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Published: February 27th 2007
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Narrowest in Thailand
The narrowest point between the sea and the Burmese border in Thailand is just over 10km - that thin! So, after my terrible diet, If I were a country - I'd be Thailand! Day 268, 23rd February
Hua Hin
After a short sleep we were up for just after 4am and outside our pre-arranged meeting place, the Hilton, for our 5am departure to Phetburi by bus. We’d cycled through this town a few days before, and the filming was taking place there, in one of the king’s palaces. There were over 100 westerners recruited from different hostel and hotels. We had our breakfast and were told our parts. Stephane ended up as a French professor sitting in a prime position in front of the cameras, and I was a newspaper reporter in an ill-fitting suit. The action took place in an old university lecture room with an old professor giving a talk about an amazing find which was in a covered box on a table. There was an argument between the professor and a French woman, then the contents of the boxes were revealed to the photographers amidst the clicking of camers and flashes. This was “Renaissanse”, Thailands answer to the controversial re-making of “The King and I”.
The whole thing wasn’t as organized as the Jackie Chan movie in Hong Kong at Christmas and took up all of the day.
Shrines R Us!
The amount of tiny shrines available at the roadsides in Thailand is amazing. I wonder if they are made in China? The two Swedish girls, Sophie and Kristine, from our hostel were there. I amused myself by joking about their drunken boyfriends until I found out that Sophie was a classical music fan like myself - my bordom was over and we chatted about Smetana’s Greatest Hits and Boogie-on-Down with Beethoven.
By 5pm we were all finished except for a few who had to catch a later bus back, this included Stephane who had become the new Brad Pitt of Phetburi. On the way back to Hua Hin I got payed for the day’s work and once back I bought some goodies. I ate a great fried bread feast back at the hostel before hanging out in my favourite seat on Sleazy Street.
The middle-aged Swedish couple from a few days ago turned up and I chatted with them about their travels and my bike trip. They were also approached by the film company but declined thinking that they were to old to do such a thing! As a spent the evening sitting there in my chair, I amused myself by trying to guess which ladie were ladyboys or not. It would be interesting to find out how many
Roadside Repairs
Stephane repairing one of his many punctures attracts the locals. foreigners pissed-up on ale, have ended up being with one of these ladyboys and only found out when it came to the crucial moment! A scary thought is - would I end up being one of those foreigners if I got really pissed!?!
Day 269, 24th February
Hua Hin
Stephane arrived late, he had to do extra and got paid double. He also has to go in today which means we have to stay another day, I didn’t mind really. I used the internet and checked my emails to find out what the other guys were up to. They are south of us; Scott is in Chumphon and is paranoid that we are purposely trying to lose him, Rory’s got his nob sorted out at the “Umbrella-Scrape-Clinic”, and Toby is searching for friends from England. I wrote an email to Kathryn, and later a long letter.
Later on I went down to the beach to chill-out in the sea. The sea was wonderful and warm, and it was a great feeling having the waves splash over my body. I found out too that my Buddhist-Bermudas are waterproof for some strange reason and rise up in
Burmese mountains
Looking westwrds, the mountains are in Burma, not far away. the water! A strange thing I noticed were the young Thai girls approaching me. In the water you are anonymous, I mean, it isn’t apparent that I’m a smelly cyclist with almost zero cash. Therefore, the girls approach and try to touch you beneath the water saying things like, “Are you German”, “You like me”?, “Where you staying - we can go back to your hotel, me give nice massage, you buy me nice to eat”. When I told them that I was staying at the cheap Sukwhili Hostel they said “Bye bye mister”, and went over to the next guy. Usually they ended off going off with a fat-bastard to the Hilton, hand in hand.
Back at the hostel, I made myself pasta with baked beans, fried bread, and salad…and week old cheese - I fancied a bubble-bath! Stephane returned later, very tired, and before he crashed out we said that we would definitely leave in the morning - there was no more work for him here.
Day 270, 25th February
Hua Hin - Pran Buri - Kuiburi
We didn’t leave till after mid-day because Stephane had to pick his bike up from the
I don't know what?
Something pretty looking by the side of the road - any suggestions? repair shop, then had to do his packing when he got back. Hua Hin has been considering it’s a tourist trap. My first impressions weren’t justified, but my observations about the tourists still stand.
A few miles cycing south of town we found the ‘real’ Thailand again - the land of waving, smiling, and helpful people who do not worship the dollar. There was a fierce headwind today which slowed us considerably, and I had to wait around because of punctures again. I wish Stephane had bought a bike with thicker and wider tyres, there are puntures nearly every day with his road-racing tyres.
We only managed to do 45 miles before the sun went down over the hills that mark the Burmese border 10 miles away. This time we didn’t go that far from the road to find a camping spot - we were still in mind of our previous animal encounter of a week ago!
Total Miles: 12201.40 Todays Miles: 45.44 Average speed: 12.1 Time on bike: 3:45
Day 271, 26th February
Kuiburi - Prachuap Kiri Khan - Thap Sakae - Ta Hong
Where we’d camped was really tropical, all the
Spirit
If you're taking a Trangia spirit-burning stove, then this is the stuff you need to buy in Thailand. To be honest, you don't even need a stove! shades of green you can imagine and really weird insect noises at night. We started out at sunrise and stopped 20 miles later for breakfast at Prachup Kiri Khan. My home made vegetarian card is worth its weight in gold, even if the locals take exception and laugh at my picture of a cow. All I have to to is to ask for ‘cow-pat’ and point to the veggies on the card - we end up with wonderful meals.
Just a little south from here was the sign board proclaiming “NARROWEST POINT IN THAILAND”. At 10.960km that’s really narrow! I wondered how easy it would be for Burma to invade and cut Thailand in two? The road was still 4-lanes south with a good shoulder to cycle on and passed through endless coconut groves. Pineapples were for sale at the side of the road for 7 Baht each, great value and really tasty.
The road was very up and down, no sign of the coast at all even though we were really close, the hills of Burma were to our right and I found myself looking for signs of the actual border, a fence, wall, watchtowers, radars, ariels…but saw nothing.
After 100 miles, we were tiring and headed up a dirt road to our left where a mother and kid had just gone up on their moped waving hello. Just a short way along the track there they were again, beckoning for us to visit. We ended up being invited to stay at their house and were given supper. Stephane decided to sleep outside in his tent, and I was offered the living room floor under a huge mosquitoe net.
I can’t get over the hospitality of the people we have met on this trip. The generosity of people. We’ve stayed in the homes of people in England, Germany, Czech, Hungary, Romania, Russia, China, Vietnam….and have been given food and drinks additionally in every country we’ve visited. I’m determined that after this trip that I’ll be a lot more open than I’ve ever been before and hope to have the chance to give some of this kindness back in return - I’ll make it a policy of mine in fact….
Total Miles: 12310.07 Todays Miles: 108.67 Average speed: 13.5 Time on bike: 8:00
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Jackie
non-member comment
oh
12310.07 miles OMG I am tired saying it. I have been loving these blogs and look forward to them. Does Rosemary Conely know about this diet ?