I've uploaded a few photos of Sydney. I had a fantastic time there eating delicious food and being a tourist. I've now arrived in Tokyo and am staying with my sister. It's an amazing place - very different to what I expected. There's all the tall buildings and fluorescent lights and crowds as made famous by Lost in Translation, but walk a few metres away and you're on quiet tangled streets with houses only one or two storeys high.
I'm planning a visit to a place where you can eat as much pudding and cake as you want in 90 minutes for £7... It's been nice knowing you all.
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Thursday, February 16, 2006
Thursday 16th Feb, Sydney
After a wonderful last few days in Thailand travelling around with Tone and his friends, I'm now in Sydney staying with my friend from uni, Nicky (the same person I was visiting in Hong Kong).
Tone and his friends had travelled up from Bangkok to take a load of donations of food, clothing, toys and money to a school that a young guy set up for kids from hill tribe families that had become homeless for various reasons. I found it really shocking that the Thai government doesn't support them in any way. People from the hill tribes aren't considered Thai - they don't have Thai ID cards and get no welfare at all. So these kids are living in a tiny group of buildings among the paddy fields, and the school is totally reliant on donations. I'm finding it really difficult to explain what it was like to be there. On one hand it was really uplifting to see how happy and well balanced these young kids were. But at the same time there was something quite draining about visiting and making friends with them and seeing how happy they were with everything that the group had brought, and then driving away again after spending a few hours there.
The other amazing thing I did with the group was on Monday - a big Buddhist religious holiday. We got up at 5.30 and drove for an hour or so to a really remote village, which is unique in Thailand because the monks there ride on horseback to collect their morning offerings. So along with a couple of hundred Thai people that had come to make their offerings for the festival, I stood in this hillside settlement and watched in the crisp morning sunshine as the seven monks came riding over the hill through the forest in their beautiful saffron robes chanting. The head monk was the most striking person I have ever seen. He sat on his horse, smiling happily and calmly among the crowds of worshipers making their offerings. He was quite chunky and his body was covered in intricate tatoos. He was followed by another older monk, an dthen by five young novice monks, each with tatoos. They'd be far too young to get tatoos in the UK!
I'd brought some food, soya milk and cartons of orange juice, so I stood in line with everyone else and made my offerings. The main monk was quite amused to see a farang there.
Tone had to go back to Chiang Mai to work, but the others gave me and my bike a lift all the way back to Bangkok! I was lucky that they were so kind, because I would really have struggled to get a space on a bus or train with the holiday - I'd not realised it was happening.
And after a journey that was pleasant thanks to a co-passenger who spoke good English, and scary thanks to a driver who drove adrenaline-drainingly fast, I arrived at Bangkok at 1.30 in the morning. I left my bike and all my stuff except my wallet and passport in left luggage and got a taxi to Khao San Road (backpacker central) and after a few attempts, found myself a room at 3.30 am. I felt I ought to make the most of my last night in Thailand, but despite it's party reputation, absolutely nothing was open at that time, and they stop selling beer in the shops at midnight. I got chatting to a group who were drinking on the pavement - a Canadian called Ty, an Australian called Jimmy, and six crazy japanese guys. They informed me that you can still buy beer illegally in the shops - just smile, and give them 100B, and they might keep the change as a bonus (though in my case they just charged me the normal price of 50B).
After some in-depth and drunken conversations about the state of Thailand, the two of the crazy Japanese guys started pushing each other around and shouting, and a Thai taxi driver threatened to call the cops, so bearing in mind the strong need not to get on the wrong side of Thai police, me, Ty and Jimmy made a hasty exit to our respective guesthouses. It was time to sleep anyway - it was past 5, and we were the last people on the street apart from the hookers.
After very little sleep I got up to make the most of my last day to do some shopping. I have discovered the best way to get around Bangkok: the motorbike taxi. It is so fast because they can dodge up the side of the traffic jams like a bike, but it's faster than a bicycle thanks to the motor. And it is so much fun! And because I'm a passenger I can take in all the scenery that I can't when I'm cycling (because I'm having to watch the traffic) or when in a bus or taxi (because the roof gets in the way). I went to the bike shop and sorted out a box for my bike, then hit the MBK mall and spent lots of money on software, DVDs and a shiny new digital camera (Pentax Optio WPI 6 mpx for anyone that's interested), then headed out to the airport, dismantled my bike and checked in with no problems at all - they didn't even charge me extra for the bike!
The flight to Sydney was pleasant - I was sitting between a well travelled middle aged Australian from the same suburb as my Dad's cousin who I'm off to see tomorrow, and a young Spanish guy who's birthday it was that day and was off to live with his girlfriend for three months. I got the train into the city centre and discovered that rather than being scorching hot and in the 30s, it was raining.
I found Nicky's flat on the edge of Chinatown without any problems and was welcomed by her boyfriend Rowney. I knew he was big into cycling, but it turns out he's REALLY into cycling. He's an ex-pro racer, mostly mountian biking, and competed in the olympics! He was pretty famous in the late 90s when mountain biking was at it's biggest. I'm sure I must have come across him when I used to read the biking magazines religiously as a teenager. He's got three absolutely amazing bikes in the flat. He now sells Yeti bikes - his road bike frame was custom made for him. He took me out for a ride around Sydney and at one beauty spot up on the cliffs an old American guy came up to us and was suitably awed by it. I don't really know much about high-end bikes, but even I am impressed. What impressed me was how seriously fit he is. We rode about 30 miles and he was clearly taking it extremely easy as I struggled to keep up. It was a great way to see the city. We rode past the parliament buildings, and then suddenly arrived at the Sydney Opera House and harbour bridge. Then we went past the botanic gardens and east through Kings Cross, Double Bay, through the posh suburbs with the occasional stunning modern house and lots of dull pillbox houses, watched the bmx-ers at the skate park at Bondi Beach, then stopped to see his friends at a bike shop. Rowney very kindly fixed up my bike a bit - including changing my drop-bar handlebars to be at the correct angle. i've spent the last six weeks with them set up wrongly! Doh! It's totally changed the handling, and feels much more comfortable. We had a delicious veggie burger, then headed back through a huge park (centennial park) and back to Nicky's flat.
In the evening when Nicky got back we drank some delicious Australian beer and wine, and Rowney made tasty babaganoush, followed by fantastic gnocchi. Nicky's got herself a good man here! I'm really enjoying good western food again. I love Thai food, but I got kinda sick of having rice and veg so often as the only vegetarian option in the many villages I was passing through. But I know that in a couple of weeks I'll be aching for it again.
Today's been an interesting rambling exploration of Sydney. I wandered around downtown looking at the shops and bizarre mix of architecture - bland skyscrapers, elaborate neo-classical collonial, and the occasional unexpected art-nouvau facade or gothic revival church. I did the touristy thing of going up a tall tower to see the view, and wandered around the beautiful botanic gardens and learned all about orchids - a plant that was amazingly prevelant in Thailand, but which I struggle not to kill in Edinburgh.
I ended the day by wandering around the Opera House. Yesterday I'd been seriously underwhelmed by it. It's one of those buildings that has occupied a place in my imagination for a long time thanks to it's very striking architecture, and having seen so many beautiful photos. So when I actually saw it there was no way that it could possibly live up to that. The same thing happened when I first saw the Pantheon. But this evening as I walked around it in the bright, pre-thunderstorm light, I fell in love with it. The shapes are so beautiful, the views change so much as you get closer, or move to another angle.
As the thunderstorm hit I felt very glad that I wasn't one of the people doing the walk over the arches of the bridge, and ran for a bus back to the town hall, where Nicky had booked us tickets for an evening lecture about sustainable building. It was an interesting lecture, even though it barely scratched the surface of the issues. The atmosphere of the lecture was very different to similar events I've attended in the UK. Much more chilled out and informal, with people swearing occasionally and cracking jokes that were actually funny.
