Category Archives: Thailand

Day 243 – Stats 106 Thailand (and Pizza)

Today, we chilled … a lot. Shisha on the balcony, nice food all day long. Not really much to report other than my successful delivery of pizza after a nine month hiatus. Even improved my technique a little for that crispy crust …

Country data #6: Thailand

Full screen version of the map

  • 3853 km traveled (4030 km of GPS tracked) – odometer was out of order for a time
  • 286 km towed
  • 15 travel days, 12 days holiday, 39 days total
  • $23.91 Average cost per night (37x room, 1x camping, 1x airport, no invitation)
  • 188l of standard fuel for $  201.83 (5 l / 100km)
  • ~$25.86 for food every day, always eating out with some invitations
  • ~$10.250 in total, including medical, flights and bike shipping costs.

All $ values are converted to NZD.

Day 237 – Launch day

Time to use the train to the airport!

Time to use the train to the airport!

Today was an extremely relaxed day. Our flight would leave that night at 8.40 pm and we had nothing else planned on that day. In the end, we actually stuck around at our guesthouse until 3 pm, with a bit of coffee and lunch in between to kill the time.

The trip to the airport was pleasantly uneventful. The taxi driver for once did not try to fleece us and the train link out of town is new, clean and efficient.

Waiting at the gate

Waiting at the gate

There was one surprise waiting on us at the airport, though. We went to the check-in counter first thing to find out why we were unable to use the online check in. They told us that they would need to verify out credit card to get the boarding cards. This turned out to be code for “trying to find how you will leave again”. When obviously no onward flights were found, I had to explain myself. The check-in staff was pretty surprised by the explanation and all of a sudden seemed mighty impressed. Someone must have checked out if there really is a ferry going into Iran in the background and when this came back positive, we were sent on our way with temporary boarding cards. We did get the final ones at the gate, much to Nina’s relief.

OmanAir was pretty amazing as far as airlines go. We were on a brand new Dreamliner, with plenty of leg space, top in-flight entertainment and plenty of decent food. So with the soundtrack of “Creed”, we launched into the night.

Goodbye Southeast Asia!

Day 236 – Jim Thompson House

One bike's flight worth of Thai baht

One bike’s flight worth of Thai baht

We were alternating: One day of tourist attractions, one day of doing blissful nothing, back to a bad conscience and tourist attractions. With that goal in mind, time flew by. Saturday was our last proper day in Bangkok so we better had to get out there to see something. However, we were detained until almost lunch time by the fact that we needed to wait for our shipping agent to show up at the guest house to for the bike’s shipping in cash.

The Lonely Planet recommended the Jim Thompson house quite warmly and we kind of felt like another museum type thing. Getting there was a bit of a mission as you are just cattle for the taxi drivers who refuse to turn on the meter on a regular basis. Or ask for a 100 baht tip in advance. All in all, taxi drivers in Thailand are no fun and you always have to keep an eye out. But you can’t completely control things. So we were sitting in the cab with the meter running while the taxi driver just drove so slowly that he would get his 100 baht in the end even with the meter. *sigh*

Thanks for disappearing, your house makes a nice attraction

Thanks for disappearing, your house makes a nice attraction

We got out at one of the consume temples aka big malls before we realized that food there is really rather expensive. So we left again, wandered the streets until we came to a vegetarian restaurant with okay prices. From here, we walked the rest of the way back to the Jim Thompson House.

Jim Thompson was an American who settled in Thailand after the second World War. He single-handedly revived the interest in hand-woven silks and traditional Thai patterns. His house which is mostly a museum by now is formed by combining six traditional mahogany Thai houses, moved to Bangkok and reassembled in a way to create a large living space. Thai houses only have one room so by combining six of them, he got quite the estate. Then he went on to collect art in all forms which now, you can look at in the original setting.

fresh cocoons, cooked ones and ready spun thread

fresh cocoons, cooked ones and ready spun thread

The place itself is beautiful, set in a lush garden and full of tourists. About every 10min, a guided tour through the house starts. Naturally, we had picked the English tour which was a blessing and a curse. A blessing because the tour was really quite good and you got a lot of information but a curse as we had to suffer through the culturally inappropriate behaviour of an older couple from Oregon. First of all, they were really outspoken, as in they just asked all the questions that popped up in their minds. Learning is a good thing. But when it came to “yeah, but where were those muslim people originally from? They were not Thai, were they?”, it started to go down into a bit of a rabbit hole and ended with the lady correcting the poor guide’s English (it was good for f***’s sake). At the end, when our guide bowed with the hands in front of her, the gesture was repeated by the American lady who then went on to clutch the guide’s hand (such a no go…Thai don’t even shake hands) and continued her English lesson.

