Cycling Chumphon to Khao Sok

From Chumphon we rode directly west the whole width of the country and then when we reached the Myanmar (Burma) border, the road sharply turned south to Ranong. Only mountains on our right stopped us from peering into a country that not many people know about, which may have something to do with not many nationalities being able to obtain a Burmese visa. At times, it was only a river that separated the two countries. This was our longest day. 78.2 miles in one very long day, hill after hill in continuous torrential rain, thunder and lightning. It was the first time we both actually wanted a hot drink during our breaks as opposed to cold. Even though the temperature was still 23 degrees, when soaked to the bone, it got quite chilly. Along the way we saw a beautiful waterfall and passed official viewpoints (that was how high we climbed!).

Soaked, but warming up with hot coffee during break time

Beautiful waterfall right on the switchback of the steep road

As soon as we turned south, the head-scarfs among the girls in the villages along the road became more and more apparent, as did luscious forests, while villages were less frequent. This may be the time to also write about the continuous battle against the dogs in Thailand. There are two kinds of dogs in SE Asia; stray, homeless ones who are very skinny and often have wounds and various other diseases who run away as you cycle towards them. Then there are the dogs who ‘belong’ to people, but are trained as guard dogs and hang around with nothing to do outside their houses. To their delight, when two cyclists amble by, they either see it as a bit of fun to break their boredom or see us as a threat. Either way we have been chased by countless numbers of dogs down the street. Some of them chase for longer than others, and some have actually tried to bite; it is terrifying every time. Unfortunately James was left a little shaken after he was attacked by one vicious canine, but luckily the dog only punctured a hole in his pannier and not his leg, much to his annoyance but my relief.


One of our evening stops was in a place called Suk Samran. We weren’t actually meant to stop here, but our epic day to Ranong the day before had taken it out of us a little. We stayed in a beautifully carved wooden bungalow on stilts. We had a charming room with more windows than wall and all the furniture was made from bamboo including our bed frames. Our host, P.P. was delighted to have us and made us so welcome. What we didn’t realise was the guesthouse and surrounding buildings were work left by US Aid who visited the area after the devastation the Tsunami left Suk Samran in. The guesthouse was a gift and around it was a school and learning centre, a museum and a community bank, all with the aim of educating local people on how to deal with possible future tsunamis. Apparently villages around were given lump sums of money by charities to help rebuild their homes, but normal Thai corruption set in and the money was squandered. Only one village invested the $1 million they were given and now their balance is $3m, hence the community bank who are also trying to educate villagers on the benefits of investment. PP used an interesting analogy; do you give a victim of the tsunami a fish or a fishing rod? The answer is neither if you do also provide them with education on how to cook the fish or fish responsibly with a rod. Interestingly, PP also told us how certain things have prevented the learning centre from being as successful as it should be. Firstly because not many Thai country-folk travel and so do not know the centre exists, and secondly because of religion. PP is Buddist and the surrounding villages have a high Muslim population, so they are reluctant to go because they fear he will not understand. Far from it; PP was so passionate about education that I have no doubt that he couldn’t care whether you were black, white, purple, Muslim, Christian, gay or otherwise, but trying to get people to understand this is another matter in itself. Dinner in the village was Muslim influenced; saffron rice with curried chicken and potato roti, much to James’s delight. For pudding we cracked open a fresh watermelon we bought in the local market. Happy days.

Not so happy days when we were woken up at 5am by the call to prayer by the mosque next door, which we hadn’t actually realised it was there until the loudspeaker felt as though it was in my ear. Still, it was only 30 minutes before our alarms went off!


On we cycled until we reached the mountains of the beautiful landscape in the centre of Thailand just east of Takua Pa. Up and up we climbed, and down and down our sweat poured off our bodies and evaporated instantly on the hot tarmac. It took us 3 hours to ride 26 miles; it was seriously hard going, but we were rewarded by unbelievable views. Remember the film, Jurassic Park? It was as though we had walked on to the set of it, but instead this was Thailand’s Khao Sok National Park…

Cycling from Bangkok to Chumphon

We rode for 5 days straight out of Bangkok to a town called Chumphon. The first four days were along the only road south of Bangkok which was a rather unpleasant motorway. Getting out of Bangkok was a terrifying experience as there were parts when we were merging on to the Thai equivalent of the M25. There was actually a cycle lane most of the way out but this was blocked by parked cars, food stalls, buses and people in general so this seemed utterly pointless. Luckily, there was a smaller road at the side of the motorway out of the city that ran parallel for about 30 miles so we kept on that until it all merged when we had a nice wide hard shoulder to bomb along while the cars sped past us at at least 70 mph. The motorway ranged from having two lanes on each side to 6 lanes on each side in some places! The road was long, straight and boring but we knew there were smaller roads to ride ahead so again, it was heads down and shed the miles.