We wandered home past Darling Harbour admiring the night time views of the unsustainably-illuminated skyscrapers. I feel like it's a pretty nice city from my first impressions. Flicking through the free live music paper is breathtaking - there's so much happening. People seem pretty friendly for such a big city. It's quite an under-stated place - it's not breathtakingly beautiful like Edinburgh or Florence. But it does still have a certain beauty about it with the opera house, nice public spaces and sculptures. But it is ridiculously large. Cycling 30 miles yesterday I hardly saw any of it. I'll see a lot more of the suburbs tomorrow evening as I head out to meet my relatives. And because of it's size and it's rather poor public transport the car really is prevelant here.
Tone and his friends had travelled up from Bangkok to take a load of donations of food, clothing, toys and money to a school that a young guy set up for kids from hill tribe families that had become homeless for various reasons. I found it really shocking that the Thai government doesn't support them in any way. People from the hill tribes aren't considered Thai - they don't have Thai ID cards and get no welfare at all. So these kids are living in a tiny group of buildings among the paddy fields, and the school is totally reliant on donations. I'm finding it really difficult to explain what it was like to be there. On one hand it was really uplifting to see how happy and well balanced these young kids were. But at the same time there was something quite draining about visiting and making friends with them and seeing how happy they were with everything that the group had brought, and then driving away again after spending a few hours there.
The other amazing thing I did with the group was on Monday - a big Buddhist religious holiday. We got up at 5.30 and drove for an hour or so to a really remote village, which is unique in Thailand because the monks there ride on horseback to collect their morning offerings. So along with a couple of hundred Thai people that had come to make their offerings for the festival, I stood in this hillside settlement and watched in the crisp morning sunshine as the seven monks came riding over the hill through the forest in their beautiful saffron robes chanting. The head monk was the most striking person I have ever seen. He sat on his horse, smiling happily and calmly among the crowds of worshipers making their offerings. He was quite chunky and his body was covered in intricate tatoos. He was followed by another older monk, an dthen by five young novice monks, each with tatoos. They'd be far too young to get tatoos in the UK!
I'd brought some food, soya milk and cartons of orange juice, so I stood in line with everyone else and made my offerings. The main monk was quite amused to see a farang there.
Tone had to go back to Chiang Mai to work, but the others gave me and my bike a lift all the way back to Bangkok! I was lucky that they were so kind, because I would really have struggled to get a space on a bus or train with the holiday - I'd not realised it was happening.
And after a journey that was pleasant thanks to a co-passenger who spoke good English, and scary thanks to a driver who drove adrenaline-drainingly fast, I arrived at Bangkok at 1.30 in the morning. I left my bike and all my stuff except my wallet and passport in left luggage and got a taxi to Khao San Road (backpacker central) and after a few attempts, found myself a room at 3.30 am. I felt I ought to make the most of my last night in Thailand, but despite it's party reputation, absolutely nothing was open at that time, and they stop selling beer in the shops at midnight. I got chatting to a group who were drinking on the pavement - a Canadian called Ty, an Australian called Jimmy, and six crazy japanese guys. They informed me that you can still buy beer illegally in the shops - just smile, and give them 100B, and they might keep the change as a bonus (though in my case they just charged me the normal price of 50B).
After some in-depth and drunken conversations about the state of Thailand, the two of the crazy Japanese guys started pushing each other around and shouting, and a Thai taxi driver threatened to call the cops, so bearing in mind the strong need not to get on the wrong side of Thai police, me, Ty and Jimmy made a hasty exit to our respective guesthouses. It was time to sleep anyway - it was past 5, and we were the last people on the street apart from the hookers.
After very little sleep I got up to make the most of my last day to do some shopping. I have discovered the best way to get around Bangkok: the motorbike taxi. It is so fast because they can dodge up the side of the traffic jams like a bike, but it's faster than a bicycle thanks to the motor. And it is so much fun! And because I'm a passenger I can take in all the scenery that I can't when I'm cycling (because I'm having to watch the traffic) or when in a bus or taxi (because the roof gets in the way). I went to the bike shop and sorted out a box for my bike, then hit the MBK mall and spent lots of money on software, DVDs and a shiny new digital camera (Pentax Optio WPI 6 mpx for anyone that's interested), then headed out to the airport, dismantled my bike and checked in with no problems at all - they didn't even charge me extra for the bike!
The flight to Sydney was pleasant - I was sitting between a well travelled middle aged Australian from the same suburb as my Dad's cousin who I'm off to see tomorrow, and a young Spanish guy who's birthday it was that day and was off to live with his girlfriend for three months. I got the train into the city centre and discovered that rather than being scorching hot and in the 30s, it was raining.
I found Nicky's flat on the edge of Chinatown without any problems and was welcomed by her boyfriend Rowney. I knew he was big into cycling, but it turns out he's REALLY into cycling. He's an ex-pro racer, mostly mountian biking, and competed in the olympics! He was pretty famous in the late 90s when mountain biking was at it's biggest. I'm sure I must have come across him when I used to read the biking magazines religiously as a teenager. He's got three absolutely amazing bikes in the flat. He now sells Yeti bikes - his road bike frame was custom made for him. He took me out for a ride around Sydney and at one beauty spot up on the cliffs an old American guy came up to us and was suitably awed by it. I don't really know much about high-end bikes, but even I am impressed. What impressed me was how seriously fit he is. We rode about 30 miles and he was clearly taking it extremely easy as I struggled to keep up. It was a great way to see the city. We rode past the parliament buildings, and then suddenly arrived at the Sydney Opera House and harbour bridge. Then we went past the botanic gardens and east through Kings Cross, Double Bay, through the posh suburbs with the occasional stunning modern house and lots of dull pillbox houses, watched the bmx-ers at the skate park at Bondi Beach, then stopped to see his friends at a bike shop. Rowney very kindly fixed up my bike a bit - including changing my drop-bar handlebars to be at the correct angle. i've spent the last six weeks with them set up wrongly! Doh! It's totally changed the handling, and feels much more comfortable. We had a delicious veggie burger, then headed back through a huge park (centennial park) and back to Nicky's flat.
In the evening when Nicky got back we drank some delicious Australian beer and wine, and Rowney made tasty babaganoush, followed by fantastic gnocchi. Nicky's got herself a good man here! I'm really enjoying good western food again. I love Thai food, but I got kinda sick of having rice and veg so often as the only vegetarian option in the many villages I was passing through. But I know that in a couple of weeks I'll be aching for it again.
Today's been an interesting rambling exploration of Sydney. I wandered around downtown looking at the shops and bizarre mix of architecture - bland skyscrapers, elaborate neo-classical collonial, and the occasional unexpected art-nouvau facade or gothic revival church. I did the touristy thing of going up a tall tower to see the view, and wandered around the beautiful botanic gardens and learned all about orchids - a plant that was amazingly prevelant in Thailand, but which I struggle not to kill in Edinburgh.
I ended the day by wandering around the Opera House. Yesterday I'd been seriously underwhelmed by it. It's one of those buildings that has occupied a place in my imagination for a long time thanks to it's very striking architecture, and having seen so many beautiful photos. So when I actually saw it there was no way that it could possibly live up to that. The same thing happened when I first saw the Pantheon. But this evening as I walked around it in the bright, pre-thunderstorm light, I fell in love with it. The shapes are so beautiful, the views change so much as you get closer, or move to another angle.
As the thunderstorm hit I felt very glad that I wasn't one of the people doing the walk over the arches of the bridge, and ran for a bus back to the town hall, where Nicky had booked us tickets for an evening lecture about sustainable building. It was an interesting lecture, even though it barely scratched the surface of the issues. The atmosphere of the lecture was very different to similar events I've attended in the UK. Much more chilled out and informal, with people swearing occasionally and cracking jokes that were actually funny.
We wandered home past Darling Harbour admiring the night time views of the unsustainably-illuminated skyscrapers. I feel like it's a pretty nice city from my first impressions. Flicking through the free live music paper is breathtaking - there's so much happening. People seem pretty friendly for such a big city. It's quite an under-stated place - it's not breathtakingly beautiful like Edinburgh or Florence. But it does still have a certain beauty about it with the opera house, nice public spaces and sculptures. But it is ridiculously large. Cycling 30 miles yesterday I hardly saw any of it. I'll see a lot more of the suburbs tomorrow evening as I head out to meet my relatives. And because of it's size and it's rather poor public transport the car really is prevelant here.