He build a villa for himself combining six traditional houses

He build a villa for himself combining six traditional houses

It was too much for us so we left pretty hastily to sneak back around to the guide afterwards to apologize for such a culturally inappropriate behaviour. We were not the only ones either as a black couple from New York basically did the same thing at the same time. They apologized for the rudeness of fellow Americans.

Trying to get over our “fremdschämen”, we now went to Siam Center where we had some delicious late afternoon ice cream before heading over to Siam Paragon which houses the big-ass cinema. Unfortunately, only Batman v Superman was screening so we refrained from spending money on that and went home instead.

Day 235 – Get a move on

Such a lovely, cozy room

Such a lovely, cozy room

It is just too hot to do anything. Yesterday, before going out for dinner, we had a look at a guesthouse we saw on Agoda for the remaining two nights. Our current hotel was still overpriced and underwhelming and not even the WiFi was that good. The place we looked at was lovely – it had shared bathrooms, but those were spotless and just around the corner. The room itself was perfect for us. Cute, with AC and a flat screen TV, and most of all a very comfy bed. So we booked in till Sunday.

The most touristy street we found

The most touristy street we found

Which leads us to today, the move day. We stuck out in the old room until it was check out time, shouldered our few bags and walked the 15 minutes to the new guesthouse. That was pretty much our day, really. After the slightly stressful time with dropping off the bike and the sightseeing yesterday; today, we just chilled. After Nina took a nap, we put the flat screen to good use with season 4 of the Great British Bake Off (no judging!).

Food wise, we were quite conservative. For lunch, we walked a bit further out to avoid westernised stuff and found a cool little stall at a street corner selling food kind of Padang style with mix and match rice and ready-made dishes. Dinner was even more conservative, with another trip to last night’s Israeli place.

Day 234 – Museum of Siam

Modern museum, modern picto-dudes

Modern museum, modern picto-dudes

After having spent all of yesterday on putting Rocinante in her cage, today we wanted to see something of Bangkok. I’m kinda through with temples and royal palaces and Flo expressed similar feelings so the Museum of Siam it was.

The tuk-tuk driver was a bit of a gangster getting way too much money out of us “tourists” for a rather short ride. Arriving at 9.55am at the museum, we waited for 5min for it to open and were the first people in. Which turned out to be a blessing as we got to see the short movie and about two rooms before we were steam-rolled by school classes. There seemed to be about 5 classes on our heels. At one point, we decided to let them pass and stay back a bit but then more classes appeared and the noise level just couldn’t be helped.

Love the wall paper. A classic!

Love the wall paper. A classic!

The Museum of Siam is quite new and interactive which made it a fun museum to experience. The English translations are good, giving you insights into the history of Siam, which was the countries name before becoming the nation state of Thailand. To be honest, Flo and I loved the “Thailand in the 70s” part the most as it was perfect for taking hilarious pictures.

After two hours, we left highly entertained to find some food. As the tuk-tuk fare here had cost us 150 baht (NZ$6), we decided to take our time and walk back to the hotel thus also seeing more of Bangkok. In theory, the plan was perfect and it also worked well in practice apart for the sun scorching down on our every step.

The open wasteland with the palace in the back

The open wasteland with the palace in the back

So we stuck to the shade of trees as long as they were available and were dearly disappointed when we crossed a “park” that consisted entirely of scorched brown grass. Makes no sense to have such an exposed space in this climate. That needs to be reserved for places like London where you happy about every ray of sunshine. =P

Cooling down again took some hours as there was no pool available and we headed out again for dinner this time to an Israeli restaurant. Getting some different flavours was so delicious! We shared a plate of falafel, hummus, chips and salad with a side of tzatziki with pita bread. So, so good! The tzatziki plate looked like it had been washed once we were through our meal…Flo made sure to get even the tiniest rest.

Flo actually decided to use some of the evening time to catch up with his family. Quite late, we then skyped with Lina and Michael as we’re gonna visit them soon after landing in Dubai. So exciting! Haven’t seen them in aaaaaaaaages (2 ½ years).