Our first night out of Bangkok was hilarious. After the town we were aiming for on the map just disappeared or didn't exist, we sought refuge in a motorway hotel we stumbled upon, again by accident. It was literally on the motorway, but we didn't care as we were knackered from the adrenalin used up to concentrate on the roads out of Bangkok. Once we were in, we then realised that this hotel was more of a, errrm... shag station. Yes, it had a light outside each room, showing white or red, depending on whether it was occupied. It also had a large curtain to cover the little drive where one parked their car to conceal ones identity. The room was equipped with large mirrors on two walls opposite each other, tissues on each bedside table, and yes, there was free porn on the TV. We walked out of our room, the light glowing red, down the hard shoulder of the Thai equivalent of the M4 to the restaurant to get dinner. How romantic.

The next day, we were up and rolling out onto the motorway at 7.30am. We cracked out 60 miles and arrived at the coastal town of Hua Hin at 2.30pm where we found a little hotel on the end of a pier, dumped our stuff and ran down to the beach for a well deserved swim; our reward for cycling that day. The beach was pretty, well kept and this place is the nearest beach resort to Bangkok, so very popular with both Thais and tourists. Tempted to stay, in deed we were, but the next town was also a beach town, so on we cycled the following day another 58 miles to Prachuap Khiri Khan. This was the day my speedometer ticked over to the 2000th mile! Far quieter; an idyllic seaside town where no tuk-tuk man or hawkers bothered us. We stayed in a psychedelic guesthouse painted crazy bright colours with a balcony overlooking the sea and some of the islands. We watched the pretty sun in all its glory come up from behind one of the islands in the morning before having breakfast with the Thai lady owner and her artistic, eccentric Austrian husband who was drinking beer while we were breakfasting at 7am.

Celebrating 2000 miles!

Our balcony in the guesthouse at PKK

The next day, and another 62 miles cracked out and the first time we turned off the main highway. We stayed in a very cute bungalow on stilts in a little jungle, complete with jungle noises of exotic birds, insects and monkeys!


The final day was spent entirely on secondary roads that flirted with the beaches all the way down to Chumphon. The road was fantastic and our first cycle day of seeing proper Thailand other than what you can see from the motorways. Rich and luscious forests, perfectly lined either side of the roads. James spotted all sorts of birds of pretty colours and every now and then we got a glimpse of the sea! It was however, rather continuously hilly so we arrived in Chumphon rather tired!

Undulating hills = want sleep at lunchtime

Yucky hills but beautiful scenery.

We rested for one day in this rather uninspiring and dull town to also catch up on emails and research the route going forward as this is where the road splits down either side of the coast due to the mountains in the middle. We decided on the west coast as this appeared to have more towns and beaches along the way and also made sense as our crossing into Malaysia will be on the west coast too. And off we go!

Bangkok...

We ended up spending 5 days in Bangkok with the last one spent researching the route ahead. Bangkok is pretty crazy but actually far more structured and western than I had imagined. We stayed in the old town area where the metro or sky trains haven’t quite reached out to yet, so to get anywhere we always had to get a tuk-tuk or taxi first, which we then spent at least 30 minutes stuck in traffic somewhere as the roads are so atrociously rammed with far too many vehicles. Most of our outgoings that week were spent on transport as the city is so big. It’s very different to the previous cities I have visited on this trip which were all walk able.

Here are the sights we saw in pictures:

Grand Palace

Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaeo

Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaeo

Scary weird statue at the Bangkok Cultural Arts Centre

Awesome sketches at the Bangkok Cultural Arts Centre

More strange stuff at the Bangkok Cultural Arts Centre

Jim Thompson's House - pioneer of Thai silk

Eating in the road in crazy Chinatown

Huge reclining Buddha at Wat Pho

More gold at Wat Pho

Relaxing on the red and gold beds in the best Indian restaurant in Bangkok with a Shisha!

One rather blog-worthy story that happened to me in Bangkok involves a cockroach. I am usually OK with bugs and spiders, but I hate cockroaches. I can just about dodge them and skip round them in the street without too loud a whimper. On our last night in Bangkok after packing up and everything was ready to go, I lay on the bed in our hotel room with my arms spread out, a little tired. All of a sudden I saw something move at the speed of light in the corner of my eye and before I could move, this thumb-sized cockroach ran across the bed, up onto my arm and into the scrunched up bed sheets. To say I screamed was an understatement. Holy crap, I have never moved so fast in my life. Urgh! It crawled on my Arrrrrrrmmmmmm!!!!!! I shiver just thinking about it.