Friday, February 10, 2006
Thursday 9th Feb, Chiang Rai
Didn't sleep too well for some reason. So I got up at 5.30 and went to see the market. Lots of the local hilltribe women there in the beautiful traditional dress. Again I was wrong about it being just for the tourists. Had a breakfast of coffee and deep fried dough, then wealked up the hill to watch the sunrise.
Set off at 8ish - a few very steep hills, some pushing, then a wonderful ridge and long descent back down to the plains and rice fields - the mountains dissapearing into the haze and memores.
My plan had been to cycle north to Mae Sai - the northernmost point of Thaialand, then cycle to Chiang Rai the following day. But while cycling today I saw a signpost and realised it was the same distance to Mae Sai and Chiang Rai - both along the main highway 1. ANd a few folk had said that Mae Sai was nothing special, so I decided to make today my last day of riding and chill out in Chiang Rai for a couple of days before meeting Tone.
The ride along the highway was fine. It was funny to pass all the stalls selling the same thing agian. At first it was oranges for five miles. Then it was pineapples for 10 or so miles. It was funny because I'd just been thinking an hour before that the one thing I'd miss by not spending time in Bangkok before I go would be pineapple because I'd notseen it for sale in the north. So I was glad to eat some.
But the road passed quickly - dead flat, gentle tail wind, averaging 15 mph. I made an 8km detour to see the heavily advertised Karen Long Neck Village. It was a total fake, as is all the Karen Long Neck stuff. The whole 'village' had been built entirely for teh tourists, with different sections inhabited by different hill tribes shipped in specially. And as you approached they hurriedly put on their traditional costumes. But at least I didn't feel guity about taking photos.
So now I'm in Chiang Rai - a much smaller and quieter place than I'd expected. Spent the afternoon at the hilltribe education centre learning a bit more about the people I've seen over the last few weeks. It was a good exhibition, though some of their stuff about the slash & burn agriculture was rather academically out-dated. They had an interesting exhibition on opium, which included a short article on the early use of herion as a way to get people off opium addiction!
Had a good green curry in the adjoining restaurant - cabbages and condoms - a charity that aims to make condoms as widely available as cabbages.
Spent the evening shopping at the night market - bought some beautiful handwoven bags and watched some dancing, then experimented with wierd food - the best of which was the spicy papaya salad - very tasty, but left me struggling to breath.
Set off at 8ish - a few very steep hills, some pushing, then a wonderful ridge and long descent back down to the plains and rice fields - the mountains dissapearing into the haze and memores.
My plan had been to cycle north to Mae Sai - the northernmost point of Thaialand, then cycle to Chiang Rai the following day. But while cycling today I saw a signpost and realised it was the same distance to Mae Sai and Chiang Rai - both along the main highway 1. ANd a few folk had said that Mae Sai was nothing special, so I decided to make today my last day of riding and chill out in Chiang Rai for a couple of days before meeting Tone.
The ride along the highway was fine. It was funny to pass all the stalls selling the same thing agian. At first it was oranges for five miles. Then it was pineapples for 10 or so miles. It was funny because I'd just been thinking an hour before that the one thing I'd miss by not spending time in Bangkok before I go would be pineapple because I'd notseen it for sale in the north. So I was glad to eat some.
But the road passed quickly - dead flat, gentle tail wind, averaging 15 mph. I made an 8km detour to see the heavily advertised Karen Long Neck Village. It was a total fake, as is all the Karen Long Neck stuff. The whole 'village' had been built entirely for teh tourists, with different sections inhabited by different hill tribes shipped in specially. And as you approached they hurriedly put on their traditional costumes. But at least I didn't feel guity about taking photos.
So now I'm in Chiang Rai - a much smaller and quieter place than I'd expected. Spent the afternoon at the hilltribe education centre learning a bit more about the people I've seen over the last few weeks. It was a good exhibition, though some of their stuff about the slash & burn agriculture was rather academically out-dated. They had an interesting exhibition on opium, which included a short article on the early use of herion as a way to get people off opium addiction!
Had a good green curry in the adjoining restaurant - cabbages and condoms - a charity that aims to make condoms as widely available as cabbages.
Spent the evening shopping at the night market - bought some beautiful handwoven bags and watched some dancing, then experimented with wierd food - the best of which was the spicy papaya salad - very tasty, but left me struggling to breath.
Wed 8th Feb, Mae Salong
This morning I fell in love with the town of Thaton. I went to a wee roadside stall for a breakfast of coffee and American-style pancake, with which I sampled loads of the lady's home-made jams. I got chatting to a German who lives there for 3 months a year, who recommended a walk up to the temple, so I did.
It was exhausting, but absolutely amazing. Because it is in such a beautiful, popular location it gets lots of donations from rich Thais from Chiang Mai and Bangkok. And also, according to the German, one of the top monks in Thailand lives here - apparently he's rather irreverently called the Hi Fi monk due to his un-Buddhist love for the best hifi equipment. So all this money has led to a big complex of buddhas, temples, stupas and accommodation for themany monks, spreading up the hill.
The view, even from the first wat, was amazing - the low morning sun over the paddy fields and river, the low cloud. After half an hour of walking through all this up the steep hill I came to a massive new stupa they were building - the beautiful colourful patterns and gold bands shining in the sun. They were playing Buddhist music (tibetan). Below me the cloud was blowing up the steep forested valley past the tiny huts of the hill tribe villages in Burma, over the ridge, and down to Thaton. It was so, so, beautiful. It really moved me. I'm sure I have seen more beautiful places in my life, but something about the context, the timing, the music, my emotional state, my conscioussness, made that a very special moment.
From there I descended to the misty ridge to see the final site - a standing gold Buddha. I returned to the stupa, where I got chatting to teh guy who was doing the aluminium sculpting on it. As I went back down the mountain I stopped at the main Wat area for one last look at the view, and got chatting to a young monk, who asked if I would help him withi his English studies. So for half an hour or so we went through his textbook, me correcting his pronunciation (and the occasional mistake in the textbook!) He was really interesting to chat to.
Then I headed back to Thaton for a second breakfast of scrambled eggs, and hit the road at 10.30.
The ride ambled pleasantly along the valley for 15 miles or so through the orange groves (stopped for some freshly squeezed), then I hit thi hills. I tired myself out a bit on the first one in my stubborness, so stopped at a village that was being run as some sort of ethical community tourist project. I got a guided tour, but it all felt a bit staged - the "village blacksmith" who'd clearly just lit the fire moments before, the three pristinely dressed women playing music and dancing around a log, etc. But it was interesting, even if only to see an attempt at ethical tourism. But the craft shop was brilliant. I ended up buying two beautiful handwoven cushion covers with embroidered geometcial designs. I found it funny that I bought them - I had cushions as decorations.
I struggled to find a veggie lunch anywhere along the road, so ended up with junkfood.
The last 10 miles or so were really tough - v. steep - lots of 1st gear, lots of pushing. Took almost 2 hours. But very pretty to be in the mountains again.
Eventually reached Mae Salong - a very long straggling village. It's Yuannanese (Chineese). I'm staying at a friendly, beautiful, and ridiculously cheap guesthouse (Shinsane) for 50 B! Had a hot shower, then chatted to a friendly Israeli guy who'd passed me pushing my bike earlier. He's been travelling in Burma and loved it. I took a walk to one of the many tea shops and drank tea with a group of old ladies. The ritual was interesting. They put the leaves in a small pot, add boiling water, and drain straight away into a glass jug, which is used to fill teh tall thin china cups and the small round cups to preheat them. The second fill of the pot is then poured into the jug, and into the tall thin cups, which we then pour into the round ones, and sniff at the empty tall ones, and then drink from the round ones. The pot is repeatedly filled and poured into the jug, which is used for constant top ups. Very delicious. It was the family's freshest tea - just ready that day.
