An end has a start...

Good morning sunshine....wow!
Awake at 6am but hey, who cares? By 8 am it's breakfast time in the open fronted tabled area at the front of the hotel and I'm sat in the shade with a coffee remembering 'this is why I come here'. My bike box was rescued from the hotel storeroom and the next few hours spent putting it all back together in readiness to set off tomorrow if all goes to plan...

Before...

...and after

Previous blog post title inspired by ....Ben Folds - HARD : 3 points
Great piano throughout a wonderfully sad breakup song...enjoy the pain!

Landed...

Morning over Abu Dhabi

Photo taken at first light from about 8000m above the sea on the approach into Abu Dhabi
But then a fog delayed the decent and landed an hour late- then a wait for a truck to tow something off the runway meant that we didn't disembark until nearly 9am. This meant a quick dash to gate 32 and within a few minutes I was sat on my next plane that was supposedly leaving at 09.10....this was never going to happen so the flight was delayed too and didn't leave for nearly 2 hours. Finally I was eating my fish biryani as we flew over India landing only an hour or so overdue at Bangkok. My bike was waiting for me at the oversize baggage and then it didn't take long to locate my lift to the hotel. Within ten minutes I was checked in to the familiar Siam place hotel. I took a walk to the top of the road to use the ATM and had some pork with spicy som tam on the corner. Now it's nearly midnight and it's been a long journey so it's off to sleep........

Previous blog post title inspired by ....Opening lyrics of 'jump around' by 'House of Pain' - MED : 2 points
One of the maddest upbeat sounding songs that I've ever had the pleasure of thrutchin about to...

"Pack it up,pack it in, let me begin..."

Happily, everything seems to have calmed down in Bangkok even though there are still protests blockading parts of the city the government have promised not to use force so it's looking a bit calmer. Here, the rain is endless and as I tramped across my muddy field for my departure I am glad I'm leaving this behind for a much warmer climate. Bangkok is in the 30's and the forecast is climbing so the south of the country should be spot on,
Everything here is good to go, 25kg boxed up and now I'm itching to get off,,,,,,

Previous blog post title inspired by ....the Kaiser Chiefs - EASY : only 1 point 
Not the best song in the world but I couldn't resist the tile for the post!

I predict a riot...

So, a few hours ago the current Thai government declared a 60 day emergency around Bangkok as the ongoing political problems escalate to the point where people have been killed in the city....just brill for me who has everything planned and packed with a ticket to fly in to the hotspot on Sunday! 

At this point I'm really not too bothered as the airport is about 30km from the city so as long as I can get there I can hopefully stay out of the trouble areas and my intention of taking a train to the south may have to change as the main train station is very much central.

It's just if the troubles get worse or spread....

The bike is boxed and weighed in with all the kit at 25kg-just 5kg under the limit. Next job will be to find another 7kg of hand luggage....

Previous blog post title inspired by ....Joni Mitchell - EASY : 1 point only!

Urge for Going...

....Winter is closing in...the horrible rainy winter weather is beginning to give me the mental impetus to crack on with the travel plans as I'm starting to get the feeling to get the hell out of here and high tail it off to spend some time in the land of smiles and sunshine. More plans have formed and kit is starting to be dragged out from it's hiding places and examined for worthiness. Awaiting a return email from the hotel to confirm a room and have drawn up a bit of a kit list along with things I need to do in the next 3 weeks. Going to get the gear together and have a weighing session to work out what will make the final cut. Starting to look forward to a temporary end to darkness and short days and ready to tackle the spiciest som tam (papaya salad) and enjoy soaking up some power from the endless sunshine to boost the soul...

Previous blog post title inspired by ....The Spinto Band - HARD : 3 points

Brown Boxes...

Bike trip plans moved along slowly this weekend as I checked out a local bike shop and acquired a large brown cardboard box that a new bike had been delivered in. This will now be recycled to act as my luggage box for my bike on the plane. Need to have a look what spares I need too and weigh some gear. My weight limits are 30kg and an additional 7kg for hand luggage. The bike will take most of it but I need to make sure I am bang on and not over otherwise charges will be added for every kilo over...

Previous blog post title inspired by ....Goldfrapp - HARD : 3 points

Road to somewhere....

The trip is now coming together in my head, the flights are booked and I have booked the time off work. It's wet, wintery weather like today that concentrates the mind for a nice long bike trip. I am still putting the work in down at the gym with about 16km in 30 minute bursts about 3 to 4 times a week - I should get out on my 'actual' bike but I haven't for a while.
So back to the plan.....fly to BKK, landing at tea time in Asia, direct shuttle to a hotel that I've stayed at before at Lat Krabang. Here I will have 2 nights and a full day to put my bike together in the hotel garden. I'm not a great believer in re-visiting places but I know here works and it will give me time to acclimatise to the heat too. From here I need to get to the central train station, having booked an overnight bunk, then it's sleepy time while I'm whisked the 1000km thru the next night to my cycling start point, Hat Yai near to the Malaysian/Thai border. From here I head for the coast and head up the gulf of Thailand, ferry over to Islands Ko Samui, Ko Pha-ngan and little Ko Tao for some diving. Ferry back to the mainland at Chumphon and keep heading north to Hua Hin and eventually back to the airport a month later.......riding in sunshine and eating fab street food along the way..... should be easy!?

Previous blog post title inspired by ....Richard Hawley - HARD : award 3 points
A totally beautiful sad but poignant song from an awesome singer-songwriter....I will forever continue to water flowers in the rain....