Dedicated to a wonderful Mother Jean Noble 31/5/1929 - 20/8/2007 - may we never take our mothers for granted. - Goodbye Mum

THAILAND PAGE 8 JULY 2008

Sunday July 20^th to Monday July 21^st 2008 Sukhumvit Soi 54 Bangkok – Remain Bangkok with Friends.
Approx. k's Average Speed kph Cycling time Hr(s) Min. Max speed. kph Max temp we recorded °C
Terrain: Flat Road Conditions: Good Overnight Accommodation: $. Standard . (Cycle Friendly)
We remain BKK until further notice... Bought some bike parts we needed Here....

This guy spoke excellent English and was very helpful... The front of the shop is here........

Like “Pro Bike” they are unwilling to order or help you buy if they do not have in stock....... (Actually they were unwilling to help US – they will help you) 
We also bought a new camera in Pan Thip – a cheapie but the pic quality seems much better.. Catchya Later...
Tuesday July 22^nd 2008 Sukhumvit Soi 54 Bangkok to Khao Hin Sorn
Approx. 47.72k's Average Speed 16.82kph Cycling time 2Hr(s) 50Min. Max speed. 38kph Max temp we recorded 34°C
Terrain: Slight Undulations Road Conditions: Good Overnight Accommodation: $11.00. Standard, Exceptional (Cycle Friendly)

We are in probably the best accommodation since we started in Thailand, regardless of price! Left our friends home this morning....

We had a nice meal with family.. In this picture we have O, her daughter Nam and niece Saifun.... The meal was delicious, as well as O being a good businesswoman she is also a damn fine cook.... - “O” is single too and although not actively looking – what a catch for some VERY lucky Man :-)......

Our friend “O” (left rear) took us about 40-50 k's out of Bangkok.. (We did not check),

until the roads improved enough for us to cycle... She offered to drive us the 360 or so k's to Bua Yai, but, we want to do this ourselves. As we had only, an all to short 3 day break, our legs were fresh, however a late start and looming storms shortened our ride...

As we were ridding along we came upon a large “political demonstration”, blocking the road... One lady became too enthusiastic. She gyrated and jumped in front of me, until concerned onlookers told her it was not my fight...

After this they let us pass.... there were several hundred people on both sides of the road.... Never really did find out the full story.. The rest of the ride was good with nice people and nice food.... A sneak preview of the inside of our room......

The roll on the bed is freshly laundered blanket... Cable TV with English makes for a nice stay.. A nice settee to watch TV and spotlessly clean.... We got to the door of the room JUST before the torrential rain began.... :-) Catchya Later....
Wednesday July 23^rd 2008 Kao Hin Sorn to Khok Udom
Approx. 57.14k's Average Speed 18.32kph Cycling time 3Hr(s) 07Min. Max speed. 36kph Max temp we recorded 39°C
Terrain: Slight Undulations Road Conditions: Good Overnight Accommodation: $11.00. Standard, Very Good (Cycle Friendly)
I (Mal) am the first European to stay in the accommodation we stayed last night and this is why.....

That's right, no one can read the sign, other than a Thai... We chatted with them and now new signage is in the making... this HUGE complex will now attract people of all races.... We wish them well.

Another superb accommodation find for the same price as last night... Only difference we did not get Cable TV and the room is smaller, but, in all other respects, it is exceptional value! A very hot day today, we took the temp reading in the shade, hence, on the road it would have felt much higher...

The people of Thailand never cease to amaze... We stopped for lunch – I had Laap (a personal favourite and also the national dish of “Laos”)... Lee asked that they “temper” the fiery heat associated with this dish, to which they complied to perfection :-).. We were well into our dinner when a Man said “it's paid for”.....

Few things humble a person more than the generosity of those with so little to give... The lady is pregnant, we hope they have a healthy child and wish them all the very best..

Cycling on we bought some fruit from this man.

“Persimmon”, something we have not seen since England... He stays all day in fierce heat to make his living....

You often hear of people living on less than a “Dollar a day”! Ever wondered how they manage?

In today's “Thai” newspaper, there is a quote “Government of Vietnam estimates more than 14,000,000 Fourteen million People live on less than B20.00 ($0.62c) per day”. (that is about 70% of the population of our country, Australia) .. An oversimplified explanation follows...

Rice is the staple... and accounts for most of the daily $0.62c. People then forage for wildlife, mammals, fish, insects, and reptiles. They also forage for edible fruits, leaves and plants. Chickens are allowed to roam and allowed to breed. This provides sufficient variety for many families to survive... Cities provide quite different situations, as we have no experience surviving as a family in cities, we leave this example to others more qualified.

Charities and national days often are a source of clothing and local materials are used to provide shelter. Both Lee and myself have lived this life for some considerable time – Lee for more than a decade.

It is a hard life and fraught with problems, such as how to clothe the children for school, medicine for sickness etc.. – if you are unfortunate enough to have a disabled parent or child it is even worse.... Countless scenarios compound these peoples problems....

What's even worse is, most of the world could not give a a shit – some say “I don't know what to do”... To those I say – unless you are completely stupid, go and find out, doing almost anything is better than doing nothing.. I have said elsewhere in our “pages” what we contribute.

Enough of my rant for today – Catchya Later.....

Thursday July 24^th 2008 Khok Udom to Baan Fang (about 85-90 k's from Nakhon Ratchasima).
Approx. 38.39k's Average Speed 10.33kph Cycling time 3Hr(s) 43Min. Max speed. 36kph Max temp we recorded 36°C
Terrain: Mountainous Road Conditions: Good Overnight Accommodation: $15.50. Standard, Good (Cycle Friendly)

Climbed to over 600 metres today (About 2000 feet) a hot and sticky climb, however, much quicker climbing since we lightened our load. Stopped by the traffic police, who were curious about our bikes....

Nice couple of guys who seemed genuinely interested...

Just after we left them we started the long climb up the mountain... Due to the heat and our exertion we consumed all but 500 ml of our water, We were literally pouring water down our throats at a phenomenal rate... We spotted a banana seller and wondered if she would sell us some water..

She was very helpful and wanted to just give us the water... We bought some bananas off her and gave her something for the “rainwater”. We were very happy to get an extra few litres. Soon after we left her we reached the summit...

Finding accommodation was not so easy today... as the location commanded a very high price Khao Yai National Park (I am told) is world heritage listed... The “resort” on the summit wanted $60.00 ++ per night, we found a “home stay” that wanted $30.00 per night, Lee set to work on them and achieved a substantial discount, cutting the price by almost half..... Well done Lee.

Despite the lower price, the rooms are ok, I preferred any of the two previous nights to this one... The views are obscured with either pollution or “haze” and the serving(s) of the high priced food is far too small – we did not fall into the trap of buying a second dish.. Just went to our room and ate all our fruit :-)

Met some nice young people who have just graduated from Veterinary School...

They have an ambition to work in Australia, Just so happens Australia is looking for “Veterinarian's” on it's 457 visa program... We gave them a copy of the 457 “rules” (Had it on our computer) – the rest is up to them... We wish them well and hope they make it to our country, Australia needs educated young people like this. Catchya Later....

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