I asked if I could buy some, but a customer had already tried it and bought the entire batch. I got chatting to the owner, and was asking him about his plantation and business, so he took me out the back and talked me through the process. They pick the leaves and put them in the hhot sun forfive minutes to ferment, then bake them, tuble them, compress them, tumble, compress, etc, then dry them in hot blown air. All this taking a day or so. And then it'sready to be drunk! He took me onto the roof of his house to show me his fields on the mountainside above and below. They also make soy sauce the traditional way, and were drying the beans on the roof.
I went back to the guesthouse for a delicious meal of fried mushrooms and veg done in northern Thai style, then chatted to the Israeli guy again and we went for some food at a place claiming to be vegetarian, but wasn't particularly. He got me very enthused about cycling in Mongolia... So the list is now New Zealand, Nepal, Laos, Iran, Indonesia, and now Mongolia.
It was exhausting, but absolutely amazing. Because it is in such a beautiful, popular location it gets lots of donations from rich Thais from Chiang Mai and Bangkok. And also, according to the German, one of the top monks in Thailand lives here - apparently he's rather irreverently called the Hi Fi monk due to his un-Buddhist love for the best hifi equipment. So all this money has led to a big complex of buddhas, temples, stupas and accommodation for themany monks, spreading up the hill.
The view, even from the first wat, was amazing - the low morning sun over the paddy fields and river, the low cloud. After half an hour of walking through all this up the steep hill I came to a massive new stupa they were building - the beautiful colourful patterns and gold bands shining in the sun. They were playing Buddhist music (tibetan). Below me the cloud was blowing up the steep forested valley past the tiny huts of the hill tribe villages in Burma, over the ridge, and down to Thaton. It was so, so, beautiful. It really moved me. I'm sure I have seen more beautiful places in my life, but something about the context, the timing, the music, my emotional state, my conscioussness, made that a very special moment.
From there I descended to the misty ridge to see the final site - a standing gold Buddha. I returned to the stupa, where I got chatting to teh guy who was doing the aluminium sculpting on it. As I went back down the mountain I stopped at the main Wat area for one last look at the view, and got chatting to a young monk, who asked if I would help him withi his English studies. So for half an hour or so we went through his textbook, me correcting his pronunciation (and the occasional mistake in the textbook!) He was really interesting to chat to.
Then I headed back to Thaton for a second breakfast of scrambled eggs, and hit the road at 10.30.
The ride ambled pleasantly along the valley for 15 miles or so through the orange groves (stopped for some freshly squeezed), then I hit thi hills. I tired myself out a bit on the first one in my stubborness, so stopped at a village that was being run as some sort of ethical community tourist project. I got a guided tour, but it all felt a bit staged - the "village blacksmith" who'd clearly just lit the fire moments before, the three pristinely dressed women playing music and dancing around a log, etc. But it was interesting, even if only to see an attempt at ethical tourism. But the craft shop was brilliant. I ended up buying two beautiful handwoven cushion covers with embroidered geometcial designs. I found it funny that I bought them - I had cushions as decorations.
I struggled to find a veggie lunch anywhere along the road, so ended up with junkfood.
The last 10 miles or so were really tough - v. steep - lots of 1st gear, lots of pushing. Took almost 2 hours. But very pretty to be in the mountains again.
Eventually reached Mae Salong - a very long straggling village. It's Yuannanese (Chineese). I'm staying at a friendly, beautiful, and ridiculously cheap guesthouse (Shinsane) for 50 B! Had a hot shower, then chatted to a friendly Israeli guy who'd passed me pushing my bike earlier. He's been travelling in Burma and loved it. I took a walk to one of the many tea shops and drank tea with a group of old ladies. The ritual was interesting. They put the leaves in a small pot, add boiling water, and drain straight away into a glass jug, which is used to fill teh tall thin china cups and the small round cups to preheat them. The second fill of the pot is then poured into the jug, and into the tall thin cups, which we then pour into the round ones, and sniff at the empty tall ones, and then drink from the round ones. The pot is repeatedly filled and poured into the jug, which is used for constant top ups. Very delicious. It was the family's freshest tea - just ready that day.
I asked if I could buy some, but a customer had already tried it and bought the entire batch. I got chatting to the owner, and was asking him about his plantation and business, so he took me out the back and talked me through the process. They pick the leaves and put them in the hhot sun forfive minutes to ferment, then bake them, tuble them, compress them, tumble, compress, etc, then dry them in hot blown air. All this taking a day or so. And then it'sready to be drunk! He took me onto the roof of his house to show me his fields on the mountainside above and below. They also make soy sauce the traditional way, and were drying the beans on the roof.
I went back to the guesthouse for a delicious meal of fried mushrooms and veg done in northern Thai style, then chatted to the Israeli guy again and we went for some food at a place claiming to be vegetarian, but wasn't particularly. He got me very enthused about cycling in Mongolia... So the list is now New Zealand, Nepal, Laos, Iran, Indonesia, and now Mongolia.
Tuesday, February 07, 2006
Tuesday 7th Feb, Fang. On the road, footloose and Malarone free
Well I'm feeling much better today, so it looks like it may well have been the Malarone. I got up with my appetite fully restored, and had a rather unpleasant breakfast of instant coffee and steamed white buns (a typical Northern Thai breakfast, apart from the coffee being instant).
Set off immediatly onto a 2km steep push, then an absolutely glorious but impossibly steep and twisty 10km descent, ears popping, struggling to a halt every few minutes to let my rims cool down from all the braking.
I descended through the orange groves stopping for a delicious bottle of freshly squeezed orange juice, then paused at a beautiful Wat, where I got chatting to the Singaporian English teacher, who introduced me to the head monk at the Temple. He spoke a bit of English and was keen to hear about Scotland and so he showed me around the temple and we chatted for an hour or so. He was astounded to hear how much money I earned. I still find it difficult talking about that, as the disparity between what I earn and what a rural Thai person earns is so vast.
I left a donation for the Wat, and he insisted on filling up my bag with delicious oranges and other fruit which I've been munching on throughout the morning.
I'm now taking a relaxing lunch break, before cycling another 20 or so miles this afternoon, where I'll decide whether to go for a super-strenous day to a beautiful Chineese village in the mountains with delicious tea, or whether to take the river boat to the City of Chiang Rai and chill out, or whether there's some other fascinating option to fill my last few days...
I am really appreciating being well again, and able to ride. I hope it lasts.
Set off immediatly onto a 2km steep push, then an absolutely glorious but impossibly steep and twisty 10km descent, ears popping, struggling to a halt every few minutes to let my rims cool down from all the braking.
I descended through the orange groves stopping for a delicious bottle of freshly squeezed orange juice, then paused at a beautiful Wat, where I got chatting to the Singaporian English teacher, who introduced me to the head monk at the Temple. He spoke a bit of English and was keen to hear about Scotland and so he showed me around the temple and we chatted for an hour or so. He was astounded to hear how much money I earned. I still find it difficult talking about that, as the disparity between what I earn and what a rural Thai person earns is so vast.
I left a donation for the Wat, and he insisted on filling up my bag with delicious oranges and other fruit which I've been munching on throughout the morning.
I'm now taking a relaxing lunch break, before cycling another 20 or so miles this afternoon, where I'll decide whether to go for a super-strenous day to a beautiful Chineese village in the mountains with delicious tea, or whether to take the river boat to the City of Chiang Rai and chill out, or whether there's some other fascinating option to fill my last few days...
I am really appreciating being well again, and able to ride. I hope it lasts.
Mon 6th Feb, Doi Angkhan
I do choose good places to be ill! In the summer I got sick in teh beautiful and relaxing villa in Italy. And in Thailand I don't think I culd have ended up at a better place. It's so beautiful here in the mountains. And it is relatively cool as it is so high and there are even some clouds. I think I am adjusting to Thai temperatures though. Yesterday evening I came out in the dark in trousers, 2 t-shirts, a long sleeved cycling top and a micro-fleece and saw on teh thermoometer that it was still 20 degrees C! And it is so quiet. It doesn't seem to be on the farang tourist train, and Thai tourists only really come at weekends. Now that I've been here a couple of days a few people recognise me and say hi as I pass.
