Journey Reports

Thailand   April 3rd 2017, Trat, Thailand
Tourist Land

Bike roads

Jakob & Ernest:

Thailand - tourist land, rightly

Scenic, there is no big difference between Myanmar and Thailand. Shortly after the border, a few strenuous ascents were to be managed, which remained the only ones as far as the Cambodian border. For us, this time were the challenges not the mountains, bad roads, missing infrastructure or comic laws. It was the incredible heat and sultry air that exhausted us so much. On some days the temperature rose to 40 degrees.

A few days before we reached Bangkok, a European-looking young man stopped us on the street and asked us who we are and what we are doing. Five minutes later, he invited us to his home, and we were incredibly happy to be invited again by a stranger. We reached the village after 2 hours, where he lives with his Thai girlfriend. It quickly turned out what the reason was why we got along so well with him right away. In spite of his emigration to Thailand, Björn was and still is a clean, heart-loving Rhinelander  ImgSmiley. We spent a culinary interesting and funny evening with the two.

The next morning we cycled with a slight hangover to our new best day performance of 147 kilometers. Three weeks later, just before we went on holiday on the island of Koh Chang, we met Björn once more by chance. He was also on his way to the island together with his mother and his girlfriend. He took some of the bags in his car, and we met again at the small beach bungalows on the island. Together we spent a great time playing cards, swimming, and laughing a lot on this dream island.

The heat

Shortly behind Bangkok we drove around 100 kilometers in one day. At ten o'clock in the morning we read on a gauge the temperature of 40 degrees. Over the day, each of us drank around 9 liters of water. In the afternoon Ernest indicated slight dehydration symptoms. Even during the short breaks in the shadows sweat ran down everywhere. Completely exhausted we reached a hotel in a smaller town and took a day break. Only in the evening we had to leave the urine for the first time this day.

After a month of prohibited camping in Myanmar, we were incredibly keen to unpack our tents to go camping again. At the first camping trial in Thailand, we set up our tents in the garden of a nice Thai family. From our guest mamma we got delicious rice with chicken and vegetables cooked in the evening and then, after a cold shower, we went into our tents.

After the inflatable mattress had been inflated and a cozy sleepy milieu was built, half the tent was flooded with sweat. Ernest has the possibility to erect his tent without outer tent, when it doesn’t rain. This is not the case with Jakob's tent, so the chance is very small that a light, nocturnal gust of wind reaches Jacob's welded body. The temperature inside the tent was around 30 degrees. With meditative exercises Jakob finally managed to find a little sleep before he was awakened by an army of small, red ants. "Irni, Irni are you still awake? I have a thousand ants in the tent and they bite me!" As a result of the rising stress level, of course, the amount and speed of transpiration increased. In short, Jacob left his tent at about 1 o'clock in the morning with a sleeping pad and an external mosquito net, and placed himself under the carport of the family between car and flower pots. 10 minutes later and after three months without rain it began to rain that night, of course. Ernest stretched his rainproof outer tent over his inner tent (and of course not stress-free) and went back to the tent.

Painfully, Ernest went through the same windless sleeping situation and then moved with the entire tent to Jakob under the carport of the family. With sleep deficiency and butts bitten by ants, we continued the next morning and vowed to have the tents packed up until Vietnam.

The development of the country

We were very positively surprised about the development of Thailand. Everywhere expensive, large off-road vehicles drove around. The villages, through which we drove, were mostly clean and well maintained. Everywhere there were Wi-Fi and hotels. Even the capital city of Bangkok resembled with its skyscrapers and international flair many other major cities in the western world.

The price for food and accommodation is also significantly higher compared to India, Nepal and Myanmar. In Bangkok, for the first time for month we were able to enjoy a real Italian oven pizza and devour paella with delicate chorizo ham. Thailand has never been occupied by any superpower in its history. The king, who has ruled the country for decades, has been dead for a few months. Throughout the country there are monuments and pictures of the king. The official buildings and institutions are adorned with mourning bands, and the national workers wear only black clothes in memory of their deceased king. Currently, the country is in the hands of the military, which possesses unlimited power.

Today we left the island of Koh Chang and ended our cycling holiday with a heavy heart. Only 1,000 km to our destination are left. Tomorrow we will pass the border to Cambodia.

