My first 1000 miles and a canine encounter

13^th December – Khao Sok to Thap Put – 53.68 miles, Av 10.8, Max 28.5 and 4.56 hours ride time.

Magnificent, majestic and mesmerising are the 3 m’s that best describe the scenery we have cycled through and past today. And I am personally chuffed with my first 1000miles! It did not rain last night or this morning so packing up camp was almost a joy. The road was undulating allowing our bodies to get back into the rhythm of cycling with our loads. Limestone cliffs and scarps rising out of the jungle, some naked allowing sight of the caves and clefts that pock mark their faces. Some covered in the green of trees all the way to their spires. Clouds cling like candy floss to some and it is just awesome on the grandest of scales to witness nature in this way and at time utterly breathtaking. No lens would be able to capture it in the way that your sight can and the impression it leaves in your mind. It was so tranquil and after a break for sugar intake we turned south once again, leaving the environs of the park and moving into the rural plantations and terracing of hills. Water bottles at the ready now as we have now discovered these are a useful dog deterrent as we move into more inhabited areas.

Lunch in a village that yet again our cartographer friends seemed to have overlooked. Not sure what we had but being next to the school brought many hellos and the practice of English. We arrived at the junction of the main highway and with the help of a pick-up driver turned right into town despite the map saying left and found yet another pay by the hour establishment. Awesome as the space for the car that all would normally turn up in became a camping drying area and dinner was interspersed by watching the local youth population on their uprated moto’s cruising the main drag in town with the loudest hairdryer noises I have yet to hear.

December 14 – Thap Put to Klong Thom – 63.63 miles – Av 10.8, Max 29, ride time 5hours 49 minutes

Undulating, if a 10% gradient can be called that. Rain, hot, rain, spikey rain, steel rod rain, hot spikey steel rod rain made up todays riding weather. Saw a sign for Jam Island and wondered if I could buy it. Saw a restaurant called ‘Condoms and Cabbages’ and wondered at the madness of registering business names.

Had a couple of minor incidents today, first riding uphill stacked it quite spectacularly down the embankment, shaken but not stirred continued on and made the decision to this time stop at one of the chicken rotisseries at the road side. OMG I have never had chicken quite like it, a whole one between us at 9.30am was probably a little too much but it was yum on every level. G noticed that my back panniers looked odd. Umm no wonder as my early stack had caused the entire rear frame to come apart and it had been held on for 20 plus miles by a bungee cord! Repairs commenced and after 20 minutes we were back on the road. We stopped for lunch in Krabi and watched some industrious cha making before an afternoon of rain riding.

it is not pleasant to watch but this is the person who said they did not want any!

The second incident was of the canine variety. We had some very polite advice from a dad on a moto with his 3 children who inquired as to where we were going then suggested a number of hotels in the area. We searched for the first one without luck and decided to follow a road through a residential area that seemed likely to possess a bed for the evening. There were a number of hounds that showed a keen interest in us but after checking in and deciding to ride back into town for breakfast ingredients one of the same hounds decided that I was game on and went for me. I was probably doing 15 miles an hour when its canine teeth went through the empty rear pannier. I don’t quite know what speed I then got up to but was a little shaken by the time we reached the sanctity of yet another 7eleven.

Dinner was in a small restaurant opposite the hotel and Cow Pat Moo as it is phonetically was the best we have had to date.

now where did I park my pick up?

December 15^th – Klong Thom to Trang – 54.25 miles, Av 10.5, Max 21.7, Ride time 5hours and temp 41

Overloaded pick up trucks and hills that seemed to be never ending along with an n increase in the temperature meant today was a tough one. We are back into more of a rural landscape heading to Trang. The heat today got to me and by the time we arrived I was in need to sugar and rehydration. Trang is a funny old place, allegedly known for its BBQ ribs, bull to bull fighting and bird to bird sing offs. The café we found in the main square became our base for the evening and more westerner style food was our menu of choice. G also felt the heat today so we ate carefully and headed back for an early night. I did however manage to find Mr Bicycle in Trang and purchased for the first time out here a tube that would actually fit my bike and a sturdier lock to replace the one we left behind in Ranong.