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Published: March 6th 2007
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Superb Cycling
Just check-out that road - south of Ranong the landscape became excellent for cycling - a real paradise! Day 275, 2nd March
Ranong - Kapoe - Khuraburi
It was a fairly early start, and even though I spent 2 hours using the internet before Stephane was ready, we managed to set out at ten. Not far after cycling south of Ranong the dual-carriageway ended and the road became very rural again. We were heading into the muslim part of Thailand as mosques began to appear along with covered women.
The journey onwards reminded me a little of Laos in a way - lots of wooden stilt buildings and hoardes of children yelling “Hello”! all the time. To the left of the road was rainforest, dense and beautiful, and to the right the hills gave way to mangroves and there was the occasional dirt-road heading off in the direction of the beaches. The food was getting better too as we continued south.
As we were passing a bus stop an English guy waved us down, he’d seen us earlier from a truck he’d been travelling in. His name was Bob Burridge from Kingsbridge near Thurlestone in Devon, and he ended up being a friend of one of my dad’s air-force buddies from the 50s! We exchanged
Stephane & Friend
Which one is the laziest? tales and took photos before we left. We didn’t quite make Kuriburi and ended up camping in the jungle on burnt grass.
Total Miles: 12486.31 Todays Miles: 73.14 Average speed: 11.7 Time on bike: 6:14
Day 276, 3rd March
Khuraburi - Takua Pa
Stephane was awoken by a monkey fiddling with his tent - and another puncture. Maybe the monkey did it. We ended up on the road just before nine and ate a lovely meal in a café at the small town of Khuraburi. The landscape further south was much the same as yesterday with wonderful jungles encroaching either side of the road. We stopped to watch three elephants bathing at one point.
Just after midday, we stopped at Takua Pa to eat near the bus station and bumped into Bob again who bought us lunch. As the conversation progressed it seemed a good idea to stay in a hotel here which we did for 160 Baht. Bob had a bike so he showed us a beach about five miles away near the neglected Diamond Beach Resort. The beach was virtually empty and we had it all to ourselves and spent hours swimming
Funny Article
My local paper "The Sentinel" emailed me to ask what kept me going on the trip... in the dark blue sea, returning to the town at six.
Then Bob took us to see a strange quarter-mile-long footbridge over a river creek that served a de-funct ironworks and was now a short cut into town for locals. At 9.30, Bob came to the hotel to take us for a night on the town. First we went to a cheesy Karaoke bar where we were the only customers and still had to sing. I sang ‘Hotel California’ and ‘The Boxer’ very badly. Afterwards, we were taken to the “Showhouse” where bored looking girls in silly-looking clothes sang awfully. The ‘Piecé De Resisténce’ was a drunk dwarf with a speech impediment and bronchitus making the most appauling row. I couldn’t work out if it were a joke or not? He was wearing a suit jacket and cut-off wellie boots! After twelve, we wandered the deserted streets back to the hotel and slept…
Total Miles: 12547.63 Todays Miles: 61.32 Average speed: 11.5 Time on bike: 5:18
Day 277, 4th March
Takua Pa - Kapong - Nong Lumpo
Stephane produced a new tyre today and put it on his back wheel. He was so confident
Roadside Cafe
Check that wee kid - he's not so wee! about not getting a puncture now all the way to Singapore, that he betted me a beer. A beer was owed to me by the end of the day!
The route we took was a shortcut past route 4 and through some of the most spectacular scenery. There were limestone pillars, hundreds of feet high with sheer sides, with trees clinging to the sides and the tops. The road was silent and twisted almost impossibly between these silent sentinels.
The goal was Krabi today, but that changed as soon as Stephane checked his email and found that a girl he was chasing wasn’t there but on an island with a female friend. He was annoyed and said that she must be a lesbian!? And from this point on it was a go-slow with constant flats!!! We never made Krabi and camped in a rubber plantation.
I was beginning to feel some pressure to be alone. I’ve only been alone for 10 days of this trip between Volgograd and Chelyabinsk, I enjoyed it. But now I need it again. How can I tell Stephane this without upsetting him? Our goal tomorrow is Ko Lanta and this is as
Island hopping
Bikes on speed-boats isn't too difficult really! far as we’ll go together - I think…
Total Miles: 12627.05 Todays Miles: 79.41 Average speed: 12.4 Time on bike: 6:24
Day 278, 5th March
Nong Lumpo - Krabi - Ko Lanta
We set out early and I went ahead to order food at a place on the busy outskirts of Krabi. On the way I checked the kilometre posts for messages from the other guys hoping to find a note under a rock or sellotaped to the post itself as we’d done many times before when the group separated - but there was nothing.
Just after the suburbs of Krabi, we took a small road off to the right that led us the 20 of so kilometres to the ferry port that had boats going to the small island of Ko Lanta Noi. It seemed expensive and we decided to go a few extra kms along o good road where we took a small boat across to the bigger island of Ko Lanta Yai. We got off the ferry in “Tourist-Ville”. Stephane hated it and moaned and moaned and moaned. I was ready to tell him to piss-off on his own at that
I'm a Veggie!
People have asked how a vegetarian gets by on the road... Answer: I wear a Buddha around the neck, and use this crazy little card I made - It actually works despite laughs from the locals! point, but didn’t.
We set up camp on Khong Dao beach near some tourist resorts, where he began to moan again then stayed in his tent for the rest of the day. I swam and sunbathed, and met loads of interesting people at the nearby resort. I asked the resort if I could pay to use their shower facilities, and few a fee they let me. I used their bar and restaurant and met loads of other backpackers who were moaning about the price of beer. They were paying 50 Baht at the local tourist bars for a bottle of Chang - I knew that I could get it cheaper at the small village shops a few miles out of town. So I said to some of the folks “Come along to my tent later and I’ll get you some cheaper beers at 20 Baht a bottle”. So I took the orders for and cycled off to a local village and bought 40 bottles of Chang for 10 Baht each! These filled my panniers and I told the shopkeeper to put 40 more on ice for later…
Back on the beach people were happy to pay 20 Baht a beer, they saved 30 on each bottle - I made 10 Baht per bottle. We partied and built a fire on the beach, told tales, sang songs, and swam naked in the phosphorescent sea. Later on, I got on my bike again and did another beer-run for the other 40 ice-cold Changs. The dudes on the beach thought I was a hero for getting the beer and wanted to give me move - I refused, feeling guilty even about the 10 Baht profit on each bottle. We continued to party while Stephane slept in his tent……
Total Miles: 12695.22 Todays Miles: 68.17 Average speed: 11.8 Time on bike: 5:45
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Tot: 0.072s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 10; qc: 25; dbt: 0.0536s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
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Jackie
non-member comment
oh dear
Stephane is getting on my nerves and I am not even with him ! Whats with all the puctures is he gnawing the tyres. I loved, loved, loved Koh Lanta and would like to go back at some stage. The scenery around Krabi is very dramatic. In January we drove to Koh Lanta and then we drove from krabi to phuket and you could see the landscape changing. I am just imagining you clanging along with all those bottles LOL