Train ride from Bangkok to Pratchuap Kiri Khan

“Where are you going?”

The young voice drifted up to us, over the roar of a crowded waiting area at Bangkok’s Hualamphong train station. We ourselves were waiting with our bicycles to buy tickets for the train south. The question was spoken in such perfect English, with no hint of any accent, that we turned around expecting to see a European face staring back. To our surprise, our gaze was returned by Irham, an 11-year-old Thai boy.

We explained our trip and now Ihram was bursting with questions. How far had we gone? Which countries? After a few minutes, Irham confessed the reason for his interest. “That’s my bicycle over there!” he said proudly, pointing across the jammed hall. We couldn’t see a thing. Where was that bicycle again? Every bench had people hanging off the edges. Every spare bit of floor was covered with families waiting for their train.

Finally we spotted his bicycle, along with the bikes of his father and cousin. They’d already cycled 800km in Thailand and now were going to Malaysia during Ihram’s school holidays. By now we’d reached the ticket window, only to be sent to a second one, then to the cargo desk and finally to load our bikes on the train. Working through the chaos took over an hour and unlike our last train journey in Thailand, this time we had no help at all from the various employees standing around. Only one mustered up the energy to talk to us and he was looking for a few baht as a tip. For what service exactly he thought a tip was merited, we’re not sure. (more…)

549km Mae Sot to Kanchanaburi

After working our muscles on the many steep climbs near the Myanmar border, just one last hill stood between us in Mae Sot and the typical Thai town of Tak. We hoped for a cloudy day - the best conditions for climbing - but instead we got blue skies and intense sun. “Going to be a hot one,” we said to each other as we started the ascent.

Every bend revealed a new rise in the road and it took just a few kilometers before we were completely sweat covered and hoping for a fountain or roadside waterfall. One never materialised – you see very few in Thailand – but we did get the next best thing… an iced coffee stand! Bless those Thais and their love of frozen drinks, especially good coffee. We indulged in three coffees over the course of the day, each one relieving the humid temperatures for at least a few minutes.

As we climbed, we passed by a shrine with two elephant sculptures, each one decorated with garlands of flowers, and then a hilltribe market at the top. We expected tourist tat but instead found an amazing produce market, where we gleefully picked up fresh avocados and fresh asparagus – two of our favourite foods and ones we haven’t eaten since leaving Europe. We drooled the rest of the afternoon just thinking of the feast waiting for us that night. (more…)

There’s nothing like a rainy day to get a few things done. As the heavens opened, we realised cycling was going to be futile so instead we recorded our latest podcast. This time we share some of the highs and lows with you from our four months in Southeast Asia and a few tips for bike touring in the region. We also have two cycling stories from Adam, who we met in Bishkek. Adam, from Poland, was last spotted going up the Karakorum Highway with one gear so he’s quite the adventurer! We think you’ll enjoy hearing about his take on cycling in India and getting lost in Nepal.

 

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We’re still in the border town Mae Sot. Our plans to leave after a couple nights were put on hold when Friedel’s ear infection refused to clear up (it’s been over two weeks now - don’t put a cotton bud in your ear, we know that now!) and we got some bad news about our boat to Seattle. Apparently there was a mistake with the cargo company in Germany that runs the boat and they confirmed a cabin for us when there actually wasn’t one. The ship we thought we were taking is full and we’re not on it. Darn!

That threw our perfectly formed plans into a bit of chaos so between runs to the hospital for more antibiotics we tried to figure out ‘Option B’ for leaving New Zealand. No other ships go to the west coast of North America so unless there’s a cancellation it looks like we’ll just get a flight to one of the big cities, most likely San Francisco or Los Angeles.

It’s disappointing but not all bad. We’ll save a fair bit of money over the cost of taking the ship and we’ll get a bit more time to explore a beautiful part of America. Whatever lies ahead, we’re happy to take it as it comes and have a great time.

Of course we’ve done a bit of walking around Mae Sot in this time. We discovered a great Canadian restaurant of all things here, run by a guy from Toronto who makes the best burgers we’ve ever tasted! He also has a large menu filled with things like bagels, cheddar cheese, back bacon and other delights we haven’t eaten in a long time. It’s safe to say we’ve been his most loyal customers the past few days.

We also rode down to the border with Myanmar. It was a very bizarre sight to see the ‘Friendship Bridge’ between the two countries with its official checkpoints and then locals crossing the river that runs beneath the bridge on inner tubes. As many as six people pile onto one inner tube, one fellow pedals and a few minutes later they emerge on the other side. Several armed guards look on and no one seems too bothered about the whole spectacle. In most other countries you’d probably be shot or arrested if you tried crossing this way and we haven’t yet figured out why the authorities permit it.

Now we’ve been in Mae Sot for four days and the ear infection is finally clearing up so we’ll be on our way tomorrow. Our destination is Kanchanaburi, just west of Bangkok and about a week away.

440km Chiang Mai to Mae Sot

A few nights ago, we sat at a picnic table outside our riverside cabin in the small town of Mae Salit Luang, soothing our muscles after a gruelling day cycling up impossibly steep hills. It was a lot more pushing than cycling, actually. As the sunset colours came out over the surrounding mountain peaks, a family slowly made their way down the mud-coloured river in a long, wooden fishing boat. We were in Thailand. They were in Myanmar. Just a river separated us, with no guards or border posts in sight. Through a crack in the trees, on the other bank we could just make out their simple home: a hut on stilts with a roof of dried leaves.

We won’t be going to Myanmar this trip – not for lack of desire but to really see the country we’d have to fly there. Land border crossings don’t allow you beyond the first district. And, as always, time is running short. But for this evening and the next one that followed we had our own tiny window on the life on one family in Myanmar. We watched them fish, walk to their fields and work by the river’s edge collecting various reeds and plants. At night their hut fell silent, no lights and certainly no satellite dish. It was hard to tell if there was even a dirt track from their home to the main road, although there must have been some way for them to reach the rest of the country. Just across the river in Thailand it was a totally different world with shops, a few restaurants, two schools and a health centre.

The next day we had another view of the shape Myanmar is in, thanks to the useless, brutal and greedy regime running the country. (more…)