Day 233 – Tiger Cage

Arriving early to stay for the whole process

Arriving early to stay for the whole process

The warehouse would open at 8.30 am and was only 3 km away as the crow flies, giving us ample time to pack and have a leisurely breakfast. There was a beautiful grey cat with sky blue eyes living at the resort, and she joined us in the hope for scraps. Only one of us was disappointed in the end 😉

Both our resort and the warehouse were at the eastern edge of town, where rice paddies and wooden huts mix with motorways and industrial development on a lot by lot basis. Luckily the GPS was un-phased and we had the coordinates for the place. I sometimes wonder how people found anything in places like this before good maps and GPS …

Battery has to be disconnected. Also note that the wind screen and mirrors are gone

Battery has to be disconnected. Also note that the wind screen and mirrors are gone

At the packing place, people were already busy at work. I was determined to stick around and make sure the box ends up as small as possible, after the disaster in Auckland. Since it was only for sea freight then, the enormous box only lost us about $100, but this time the story was different. I knew how small the bike could be packed from the crate I built for when we shipped the bike to New Zealand. The difference between these two crates would be $1500 NZ in air freight fares, so I was not about to leave that to chance.

Sure enough, the first suggestion from the master crate maker was comically huge – coming out at a volume weight of 550 kg. So with some pointing and an old picture of the bike in the crate I made, he agreed to these measurements – resulting in a crate with 375 kg volume weight.

Third step: Secure the front fork so the bike can't move

Third step: Secure the front fork so the bike can’t move

We had to wait a little while for the guys to finish an urgent order of some 15 pallets – all build from scratch – to finish. That gave us just enough time to finish the paperwork. But soon enough, the base pallet was assembled and I joined the guys in getting the bike in place. Getting the front wheel out was a bit of a mission without a jack, but it worked. Some re-positioning and the bike was being secured on the pallet.

Next step was getting all the other bits and bobs on and shrink wrap it all up like Spiderman’s wildest dream. While taking some pictures, we realised just in time that we had left the surface in one pannier. I rushed down and saved it from the clutches of the wrapper just in time.

The final product: Rocinante in a tiger cage

The final product: Rocinante in a tiger cage

The crate was nice and solid in the end and came in at about 1/4 of what we payed in New Zealand. Then again, also came with an annoyance in the end. Once everything was done, master crater Bob realized that he forgot to take the pallet itself into account and the box ended up 10 cm higher. I once again scold myself for being respectful and nice and suffering the fool in the end. So here we are, with a crate slightly bigger than the one I build myself – costing us another 200 euro in freight more than it needed to.

The whole affair took us less than 2.5 hrs. By 11 am, we were in a taxi on our way to central Bangkok. We even got to use the cursed elevated highways for the meager fee of 75 baht – since this time we were in a vehicle with the “appropriate” number of wheels.

Expensive but moldy "superior" room in central Bangkok...disappointed

Expensive but moldy “superior” room in central Bangkok…disappointed

Our hotel ended up as quite the disappointment. We chose a recommendation from the lonely planet, and it was not cheap (by our standards). Even though the room was big, it was damp, moldy and smelly and overall a lot tourist trappy in its feel.

For lunch, we went to a recommended vegetarian Thai restaurant, but were a bit disappointed again. The area here, near Khao San Road, is called a “backpacker ghetto” by some and we are learning why. Here more than anywhere else, we get the feeling that a lot of the economy is based on whities fresh from the plane with no idea of what things should cost. It is not uncommon that you can get a pad thai of similar quality for 40 bath in one place and 140 baht next door.

One of Bangkok's canals in evening light during our food hunt

One of Bangkok’s canals in evening light during our food hunt

That night we also went through the ordeal of buying flights for Dubai. Initially we wanted to leave on Saturday, but there were no good deals available any more. Only Emirates flies directly and their prices are about 50% more than any other one stop would cost. We ended up with a good compromise with an overnight flight Sunday to Monday via Muscat that was about 10% more than the cheapest flights but would save us one night in a hotel. But just when we wanted to buy it, it was not available anymore! From previous experiences I knew that researching flights can lead to increased prices or even offers being gone entirely because every site locks the flight for 15 minutes or so to complete your booking. Looking at more than one site at once can lead to gridlock. Lucky for us, just waiting an hour to release all the reservation did the trick and we were able to book. Dubai, here we come!

Day 232 – Packing in Bangkok

2 lanes frontage road, 4 lane highway and 3 lane tollway (overhead) all going the same way ...

2 lanes frontage road, 4 lane highway and 3 lane tollway (overhead) all going the same way …

A whole day to get into Bangkok. Not to be bad with just 250km to go. Unfortunately, it was 38 degrees again which felt like closer to 50 degrees on the motorway in the scorching sun. Also, getting into Bangkok is simply a nightmare. Motorbikes are not allowed on the proper motorways where you pay toll so instead, we were going on the same road as all the trucks and scooters. This meant jam-like conditions starting as far off as 60km before Bangkok. In the heat. The whole ride was just exhausting, nothing more. At some point we stopped at a 7eleven and hid inside just to get our core temperature down again in an ac’d space. BUT, even the worst traffic moves and we arrived at our accommodation at lunch time.