This morning though really justified my decision to come here. After waking at 7ish feeling a little better, I descended back into bed watching a dull football match with a bag of crisps (needing to replace lost salts - at least that's how I justified it to myself), i finally dragged myself out and set off to explore teh Angkhan Royal Agricultural Research Centre next to the village. It is stunning. The first area I went to was an enclosed space nestled against the beautiful limestone cliff, filled with beautiful ferns and orchids; the visula beauty backed by the soothing sounds of teh water.
The next section was the bonsai trees. Very pretty, but my interest was more in watching the guys cleaning teh big glass dome. Then a group of Thai tourists arrived and suddenly I was surrrounded by pretty girls and a ladyboy getting their photo taken with me, to the sound of "neung, sawng, saam" (1 2 3). Amusing.
Thai tourists are shameless photographers. Where I'll be tying myself in knots about the ethics of photographing a villager in their beautiful outfit, they'll be happily snapping away. Damn geography degree. As I was cycling up the hills 2 days ago quite a few folk were hanging out of their windows taking photos of the crazy farang.
After visiting the beautiful colours of the vegetable arden and teh pretty rose arden I came to teh sensory garden. It was spectacular - the colours, the textures, and teh smells! The smells. I have discovered my favourite smell - osmanthus.
Feeling exhausted and tired by the short 1km walk I stopped for a delicious coffee and cake, and as I idly flicked through the menu my appetite came roaring back - all the delicious dishes prepared with their own fresh vegetables. In the end I opted for some simple but delicious spring rolls. While I was eating there were a few drops of rain - I thought that was very strange - the first I'd felt in Thailand.
I went back to sleep in my room for the afternoon, waking to watch yesterday's rugby game between Scotland and France. And amazingly Scotland played well and won! That cheered me up. While that was on an enormous rainstorm hit, with thunder and lightning echoing around teh mountains. After it stopped I went for another walk amid the amazing smells and beautiful crisp clear evening light. Had a delicious punnet of strawberries, then went for another crappy overpriced pizza, and while there a powercut hit. I was quite glad - it killed the dreadful country music they were playing as punishment for me being so pathetic as to eat Western food.
The evening amid the powercut was quite pleasant - I sat around a brazier outside my hotel with an old Thai guy, and chatted to another guy who was holidaying en-route to display some night vision stuff at the Chiang Mai motorshow.
This evening I finally figured out that my illness is due to the side effects of the malaria tablets I've been taking (Malarone). My symptoms match those on GSK's leaflet, and I've been ill for too long for it just to be some dodgy food. Malarone's a relatively safe malaria pill, but I guess by exerting myself so much with the cycling I've brought out the side effects. I've decided to stop taking them, as it's been over a week since I was anywhere that might potentially have been malarial, and I'm not going to be anywhere else that is.
This morning though really justified my decision to come here. After waking at 7ish feeling a little better, I descended back into bed watching a dull football match with a bag of crisps (needing to replace lost salts - at least that's how I justified it to myself), i finally dragged myself out and set off to explore teh Angkhan Royal Agricultural Research Centre next to the village. It is stunning. The first area I went to was an enclosed space nestled against the beautiful limestone cliff, filled with beautiful ferns and orchids; the visula beauty backed by the soothing sounds of teh water.
The next section was the bonsai trees. Very pretty, but my interest was more in watching the guys cleaning teh big glass dome. Then a group of Thai tourists arrived and suddenly I was surrrounded by pretty girls and a ladyboy getting their photo taken with me, to the sound of "neung, sawng, saam" (1 2 3). Amusing.
Thai tourists are shameless photographers. Where I'll be tying myself in knots about the ethics of photographing a villager in their beautiful outfit, they'll be happily snapping away. Damn geography degree. As I was cycling up the hills 2 days ago quite a few folk were hanging out of their windows taking photos of the crazy farang.
After visiting the beautiful colours of the vegetable arden and teh pretty rose arden I came to teh sensory garden. It was spectacular - the colours, the textures, and teh smells! The smells. I have discovered my favourite smell - osmanthus.
Feeling exhausted and tired by the short 1km walk I stopped for a delicious coffee and cake, and as I idly flicked through the menu my appetite came roaring back - all the delicious dishes prepared with their own fresh vegetables. In the end I opted for some simple but delicious spring rolls. While I was eating there were a few drops of rain - I thought that was very strange - the first I'd felt in Thailand.
I went back to sleep in my room for the afternoon, waking to watch yesterday's rugby game between Scotland and France. And amazingly Scotland played well and won! That cheered me up. While that was on an enormous rainstorm hit, with thunder and lightning echoing around teh mountains. After it stopped I went for another walk amid the amazing smells and beautiful crisp clear evening light. Had a delicious punnet of strawberries, then went for another crappy overpriced pizza, and while there a powercut hit. I was quite glad - it killed the dreadful country music they were playing as punishment for me being so pathetic as to eat Western food.
The evening amid the powercut was quite pleasant - I sat around a brazier outside my hotel with an old Thai guy, and chatted to another guy who was holidaying en-route to display some night vision stuff at the Chiang Mai motorshow.
This evening I finally figured out that my illness is due to the side effects of the malaria tablets I've been taking (Malarone). My symptoms match those on GSK's leaflet, and I've been ill for too long for it just to be some dodgy food. Malarone's a relatively safe malaria pill, but I guess by exerting myself so much with the cycling I've brought out the side effects. I've decided to stop taking them, as it's been over a week since I was anywhere that might potentially have been malarial, and I'm not going to be anywhere else that is.
Sunday, February 05, 2006
Sunday 5th Feb, Still in Doi Ang Khan
Today I learned the Thai for "it's beautiful here", "I feel ill" and "where is the toilet".
Interestingly the Thai for beautiful and toilet are very similar - soo-ay and soo-am. I'll have to be careful when I next reply to questions about the attractiveness of someones daughter...
I didn't sleep very well - rather uncomfortable without a mat, and felt ill. We got up at 5am to go and watch the sunrise on top of the mountain with 100 other campers. It was very bizarre - there was a whole row of bonfires and cafes there in the dark. It looked pretty cloudy and I was feeling awful, so I ended up sleeping in Ton's pickup. I'll look at their photos.
We then drove to a small mountainside village where they grow strawberries on teh steep terraces. we picked a tasty tubfull in the beautiful morning light. It was the first time Ton had picked strawberries. He was amazed that at home parents grow them in the garden.
We then passed through another mountain village with the townspeople walking to the fields in their beautiful outfits, then went to an army post at the Burmese border. I had not realised how close I was to teh border - the roads do very different things here to what is shown on any of the 4 maps I've seen. I stuck my arm over the border through the barbed wire fence. They had interesting sandbag bunkers, and had used the same sandbags to make raised flowerbeds.
We drove back to our tents. Ton and Tha Ton made a breakfast of noodles and veg, and two boiled eggs for me. I was feeling dreadful by this point, so I said goodbye and found myself a really nice room for 300B - big comfy bed, TV, and most importantly for someone in my condition - an en-suite toilet. Spent most of the day asleep and woke up to see England thrashing Wales rather unexitingly. The sports chanel is the only English language chanel. I hate sport on TV. I think I must have left it on as I slept for some kind of comfort-crutch.
I don't know what I'll do if I dont' get better soon. I'd like to do more riding round to the Laos border, but round here it's all really strenous. And I only have 5 days riding left. At worst I'll get a lift to the main road and the bus to Chiang Mai, and do a coach and elephant-back tour of Doin Inthanon (the highest mountain in Thailand) and then meet up with Ton.
It is so frustrating being ill and seeing the days and the wonderful opportunities slipping bye, I am more ill today than two days ago - I guess I overdid it yesterday.
I've managed to leave my room to the plush resort where they've let me use their computer in the back of the office, once they'd finished dealing with a really arsey old man from Vienna and his young Thai wife... Made me rather ashamed to be European.
Speaking of being European, I think tonight, for the first time on my trip, I am going to give in and eat western food for supper. I can't stomach Thai food right now.
