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Day 192 – Argh, argh!

Dragged ourselves out in our "sleeping" cotton shirts :)

Dragged ourselves out in our “sleeping” cotton shirts 🙂

We had planned to go on a little ride-out to find a lookout and hill station in the Bokor National Park. But once we had taken our breakfast at our still lovely guesthouse (we had decided to stay one more day, by the way) did the stomach demon strike. And that was it, pretty much.

We dragged ourselves out two more times to get food – Lunch at the Epic Arts (no experiments) and dinner at a more forgettable expat pizza joint in town, but that is it. A lot of sleeping, a lot of watching youtube.

No – honestly, that is it. So why don’t I use this to give an update on our more recent thoughts on the route from here on out and on our changing plans?

Why?

We had no illusions that all big plans we might have come up with in New Zealand had to have a level of flexibility when it comes to execution. Over the last two months, this has evolved and grown a bit beyond minor details. So, what are the issues? Why change?

First, because frankly, we have run out of money. Even though we have received incredible support to keep us going, we felt that we should at least consider cutting it a bit shorter to reduce our future outstanding obligations.

Further, we have felt an increasing pull to “come home” – to a single place for a good long while. Not so strong that we want to pull the plug entirely, but strong enough. We are both pretty sure that this will be a once in a lifetime trip and we would cut future adventures down to 1-3 months maximum.

Most importantly and urgently requiring a change of plan though was the fact that we realised that we do not want to go to Pakistan. Most importantly through Baluchistan. After a lot of talk it boils down to this: We do not want to risk our lives and more importantly the lives of some poor soldiers just to draw a line on a map. We, for now, have no pull towards Pakistan and would only be there to get to Iran.

There are other, minor bits: Nepal, our other big highlight, is in crisis right now with no clear end in sight. Myanmar required an expensive guide and can be well done some other time on smaller bikes. India is a mixed bag, but the long list of horror stories from the road (including fatalities) are playing into it as well.

The Plan 2.0

Right. So our new plan is to complete the Cambodia – Laos – Northern Thailand loop, then do Bangkok and fly either from there or from Kuala Lumpur to Dubai. Then we would do a little loop through Oman to visit Nina’s best friend and her lovely husband and come back to Dubai to take the ferry into Iran. Persia is, after Laos, the big “want to go there” item on our list.

After that, we would travel on to Istanbul, as a sort of unofficial end point and dash, broke as we are, back home across Eastern Europe.

All of this will probably cut two months out of our trip, making a perfect early summer return date. If all goes according to plan … 😉

planning ...

planning …

Day 189 – Privilege

It is hard for me to fathom, and is actually getting harder as we get on with our trip, how immensely privileged we are. The insane randomness to be born white and male, as a German in the most peaceful and prosperous age Europe has know in its existence. To have had all the opportunities that I have and all the doors that are open to us.

How? Well, let’s start with the obvious. Yesterday, we basically ran out of money. What we have in cash on us is pretty much all we have, and it may last us a month. For the majority of people we interact with daily, heck, for the majority of people, that is an existential everyday issue. But not for us – we are privileged. We have a network of friends and family that will support us, lend us money. Understand that there is no existential issue here – we do not need money to survive or get out of a dire straight. We are able to peruse happiness as we see fit, due to the incredible friends and families we are lucky to have.

More important, we grew up not knowing the realities of real large scale violence and war, yet we got to grow up not fully ignorant to such things. As it is a remarkable thing Germans do. I have stood in the field of graves at Verdun and have been terrified by the silence that lies over Buchenwald as part of my publicly funded education. Glimpses of horror and chances given to us to become weary without ever really being threatened to suffer any such things ourselves.

High school turned torture prison turned museum...it looks so innocent from the courtyard

High school turned torture prison turned museum…it looks so innocent from the courtyard

Today we went to visit the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum located in what has become known as the S-21 prison of the Khmer Rouge. Once again, we got a glimps of horror into a world that we will never have to truly understand. But we have to try. Because the perpetrators, in all these cases, from the Mongol rider to the KZ prison guard, are not some other beings. These were all humans, just like us. It is in us to commit unthinkable acts of violence. A shift in morals or ideology can happen any time, any where. All individual steps to insanity are … understandable in some way.