Dropping all the luggage into the room, we just headed out again to have lunch and acquire some form of dinner as our room was out in the sticks, close to nothing but the warehouse where we needed to go tomorrow. We found a local market for some veggie noodle soup and a 7eleven with the option of toast and cheese. All set for the rest of the day, we went back.

Yeay and ney piles will soon be forming.

Yeay and ney piles will soon be forming.

Cooling down was the most urgent point on our to do list now. Luckily, a pool was available (in the shade) which provided us with ample opportunity. Afterwards, we unpacked everything we own, checked if we could take it on a flight or had to chuck it out and repacked. It sounds like a neat package in one sentence but it actually was a lot of work. The spray cans of WD40 and chain oil had to go (flammable) so Flo actually cleaned the bike before applying both for the last time. We updated the route on the world map on our pannier, put the paperwork, clothes and toiletries to the side as we will need this here in Bangkok with us for the next couple of days and packed the rest.

In between, we had a lovely afternoon break patting the resident cats and figuring out that hiding inside our room is really the most comfortable option.

Day 231 – Klicks

We had a good night’s sleep in our little “resort” in Hot (resort in Thailand means a hotel a bit out of the city center or out in the fields). Today, we even got a free breakfast – including fresh strawberries!

The first bit of the route was "scenic"

The first bit of the route was “scenic”

We had about another 100 km of more or less windy back road until we were planning on hitting the highway 1. These really turned out to be quite nice, even if my arm was still taking a bit of enjoyment out of riding. It would still get stiff and cramp after like 30 minutes of riding. On top of it all, it was once again scolding hot. Riding was still fine, but any amount of walking or stopping out of the shade were just … inadvisable.

Once we hit the highway 1, it became quite a different ride again. 600 km of flat land on a road pretty close to a motorway. Cruising speed moved up to 110 km/h, at least outside of the many stretches of roadworks forcing both directions on one of the two multi-lane strips. The kilometers just melted away.

We passed this pick-up going at least 80kmh so the dog was quite deformed

We passed this pick-up going at least 80kmh so the dog was quite deformed

After a very brief and unmemorable lunch in Tak, we were on the road again when a macabre first for the two of us occurred. As expected at a little traffic jam on a stretch of roadwork, we came past an accident. A ute came off the road and had hit a tree. As we passed it, we both got a look at our first dead person that we can remember. Lying right there on the road with the paramedic just taking pictures of him was a lifeless human form wrapped in white sheets – with one blue and mangled hand sticking out.

We got the whole thing for a very good price

We got the whole thing for a very good price

We ended that day with only 250 km to go in another resort somewhere in the no-man’s-land between towns. The benefit was a killer price for an excellent room – the down side was that we were not prepared for the fact that we could not just walk 100m and have dinner ready. I ended up riding another 20 km alone in search of food and all I came up with in the end were crisps and an eight month old one-square-meal.

 

 

Day 230 – Melting on the Mae Hong Son loop

Bunny face! On the coffee!

Bunny face! On the coffee!

Getting up as early as possible to escape the heat a little bit didn’t quite work. Up at 7am, we first went to the Coffee House for breakfast. It’s a really cute place that combines a cafe with a book shop. Lovely atmosphere, great coffee (bunny coffee!) and tea, not so great croissants. But afterwards, we were good to go.

It wasn’t certain how far we could make it today. Flo still would have loved to go camping while I was hanging on, hoping to make it to a town called “Hot” as this would make the remaining route to Bangkok doable in two days.

Trying to capture "the haze"

Trying to capture “the haze”

The “haze” this morning was crazy. You really couldn’t see much from all smoke being pressed down into the valleys. I’m not sure if the pictures give a good impression of it; it’s like fog but man-made. The road was good though and riding run while I finally gained confidence again on the bike. Not so much to take daring pictures but at least I snapped a few quick shots this time. Although we planned to go further than yesterday, we stuck to taking breaks often to relieve Flo’s arm and to drink as much water as possible. It was getting sweltering hot to the point where the wind was like a blow dryer to the face again. Seriously, it hasn’t been so dry and stuffy since Australia. Luckily, Thailand is an easy country to travel in so we found plenty of cooled water along the way as well as lovely little shaded spots for breaks.