Interestingly the Thai for beautiful and toilet are very similar - soo-ay and soo-am. I'll have to be careful when I next reply to questions about the attractiveness of someones daughter...
I didn't sleep very well - rather uncomfortable without a mat, and felt ill. We got up at 5am to go and watch the sunrise on top of the mountain with 100 other campers. It was very bizarre - there was a whole row of bonfires and cafes there in the dark. It looked pretty cloudy and I was feeling awful, so I ended up sleeping in Ton's pickup. I'll look at their photos.
We then drove to a small mountainside village where they grow strawberries on teh steep terraces. we picked a tasty tubfull in the beautiful morning light. It was the first time Ton had picked strawberries. He was amazed that at home parents grow them in the garden.
We then passed through another mountain village with the townspeople walking to the fields in their beautiful outfits, then went to an army post at the Burmese border. I had not realised how close I was to teh border - the roads do very different things here to what is shown on any of the 4 maps I've seen. I stuck my arm over the border through the barbed wire fence. They had interesting sandbag bunkers, and had used the same sandbags to make raised flowerbeds.
We drove back to our tents. Ton and Tha Ton made a breakfast of noodles and veg, and two boiled eggs for me. I was feeling dreadful by this point, so I said goodbye and found myself a really nice room for 300B - big comfy bed, TV, and most importantly for someone in my condition - an en-suite toilet. Spent most of the day asleep and woke up to see England thrashing Wales rather unexitingly. The sports chanel is the only English language chanel. I hate sport on TV. I think I must have left it on as I slept for some kind of comfort-crutch.
I don't know what I'll do if I dont' get better soon. I'd like to do more riding round to the Laos border, but round here it's all really strenous. And I only have 5 days riding left. At worst I'll get a lift to the main road and the bus to Chiang Mai, and do a coach and elephant-back tour of Doin Inthanon (the highest mountain in Thailand) and then meet up with Ton.
It is so frustrating being ill and seeing the days and the wonderful opportunities slipping bye, I am more ill today than two days ago - I guess I overdid it yesterday.
I've managed to leave my room to the plush resort where they've let me use their computer in the back of the office, once they'd finished dealing with a really arsey old man from Vienna and his young Thai wife... Made me rather ashamed to be European.
Speaking of being European, I think tonight, for the first time on my trip, I am going to give in and eat western food for supper. I can't stomach Thai food right now.
Sat 4th Feb, Doi Ang Khan
Today I felt a bit better, so I decided to press on. I still felt weak and slow, but didn't find it so frustrating because I knew I was a bit ill. I pretty quickly turned off the main road and spent the day on one of the quietest roads I've been on. The area feels very different to anywhere I've been before. The land was more open, and felt more like forest than jungle. I saw my first citrus trees of the trip.
Half way through the morning I met two nice Belgians who were riding teh same way as me, nd over teh day we rode together quite a bit and chatted.
At lunch I paid with a 500B note, something I try to avoid in rural areas. She gave me change as if I'd given 100, but I smiled and said five, and immediatly she put her hand in her apron and brough out the other 400 - she didn't even pretend or make a fuss.
and after lunch came a headwind (my first of the trip) and the steepest, toughest hills of thr trip! I would have struggled even at full fitness. I caught up with the Belgian couple and we pushed and rode together. They've ridden all over Europe (including the alps) and New Zealand and said that this was teh hardest they'd ever done! I'm not sure what altitude we reached, certainly over 1000m. It got so beautiful - lots of really steep mountains on all sides, one of the most beautiful places I've seen.
When I reached the junction to teh first place with accommodation I stopped to wait for the Belgians to see what their plans were. Two young Thai guys stopped to chat. One of them tours a lot on his bike - the first Thai I've met who does.
They ended up giving the Belgians a lift to the next village, and offered to let me camp with them, so I followed behind on the first downhill all day. They had a spare tent and sleeping bag, and we pitched up in the garden of a school among the cherry trees. Had a chilly Thai-style shower - baltic at first, but as always I slowly adjusted to the cold water. Then we went for supper in teh village.
It's an amazing place - nestled amongst the mountains. It seems predominantly muslim, and most of the residents are Yuannanese from China. The two Thai guys - Ton and Tha Ton (like Tom with an 'N'. Tha means 'tall') - chose some delicious veggie dishes which we shared. This area is much cooler than the rest of Thailand, and is famous for its vegetables. One dish had amazing mushrooms in a dark, sweet and sour style sauce. Another was delicious veggies in a similar sauce. One was a cripsly vegetable a bit like fried seaweed, with some kind of dark pickled eggs that looked rank, but tasted amazing.
We chatted lots. They both work for a company that provides business advice. They are up from Bangkok working in Chiang Mai, so drove to this area to camp for the weekend. It seems a very popular thing to do for Thais - there are loads of people camping at the official campsite. Apart from the Belgians and me there don't seem to be any other farang. Thais only get about 7 days holiday a year, so weekend trips are very popular.
Ton made me an amazing offer. On the 11th I can go with him and some friends to a remote village in the very north to take some donations. We'll camp for a night or two, then he'll drive me and my bike back all the way to Bankok, stopping to see a place where monks ride horses to get their morning donations, to see teh coffee fields, and to see a long neck Karen village if I want to. And we will be in Bangkok at midnight or so before my 5pm flight on the 14th! Such an exciting and great offer!
Half way through the morning I met two nice Belgians who were riding teh same way as me, nd over teh day we rode together quite a bit and chatted.
At lunch I paid with a 500B note, something I try to avoid in rural areas. She gave me change as if I'd given 100, but I smiled and said five, and immediatly she put her hand in her apron and brough out the other 400 - she didn't even pretend or make a fuss.
and after lunch came a headwind (my first of the trip) and the steepest, toughest hills of thr trip! I would have struggled even at full fitness. I caught up with the Belgian couple and we pushed and rode together. They've ridden all over Europe (including the alps) and New Zealand and said that this was teh hardest they'd ever done! I'm not sure what altitude we reached, certainly over 1000m. It got so beautiful - lots of really steep mountains on all sides, one of the most beautiful places I've seen.
When I reached the junction to teh first place with accommodation I stopped to wait for the Belgians to see what their plans were. Two young Thai guys stopped to chat. One of them tours a lot on his bike - the first Thai I've met who does.
They ended up giving the Belgians a lift to the next village, and offered to let me camp with them, so I followed behind on the first downhill all day. They had a spare tent and sleeping bag, and we pitched up in the garden of a school among the cherry trees. Had a chilly Thai-style shower - baltic at first, but as always I slowly adjusted to the cold water. Then we went for supper in teh village.
It's an amazing place - nestled amongst the mountains. It seems predominantly muslim, and most of the residents are Yuannanese from China. The two Thai guys - Ton and Tha Ton (like Tom with an 'N'. Tha means 'tall') - chose some delicious veggie dishes which we shared. This area is much cooler than the rest of Thailand, and is famous for its vegetables. One dish had amazing mushrooms in a dark, sweet and sour style sauce. Another was delicious veggies in a similar sauce. One was a cripsly vegetable a bit like fried seaweed, with some kind of dark pickled eggs that looked rank, but tasted amazing.
We chatted lots. They both work for a company that provides business advice. They are up from Bangkok working in Chiang Mai, so drove to this area to camp for the weekend. It seems a very popular thing to do for Thais - there are loads of people camping at the official campsite. Apart from the Belgians and me there don't seem to be any other farang. Thais only get about 7 days holiday a year, so weekend trips are very popular.
Ton made me an amazing offer. On the 11th I can go with him and some friends to a remote village in the very north to take some donations. We'll camp for a night or two, then he'll drive me and my bike back all the way to Bankok, stopping to see a place where monks ride horses to get their morning donations, to see teh coffee fields, and to see a long neck Karen village if I want to. And we will be in Bangkok at midnight or so before my 5pm flight on the 14th! Such an exciting and great offer!
Friday, February 03, 2006
3rd Feb, Sick Day
Well, I'm still ill, so had to take a day off riding in this rather dull town. I got up at 7.30 to see if I was better and spent half an hour watching a bizarre parade of schoolkids along the only street through town - their bands and chearleading and baton throwing snarling up the traffic for miles! Anarchy starts early in Thailand!