Rules for "interrogation"

Rules for “interrogation”

The horror lies in the ordinarity with which atrocities are committed. For me and in this place, it is the obsession with the confession. Most vile acts were committed by the Khmer Rouge and millions of people died. The machine soon ate its own children as well. Yet this insane system could not just be OK with killing the prisoners or “enemies”. Everyone had to confess first. People were tortured for weeks, to get the confession. Confessions were obviously bullshit, full of lies. Heck, most of the time people would not even have anything to confess to begin with and just not know what their tormentors wanted from them. Everybody would be killed in the end anyway, but so much pain was induced to just “follow the rules” and oblige to the internal logic of this devilish farce.

I am privileged without end to be able to learn in these places without ever having to suffer anything remotely close to the horrors that happened here. I feel deeply for the Cambodians and am utterly impressed with how positive and lovely everyone is that we encounter.

Random tourists in a roadside eatery =P

Random tourists in a roadside eatery =P

Right there and then though, we got reminded once more how we are privileged in a whole different way again. We were somberly making our way through the former high school turned torture camp turned museum listening to the very well done audio guide. Then, I see someone wholly unexpected. Right here, of all places, we ran into Celia and Tig, or hosts from Darwin again. It was the strangest of moments that can only really come from a trip like this. To see someone else we know and care for, admit the horrors that surround us was elevating and humbling at the same time.

We chatted a bit awkwardly over the first surprise of reunion and then agreed to meet after we were through with the audio tour to hang out a bit more. So we did, and it became a lovely evening of reminiscing, catching up on travel plans and some engine talk.  If both our plans go as we think, this will be the last time we see the two of them before Germany (the invitation to stay with us is already issued). Never say never, though …

So yeah, we are privileged. No point being ashamed of it, same as there is none to be ashamed of being born into less privilege. We try to make the best of it, seize the opportunities that we got and stay as humble about it as we can.

 

Day 186 – Battambang

This was an easy riding day today. Only 175 km on a mostly deserted highway from Siem Reap to Battambang. The reason to stop so soon was two fold. For one, so that we have a good launching point for the remainder to Phnom Penh, but secondly to stop early enough to have some time to explore Battambang.

We found some colonial architecture but were mostly impressed by the chillaxed atmosphere of the town

We found some colonial architecture but were mostly impressed by the chillaxed atmosphere of the town

The city is the capital of the province by the same name. In recent history, it was occupied a couple of times by the Thai. It has some cool French colonial architecture left standing and is a way to experience a little bit of what “normal” Cambodian cities would look like.

We took our time, started after a late breakfast and made good progress. The road is smooth, the traffic manageable – with the exception of the overtaking by some of the cars. There is a clear but annoying hierarchy in Cambodia: Cars don’t see oncoming motorbikes as a valid reason not to overtake. After all, they can always move to the shoulder. Unfortunately, this extends to us – but I will surely not go off the tarmac into sand at 80 km/h, so it takes a bit of focus and liberal use of the horn to explain the error of their ways to the kamikaze cars every 10 km or so. Overall, it is still quite manageable though.

Our first lunch outside the tourist area of Siem Reap: BBQ Chicken and Papaya salad for US$2.75

Our first lunch outside the tourist area of Siem Reap: BBQ Chicken and Papaya salad for US$2.75

Lunch was taken at a roadside BBQ joint that stood out by its spotless seating area. It has become harder to find passable places to eat – Indonesia was a highlight in that regard. This time we were lucky though – and even got a veggie salad for Nina. The owners were charming, the BBQ chicken delicious and all of it ridiculously cheap at $2.75 US.

Sadly, the recommended cute little backpacker place would only take two day plus reservations, so by the time we arrived, they were booked out. We went with Agoda once more and found this comparatively luxurious hotel, just a little bit out but still within walking distance for $8 US per night. Once more we unloaded, got a shower and got ready to hit the town. The afternoon was just right for it. It had cooled down a little and the light was gorgeous again.

Flo found a "trimm dich pfad" (workout stations) at the riverside and had to try it

Flo found a “trimm dich pfad” (workout stations) at the riverside and had to try it

After a loop to take in the river and architecture (and some fooling around at the monkey bars) it was time to feed Nina’s inner chocolate monster. What better place than the Choco L’Art – a gallery / cafe run by a French / Khmer couple.

