THOSE LAOS MOUNTAINS AGAIN

It was no surprise to me that there were hills. I had been over this Northern Laos route a number of times, but only once before had I cycled the section over the biggest mountains, and that was a good 8 years ago! Lots of rain, sometimes rather cold at the high points. However, plenty of spectacular scenery.

This was the height of the rice-planting season, and I stopped to watch the workers on many occasions. By planting the previously sowed rice gleaned from the seed-beds, the eventual crop is multiplied many-fold. These people work hard in rain and hot humid conditions. But rice is their life.

And eventually, when I had reached the Laos Capital Vientiane, I managed to buy a 2-month Thailand visa without any hassle or fuss (so why did they give me so much trouble in Malaysia?). A sleep in a bed for 2 nights, proper laundry done, and hot showers - what luxury!

Rubber, freshly harvested from the bowls attached to the trees for trapping the rubber sap. This is an important lifeline for the mountain villages in Northern Laos. (Yes, there are tycoons raking in the money, but it provides a living for many of these isolated communities).

Then the well-known route through Laos to the South. Pakse city, and then West to the Thailand border. I crossed the border a day before my Laos visa expired. I was not in a healthy state. I had diarrhoea for a few weeks by this time, and I had festering sores all over myself. It felt as though I would rather hide myself instead of stopping at petrol station toilets where people could see me. I also felt somewhat embarrassed asking to stay at temples when it must have looked as though I was transmitting the "plague".

By the time I arrived in Pakse city, Southern Laos, the constant heavy rain had caused some serious flooding. By this time a dam further South had broken, causing disaster in that isolated region of Cambodia downstream along the Mekong river. The Watt in Pakse where I had stayed before (in the common area of this wooden stilted building) was now hardly clear of the water. Previously there had been a storage area with a paved walkway further down along the river. The big wooden river boat moored there was now at a level with the building, and the novice monks were rowing their boat around where people had previously been strolling around.

Daily distances cycled through Laos at this time are as follows:- Ban Don Chai 72 km; Vieng Phouka 58 km; Luang Namtha 58 km; Namo 66 km; Oudomxai 60 km; Pak Mong 82 km; Ban Pathung 75 km; Xieng Ngeun 55 km; Phoudam 54 km; Phachao 84 km; Vang Vieng 78 km; Phonhong 80 km; Houayang 59 km; Vientiane 35 km; Friendship Bridge 28 km; Somsavan 32 km; Ban Namlo 85 km; Pakxan 39 km; Vieng Kham 91 km; Hinboon 79 km; Ban Thung 65 km; Seno 65 km; Pakxong 63 km; Phounsavang 49 km; Don Muang 66 km; Pakse 70 km; Ban Dou 37 km; Chong Mek (Laos/Thai border) 20 km. (Total this leg in Laos is 1 705 km). Total cycled so far is 162 897 km.

So, there is some sort of legacy related to staying at Budhist Temples as often as I do. The strings tied to my wrists I received from monks praying for my safe travels (one in the South of Thailand, and one in Northern Laos).

RISING UP THROUGH THAI

I was keen to know if I could somehow get back into Thailand without a visa (refused at the consulate in Georgetown, Malaysia). I charged North to Pedang Besar border in the NW of Malaysia, and arrived around mid-day on a Saturday. Absolute chaos, as the traffic was jammed all the way for about 5 km along the main road through the town, to the border. Even on a bicycle it took some skilful manoeuvring to squeeze through. Malay exit works on a quick and easy system, but at the Thai entry there were hundreds of people in disorganised que's, so I took up my place at the back. Soon an organising official approached me, looked at my passport, and escorted me to an office inside the immigration building. There I was given a 30 day entry into Thailand (the huge signs on the walls stated that I needed to show THB 10 000 in cash, but nobody asked). So, now I planned to head straight North through the longest section of Thailand - and I figured that I could pull off that move in a month.

In Malaysia the Thai visa is rather more expensive than a place such as Laos, and I was rather pleased to be given half of that time in the country at no charge. So, off I went on my way to the North. I was feeling fairly strong, healthy, and happy.