{Translation from German: Webmaster}

Niko and Katharina^ Niko and Katharina ^
Perfect roads in Thailand^ Perfect roads in Thailand ^
Sugar cane^ Sugar cane ^
 i20170403-04 i20170403-05Welcome to the sea again after 6 months (Iran)^ Welcome to the sea again after 6 months (Iran) ^
Great heat^ Great heat ^
Bike roads^ Bike roads ^
 i20170403-09Bungalows in Koh Chang^ Bungalows in Koh Chang ^
 i20170403-11 i20170403-12Don Bosco Castle^ Don Bosco Castle ^
 i20170403-14 i20170403-15Koh Chang Family^ Koh Chang Family ^
Rita, Björn, Anne ... Jimmy^ Rita, Björn, Anne ... Jimmy ^
Bye bye, Koh Chang^ Bye bye, Koh Chang ^




Comments to this report:

Rita writes:

April 05th 2017, 05:09

Es war eine schöne Zeit, und wir vermissen euch.
Freue mich auf unser Wiedersehen in Meckenheim.
Liebe Grüße Rita

Burkhard writes:

April 18th 2017, 22:32

Jetzt seid ihr ja bald da, ein Jahr ist rum, seitdem ihr hier wart. Wenn ich mir die Bilder von eurem Link nach Kambodscha ansehe, dann erkenne ich auch hier den Trend: westlicher Lifestyle drängt sich vor, verdrängt einheimische Baukunst, Farben, Ernährung... mein Herz schlägt höher, wenn ich Straßen ohne Asphalt sehe, einfache Pisten, die die Farbe der Erde haben und bei denen die Abgrenzung zu den Häusern fließend ist. Aber ich glaube, ich bin fortschrittsfeindlich oder romantisch-antiquiert. Ich bedaure, dass die westliche Moderne, der westliche Markt alles erobert und damit alle interessanten und liebenswerten Unterschiede zu einem hässlichen Einheitsbrei verwischt, sodass du am Ende nur noch an den Gesichtern erkennst, wo du bist.
Ich möchte nicht ewig leben, dann müsste ich ja den Trend noch bis zum Ende miterleben. Oder täusche ich mich? Gibts vielleicht doch noch eine Wende? Herr im Himmel, gebiete doch mal dieser einfaltslosen Entwicklung Einhalt, wozu beten dich denn die Menschen an?
Euch beiden danke für Infos, Bilder, Kommentare...und liebe Grüße von Burkhard

jakob und Ernest writes:

April 21st 2017, 10:33

Lieber Burkhard,
Im nächsten Bericht wirst du wieder tolle Fotos sehen;) wir lieben genau wie du die schlammigen Wege und die unberührte Natur! Jedoch sind wir auch immer wieder erleichtert, wenn wir nach tagelanger Offroadodysee wieder in die ^ Zivilsation^ zurück kehren;) Die Abwechslung tut gut und ist für uns unglaublich wichtig! Die Frage ist natürlich, wie lange man diese Abwechslung noch erleben darf und kann;) bis bald und danke für deine Gedanken Burkhard

Burkhard writes:

April 22nd 2017, 19:06

Ja, ihr habt recht, auch ich war froh, als ich von der elenden Schotterpiste runter war. Und heute sehne ich mich danach, d. h., nach den kleinen Abenteuern auf und am Rande der Piste. Die und das Fremde waren für mich so reizvoll, die Buchstaben, die ich nicht lesen konnte, die aber so schön verschnörkelt waren (sind), die andere Kleidung, Musik, Sprache, das andere Geld, und doch das Verbindende mit den Menschen: die gleichen Erfahrungen und Gefühle, die wir gemeinsam haben: Freude, Lachen, Staunen, Neugier...
Und dann das Wissen darum, dass da Mächtige überall am Werke sind, die das Trennende hervorheben und Spaltung lieben, die die Menschen gegeneinanderhetzen. So eine Radtour, wie ihr sie macht und wie ich sie gemacht habe, ist immer eine Bresche in dieses Trennende hinein mit der verbindenden Botschaft: wir sind wie ihr, und diese Botschaft kommt an und tut ihre Wirkung. Bin gespannt auf euren Bilderbericht

Liebe Grüße
Burkhard




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