Down in a tube station at midnight...

The rain came for the last day in Prachuap and it was a shame as there was to be a big party in the town starting tonight to celebrate all the good  things from this area. A stage had been erected during the week and the town has now filled up with people. It is due to last about a week and will attract people from all over Thailand. This is the first night but it's a wet affair. All the food stalls and the market stalls are struggling to cope with the rain and the wind and the electric keeps going off but in true thai style they get on with it and the performance goes ahead on the main stage followed by fireworks. It's my last chance to pig out before I head off to the railway station for the midnight sleeper train to Bangkok.




Previous  blog post title inspired by...Kings of Leon  :  HARD : 3 points
Caleb at his croaky best off the latest album 'come around sundown'....feel the bass!

Pickup Truck...

The owners of the guesthouse also have a family fruit farm very near to the border of Myanmar(Burma) which is only 20km away so we loaded up the bikes in the back of the pickup truck and set off to have a closer look.

The farm grew papaya, limes, bananas and pineapples. Lunch was provided too by the family and then it was a nice easy ride on the bikes back to Prachuap stopping  off for ice cold fresh pineapple juice on the roadside. It made a nice day out with the others from the guesthouse, Steve from USA and a couple who own a restaurant in Barcelona. Time now is just spent hanging out after deciding to stay here and not take the bike any further towards Bangkok. The plan now is to buy a ticket for the midnight train tomorrow to the capital and return to the hotel to reunite with my bike box.

Previous  blog post title inspired by...REM  :  EASY : 1 point only!
A great song from the album 'out of time' that really doesn't have a bad song on it!

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!