Spent most of the day sleeping, but have ventured out briefly for emails and to attempt to get some food. It feels very strange not having an appetite after weeks of eating ravenously.
I think getting sick is the only bad thing about travelling on your own, and even that's not too serious. Just frustrating and dull.
Spent most of the day sleeping, but have ventured out briefly for emails and to attempt to get some food. It feels very strange not having an appetite after weeks of eating ravenously.
I think getting sick is the only bad thing about travelling on your own, and even that's not too serious. Just frustrating and dull.
Thursday, February 02, 2006
Thursday 2nd Feb, Chiang Dao
I am absolutely wiped out and feel like crap, but I'll attempt to capture some of the feeling of the great morning I had before illness began festering in my tummy.
Last night was pretty quiet. I went to a very small busy bar and had a tall bamboo mug of delicious herbal tea, followed by an even more delicious mug of ginger tea, and chatted to a rather dull Canadian teaching English in Korea.
I got up at 6 and as I emerged into the darkness and the sound of the crickets and cockerels a figure stumbled out of the darkness - a very happy man who'd spent the night smoking opium and weed, who was looking for his friend's room. We had a pleasant chat and he staggered back into the happy darkness.
I was packed and in town before sunsires to get a seriously unhealthy breakfast of deep fried dough, coffee and an egg pancake.
I set off through the beautiful cool mist - droplets of dew forming on the bleached-blonde hairs of my arms. As I reahed the big 1250m pass these droplets gradually mingled with the perspiration.
I really, really enjoyed the ascent. My legs were strong and rested, the jungle and views beautiful, the traffic light, and the temperature relatively cool. Did lots of thinking - jobs (a bad idea when you're having such a great ride - all you want to do is carry on riding), plans, relationships, forming a theory on Generation Lonely Planet.
I got an email yesterday from someone called Ian with an email address not in my address book, but that I vaguelly recognised. It was a short but friendly email, and I really couldn't think who this Ian was. It seemed to be from someone I'd met in Thailand but I couldn't remember giving my email address to anyone called Ian. I sent a brief reply. Today I realised that it was Ian from work, on holiday in South Africa. Doh!
The ascent was quiet as it was still pretty early - just a few mopeds and pickups, and a coke lorry and a beer lorry, slowly crawling down the steep twisting road, gears and brakes roaring, on their way to refuel Pai.
At the top of the pass I stopped at the cafe and had a delicious coffee, and sat there in the glorious sun, feeling great, and wrote a couple of postcards with a purring cat on my lap licking at the dregs of my coffee.
The descent was long and good. I almost hit a huge snake! It was wriggling furiously across the road as I swooped around a corner, going too fast to stop. If it had been crossing in the other direction I would have hit it. I had visions of it getting caught in my wheel and thrown on top of me...
Stopped at a row of cafes in a wee village, where all the cooks and diners entered into a big shouted conversation about which one had something veggie. I ended up with rice and omlette.
I met three guys cycling in the opposite direction. Didn't speak to the first one as he was ahead of the others and I was being half-heartedly chased by a dog at the time. But the other two were really friendly - a German and a Spaniard who had been travelling for 7 and 12 months across Europe and India. They recommended Nepal very strongly, and also the area around Manila in the Phillipines. Hmm, more trips beckon... They also said that they sleep most nights for free in Wats. Sounds like something I should try. Though it does feel slightly unethical because I can afford a guesthouse and will not really be many places where there isn't one.
Just before I hit the main road north from Chiang Mai I came across the Wat that the two americans on the boat to Surat Thani had been so enthusiastic about. It was incredible. Stepping out of the lowland midday head into the cool dark vast space, the walls beautifully muralled with scenes of Buddha's life, intricate collumns decorated with mirrored coloured glass and carvings, a beautiful ornate red and gold panelled ceiling, and a large gold buddha presiding over it all.
And then I hit the main road north. It was the busiest traffic I'd seen since I left Bangkok one and a half weeks ago, and was really shocking and unpleasant. I retreated into the big market selling deep fried chicken feet and gorged myself on roasted bananas and some kind of baked eggy, creamy cakes in an attempt to put off the unpleasantness.
As I set off along that road I began to feel so tired and unhappy, my spirits lifting with teh occasional break in traffic or a friendly wave from a family in their quiet cafe, only for my spirits to be slowly erroded by every blast of exhaust fume or short ascent. The road got nicer after 10 miles or so - quieter, back into the forest. I had a long break for a cold Pepsi and water and felt a little better, but still very tired. Passed elephants grazing by the roadside.
Eventually pulled into town at 5 after 85 miles and spent about half an hour trying to find the cheap hotel listed in the Lonely Planet (I only found it when I had to stop for a broken-down moped and happened to glance up a side-street). It was deserted. For once I was glad of the barking dogs, hoping they would alert teh owner. But no. They stopped and carried on scratching in the dirt. The only other person around was a lovely wizened old man sitting there chatting away to me in Thai, his green tracksuit trousers pulled up over his round naked belly. Eventually a kind shopkeeper showed me teh hidden bell, which, after two rings, produced the owner. It's a beautiful old wooden hotel.
Despite a shower and clean clothes and bowl of noodle soup I still feel awful and my stomach is aching. Either I gave myself food poisoning yesterday on my cooking course, or I've been eating too much sugary fried crap.
The only other farang in town is a rathe bemused French woman. This is her first night outside the cities in the north, and I guess this isn't what you might expect of a 'rural' Thai town. It's a typically untouristy, unglamorous, un-beautiful, uninteresting, busy, lovely little town with simple cafes, a few shops and a main road running through buzzing with mopeds.
Last night was pretty quiet. I went to a very small busy bar and had a tall bamboo mug of delicious herbal tea, followed by an even more delicious mug of ginger tea, and chatted to a rather dull Canadian teaching English in Korea.
I got up at 6 and as I emerged into the darkness and the sound of the crickets and cockerels a figure stumbled out of the darkness - a very happy man who'd spent the night smoking opium and weed, who was looking for his friend's room. We had a pleasant chat and he staggered back into the happy darkness.
I was packed and in town before sunsires to get a seriously unhealthy breakfast of deep fried dough, coffee and an egg pancake.
I set off through the beautiful cool mist - droplets of dew forming on the bleached-blonde hairs of my arms. As I reahed the big 1250m pass these droplets gradually mingled with the perspiration.
I really, really enjoyed the ascent. My legs were strong and rested, the jungle and views beautiful, the traffic light, and the temperature relatively cool. Did lots of thinking - jobs (a bad idea when you're having such a great ride - all you want to do is carry on riding), plans, relationships, forming a theory on Generation Lonely Planet.
I got an email yesterday from someone called Ian with an email address not in my address book, but that I vaguelly recognised. It was a short but friendly email, and I really couldn't think who this Ian was. It seemed to be from someone I'd met in Thailand but I couldn't remember giving my email address to anyone called Ian. I sent a brief reply. Today I realised that it was Ian from work, on holiday in South Africa. Doh!
The ascent was quiet as it was still pretty early - just a few mopeds and pickups, and a coke lorry and a beer lorry, slowly crawling down the steep twisting road, gears and brakes roaring, on their way to refuel Pai.
At the top of the pass I stopped at the cafe and had a delicious coffee, and sat there in the glorious sun, feeling great, and wrote a couple of postcards with a purring cat on my lap licking at the dregs of my coffee.
The descent was long and good. I almost hit a huge snake! It was wriggling furiously across the road as I swooped around a corner, going too fast to stop. If it had been crossing in the other direction I would have hit it. I had visions of it getting caught in my wheel and thrown on top of me...
Stopped at a row of cafes in a wee village, where all the cooks and diners entered into a big shouted conversation about which one had something veggie. I ended up with rice and omlette.
