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Published: February 12th 2007
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The Mekong Valley
Taken from Pha Taem National Park. On the other side of the Mekong is the LAO PDR. This is before we lost Scott... Day 256, 11th February
Nam Thaeng - Pha Taem National Park - Khong Jiam
Somehow I can’t imagine life not on-the-road. It’s a scary thought to think of the end of this journey. The most asked question from non-travellers in the last 8 months has been, “Aren’t you scared”? The answer has always been a resounding “NO”! They have obviously meant cycling and free-camping in developing countries. But now, the answer to that question is “Yes”, “I am scared of the prospect of being sitting at a desk all day doing a shitty job for the rest of my life”! Where do I go from Singapore? That, as a matter of fact, is one of the great adventures of life, not actually knowing what life will throw at you. A lot of what happens is chance - or fate. We do have minor influence over our futures, but in reality, not much. We can have goals, but, when these goals are not achieved we can get melancholy. Some people tell me that they live ‘Day to day’. Okay, that’s fine for some folks. However, the travellers I’ve met who have been living by that mantra for some time have
Twited Roots
In Pha Team National Park, twisted trees on our pathway. turned out to be cynical, bitter and twisted individuals. My philosophy - I don’t really know what it is, only just to keep an open mind, smile, relax, treat others how you’d expect to be treated, plan for the next months, and have quite flexible and open long-term plans. Where do I see myself in 5 years time? That old nutshell - well: In 5 years time I expect to be still cycling and to have a small business, possibly in North America or New Zealand, doing outdoor activities and so on. Maybe with Kathryn who (maybe) I’ll meet up with in Singapore. Hmmm? Anyway, the sun has just risen and I can hear the other dudes shifting about, better go….
Monday is Malaria Day - so we all took our weekly pills first thing. We emerged from our tents as a the sun, like a big red ball, was rising to the sound of a solitary chirpy bird at 6am. We ate noodles for breakfast outside the tents and then packed up to set off for Pha Taem National Park which was 15 miles away to the south.
This is one of the lesser known national parks,
What the F...... !
Don't know about this stuff - maybe it's okay for adolescent teenagers to eat before popping those zits in front of the bathroom mirror? and as a result of that and it being so early in the morning, we had the place to ourselves. It was 200 Baht each to get in. I paid half price with my expired ISIC card, though. The first stop was the rock formations - rocks balanced on pillars of wind-sculptured stone. We then wandered over to the natural rock crevass that if you fell down it you’d be wedged 30 feet down in a gap just a foot wide and covered in gashes from the sharp, jagged sides! Not worth thinking about really…
We left our bikes at the park’s headquarters and then did the walks to the pre-historic cave paintings, over 3000 years old on a recessed cliff overlooking the Mekong and Laos. After doing the trails the heat became so much that we had to take refuge in the park’s restaurant sipping ice-cold sugar water. We ruled out the idea of camping at the park’s camping grounds as they had no water and were 30 Baht per person. So we left the park and headed towards the nearby town of Khong Chiam to find some free-camping.
At the outskirts of the town, the road
Cave Paintings
On the side of a recessed cliff overlooking the Mekong river in Pha Team Nat Park. branched off to the right, left lead into town. As we had about another hour and a half of daylight, Scott suggested that we carry on westwards while he went into town to stock up on noodles and water. We’d go on slowly and when we left the road to camp we’d leave the signal of three banana skins at the roadside. We had to keep moving in this heat so that we didn’t overheat - when you stop, the breeze stops, and the sweat begins!
So, Scott dissapeared down the hill for food. Little did we know - it would be the last time we’d see or hear of him for a very long time…. We carried on along the road just a hundred yards and saw an amazing temple complex on the left which we spent about ten minutes exploring before carring on and finding a camp spot about 20 miles further on. Banan peels left, we headed up a track and pitched - the four of us…
Total Miles: 11511.56 Todays Miles: 32.77 Average speed: 11.2 Time on bike: 2:56
Day 257, 12th February
Khong Jiam - Ubon Ratchathani
Scott didn’t turn up last night. So, we packed our tents and stuff and decided to head off to Ubon Rathchathani which lies on the poetically names ‘Moon River’. It was midday when we arrived there and decided to stay in a cheap hotel by the market. We found two internet cafes with incredibly slow connections where we left an email for Scott detailing our plans and where we were staying. I checked my Hotmail account, but no mails from Kathryn…. Hope she’s okay. I did my update eventually for my local paper… don’t know what they’re writing about us?
I spent the rest of the day alone, wandering around the city trying out different new and very tasty foods: babana pancakes, fried banana, fried pinapple with syrul, delicious milkshakes etc… In the evening I took a walk around an incredible park. Hudreds of people were out doing dancing, jogging, and generally keeping fit. I’ve noticed no smokers or drinkers so far in Thailand, they seem to be a very fit race of people.
Later, back at the hotel, I did that job that no traveller likes to do - I washed my horrid clothes. This time I tried a new method of putting shampoo in my pockets and getting under the shower. The foam that came out of my hair and clothes was a nasty grey colour and relentless. I shed the clothes which was difficult in a small shower, and then trampled them for ages, but suds were still coming out of them. Eventually, I had to leave them in a sink of cold water…. Why didn’t I just pay a bit of money to get them done professionally? Hmmm. At midnight the guys were back - but still, no sign of Scott…
Total Miles: 11565.62 Todays Miles: 54.05 Average speed: 13.8 Time on bike: 3:54
STOP PRESS: 12th February 2007.
I’ve been surprised by the interest in this Memorablog. Seems like 5-year-old stuff is still interesting to folks. So I looked for a website that specialized in this kind of thing and found there is’nt any out there. So, what did I do? I registered the following:
www.memorablog.com
www.memorablog.org
www.memorablog.net
I don’t want to be in competition with Travelblog who have been great in hosting my memorablog. I just want to set up a site for those one-year-old or older journals that couldn’t be blogged at the time for some reason or another. And for those old prints and slides out there that are crying out to be digitalized and to be shown to the world. This will be a free site, like Travelblog, and I hope to get it up and running by summer time (northern hemisphere). So if you’re interested to be the first to put your former journals on the Memorablog Site, PM me and I’ll put your email address on the mailing list. I guarantee no spam.
Thanks, ANDY (Bikepacker)
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anonymous
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Dont go home
Hiya mate, been checking ya blogs and you say you cant imagine life back home. Wel I travelled for 12 months with my girlfriend and I cant begin to tell you how hard it is to settle back into normal life!!!! KEEP TRAVELLING Andy