8th December – Ranong to Suk Samran – 56 miles – Av 10.4 – Max – 30.9 – ride time 5hours 21mins
Our intended destination was a little further than Suk Samran but sometimes the things that happen along the way, the unplanned, unresearched turn out to be what can only be described as awesome! I struggled today and think that yesterday took more out of me than I realised when we left this morning. Our first mountain pass climb probably did not help or add to any sense of prescribed take it easy day of riding. Temperature was back up to 39c and the combination meant that after another hour of rain that felt like steel rods being pummelled into my body we arrived at a little town called Suk Samran. It is only on the map as it is a road junction of some importance and for the first time since arriving into Thailand we saw a sign that told us what guesthouse was in English and Thai. Most strange but with a thumping headache and the possibility of another 15miles in the saddle the decision was made to stop here. A quick scan of the town located 7eleven (breakfast), a few market stalls (fruit for breakfast) and a picture of the guesthouse we needed to search for.
Down a side road between houses and we arrived at our home for the evening and met PP. The guesthouse is a relatively new build attached the USAID’s funded ICT centre, Tsunami museum and guesthouse all in one. The guest houses are built on stilts and for good reason. This is one of the areas that was affected by the disaster of 6 years ago. PP who is the manager, guide and our host for the evening spoke excellent if fast English (takes one to know one!) He could not have been more welcoming or accommodating. Sometimes places that don’t feature in guide books are most definitely a good thing.
We dined in the restaurant in town and the Muslim influence we are now touring through was very much in evidence in the food we had, probably the best potato roti I have ever had despite being perched upon my bottom, at a low table just next to the crash barrier of the main road. It all added to a perfect meal.
We wandered back and took up PP’s offer of a tour of the museum. It was a moving, emotional and learning experience to hear first-hand how things were from the perspective of those who had lived through it versus how the media had portrayed it. We also learnt more about life post this natural disaster and how aid agencies had both got it wrong and right in the same degree. The tour and videos we watched afterwards also helped us make sense of some of the signage that we had seen that day with ‘Evacuation points’ or ‘Evacuation Paths’ on them. Helpfully in English!
The money that poured in as a result of the tragedy and generosity of many nations in the main went to the right places to rebuild what had been in some cases completely destroyed. One story however sticks with me today. 7 of the local villages were each given 1 million baht and that in rural Thailand is a lot of money. Today only one of those villages still has the money as an investment totalling 3 million baht. The other 6 through lack of education, lack of banking knowledge, corruption, lack of banks altogether or any understanding of finance are back almost to the same financial state they were prior to 2004.
PP also gave us a very illuminating analogy to take away with us. It is not enough to catch the fish and give it to the man, nor it is enough to teach the man to fish himself. The only way to make the man understand what it is he needs to do is to help him understand how to fish sustainably. Since 2006 mostly westerners have visited the museum and local Thai people. It is crucial that more Thai’s understand what to do in the event of natural disasters such as this and the recent floods that claimed another 2500 people’s lives but gets limited if any press coverage in the west. Many people die from causes that come down to ignorance of what to do not willingness or motivation. Basic CPR techniques taught to local villagers in the area around the town we stayed in have meant far fewer deaths from water based tragedies. An important part of the work done by PP is to educate local Thais on the use of technology and the World Wide Web so that they can communicate with the outside world that seldom makes it presence felt in person until the next big disaster.
It is certain that there will be one as the recent events in Sumatra have shown. That was another Tsunami but on a smaller scale but still 100’s died. The work done by agencies of various governments in the aftermath of the tsunami has undoubtedly made for a better life for some and a semblance of life for others. However PP showed us how the evacuation routes for the elderly residents of one village took in a 200m climb to get to safety which is ludicrous considering there was a tsunami proof government building 20m from their houses and in another story which we found to be very true as we have travelled through Thailand, many of the houses that were rebuilt on stilts to proof them from flooding have had the area under the houses filled in to make more living accommodation making the whole structure a liability.
Education, education, education not all the money in the world can make up for it.
PP is a man on a mission, he loves Liverpool FC, he provided us with extra water for our journey and gave G a miracle rose which as he said it would turn from white to pink as the day wore on.
10th December – Suk Samran to Takau Pa – 49.97 miles, Av 10.8, Max 31.1, ride time 4hrs 32 mins
A 5am wake up call from the man at the Mosque meant we were roused from our slumber and in the distance could hear others also calling to prayer. We sat outside our house on stilts and had a huge breakfast of fruit and honey/nutella and banana sandwiches interspersed by yoghurt, fresh orange juice and iced coffee. The food of champions and also the food of mad cyclists. We stopped at a little wayside restaurant in a town that yet again did not appear on the map and were unsurprised that English was spoken by at least one of the girls running the kitchen. We watched her and her one year old daughter go through the ritual of wash after not quite making the loo fast enough which was a highly entertaining spectacle as was the policeman who came over with an ice cold beer for one of the patrons.
There are many vehicle checkpoints in Thailand and the use of mooring rope as speed bumps is a particular favourite. It is unfair however on the bottoms of cyclists let alone there wheels.
Takau Pa is a transit town, you come here as a westerner to change buses and move on. We stayed in Hotel Extra, what the extra’s were we don’t really know but judging by some of the ladies leaving the establishment in the morning we did have to guess.
I had a slow puncture today and by slow I mean I did 50 miles on it with 2 sets of pumping up. We changed the tube in the reception of the hotel, something we are adept at doing as if it were the most normal thing in the world. We researched a little more on our next destination and went to bed happy that tomorrow we would both be discovering something very different.
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