I met three guys cycling in the opposite direction. Didn't speak to the first one as he was ahead of the others and I was being half-heartedly chased by a dog at the time. But the other two were really friendly - a German and a Spaniard who had been travelling for 7 and 12 months across Europe and India. They recommended Nepal very strongly, and also the area around Manila in the Phillipines. Hmm, more trips beckon... They also said that they sleep most nights for free in Wats. Sounds like something I should try. Though it does feel slightly unethical because I can afford a guesthouse and will not really be many places where there isn't one.
Just before I hit the main road north from Chiang Mai I came across the Wat that the two americans on the boat to Surat Thani had been so enthusiastic about. It was incredible. Stepping out of the lowland midday head into the cool dark vast space, the walls beautifully muralled with scenes of Buddha's life, intricate collumns decorated with mirrored coloured glass and carvings, a beautiful ornate red and gold panelled ceiling, and a large gold buddha presiding over it all.
And then I hit the main road north. It was the busiest traffic I'd seen since I left Bangkok one and a half weeks ago, and was really shocking and unpleasant. I retreated into the big market selling deep fried chicken feet and gorged myself on roasted bananas and some kind of baked eggy, creamy cakes in an attempt to put off the unpleasantness.
As I set off along that road I began to feel so tired and unhappy, my spirits lifting with teh occasional break in traffic or a friendly wave from a family in their quiet cafe, only for my spirits to be slowly erroded by every blast of exhaust fume or short ascent. The road got nicer after 10 miles or so - quieter, back into the forest. I had a long break for a cold Pepsi and water and felt a little better, but still very tired. Passed elephants grazing by the roadside.
Eventually pulled into town at 5 after 85 miles and spent about half an hour trying to find the cheap hotel listed in the Lonely Planet (I only found it when I had to stop for a broken-down moped and happened to glance up a side-street). It was deserted. For once I was glad of the barking dogs, hoping they would alert teh owner. But no. They stopped and carried on scratching in the dirt. The only other person around was a lovely wizened old man sitting there chatting away to me in Thai, his green tracksuit trousers pulled up over his round naked belly. Eventually a kind shopkeeper showed me teh hidden bell, which, after two rings, produced the owner. It's a beautiful old wooden hotel.
Despite a shower and clean clothes and bowl of noodle soup I still feel awful and my stomach is aching. Either I gave myself food poisoning yesterday on my cooking course, or I've been eating too much sugary fried crap.
The only other farang in town is a rathe bemused French woman. This is her first night outside the cities in the north, and I guess this isn't what you might expect of a 'rural' Thai town. It's a typically untouristy, unglamorous, un-beautiful, uninteresting, busy, lovely little town with simple cafes, a few shops and a main road running through buzzing with mopeds.
Wednesday, February 01, 2006
Wednesday 1st February, Pai
I can't believe a full month of 2006 has passed already!
Today has revolved around food even more so than a normal day. I woke pretty early so wandered around Pai in the cold quiet streets. None of teh restaurants had opened, putting pay to my plan of a westernised breakfast of scrambled eggs. Instead I did a tour of the food vendors on the high street - dim sum from one, deep fried dough from another. Egg roti from one combined with a fantastic cup of Thai filtered coffee from another. Then a wander and some postcard writing, then back for a crazy cup of Thai tea - bright orange and very sweet. Lovely.
I cycled out of town a couple of km to a lovely riverside resort where they do veggie Thai cooking lessons. I was the only student. We started by driving to the wednesday market (lucky timing!) which was a crazy bustle of tents with people from teh mountain villages selling all sorts of fruit and veg. We then drove to a place that sells fresh coconuts. Then we spent an hour or so chopping all the garlic, chillis, ginger, shallots, lemongrass, and all the strange Thai ingredients. Then we spent about two hours grinding everything to an impossibly smooth collection of pastes in the pestle and mortar. It took so long! And despite my massive breakfast I was getting really hungry. And then finally we cooked three delicious curries and pad thai. And then finally, finally, I got to gorge myself on the most delicious food I've had in Thailand.
The red and green curreis tasted so amazing with the fresh coconut milk - way better than tinned. Of the two I think I preferred the red curry with pumpkin. But that's partly because I had green curry just before I was ill in Koh Tao, and partly because I'm not a fan of the mini-eggplant we put in the green curry. The third curry was a norther-Thailand style curry. No coconut this time. Instead - red curry paste, Tamarind, dark soy sauce, textured vegetabel protein (the first time I'd ever cooked with this - pretty nice), delicious straw and shiitake mushrooms, and pineapple. Really rich and dark and strong.
And my teacher was great - really interesting to chat to. He's Thai, from Bangkok, but had to leave the city for unspecified reasons. He told me about the dreadful rural hospitals where they prescribe paracetemol for everything, and about the huge 2m flood they had here last year.
I then spent the afternoon digesting with a big pot of green tea next to the river and chatting to a friendly American couple who live in Colorado. They'd come for 2 months of rock climbing, and here they are 3 months later. My enthusiastic description of my ride must have been infectious, because as teh afternoon wore on out came the map, and plans were formed to go to the nearby city of Chiang Mai to buy bikes and cycle around N. Thailand and into Laos down the Mekong. I hope they do it!
I cycled back to my guesthouse, where I did battle with the dribbling shower that randomly switched between boiling and freezing, and changed into my freshly laundered clothes. I can't describe how good that felt...
Back on the road today - a long day if I'm to make it to a guesthouse - a rather unlikely 105 miles with a 1400m pass inbetween. Think I may be having a night in a police box or under the stars.
Today has revolved around food even more so than a normal day. I woke pretty early so wandered around Pai in the cold quiet streets. None of teh restaurants had opened, putting pay to my plan of a westernised breakfast of scrambled eggs. Instead I did a tour of the food vendors on the high street - dim sum from one, deep fried dough from another. Egg roti from one combined with a fantastic cup of Thai filtered coffee from another. Then a wander and some postcard writing, then back for a crazy cup of Thai tea - bright orange and very sweet. Lovely.
I cycled out of town a couple of km to a lovely riverside resort where they do veggie Thai cooking lessons. I was the only student. We started by driving to the wednesday market (lucky timing!) which was a crazy bustle of tents with people from teh mountain villages selling all sorts of fruit and veg. We then drove to a place that sells fresh coconuts. Then we spent an hour or so chopping all the garlic, chillis, ginger, shallots, lemongrass, and all the strange Thai ingredients. Then we spent about two hours grinding everything to an impossibly smooth collection of pastes in the pestle and mortar. It took so long! And despite my massive breakfast I was getting really hungry. And then finally we cooked three delicious curries and pad thai. And then finally, finally, I got to gorge myself on the most delicious food I've had in Thailand.
The red and green curreis tasted so amazing with the fresh coconut milk - way better than tinned. Of the two I think I preferred the red curry with pumpkin. But that's partly because I had green curry just before I was ill in Koh Tao, and partly because I'm not a fan of the mini-eggplant we put in the green curry. The third curry was a norther-Thailand style curry. No coconut this time. Instead - red curry paste, Tamarind, dark soy sauce, textured vegetabel protein (the first time I'd ever cooked with this - pretty nice), delicious straw and shiitake mushrooms, and pineapple. Really rich and dark and strong.
And my teacher was great - really interesting to chat to. He's Thai, from Bangkok, but had to leave the city for unspecified reasons. He told me about the dreadful rural hospitals where they prescribe paracetemol for everything, and about the huge 2m flood they had here last year.
I then spent the afternoon digesting with a big pot of green tea next to the river and chatting to a friendly American couple who live in Colorado. They'd come for 2 months of rock climbing, and here they are 3 months later. My enthusiastic description of my ride must have been infectious, because as teh afternoon wore on out came the map, and plans were formed to go to the nearby city of Chiang Mai to buy bikes and cycle around N. Thailand and into Laos down the Mekong. I hope they do it!
I cycled back to my guesthouse, where I did battle with the dribbling shower that randomly switched between boiling and freezing, and changed into my freshly laundered clothes. I can't describe how good that felt...
Back on the road today - a long day if I'm to make it to a guesthouse - a rather unlikely 105 miles with a 1400m pass inbetween. Think I may be having a night in a police box or under the stars.
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