Another amazing spot for a break, sweetened with iced coffee

Another amazing spot for a break, sweetened with iced coffee

In the afternoon, we rode through a forest park. Camping is allowed in here but I just couldn’t imagine it. Even Flo admitted that we would steam ourselves in the tent. Instead, we took a nice long break in the shade with an iced coffee and an iced chocolate which brought our core temperature down a little bit.

From here the road followed a river which meant a very curvy but flat road. Heaps of people flocked to the river which was lined with snack stalls and inner tubes for hire. EVERYONE needed a little cool down. It was tempting but I knew that once I was out of my gear, there was no way I would get back into it. So we pushed on a little further until we arrived at a lovely little guest house along the road. Prices were reasonable, breakfast was included and it had ac and a mini fridge in the room. Bliss. When we put on the ac, it showed the room temperature as 36 degrees. So freaking hot.

Needing to cool down and relax a bit, I skype called my family a bit later before we headed out for dinner into the nearby town. The first place sent us away again as they didn’t offer any vegetarian food but the second one made us mixed fried vegetables with rice for under NZ$4. Thus, I thought it was justified to buy a bag of peanut M&Ms in a 7eleven as dessert. 🙂

Day 229 – Pain & gain

Dream team reunited =P

Dream team reunited =P

It was a normal overtaking, maybe a bit energetic, but nothing too brash. But now the next turn was coming closer fast … closer and closer, until there was no more road. Two wheels flying over the grassy shoulder down to the now overgrown drainage channel on the side of the road. Lucky that there are very few guard rails or posts on the side of Thai roads. Still going maybe 40 km/h, clutching madly at the handlebars, bouncing wildly … and then the other rider made it! He was so darn lucky to make it out of this one in one piece. We? No, we were going at a super relaxed pace, stopped and checked if he was ok. He was.

So, we were on the road again. After the second break in two weeks, seeing three different hospitals in the process, I could wait no longer. Yes, two more days probably would have been the cautious route, but I so desperately wanted to get back on the road again. I was sure getting this message hammered home as a constant low level pain throbbing in my arm. Yet, I was still happy. The pain was manageable with regular breaks. It would be always the same – good for 15 minutes or so and then slowly starting to tense up and sting, until almost stiff. Like a super slow motion cramp. I think that probably circulation in the arm muscles is not yet fully restored and the breaks “loosened up” everything enough to get the blood flowing again.

Back on the road!

Back on the road!

But these roads! We went on the Mae Hong Son loop, a legendary motorcycle trip of 600 km starting and ending in Chiang Mai. We will do all of it but the boring last 85 km back to Chiang Mai, of course not today. Today’s goal is Mae Hong Son, a little provincial town near the Myanmar border. An easy 235 km day – and we got onto the road reasonably early. The road was just marvelous. Perfect seal and turn after turn after turn. I have missed this.

Sadly the scenery could not quite hold up, especially with the ever increasing haze. Mae Hong Son district is infamous for the amount of haze during the late dry season due to the locals burning their fields and additional forest fires. Around Mae Hong Son, visibility got down to less than 300m at times. At least it shielded us from the sun a little bit. The day was scorching hot – 34.5°C at 9 am and going steadily up.

Giant overland vehicle...it comes with a motorcycle in the back and a tank the size of our motorcycle plus ourselves

Giant overland vehicle…it comes with a motorcycle in the back and a tank the size of our motorcycle plus ourselves

When it was time for our first break after about 60 km, we spotted a huge white truck with the unmistakable signs of overander-dom to it. When we pulled over to have a look we immediately got welcomed and invited to a cup of coffee by Maéva, Rémi and their visiting dad. The content of their tank weights more than our bike (including us) and they carry a 400cc motorcycle. Still, we are not jealous. We had a nice chat and got back on the road after exchanging contact details and good wishes.

We had lunch at Pai, the half way point of the day. Initially we though we might stay here if the arm is not up for more, but in the end we were keen on leaving again. Pai evolved from a 5 hut village to backpacker central, with not really much to go for other than the surrounding national parks. So the town itself is like a copy and past of any other backpacker hub in Southeast Asia, sans the main attraction that usually goes with these.

Evening haze over the town when we were on our way to the local market

Evening haze over the town when we were on our way to the local market

Mae Hong Son was more up our alley. We found an affordable room within walking distance of the market. Dinner was nice and cheap that way, and we got a load of fresh and sweet strawberries for under $1. We even managed to find a cozy spot to finish season 3 of the the Great British Bake-Off. The wrong baker won, though … 😉