).

28 April - Hau Hin – Prachuap Khiri Khan - 98km

Once again we left late. I do not know how other people get away so early, we seem to be faffing around forever. So far, the road has been as flat as a pancake, not something I ever complain about. Halfway we stopped again for some noodle soup, which one can find everywhere along the road. We reached Khiri Khan early and found a hut just north of town. The scenery is now more and more as I’ve always expected Thailand to look like, with long white beaches, a flat ocean and green jungle-coated limestone pinnacles sticking up in and around the ocean.

That evening we took a walk into town to the night market and once again stuffed ourselves. Now that we were out of the tourist area, things are also a lot cheaper, accommodation as well as food. Ernest lapped up the oysters (7 for around R10) but did not have the stomach for the crisply fried bugs (grasshoppers, large cockroaches, grubs, chicken feet and what looked like worms).

29 April - Prachuap Khiri Khan – Bang Saphan (Thalu Beach) - 115km

Lola Bungalows, situated right on the beach amongst palm trees, is what I have been looking for. With hardly any tourists and a long white beach it’s heaven. It’s a short walk of 250m along the beach to a restaurant where we could eat for very reasonable prices. Needless to say, we stayed a few days, swimming and lazing in hammocks.

2 May - Bang Saphan – 89km

What a beautiful ride!! Thailand must have one of the most beautiful coastlines in the world. We followed the coast south, stopping at a few of the bays along the way. There were rain showers around us all day, but we were never actually got caught in the rain. We went so slow that we did not make Chumphong as we’d planned. We found a bungalow along the way where we stayed for the night. There we also met a fellow South African, who is now living in Thailand.

We had a bite to eat in their bar/restaurant, I seem to be eating the same food every day (Thai Curry) as not a big variety is available for vegetarians. The food is however fantastic!  The only problem is that this food is not very substantial and not really energy food to see you through a long cycling day.

3 May - Chumphon 43km 

We took a leisurely ride from our overnight stop, having brunch at Hat Tha Wua Laen Beach. Once in Chumphon we headed straight for the well-known “Farang Bar” where most backpackers stay. What a pleasant surprise, the rooms were really good value for money and the place had a good bar and restaurant. With hot water in the shared showers, who can complain. They can also organize boats to the nearby islands, busses and visa runs. Great place, no wonder everyone hangs out there.

We were lucky to make it to our room just before a heavy storm moved in. With thunder and lightning, I was pleased for the roof over our heads. At least these storms never appear to lasts very long. Once the storm moved over we took a walk to the nearby supermarket and found bread, cheese and mayonnaise (something different from Thai green curry for a change). We also wandered around the large covered market where Ernest found a lot of tasty bits to eat (however, he gave the smoked rats a wide berth!).

4 May - Champorn – Chaiya - 142km

Ernest received an e-mail from his friend Rossouw, saying that they were holidaying in Puket but will be leaving again on the 8^th. We decided to race there to see if we could meet up with them. Therefore, it was peddle, peddle, peddle. At least the road was good and we found good roadside accommodation for the night, air-con and all. Ernest cooked up a mean pasta in the room for our long distance the following day.

5 May - Chaiya – Au Leuk 170km

It was peddle, peddle, peddle again and we made it to Ao Leuk just as it was getting dark. Fortunately, we found a real cheap room at a petrol station for the night. Although it was a rather long day, we did pinch off a few moments for photo’s of the impressive limestone pinnacles amongst the rubber and oil palm plantations.

6 May - Au Leuk – Phuket - 140km

At least the road was scenic as we peddled the last long stretch to Phuket, crossing the bridge onto the island about 40 k’s before reaching the town. Once there, we looked at the map again, just to discover that Rossouw and Dawn were at Patong Beach at the other side of the island. At least it was not far to Patong Beach, so we decided to stay the night in Phuket town and do the last stretch the next morning.

7 May - Phuket – Patong Beach - 21 km

Although it was not far to Patong Beach, it was via one of the steepest hills we have encountered in a long time. It was so hot and humid that I cycled myself right out of my sandals. (I had to stop and put my socks on in order to prevent my feet slipping out my sandals).

We met up with Rosssouw and Dawn at their very fancy hotel, which was situated right on the beach. We were rather envious to leave in order to find ourselves a budget room in one of the back alleys (fortunately a rather nice room with TV, aircon, fridge, nice hot shower, and patio to store the bikes).

That night we all went out for a few Singhas to celebrate Dawn’s 50th birthday the following day.

Patong Beach is extremely touristy, packed with bars, restaurants, dive shops and souvenir shops - not to mention scantily clad Thai girls enticing the Farang (foreign) men. Ernest and Rossouw could only look with envy at all the beautiful girls!   

THE ANDAMAN COAST

We spent 2 days at Patong Beach, meeting up with Rossouw and Dawn ever so often for a beer. It is extremely expensive, as one can expect from such a touristy place, but still interesting to watch all the Farang men (with beautiful young Thai girls on the arm) doing their thing. I have a bit of a love hate relationship with cities and touristy places. It is far too overcrowded and expensive, but at least one can enjoy all the luxuries of what it has to offer.