At this time of year, whatever breeze there was, was mostly behind me. However, it rained pretty much every day in the South of Thailand, and sometimes I had to dress up because I felt rather chilly. My broken arm was not yet properly healed, and whenever the temperature dropped that discomfort would increase. I usually found a dry camp at night (temples or wherever), but it can become a bit miserable waking up to pouring rain, dressing in wet cycling gear, packing wet bags, and heading off into another grey and soaking day.

I still had a problem with spokes snapping on the back wheel of this bike (great - having to remove brake disc as well as cassette to do a spoke replacement). I had run out of spares, and at Phatalung I found a bike shop which had my size of spoke so I bought 20 (turned out to be only 19 - why would they cheat me with 1 spoke?). My Pattaya tyres were wearing out, so before I hit the big Laos Mountains, I fitted good new tyres at Lampang city.

The pictures in this post are just an assortment from this leg of the trip through Thailand. The cave temple is in the Thung Song district, where I have camped before. I was totally unaware of the caves, I did not explore because of the rain (as before). But this time the monk called me from the hall where I was camping, to have breakfast. He lives in the spectacular cave, and also gave me so much T/A food that I had to refuse much of it (too much to carry).

I relaxed a little on the cycling effort for the last few days as I approached Laos in good time. From Chiang Khong town in Thailand I crossed over to Huay Xai district in Laos on 4 July. I was rather peeved at having to pay a hefty price for the shuttle bus across the Mekong bridge between the 2 immigration check points (I had previously cycled across this bridge in the opposite direction). The bus fare seriously swallowed up a good proportion of my survival pennies. It was a very quiet week-day, with no pickup truck traffic from whom I could beg a ride. Now the big hills and huge mountains of Northern Laos awaited me!

Daily distances which I managed to cycle on this leg from SW to NW Thailand (2 025 km):- Hat Yai 95 km; Phatalung 85 km; Thung Song 78 km; Wang Sa 120 km; Lamae 146 km; Chumphon 105 km; Pak Klang 52 km; Huai Yang 117 km; Pranburi 102 km; Phetchaburi 92 km; Potharam 91 km; U-Thong 99 km; Chai Nat 128 km; Khong Wilai 130 km; Tak 110 km; Don Chadi 113 km; Lampang 95 km; District 15 km; Huai Luang 22 km; Luang Nuea 65 km; Chun 97 km; Thoeng 92 km; Chiang Khong 50 km. Total distance thus far is 161 192 km.

DOWN EAST AND UP WEST - MALAYSIA

And so I entered NE Malaysia, about 30 km from Kota Bharu city (with a broken arm and uncomfortable dog bite). Surprisingly, my first night in Malaysia was spent, not at a mosque as I had expected, but at a Budhist temple!

This was the time of the Malaysian political elections, and party paraphenalia was everywhere. Depending on the wind direction, I was sometimes slapped in the face by rows of party flags (I had to keep my line of cycling in the traffic).

I was cycling down the E coast of Malaysia, which is home to more Malays and therefore more strictly Islamic than the West (which has a larger proportion of ethnic Chinese and Indian Malaysians in the population). The elections were hardly concluded before the start of Ramadan, an important time for Moslems involving a month of prayer and daytime fasting. While in Malaysia I often camped under shelter at mosques, and I would usually be invited to share the evening meal after sunset. Usually the mosques would also have showers (cold, but the climate is hot and humid, so OK).

I bypassed Singapore while crossing Southern Malaysia from East to West coast. The weather was extremely wet, and besides, foreigners are not allowed to camp in Singapore (you have to pay for rooms). The exception is Ubin Island, but I would have had to pay Singapore Dollars for the ferry to get to the island and back. Also, the camping there seems rather basic with no rain protection (and it was pouring).

Due to the rain I had to protect the moving parts on my bike from the "road muck" which gets thrown up together with the rain water. I was fortunate to find a part of a car fender at the roadside, with which I could extend the rear mudguard on the bike. That, combined with some other innovations, serves to keep that "muck" off the bike - and even the bags are not as messy in the tent at night.

One night I was camping in a convenient mosque close to the town of Mersing, SE Malaysia. I hit the showers but forgot one of my phones (luckily I had 2 phones) in the bracket on the bike handlebar. I could not believe that there would be theft at a mosque on the conservative Islamic East coast of Malaysia (but when I returned from my brief wash, the bracket had been opened and the phone was gone). I expect that someone had been watching my movements from the shadows beyond the premises (there are plenty of migrant workers in the country). And NO, I am not crazy about telephone conversations - I use phones only for Wi-Fi and GPS navigation (hence the handlebar bracket).