Since we were keen to get to bed and ready for a long day of riding tomorrow, we decided to go straight from tea to dinner. Once more picking a “dining for a cause” restaurant, we treated ourselves to delicious Khmer food in the most cozy of places. We are still blown away by the harsh contrasts between the Cambodian reality outside, especially during the dusty dry months, and the spic and span places set for westerners to leave their hard dollars.

Day 183 – Temples, towers and taverns

There was not much time to take a breather or think about the near future in the last couple of days, with all the worries about the bike. Now that we made it here, it became both evident and pressing that we did not have formulated any kind of further plan or done our research for the temples of Angkor. Over dinner last night, a plan evolved. We would go for a 3 day pass and stay either 3 or 4 days in Siem Reap.

We immediately started with another fail. After obsessing for what Nina assures me was “forever” over where to stay the remaining two nights, I ended up with this beautiful place. Pool, chilly atmosphere – upper end of our budget, but we stayed very cheap last night, right? Well, it turned out the reason I found this gem was that I only booked one night – at the price of 2 of our usual digs. No wonder the place is that nice :). We made it up by adding another night at the super cheap dig to even things out. To be fair, for $13 NZ including breakfast, it was a good deal. The breakfast was not too shabby, if lacking variety and we have paid more for much dirtier rooms in Indonesia.

After all the trouble, she's given us...Rocinante made it to the temple complex!

After all the trouble, she’s given us…Rocinante made it to the temple complex!

We cleared out our panniers, geared ourselves light and headed out towards the temple complex of Angkor. Angor Wat is just the most famous of many temples, monasteries and other massive projects in the larger area of the former Khmer capital of Angkor. The area is vast and to explore it, some form of transport is required. Which led us to hoping and crossing our fingers that we would be allowed to go in with Rocinante.

The 3 day tickets come at a fair price of $40 US per person – given the international reputation of the site and everything else being so cheap. Even better than getting our tickets with no hassle was the confirmation that we could indeed explore the area at our leisure with our bike. Wohoo!

Following the three day exploration advice from the Lonely Planet, we left the mighty Angkor Wat aside (other than the glimpses while passing it, since that is the way to go) to explore the north east of the area. First on our list was Preah Khan.

Most impressive

Most impressive

This temple was build in the late 12th century and was dedicated to both the Buddah as well as the Hindu gods Brahma, Shiva and Vishu. It was definitively a good start, although we were still a bit lost regarding the iconography. Maybe the most impressive bit so far were the carvings on the entrance bridges we passed. Rows of humanoids engaged in a “tug-o-war” using a Naga for a rope. This symbolises the “churning of the ocean of milk” – a piece of religious mythology that we will have heard more often by the end of this day than we may ever have asked for.

Preah Khan’s most interesting feature is a two story building with columns that looks pretty out of place here. It looks like it fled ancient Greece to live in exile here with the Khmer. Then again, there must have been knowledge about the Persian and European realms beyond India, so one can speculate.

Large water basin with a tower with four water basins around it

Large water basin with a tower with four water basins around it

After a little refresher, we moved on to Preah Neak Poan, a small tower set in a lake within a massive Baray. Barays are massive rectangular water storage basins that formed part of the Khmers irrigation systems. The Baray and the moats surrounding the larger temples have been cleared and flooded once more and are in my mind as impressive feats of engineering as the temples are.

It was time to head back for lunch. We decided to treat ourselves a little bit and go for one of the “dining for a cause” recommendations from the Lonely Planet. The “Marum” is a training restaurant, training young Cambodians up to western standards in hospitality. The staff was great and the food even better – even though I am still a bit on the fence about the core premise here. It felt very neo-colonial to see young and bright people train hard only to archive the proper “servant” rank for my dollar laden western desires.

Food porn!

Food porn!

Nina’s comment: Half of the staff is also trained in cooking in a restaurant kitchen. Also, even the waiting staff is learning English and, in the hospitality section, this can only be an advantage. Also, the food was so yummy. I had decided on “Marum” because it offers a range of vegetarian foods. In the end, we ordered three vegetarian tapas: rice paper rolls filled with grilled pepper and goat cheese with a tamarind dip (Flo’s favourite), smoked eggplant dig with Indian crackers (my favourite) and a very solid, earthy hummus made from lotus, jackfruit and coriander with baguette. I even got a to-die-for-chocolate cake with passionfruit syrup as dessert.

