BACK IN PARADISE

And now, eventually I can get to where I currently find myself. There has been a fair amount of suspicion of me having dropped off the edge of the earth, and so forth.

Anyway, it is not quite that complicated. By the time I was leaving China I was already in some serious financial trouble (having to take trains and busses to get back out of the country in time). Thanks to my sister Olga for looking out for me, and the Western Union line must have been red-hot!

Then, by the end of November the guest season in Florida had started to pick up again, and Gabriele of Paradise Farm (where I'd spent a part of the previous winter) was keen to get me on a plane to resume my former duties. Thanks to Gabriele for the plane ticket as well as for sending me cash in Thailand

So in December I arrived back on the farm close to Homestead (South of Miami), and started taking care of the guests in the B&B bungalows again. The cat (Guacamole) seemed somewhat indifferent about my 6-month absence, but I was glad to see her again as I had not expected to ever return.

Once again, I don't really get off the farm, but I have met many wonderful people from all over the world (especially from the North in winter). Initially I came to the farm as a Warmshowers.org guest, and now I have had the priviledge of taking care of many other Warmsowers members who regularly come cycling in here. Some are pictured here, apologies to the many others, I may not have taken your picture.

My bike (Old Saartjie) is set up for shopping duty at the moment, and I have cycled more than 1000 km in the past few months to the grocery stores in the area (of course I do not add that to my total mileage!).

Where to next? In a couple of weeks I hop on a plane to Bangkok to resume my travels in the far east. I've found that Bangkok is a good hub and starting point for visas and permits etc. I still have a section of China to cycle through, and Myanmar is on my to-do list (hopefully it will work out this time).

RETURN TO THAILAND

(THESE FIRST FEW PICS ARE FROM LAOS, ON MY RETURN FROM CHINA TO THAILAND) So, after crossing the Chinese border on the afternoon of the visa expiry day, I was once again in Laos and could relax a bit.

In Vientiane (the Laos capital), I obtained a 2 month Thai visa, which would give me plenty of time to do what I still wanted to do in Thailand. Otherwise, by crossing a land border into Thailand I only get to stay 15 days). (THE FOLLOWING PICTURES ARE IN THAILAND, MAINLY IN THE EAST OF THE COUNTRY) Magnificent Sukhothai historical park; Camping at Buddhist temples where they never turned me away and always offered sheltered camping from the frequent showers; 2nd WW tourist attraction and place where soldiers suffered - Bridge over the river Kwai at Kanchanaburi.

The idea of returning to Thailand was also partly because I wanted to try and cycle through Myanmar, and needed to obtain the visa in Bangkok (which I did). However, I did go all the way to the Myanmar border with Thailand at Mae Sot, but for a number of reasons I decided to stay in Thailand and return to Bangkok (from where my flight was back to Miami). Myanmar is certainly on my agenda for the near future. Daily distances cycled are:- Ayuttaya 92 km; (Train to Phitsonulok 6hr) - previously cycled route; Sukhotai 83 km; Tak 74 km; Mae Sot 91 km; Temple camp 94 km; Thoen 98 km; Lampang 111 km; Lumphun 84 km; Chang Mai 43 km; DoIkun NP 71 km; Utteradit 117 km; Phitsonulok 107 km; Nakhon Sawan 141 km; Chaiyo 127 km; Ayuttaya 51 km; U-Thong 105 km; Kanchanaburi 56 km; Sukhaburi 110 km; Saraburi 98 km; Lopburi 101 km; Ayuttaya 121 km; Forest Wat 97 km; Kanchanaburi 66 km; Nakhon Prathom 66 km; and Bangkok 75 km. The total distance which I've cycled so far is 128 834 km.

OUT OF CHINA

Hello, I'm back in the on-line world again (although it be from internet cafe's). I had to leave China after 2 months (was hoping for 3 months but couldn't get the 3rd extention). So instead of going all the way through China to the N-West, I had to make a difficult decision. I turned around in the central-West and I went back South, crossing the border back into Laos on the afternoon of the day which my Chinese visa expired. Because I could not access my blog while in China, I now have my work cut out for me (hundreds of pics to sift through, and a number of post updates to complete). So, please bear with me if it takes a while for me to get this blog up to date - hopefully I can do that at the internet cafe's here in Laos within the next week or 2. Yes, I have to make use of public internet, as my computer was stolen a few months ago in Thailand (for the 2nd and final time!).

PEOPLE OF THE SOUTH

For the second time on this leg of my Chinese experience, I cycled out of Chengdu city. This time I was heading South in a hurry, and I had decided to take what looked like the shortest most direct route in the direction of Yunan province and the Laos border.

I was still in Sichuan province, and it was painfully obvious to me that there was no way I could ride Old Saartjie (my bike) all the way to the border in just more than one week. I would have to take some alternative transport, but once again I was running rather thin on finances. I tried hitch hiking trucks, but, hitch-hiking is not part of the local culture here as there are various cheap transport options for locals.

Daily distances cycled:- Meishan Cun 89 km; Leshan Cun 93 km; E-Mei district 66 km; Ebian district 102 km; Wancun Cun 77 km; Leshan 80 km; Wuton 96 km; Mountain village 74 km; Yibin district 83 km. Hydro station 65 km; Xiloua (+20 km taxi) 67 km; Yi Village 75 km; Meigu junction 66 km; Xichang (+3hr local bus) 59 km; Kunming by train; Jinghong by bus; (to and from train and bus 42 km; Menglun 53 km; Mengla district 60 km; Dai Temple village 56 km; Natuy (Laos)71 km, and Luang Nam Tha 57 km. The total distance which I've cycled so far is 125 351 km.