Losing my Religion...

The fellas that get up early and shuffle around in the orange robes and flip flops are the Buddhist monks. They are quiet little guys that tend to keep themselves to themselves and live together in shiny temples known as Wats. I admire them living a simple life and they are very much respected around here and folk donate them stuff so they don't need any brass.

I can explain Buddhism to you if you like cos it's quite simple.
A little guy sat under a tree a long time ago in a quiet spot and reckons he got enlightened.
He learned there were 4 noble truths : In your life you WILL suffer stuff, people and things you attach yourself to WILL make you suffer at some point, you can stop some of this by detachment and controlling your ego that makes you want stuff and you can get better at this by following a few basic life rules, 8 actually, asking yourself to do things RIGHT. These include having right intentions, views, actions, speech, livelihood, effort, mindfulness and concentration. By sitting and relaxing your mind and body you can switch off your ego and activate your brain to a higher state of awareness by meditation. This will make you feel better and become a better person in theory. That's about the jist of it but you can go and read some thick books for the additional detail if you want to have a go. See, no gods or radical prophesies it's just about you....he was a clever little fella if u ask me.

Wats are everywhere, colourful and beautiful whatever your faith so I like to visit when I see one - they are in most towns or often high up on hilltops and no-one will mind if you wander about in awe at the architecture and the relics inside each one, just remember to take your shoes off. In the morning the sun light reflects off the jewels and they look incredible. Often they are peaceful places to stop and think - an activity that doesn't lend itself to modern day life. Ancient scented frangipani trees are often in the grounds and often you can hear the old gongs and bells or the monks chanting and smell the burning incense.....spiritual stuff indeed...!

Well you never see them getting angry, fighting in the street or even raising their voices so whatever they are doing must be working.

Previous  blog post title inspired by...Republica  :  EASY : 1point
A lively number by the female fronted electronic rock band from the 90's.

Drop Dead Gorgeous...

View to the left

View to the right

I have the front room on the top floor of Oms guesthouse right in the middle of the bay at Prachuap Khiri Khan with a large room and a balcony overlooking the sea. The view is impressive and the owners are really kind.

The big lump of rock to the right of me is called Khao Lommuak and has quite a few friendly spectacled langur monkeys you can feed.

Page 3 girl

This big lad was drop dead gorgeous and my favourite, for obvious reasons!

Drop Dead Gorgeous!

There is plenty to do and see here so after morning coffee I make a start on the bike but now without luggage. At the far end of the town there is Wings 5, a military air base that you can pass through a checkpoint. You have to sign in and obey some rules about photography and they allow you to ride across the runway and out onto the beach, Ao Manao, which is all part of the airbase....very strange! Continuing on passing Klongwan Wat and through fishing villages up the coast. This town hasn't changed for years and has a real thai feel to it with typical thai streets with everyday shops and hardly any farang about to cater for.

Wat Klongwan

Squid fishing boats by the pier

Wing 5 Rules

Ao Manao beach

Previous  blog post title inspired by...Florence and the Machine  :  EASY : 1point
A song written by Florence Welch as she rode her bike round London village.

Dog days are over...

It was a later start up the coastal road this morning as my luxury accommodation included breakfast and as I paid my bill I had no regrets. I had enjoyed fantastic food and had a wonderful room with a/c, tv, power shower, king sized bed with a wonderful view across to the sea all for 2 grand....well my mistake, 2000 baht, which equates to £36.94 according to my online currency converter....money well spent!
The dogs were out in force though this morning, in the rural areas they are very protective and a real threat to cyclists and I had my fair share of encounters. You become very vulnerable on a bike and you have to have your wits about you as you ride along. After leaving the rural coast road and the dogs I decided to revert to the main road but this also had problems. I'm only 300k from Bangkok now and the roads are getting busy with loaded wagons travelling at high speeds passing close by me. The smell from the roadside isn't pleasant, mainly from rubbish and dead dogs and snakes and maybe an odd northern cyclist....iv stopped looking!

Managed to do a supervised loading....everything seemed ok to me!

Making several stops for liquid it often needs everyone to help to get me a cold drink, I even get to have one with a super hero!

Leaving the main road, Prachuap Khiri Khan has a nice feel to it and looks spectacular even on a cloudy day. Oms guesthouse will be my home maybe for a day or to while I explore.

Previous  blog post title inspired by...Ian McNabb  :  HARD: 3 points
A personal favourite singer songwriter and ex Icicle Works frontman that I have seen many many times.....he doesn't disappoint and his songs can be inspirational.

(I Go) My own Way...

Bang Saphan town was nothing special, it had a nice big Wat in the middle but by the time I got into town the market had finished and the town was closing down. The more rural places tend to do this as they don't stay up late. I also had an early night and made an 8am start on the road with good intentions of getting to Prachuap KIri Khan another 100km away. I had a stop for noodle soup, my standard breakfast, and was met by the New Zealand couple again riding up the same way.

           

By 11am I had done 40km and then at the end of a long bay on a rocky point I came across a place called 'Rocky Point Resort'. When you travel solo it's easy to make ad hoc decisions and go your own way. This is one of them. Time to splash out on a lazy lunch and a nice room to spend the rest of the day in luxury. By lunchtime I was sat in the sun by the infinity pool looking across the bay while my bike was being looked after by CCTV in pride of place in the reception. I like these resorts, they have everything you need and are usually in lovely places with pools, restaurant, free wifi etc...this one was excellent!