With plenty of time left in the day, we were thinking of hitting one of the museums around. Unfortunately, the Landmine Museum was a bit too far out to be reached in time, so we settled on the much more expensive Angkor National Museum.

Only picture of the museum as taking the camera inside would have cost extra

Only picture of the museum as taking the camera inside would have cost extra

The experience was good, all in all a very modern museum experience – something I would expect and enjoy back home as well. Then again, around here it felt a bit out of place at times. Why do I pay $3 for a fancy audio guide when you could train and employ scores of Cambodians as personal guides for the same price? Instead, technology is used to funnel funds past the locals right into the foreign investors’ pockets. Be that as it may, the only criticism about the exhibition was that it may be focused a bit too much on the religious aspects of Angkor and the Khmer at the cost of some broader historic context. What about agricultural base? What about the systems of slave labour? Still, we left two hours later with a huge info-dump that would help us interpret what we will see in the temples tomorrow and the day after. No photos by the way, since even if we would have payed $2 extra camera fee, pretty much all the relevant exhibits had a no photography sign next to them …

Then, it was time for an early night – we had decided to watch the sunrise over Angkor Wat tomorrow morning. The alarm was set for 5 am …

Day 180 – Bangkok is the new Denpasar

Blogging at the breakfast table

Blogging at the breakfast table

We almost got fooled by the utterly unfounded confidence of our mechanic yesterday. Where to go? Would we believe in his words and go on towards Cambodia? Once again, a WhatsApp exchanged with Jonathan came with bad news that nonetheless saved our bacon. He checked the specifications on the regulator / rectifier that was put in yesterday and confirmed. Too weak. Rocinante produces about 400W of electricity, the r/r could only “neutralise” a maximum of 300W. That means even with all lights constantly going, it would be at maximum capacity at all time. Maybe ok at 15°C, but not at 36°C as we had yesterday.

All this considered, we decided to go back to the nearest Honda “BigWing” dealer in Pattaya and try our luck. All bikes over 300cc are part of the BigWing section, which are marketed as luxury items with only a handful of showrooms in the country. And so we parted from our lovely and extremely helpful hosts. If you ever find yourself in Chanthaburi, I recommend staying at Banchan 9 Homestay.

Right away, it proved to be the right decision. The rear ABS sensor was playing up with intermittent faults, which also meant that we had neither speed- nor odometer for the first couple of kilometers. But with the lights on high beam and every device plugged in to charge, it settled down after 10 minutes or so. Still the fear of permanent damage of the CDI or ABS computer crept into our minds.

At least they were helpful in referring us on. Honda was just utterly useless

At least they were helpful in referring us on. Honda was just utterly useless

Arriving at the Honda dealer turned out to be the first big bust of the day in the end. After giving us the barest minimum of courtesy by checking the original parts number in their system (I already knew it is not in it, the Transalp was never sold in Thailand) they pretty much ignored us from here on. Thus began a bit of a goose chase through Pattaya – the Kawasaki shop sent us to their workshop who sent us to an independent workshop further on. The last one looked extremely promising, with both an old Transalp as well as an Africa Twin right there.

It got even better when the owner produced a R/R he claimed was from a 900cc Kawasaki cruiser – I briefly checked and the one from that bike would indeed have been enough to get us going for good. Just to be 100% certain, we consulted our WhatsApp oracle while the part was being installed. Once again, once all was said and done we were left disappointed and devastated. The temporary fix from Chanthaburi had blown up already on the last 150km, so we had to use the new one, payed $180 for it and still had no permanent solution. Later that day it turned out that the owner was wrong or may have lied to me regarding the part he sold. Rather than the big 900cc bike he mentioned, the part was from a 650 Ninja … with a far less powerful alternator …

Hasty lunch at 4pm before tackling the road back to Bangkok

Hasty lunch at 4pm before tackling the road back to Bangkok

The few hours we have been in Pattaya made it clear that we did not want to stick around. The city is still known as a go-to destination for sex-tourists and the number of fat old white men we saw swaggering about with scantily clad young girls and women was plenty to trigger our gag and flight reflexes.

The saving grace was that we got one more contact for a parts and big bike shop, back in Bangkok out of it. However, it was written in Thai script so we had no idea where it was or how it was called. It was late already, very late, but we wanted to make use of the cooler evening time to get at least close to BKK again. We aimed for the hotel near the airport we stayed in a couple of days ago – east of the city and a good place to sort out where to go tomorrow.

