Today we crossed into Cambodia, met a lovely Dutch couple who were also travelling by bike and managed to fuse a hotel’s electricity system – all in 24 hours.

We started early and were on road by 7.15am. I have now found the temperature setting on the Garmin so know it was 21C when we started (and climbed to be well into the 40s by the early afternoon). We plodded along for 30km, had some coffee and then braced ourselves for crossing the border. We had read all manner of horror stories – mostly involving the need to pay copious bribes – but actually it was efficient, we were charged $35 for the visa (which is either the right amount or only $5 over) and then crossed into Cambodia.
Cambodia is poorer than Thailand but the people are more engaging with visitors, especially those on bikes.

We got numerous waves, smiles and “hellos” from children (who we think are partially taught in English). The road surfaces was good and we dropped 100m over the first 7km – so it was a fast start to a new country. First impressions are that this is young country, with loads of children. It is dusty, developing at a great pace and has an enthusiasm that is perhaps missing in Thailand.

However 20km from the border we were feeing very hot, and needed a rest. So we stopped at a bus shelter and drank water and ate doughnuts – bought from “Tescos” or 7-11” in Thailand the day before. We carried on through this agricultural but arid scenery and stopped to take some photos.

Then, to our utter astonishment, we saw 2 other cyclists coming towards us. Wilma and Will are a Dutch couple of about our age who are on a 5 week cycling tour of Thailand, Cambodia and Laos. They stormed up to us and were as amazed by meeting us as we were meeting them! We were both going the same way so we teamed up and chatted as we rode. The flat countryside whizzed by and we soon reached Samroung, the town where we all had marked as the end of the day’s cycle.

It was astonishing to hear them putting forward exactly the same reasons as us for embarking on this madcap adventure. They spoke of the peace, the quiet, meeting people and seeing a country at a slow pace – all things we have tried to explain in our own words. So we are either both mad or we are onto something.

We found a hotel by the lake and then showered. A new country means a new Sim card – but at $1 it was not going to break the bank. I then spent several hours reading up on Cambodia’s past, including the Khymer Rouge period when millions died. It was more complex than I had recalled (as is always the case) but there are very few people our age since our generation lived (and died) in the terror,
We then had a pleasant meal out with Wilma and Will and learned that they tried to cycle every day in Holland, despite the winds. They were certainly faster than us and this may explain it. As we walked back music was booming across the lake and we were treated to a firework display that reflected in the lake waters – not to welcome us to Cambodia we think but probably a wedding celebration.

Then back to the hotel with its amusing signs. However the act of turning on the bedroom light fused the hotel’s system, resulted in young boys spending a long time fiddling with live electricity wires. I could not bear to watch but, having failed to mend them, we were moved to a room with functioning lights!

This will be a short blog posting as not a great deal of interest to anyone else happened on our trip today! Well, apart from cycling 114km which is the longest we have cycled so far, and shows we might just be regaining some lost fitness.

We woke at 6 and were on the road before 7 (again a first for this trip). The morning air is cool, the light is low and the air is fresh. It means that early morning is a lovely time of the day to cycle. We were soon out of the town and ambling along tiny paved roads through small villages. The soil is a deep red colour here and it seems to be a really productive agricultural area. The buildings indicated people were not poor – but not well off either.

The roads got a bit more bumpy as we went East. Thailand has a north-south industrial corridor which starts 50 miles to the west of us (or so it seems). But this part is rural Thailand and the roads are of poor quality – which seems to be a pattern all over the world. Eventually the potholes gave way to hard earth with no tarmac at all. We ploughed on – though maybe using the word “plough” to describe cycling on dirt roads may not be the best choice going – but it was pretty tough. Our average speed dropped from about 20kph to about 12kph, as we navigated the road ahead of us.

At least it was flat .. and then there was a significant hill to climb on the dirt roads. This part of the country is not short of quiet paved roads. In fact there are plenty of them. The problem is that, apart from the No24 (quasi-motorway), they all go north to south and we were going west to east! So we bailed out and headed for No24. Just before we got there we stopped for a brilliant lunch with an effeminate Thai man who conjured up the most marvellous fish soup plus an omelette – a combination that worked in the heat and humidity.

Then it was 37km on the hard shoulder of a busy dual-carriageway. The less said about that the better – save that it was far better than the No2 motorway we had struggled with a few days before.
At about 4pm, after covering 144km, we rolled into Ban Nang Rong. “Ban” seems to mean town so it was Nang Rong town – and a mighty fine town it was. This is the stopping off place before visiting the famous Khymer ruined temples of Phanom Rung, so we have that delight tomorrow.

(Bernie) After my 4th Day-itis I woke feeling rested and refreshed. We had lovely coffee and Othmar’s special Swiss style muesli – delicious and perfect for cycling. We said our goodbyes and hope to return the Othmar and Jackie’s hospitality sometime back in England. We were on the road by 7 and it felt good in the cool of the morning.

We had directions to get us onto the road out of town (not the ‘2’) but paused at the junction to check we were on the right road. I cycled off ahead and David suddenly shouted “you’ve only got one pannier!”. I looked behind and sure enough – one pannier was missing. I knew I had put both on the back so one must have bounced off. We immediately retraced out steps. I felt sicker and sicker as no pannier was seen by the side of the road, trying not to think what was missing and how we would replace things.