Cycling to Bangkok...

I was sad to leave Cambodia. I didn't feel anywhere near ready to leave as I did Vietnam. But, time is marching on and new places are to be explored. The border crossing into Thailand was very simple and very quick, surprisingly. Once through no-mans-land and in to Thailand, I was completely thrown by the fact they drive on the left side of the road. The same as the UK, yes but I got so used to cycling on the right for all my time in Vietnam and Cambodia!

We cycling along the main highways straight into Bangkok from the border. There was not much to see or do along the way so we decided to get our heads down and get to the capital. Finding hotels appears to be a little more challenging than ever before for two reasons. Vietnamese uses the Roman alphabet and we knew that Nha Nghi was hotel so spotting these words on signs and buildings was relatively simple. In Cambodia, the word Guesthouse is presented below any hotel signs that are written in Khmer - again simple to spot. Thailand however has its own alphabet (just as squiggly as Khmer) and nothing is in English and it seems there is not one standard squiggle that we Westerners can spot on the side of the road while also trying to cycle and jostle with the traffic. Mmm... it did seem however, that many people we spoke to along the way spoke a tiny bit of English and 'Hotel' is a universally understood word here. We always somehow managed to find some where.

Instant differences when reaching Thailand are the roads. All of a sudden, they are all signposted and beautifully laid tarmac with painted lines and wide hard shoulders. The drink stops were far less frequent but I think this may be because most of the roads we took in to Bangkok were main highways and drink stops when driving I guess don't need to be so frequent. EVERYONE drives a 4x4 here and we wonder if perhaps the government hands them out as part of being Thai. Bicycles were no where to be seen, and there were barely any on scooters here compared to Cambodia and Vietnam. It was strange, we suddenly felt very alone on our bicycles. Apart from the trucks screaming past, the roads were silent, no beeping, no children shouting hello, no animals to dodge and generally no people about apart from when we passed through towns. It was... dull actually. 

I want to dedicate this post to all the Thai people that showed us kindness on our journey in to Bangkok. Firstly to Whippy. James and I were coming to the end of a full cycling day. We were heading for this one town when 3km just outside it we saw a hotel. We stopped to check the map and discuss our options when we suddenly heard 'Can I help you!?' Two young ladies stood behind a fence eager to help. After some discussing of hotels they excitedly invited us in to rest and have a drink when they found out we had cycled just over 100km. Their family ran a hardware store so we sat on their hand made benches and they gave us coke and water. After further discussions with brothers, uncles, fathers and co-workers in Thai and English, Whippy concluded that we would NOT stay in the hotel opposite as it was not good and because we were tired and come so far, she will drive us and the bikes in her pick up to the next town 10 miles away to a good hotel. After some protesting that this wasn't nessecary, we didn't actually have a choice as the 4x4 was already in the courtyard and her brothers were dismantling everything to put into the truck and tie down. She took us straight to the hotel, bartered down the price to half what we would normally pay, then helped us take everything upstairs. She would not take any money for the drinks, the petrol or her time. Before she left she then gave us a little wooden door knocker made in her warehouse. Unbelievable. We couldn't believe how kind she had been and she explained that it was Thai nature to do good for others and she would never accept payment. 

Furthering on from this, we had many people in their flash cars pull up the side of us to say 'Well done' and 'Keep going, you're doing really well!' We stopped at the side of one road to fix a puncture on James's bike and one chap pulled over, bought some freshly cut pineapple from the stall in front of us and gave it to us. And once we got into Bangkok and a little lost, we had 3 separate people ask us if we needed help and gave us directions. Their kindness was greatly appreciated so Thank You to all of you!

We made it in to Bangkok alive, we have yet to cycle out, but the roads are not as bad as I thought! I was expecting mayhem on a far more vast scale than this. So, now we will spend 4-5 days doing the sites and activities of Bangkok before heading south towards Malaysia.

Battambang

Reading up on Cambodia, we came across a town called Battambang. It is the third largest city in Cambodia and there are a few random but intriguing activities to be done around the city. Being the curious cats that we are, we decided to give it a go and see a bit more of this beautiful country before heading for Thailand. Slight problem was getting there though. Cambodia has the biggest inland waterway in the whole of SE Asia called the Tonle Sap and Battambang is on the other side of it from Siem Reap. So instead of cycling round it (to then have to come back along the same road to get to Thailand), we thought what better than take a boat and at the same time see the floating village and the wonderful wildlife.