However I do have to report on the recent bad weather....it happened this morning on the way here, for nearly six minutes I felt drops of rain falling really hard and making the road really quite damp in places and I almost considered stopping at one point. Im no weatherman but i would say that it was officially 'spitting'. I'm sure that they will call for the environment minister to explain himself and advise people on not building houses in stupid places by the rivers so I really can sympathise with what the folks back home must be enduring....so, surfs up, I'm off to get wet again today!


Previous  blog post title inspired by...Fyfe Dangerfield  :  HARD  : 3 points
Guillemots frontman solo here and a favourite of mine....a great lyricist and performer.

Faster than the setting sun...

A long day on the bike riding from after breakfast at Chumphon all the way up to Ban Saphan a good 100km and to be honest pretty uneventful. Met a few other bikers along the way, an american with a Brit and a couple from New Zealand. All heading the same way. As there is not much to report i will talk about my bike today as it does a good job for me.
My bike is more popular than myself....with Thai men I might add so I'm ok with that. They love to come over and have a look, touching the rear suspension and marvelling at the fox forks and disc brakes. I have to admit, she is a bit bang tidy...there, I've given her a gender in respect of all the male attention on Valentines day too.
The model (see what I did there?) is a trek fuel ex 9 in Virgin white. Essentially a full suspension mountain bike and a few years old now but in great shape, strong and reliable, that's why I like to fly her in as my luggage. Not the quintessential tourer but as I don't put massive amounts of miles in she handles all the back road potholes and allows me a bit of off road freedom. On the road all the suspension can lock out but it's there again for any dodgy downhills, and with carrying a bit more weight with the seat post fixed rear pannier setup it's very comfortable.
It's the second time my bike has been in Asia, last year being ridden from Chiangmai up into Laos and down the country and out through the capital Vientiane and over the friendship bridge at Nong Khai back into Thailand.
For the last few days she has been resting now she is going like a dream....apart from one puncture today...I might be ahead of schedule if I had one, maybe I'm going too fast...?

Previous  blog post title inspired by...Toots & the Maytals  :  EASY : 1 point
If you don't move to this song you are dead...one of my favourite summer tunes!

Monkey man...

  

I had to take the Lomprayah fast cat ferry this morning and the buggers charged me an extra 500 dobbers for my bicycle. They tried this before when I left Ko Samui but I outwitted them by taking a ferry from another company half an hour later. This time there is no alternative so I have to cough up. The moon is changing the weather now and the sea is a little choppy with the wind. As my little blue dot on the google map tracks across the gulf of Thailand I know that by dinner time I will be back on the mainland at Chumphon.
The other day as I sat drinking a green coconut I wondered how they managed  to get them? The coconuts are very high up and they are the young green ones that are still growing, not the old brown hairy ones that fall off. Today, as I left the ferry and started to ride into Chumphon I found out.....they use a monkey man!

At the side of the road I met a guy with a monkey on a long string that he gave a command to and it promptly climbed up the tree and when it had got to the top it started to chuck down the green
coconuts for the bloke to collect....clever, eh?


Later, following the coast road I stopped for a swim in the surf and found a place to stay with a nice sea view for 400 baht.

  

Today's beach...and room north of Chumphon.

 

Previous  blog post title inspired by...Maximo Park  :  EASY : 1 point
Can't believe this song is ten years old.....a cracker though!

Apply some pressure...

During my breakfast it dawned on me that I have been here for over two weeks and up to now I haven't had a massage. The beach here has about four massage platforms and is a very popular pastime for Thais and cheap too at 300 baht an hour. You can have a variety of styles of massage involving gentle manipulation with various oils and herbal potions or for me, I just like the plain old traditional Thai style, usually a vigorous workout designed to loosen the knots in the muscles and render me into a totally loose and relaxed state.
A previous traveller I once met told me a secret to the best massage and I have heeded this advice since, she told me to always pay to have 2 hours....and she was right.
So today I'm going to have that experience.
Having had a few in the past I know that some are better than others so it is important to find the right one by just having a look at the masseuses at work. Like cooks, you can tell who looks like they know what they are doing and who looks apathetic, so try to pick an older, experienced and strong looking lady. The good ones have been trained at Wat Pho, in traditional massage and medicine, in Bangkok and have several years of experience. Next it is important to talk to them first and explain any niggles or pain you may have so that they are aware. I have a dodgy shoulder from coming off a mountain bike so I always ask for some extra attention here.
As I lie face down on the thin mattress I try to relax every muscle while closing my eyes and listening to the tiny waves ripple and lap on to the beach in the warm sunshine ....its all so blissfully soothing....that is until SHE started.....!!

I had asked for a 'hard' massage as I'm no wimp when it comes to this process and I could tell by the way she smiled she knew it was 'game on'. Standing in the middle of my back she made her way up my spine onto my shoulders pressing her bony little feet into every pressure point, stopping to add more and more downward pressure until she was happy that I had no more wind left inside my body cavity and she was then in total control. For the next 2 hours, every sinew that connected any muscle tissue to bone was systematically compressed with a combination of foot, hand, knee or elbow along with a gentle rocking motion my whole body was pulled, twisted, contorted and wrenched into submission. My whimpers and yelps were just met with a wry smile and pressure then just applied in an other area so I forgot about the pain in the first area.
There is nothing sexy about a traditional Thai massage, as some my think, it's just pain and suffering for a while but at the end of the 2 hours the muscles feel relaxed and invigorated...

My little mate on the beach 

Previous blog post title inspired by...Alabama 3  :  MED : 2 points
A wonderful piss-take song from one of my favourite bands....live they are brilliant!