We arrived after dark, but at least without any further issues regarding the electronics. Checking in took a moment due to a particularly obnoxious duo of German tourists taking forever with their petty requests uttered in even pettier English. But after that, when we were about to retreat to our room to fully deflate, came the glimmer of hope that would rob me of almost all my sleep that night. We asked the hotel staff to translate the address we got in Pattaya and it turned out that it was for the local branch of the Red Baron chain. They are great in NZ, so I really got my hopes up this time …

Day 178 – No power left

It all started so well, with us having a chilled breakfast at our cheap and clean hotel. With free coffee and tea, and with me even having remembered to buy fresh milk last night. All was well. A brief loop round the inner city, maybe lunch and then a light 200km to get to a hotel near the Thai-Cambodian border. Easy, right?

Brain freezzzzee incomming!

Brain freezzzzee incomming!

Not quite as it would turn out. The city was nice, but nothing to linger too much. We thought of maybe hanging around for a coffee or so at the riverfront. However, we did not find the place recommended by the Lonely Planet. Instead, we settled into a pretty restaurant / juice bar, as the only patrons for now. Their shtick is a strawberry slushy – so I naturally went with that while Nina opted for the orange version.

Well cooled down and with high spirits, we saddled up once more to get on the road … and failed! Rocinante would not start, the battery was drained. Oh, well. We did a bunch of short rides since yesterday and I was not sure if I had pulled the plug for the GPS. So not a big reason to worry. Continue reading →

Day 176 – Getting tyre’d

We are close to Bangkok and the goals for the day are simple. First, get a set of new tyres. Second, finally replace the partly dissolved Touratech Compañero gloves. They were basically gone since Timor-Leste.

The tire is screwed. That puts the nail in the coffin ... sorry :)

The tire is screwed. That puts the nail in the coffin … sorry 🙂

I forgot to call ahead on both accounts, but have been in email contact a week or so back. What could go wrong? So we made our way to Asiana Moto, the licenced Heidenau importer for Thailand to get issue number one sorted.

Having all day to do stuff really helps to ease the stress of urban traffic quite a bit. After a comically bad breakfast at a little coffee shop attached to a petrol station, we started the 50km journey from the west of Bangkok to the shop located in the north-east. Traffic was heavy and slow going, but mostly cars, and those quite orderly. Even though we are about 110 cm wide with the luggage, we probably cut an hour or so out of our trip by lane splitting when possible. All in all, it took us about two hours to get there.

When we were within 1 km of the shop, I though I felt the bike behave oddly, and when we pulled up I was certain there was an issue with the rear tyre. I was right, a decent sized screw has embedded itself in the tyre, but unfortunately something else became evident: The shop seemed to be closed today. Oh … that may be an issue.

Turns out, the zega pro has its uses as a stilt for propping up the bike.

Turns out, the zega pro has its uses as a stilt for propping up the bike.

Luckily, I managed to get hold of Waranyu who is managing the store while the owners are out and about. Unfortunately, he was in Pattaya, 3 hours south of where we were. Nonetheless he promised to check the inventory to see if he could help us at all. Things got a bit hectic right then, while I took the wheel off (something needed to be done anyway, new tyre or not) a group of Thai arrived to help us maybe get the tyre fixed and Waranyu called back with news of an available rear in the shop.

I got hauled into a taxi, but the auto tyre shop could not help us with the tubed wheel and sent us off again. I did learn though that the tyre itself also had a tear lengthwise and should not be used even with a fixed tube. Meanwhile, Nina had talked to Waranyu and he agreed to get in the car and meet us at the store in 3 hours. What a hero!

yea, no way ... could not even break the bead.

yea, no way … could not even break the bead.

So we settled in. Nina got her book out and I got to work on the wheel, just for practice and to find out if I actually could fix a puncture myself if I needed to. The sobering result of that experiment was that no, with my tools I see no chance I would be able to break the bead on the rear. Not even after a quick lunch.

A bunch more Thai showed up, including a paramedic, eager to help. I was not able to break their enthusiasm and explain that I was just mucking around while waiting for Waranyu to open up the shop. Everyone was eager to try. Bigger tyre leavers were produced, but one by one, they failed (which soothed my hurt pride a bit). The tyre was still happily sitting on the rim unchanged when Waranyu showed up and was able to explain what was going on.