I loaded my photos on CD and bought some small presents for my sister’s kids, which Rossouw and Dawn kindly took back to South Africa with them.

I replaced the earphones of my iPod (caught in the front spokes, which comes from fiddling with the music while I’m cycling). I bought toothpaste and hair conditioner and now I’m totally broke again.

It rained most of the 2nd day, but at least I had an early morning swim before the rain came. Rossouw and Dawn had to return to their resort during a rain torrent (hope they got a tuk-tuk or something. The rest of the day was spent on updating the web site. I also handed in some laundry to be washed in a machine!!  At least it will be clean again and I just hoped it would be ready the next morning by the time we wanted to leave. It was also no good doing the laundry in the room, as it was too humid to dry - with the result that everything smelt damp!  In fact, it does not only smell damp but is actually damp all the time.

I even went as far as getting a sim card for my phone, to great delight of my family. However, it seems I can only send but not receive sms’s (phone calls I can receive).

9 May - Patong Beach – Thai Muang - 100km 

We only got away at about 11h00, due to waiting for the laundry to return.

We followed the West coast North, as we had to head to Ranong from where one can do the visa run to Myanmar (Burma). We ambled along, past small beachy villages which are still struggling to recover from the 2004 tsunami.

By the time we reached Tha Muang it was time to look for accommodation and we saw a small obscure sign for a lodge. We followed the sign up a little gravel road behind some trees, and booked into one of the rooms. We soon discovered it was actually a house of ill repute, with a supply of condoms and toothbrushes, as well as “interesting” pictures on the walls (no heart-shaped bed though). Well, it was clean and priced right, so why complain?

10 May - Thai Muang – Riverside Bungalows (Khao Lak) - 52km 

We explored the fantastic beaches along the way, but could find no cheap place to stay. Due to the 2004 Tsunami, the basic beach bungalows are all gone and new, fancy hotels are being constructed on the beachfronts.

We carried on and soon saw a sign for Riverside Bungalows and camping. What a great place it was as well. Lush green gardens with gazebos and a great pool. We pitched our tents and lazed around the pool for the rest of the day. Needless to say, we also were eaten alive by the mosquitoes!!

By now, I am covered in mosquitoes bites, a heat rash and suffering from a chronic upset stomach. Ha-ha, that’s life on the road!!

11 May - Khao Lak – Khuraburi - 83km 

Thailand is a cycling paradise, it’s scenic, the roads are good with wide shoulders for bicycles and every now and again there is the most gorgeous beach. As we headed north, we cycled through fantastically wooded areas, and although it is incredibly hot and humid (it is summer and the rainy season) it was an absolute pleasure. Average temperatures of min 24 – and max between 36 – 40 with a humidity factor of 75%)

We have also now discovered what the cheapest eat is around here. Instant (genuine Thai) noodles and sauce cooked with lots of water into a soup, with some added fresh veg. Delicious!!

In Khuraburi we found a dilapidated riverside hut on stilts for the night. The setting (right over the river-bank) was so good that we parked our bikes without haggling about the price.

I even managed to find a wi-fi connection in the one corner of the deck and after folding myself into a pretzel I managed to send an e-mail or two. (Oo Technology!!)

12 May - Khuraburi – Hat Bang Ben (Laem Son National Park) - 83km 

It was another great day on the road. Much of the coast here is covered in mangrove swamps. We cycled up and down hills and through much wooded areas again, until we turned off the highway to Laem Son National Park.

The beach at Hat Bang Ben is a long sandy beach with views of several nearby islands. We found a room near the beach and had a great swim before cooking up our noodles again.

13 May - Hat Bang Ben – Ranong - 60km 

It was a lovely slow ride into Ranong, where we found room at the Kiwi Orchard Guest House for a reasonable price. It’s a real backpackers place with a restaurant, bar, boat and bus booking facilities etc. They also organize visa runs to Burma (transport to pier, boat across gulf, assistance at immigration, etc.).

We have been extremely lucky with the weather so far, and have seemed to escape the rain showers while cycling on most days.

14 May - Ranong (to Myanmar and back) 

In order to renew our Thailand visas we had to take a boat to Myanmar. Boats frequently scoot across the gulf to the border town of  Kaw Thoung. Once there it’s a case of paying $10 for the Burmese visa and be stamped in and out at the same time. I was livid to find out that they actually gave us a visa for 2 weeks (not only a day pass as expected). If we knew that, we may have been able to bring our bicycles and cycle in Myanmar for 2 weeks.

Our long-tailed boat (as Ernest correctly pointed out at the start) did not sound too healthy but we got away in a cloud of smoke. Coming back, we were not as fortunate, as the whole engine exploded with a laud bang and there was oil everywhere. Fortunately this is a very busy area and soon help was on its way. A similar type of boat had to drag us along, but halfway it gave up and handed us over to another boat which saw us back to Thailand. This one did not sound all that healthy either as it burped and splattered but eventually got us back to the pier which we’d left a couple of hrs earlier.

Another surprise awaited us, as the new Thai visa was only for 2 weeks and not a month as expected. Now we will have to peddle like the clappers to get out of Thailand before  28 May.