The ferry port was between 8 to 14km away from Siem Reap depending on the time of year, i.e. how high the water is. Mmm...OK. The boat also leaves at 7am and takes 6 hours - lunch in Battambang then. So, not wanting to miss it, we got up at 5am, loaded the bikes and cycled down the only road to the port, bleary eyed in the faint dawn light. Admitedly we were rewarded with an overwhelmingly stunning sunrise with bright and clear pinks, oranges and yellows along the way. We arrived at the port at half 6. Plenty of time to load up. The boat had rows of benchs on the deck and then a roof overhead where all the luggage and our bikes went. There were only 4 of us there on the boat ready to go at 7am. Great, we can relax and spread out. Come 7.30 we still hadn't left and a few more people drifted on. Then all of a sudden, a mass of people arrived and all piled on to the boat. There were no seats left on deck so half the people had to sit on the roof (with no shelter from the blazing sun, this must have been horrific). Our luggage was now right at the bottom of a six storey high pile of backpacks and we were a little concerned for our bikes getting squished too. Eventually we left the port and were on our way by 8.15am for the most horrific boat journey I have ever experienced.

It started off well and James being nature boy was spotting all sorts of birds I had never seen before. The floating village was interesting as literally everything you imagine to be in a village, was here and floating, with everyone getting around by canoes. People had dogs though, which puzzled us slightly, do they get walked? But we saw a floating Police station, a school, a chemist and a doctors along with shops and plenty of homes. Then the pump stopped working and the boat started to fill up with water which was discovered when the guys pulled up the wooden floor boards on deck. As a result of the bottom filling up, it meant the slightest turn of the wheel and the whole boat leant over to one side because the water was sloshing about in the bottom and increased the leanage. How, with all the weight on the roof, the boat did not capsize I do not know. It leant over so badly at one point, everyone actually screamed, and people's stuff went rolling around the deck all over the place. Eventually we arrived at 3.30pm and I couldn't wait to get off!

There is not really much to see in Battambang itself and considering it is meant to be a city, it seemed more like a lazy quiet town to us. On our first day, we ventured out on the bikes, pannier and trailer free to find a Pepsi bottling plant that was abandoned in 1975 by the Khmer Rouge who forced it shut. It hasn't been touched since, and thousands of bottles still errily stand on top of one another. From there we went on to a crocdile farm. Not my idea, but J wanted to have a look!

Our second day saw us taking a tuk-tuk out to the country to a single rail line. Cambodia only has single train tracks from French times and the Khmer Rouge did away with the train services and they haven't quite been able to recover. After the Khmer Rouge, local people built what they could to go on the train tracks and they came up with the Norri train. It is a 2 x 3m platform made from bamboo. It sits on metal wheels and has a small petrol engine. You simply load up the flat surface area and bomb along the delapidated tracks at about 20 mph. As the Norri train idea caught on, more and more were made and as a result of the single track, the bizarre thing about the train was what would happen when two trains met along the same track. The lighter load of the two trains would have to remove itself from the track to let the heavier load pass by. The train drivers would then reload the train back on to the track and continue on its way. This would also happen if the train reached the end of the line and needed to return to its departure point! This has now turned in to a tourist attraction and one that intrigued us! Even though our bums have sat on more comfortable, smoother rides, it was fun to whizz along through the countryside. In December, the Norri train will no longer exist as Austraila have been successful in their bid to upgrade and run new railway services, which I imagine will change Cambodia quite significantly.

Turning the Norri around to go back to our start point

After being shaken by the rickety tracks, we headed out of Battambang to Phnom Sampeau, the highest point for miles, with temples and shrines built on top of it. Half way up, we also visiting the Killing Caves, which was where 10,000 people died here by the Khmer Rouge. After climbing the hill, which felt more like a mountain, we sat looking out at the view of miles of flat land, snacking on crisps. The rustling of the crisp bag was clearly a magic noise to a family of monkeys who suddlenly appeared. Now, I don't mind monkeys, but seeing what these red-arsed viscious animals can do from living in India, I am not going to put my rabies jab to test, so when one of them advanced towards me, I jumped out the way and he stole my bag of crisps. Damn, I wanted those! He took them up the tree, being careful not to tip them out and sat there munching away on the much needed salt I could have done with after sweating up the hill. 

From Battambang we were two days cycling from the Thai border and five days from Bangkok. We spent a considerable amount of time researching the route and possible places to stay, along with mastering the Thai language and hotel availability as much as the internet could help us. We then set off to the Poipet/Aranyaprathet border.