With the proper machinery, a new rear tyre and tube were fixed in no time and my biggest worry was taken care of. Which left the question of how to deal with the front. It was better off, but I doubt it would have another 5000 km in it for the round trip until we returned to Bangkok. There were no 100/90 19″ K60 available, neither the more road-y K76. I knew from NZ that I could squeeze a 110/80 19″ in if need be, but that it would be tight. The K76 fit, but the K60 was about 2 mm to wide when not on the rim.

proper tools handled by someone who knows what he is doing ...

proper tools handled by someone who knows what he is doing …

Waranyu when upstairs and rummaged around for a while until he emerged with an only half worn K60 from the discard pile. That one fit and we gave it a shot. A little drum roll, but it fitted even when on the rim. The best thing: I got this one for free! Thank you heaps Asiana Moto and Waranyu – that was a life saver.

Unfortunately, I spoiled the victorious mood a bit when I sheered off one of the four bolts securing the mounting plate of the front axle while putting everything back together. My story is that it was nicked before by a rock and I will stick with that … regardless, Waranyu was super helpful once more and gave us the address of a workshop we could go to tomorrow to get it sorted. The issue is not too bad, but nothing you want to go into both Laos and Cambodia if you have the chance to fix it before.

With big smiles and a photo session we took off for the Touratech Thailand premises another 35 km to the southeast, near the international airport. We made it there in time before they closed down and were welcome by Somjin. Sadly, the gloves I was using have been discontinued and the new summer gloves are not yet available in Thailand. Nonetheless, I left my, now utterly ruined, pair here to be send back to Germany for a post mortem.

Whohoo ... so far we have interacted with every TT distributor along the way ;)

Whohoo … so far we have interacted with every TT distributor along the way 😉

At least we got a replacement for the broken carrying handle strapping down our tent (yes, we are still carrying a tent …). We concluded our visit with a customary photo-in-front-of-sign session and were off for our resting place for the night.

We made use of being so close to the airport and for a cheap but cool place usually for people awaiting their flight. On our way there we passed a night market and stocked up for dinner. Markets like these are a pretty cool thing in Thailand. People sell single dinners in plastic bags, ready for assembly at home. This seems to be a popular thing among Thai. We each got something for us and then a sweet thing for dessert. All for less than $4 in total. Whohoo!

A final goody that night was that when the hotel staff saw all our gear they upgraded us to a superior room, so that we only had to lug it up two flight of stairs instead of six. Ah, what a day.

Day 175 – Cool runnings

Awesome limestone cliffs up ahead

Awesome limestone cliffs up ahead

There had been a storm that night, the remnants of which could be felt even this morning. With the temperatures dropped by about 15 degrees, an overcast sky and a gusty wind, we felt homesick for Wellington for the first time in a while.

But it was no good; it was time to leave again. Actually, the cool weather was great for riding. So we hung around just long enough for one more breakfast of Thomas’ home-made bread and got our “horse” saddled. It felt good to be rolling again.

In 18 degrees, this just looked so much like NZ

In 18 degrees, this just looked so much like NZ

The first couple of roadside attractions along the way could not tickle our fancy this day. We therefore stayed on the main road north until we came upon the Khao Sam Roi Yot National park. We turned off the main road towards the coast for a little 60 km detour through this park and the region around. This time, we were quite chuffed about our decision to do so. Jutting limestone cliff all strewn around a flat freshwater wetland. The view was great, much better than sticking to the dual carriage way of the main road all day.

It was here that we finally had some sense and got out our wind and water proof outer jackets we have been carrying tucked away since that one time in Sumatra. A wise decision indeed. This, in combination with the audio book (Book 2 of the Barthemaeus trilogy), got us into an almost zen-like riding mode.

Time for a HOT chocolate, me thinks :)

Time for a HOT chocolate, me thinks 🙂

This might also be the reason that once we reached our rough endpoint for the day at Amphawa (famous for it’s floating markets, which were not on today) we decided to … ride some more. The selection of hotels seemed much better at the western outskirts of Bangkok. Just another hour later, it turned out to be true. We even only got to experience a very small bit of famed Bangkok grid on our way there.