The first town I reached on the SW coast of Malaysia was Pontian. It was raining and I intended to reach the next town on my way N in daylight. But instead I was stopped by 2 Chinese Malaysian men (Michael Ho and Jackie Lua) who vaguely asked if I needed help. It turns out they are members of the Pontian Cycling Club, and they escorted me back into town where I camped for 3 nights on the floor of their upstairs "club house". They admit that the club is more of a "party club" than an actual "cycling club", as only about 5 of their 30-odd "members" ever do any cycling. I was welcome to try and empty their fridge of beer, but Jackie kept coming back to re-stock the fridge. They also took me out to restaurants for all meals during the time that I was there, and treated me as though I was some kind of a celebrity. Thanks all of you people, it is unlikely that I will ever be able to repay you for your generosity and kindness. I was also offered stacks of cycling clothes, and I chose to keep a number of outfits (the first time I have ever owned a cycling shirt in my life). Apparently "club members" have grown out of their fancy cycling gear (perhaps the beer has something to do with this phenomenon). I could also dump 2 more of my original perished panniers, as Jackie gave me 2 of his old front panniers (now I only have one of my original panniers left). One morning 2 of these guys carried my bike downstairs, dumped it on their pickup truck and regardless of my protests the bike was soon receiving attention at their local bike shop. The shop did not have my size tyres (27.5 - otherwise I would have had new tyres there and then), but there were a lot of gear etc adjustments made, new tubes, and a new saddle (the saddle made a huge difference to my battered ass, and subsequently, after a number of in-transit adjustments the healing could begin).

On my second day with the Pontian Cycling Club, I was taken on an excursion to the Southern Tip of Mainland Asia. There I bumped into an odd-looking tourist, who turned out to be a touring cyclist who has been on the road for more than 5 years (his bike was hidden close to the park entrance, and he was planning to camp in the vicinity for the night). Well, Allan Cascante, from Costa Rica, was dragged back to Pontian and I had some company that night on the floor of the Pontian Cycling Club. True to their custom, Allan was also invited out that evening, and treated to the hospitality of these wonderful people.

Up the Malaysian West coast, and the next major stop would be Penang Island, where I would apply for a new 2-month Thai visa at their consulate in Georgetown. I arrived at the start of a weekend, so I went to camp at my usual spot on the derelict fishing platform at Batu Ferringhi on the N coast of the island. This is the 3rd time in 8 years that I have camped here, and certainly one of my favourite sites.

And so, by Monday I had visa photos, dummy air ticket out of Thai, etc etc. But, surprise, those "wonderful" officials at the consulate refused to give me another 2-month visa for Thailand. Apparently I have to be going back to my own country on a regular basis, instead of hanging around in SE Asia and spending this much regular time in Thailand.

I still had plenty of time to hang around in Malaysia, but I was keen to know if I could somehow enter Thailand again. So I headed for the Pedang Besar border into Thailand in the NW of Malaysia. To cut a long story short, I was given a free 30 day stamp into Thailand (the notices read that I should have THB 10 000 in cash with me, but nobody asked). Thirty days was enough for me to cruise directly North through South and Western Thailand, until I ran smack-bang into the Mekong and splashed over to Laos.

Daily distances cycled in Malaysia are as follows:- Pengkalam Kubur 84 km; Selising 50 km; Bandar Permaisuri 69 km; Marang 81 km; Dungun 72 km; Kemaman 71 km; Kampung Ubai 93 km; Leband Chondong 94 km; Mersing 79 km; Mawai Baharu 79 km; Desaru 67 km; Bandar Penawar 88 km; Johor Bharu 59 km; Senai 80 km; Pontian 56 km; Peserai 88 km; Pekan Pasir 67 km; Pasir Panjang 82 km; Sepang 59 km; Banting 61 km; Bukit Jeram 60 km; Simpang Empat 108 km; Terung 123 km; Butterworth 111 km; Batu Ferringi 52 km; Georgetown 61 km; In Penang 35 km; Gurun 81 km; and Kangar 105. Total distance to the end of Malaysia is 159 167 km. (The distance through Malaysia amounted to 2 180 km of cycling).