Nina’s comment: We were really happy with riding the bike today but as soon as we got back into towns or cities, accidents seemed to happen. We stopped at a roadside motorcycle shop to buy some chain oil when a scooter with two young ladies on it turned a corner, didn’t watch out for traffic or just simply didn’t care and pushed another scooter of the road. The man reacted quickly and was incredibly lucky that he made it up on the footpath which had a very high step here but there he fell. Parts flew off his scooter and I was seriously worried about him until he jumped up and angrily cursed after the ladies who just drove off. The second accident was nothing we witnessed but something that we stumbled upon. We turned a corner and there was a scooter on the ground. It was picked up in this moment by a helper and then we noticed the woman sitting on the pavement. My first thought “Wow, she’s lucky, not even road rash” when we simultaneously realized that her shin looked odd and her foot was an a strange angle…definitely broken. She was taken care off so we passed but I had my fingers crossed for Bangkok because accidents don’t seem like fun at all.

The only fail, really, of this day was our feeble attempt at getting a cheap, vegetarian dinner. After 30 minutes of looking and not finding, we resigned to Nutella toast and snacks for dinner instead.

Overall, we were satisfied though. Cheap, clean hotel and only 50 km to go to the tire shop. What could go wrong?

Day 173 – Stats 105 Malaysia

We have a spare Malaysia flag sticker ... any takers?

We have a spare Malaysia flag sticker … any takers?

We did … NOTHING! Well, other than lounging all day we only crawled out of our palace to have breakfast and dinner with our lovely hosts Thomas and Dui. Thus, room for another (more timely) stat post!

We have already shared our thoughts about Malaysia at length in previous posts. Therefore, just some brief observations.

What made Malaysia great for us were the amazing people we met along the way. We got free accommodation, workshop space and heaps of food from a bunch of generous peoples. Special thanks once more to Sonja and her family, Sunny, Tony, BK and of course Jonathan.

Unfortunately, we did not really find access to the country beyond that. Maybe we will come back some day, with a fresher mind and also go exploring further east. Just over 1000km feels like barely scratching the surface, now …

Country data #5: Malasia

Full screen version of the map

  • 1222 km traveled (1178 km of GPS tracked)
  • 6 travel days, 18 days total
  • $8.28 Average cost per night (7x room, 9x invitation)
  • 73.69l of standard fuel for $  48.89 (6 l / 100km)
  • ~$25.15 for food every day, always eating out with many invitations
  • ~$1.650 in total

All $ values are converted to NZD.

Day 171 – Parking nationals

All packed up and ready to go! The pool did look nice and cool in all our gear

All packed up and ready to go! The pool did look nice and cool in all our gear

As comfortable as it was, time has come to say our final farewell to the Krabi Discovery Resort that is totally not in Krabi. Not least because we could not afford more than this one night anyway 🙂

Our next destination was the Khao Sok National Park not far away at all, so we decided to take the scenic route there, bagging two more national parks along the way. We decidedly left Phuket to its own, after our experiences of Bali and Lombok, we were all touristed out for now.

There was only one little flaw in my cunning plan: It turned out that I forgot to check the maps on our GPS and it just so happened that we only had another 50 km or so more left before the big blank green of the no map generic land started up. We were little worried though. With less than 200 km to go, a mobile phone with heaps of data and a paper map, we were more than prepared. Plus, the Garmin does not need an installed map to record the track for later.

Limestone caves turned temple are a thing

Limestone caves turned temple are a thing

We followed the main road through the hills and stopped at one of the many signposted roadside attractions for a brief break. Limestone cave pimped by temple-y bits seems to be a theme of the region.

The roads through the hills were nice, but once again the following coastal areas utterly failed to tickle our fancy. We had a horrible and overpriced lunch in one of the touristy roadside places and moved on quickly to forget about it.

The next national park had little to hold us for long, either. The road was nice and curvy, but the beaches were mostly blocked off by the high walls of massive beach side resort complexes or “developed” little towns in between.

We got our reward after all though, when we reached the higher ground of the Khao Sok National Park.

And then we came across this view

And then we came across this view

The air got cooler, the road curvy again and the views got up to fantastic at some points. Did I mention that I love limestone formations?

We concluded the day with some needed map updates and a good dinner in our lovely (and cheap) riverside retreat. Tucked away behind a palm tree plantation, it felt a lot like an Indonesian home stay – the good kind.