We bumped along the back road near to the house and just before the turning up to the house a cry came from David “there it is”. To my enormous relief there was the pannier, someone had carefully picked it up and put it by the side of the road. In our goodbyes and chatting I couldn’t have closed the clips properly and, on the bumpy road, the pannier bumped off. During breakfast Othmar had commented to Jacky as she gave us directions “you are speaking to professionals you know”. Well maybe not – or possibly even ‘professionals’ make pretty dumb mistakes sometimes. A hard lesson learnt with a lucky ending. You do need an element of obsession when travelling to check everything and check again.

Back we went again, having lost half an hour, but the morning was still cool and we were soon pedalling out of town. The road was wide and busy for about 20km but then narrowed down and became much quieter. We did not turn towards ‘Kensington’ or “My Ozone’ but passed through many small villages passing fields of sugar cane.

We stopped for a fizzy drink as the day started to heat up – not my favourite beverage normally but gives a boost of sugar and liquid as we turned to climb a range of hills. Off the well tarmacked main road we were on a bumpy potholed road reminiscent of many in India.

The climb was sharp – too sharp for us at 16% at its steepest, particularly on the poor road surface. We had to resort to pushing the bikes for a couple of short, steep sections. It was short but massively heart pumping and exhausting. We then cruised through a jungly section and by luck the road surface improved as we glided down a gradual descent the other side.

We cycled on through fairly non descript country, the highlight of which was our lunch stop (yes food is becoming a recurrent theme here) . A really tasty beef broth with a large handful of the most amazing basil which you pulled the leaves off and straight into the bowl with handful of bean shoots. Luckily the chilli flakes and chilli oil were separate condiments with which others liberally covered their meals but we declined and savoured the other subtle tastes.

Then a long flat, flat stretch. The sun was strong and it was hot. We are still adapting to the temperatures. Flat sounds good but the legs get mechanical and we were tiring. Just before the next town an elderly Canadian on an even older Harley-Davison motorbike flagged us down to chat. Within 30 seconds we had his life story; about how he had lived in Thailand for 30 years but the Canadian dollar was now worth half what it was and he couldn’t understand it as surely there is no functioning economy in Thailand (where has he been?!). All a bit of a bore but he did joke that we were travelling to escape Brexit – a common theme amongst anyone who knows we are from the UK. We just roll our eyes and say its all madness at home – which is about the only answer. However we soon managed to escape from this conversation as we soon rolled on.

A few km later we rolled into Pak Thong Chai – a modern town which was no doubt like many, many others in Thailand. It was only 2.30 but we had done over 90km and had been on the road since 7 and were hot and tired, so decided to call it a day, especially as we knew there was a hotel here.

We were soon booked in and cooling down and resting in the A/C. Later we strolled out but found there was little of note in the town – but to be fair it has no write up in the Guidebook and there is nothing other than its location noted in Wikipedia. We strongly suspected tourists were not a staple of the local economy.

However the plus side of a town only catering to locals was that there were a multitude of street food stalls. We then had to decide what to eat and settled for a ‘starter’ of seafood kebabs, followed by Pad Thai -the classic noodle dish of Thailand. We had been told that many Thai families do not have kitchens and so buy all their meals from cheap street stalls and markets. Obesity is just starting to become a problem as some of these are replaced with ‘fast food’; which is really just junk food compared to the traditional healthy diet. Let’s hope they can draw a halt to it before it escalates as it has done in so many other countries.

(David) Today was not the day we planned. We started it by waking up in a campsite and ended it having a lovely meal with new friends, staying at their villa having swam in their pool and completely changed plans for the next few days – and only cycled 44km, most of which was downhill.

To try to explain how all this happened by fortuitous accident, I need to explain that Bernie was not feeling 100% up for a long day cycling. A lurking cold and putting her body through yesterday’s climb (on top of the last few days) was taking its toll. Day 4 of these trips is often a low point where our limited fitness means that we don’t quite recover from the physical exertion of each day’s cycling and so tiredness accumulates. Add a big climb and this was the day Bernie’s body was objecting – and it was probably fair enough.

Anyway we broke camp, breakfasted and cycled off as best we could in the early morning cool. The jungle is never quiet but the roads were empty and the only sounds we heard were the birds and the occasional unidentified animal in the undergrowth. It was peaceful and calm as we rode up to the Visitor’s Centre and then began our descent along the same road we had climbed the day before. We knew there were some 16% sections – going as slowly as we could, gripping the brakes with all our might and praying that the cables did not break (they didn’t). Then the gradient eased and we whizzed down the 7% sections, reaching the park entrance in no time. Humphhh said Bernie – that took us 2 hours yesterday and we got down in about 15 minutes.

We then pottered northwards, passing the road where we had joined the day before and heading towards Pak Chong. It was hot, busy and seemed to involve more “up” than we expected. Bernie was doing fine but not enjoying herself.

As we crossed over the motorway we were overtaken by 2 local cyclists – on road bikes with no panniers and all kitted out for an early morning ride. The man introduced himself, said he was Swiss and invited us for coffee. He then spoke in a hugely impressive way to his riding partner, who was a tiny Thai lady who he introduced as “Moo” meaning a pig in Thai. He explained that Thais are given nicknames as very young children and they have them for life. Moo was beautiful and graceful, and seemed the most un-pig-like person imaginable, but was stuck with the name. Othmar explained that he was a retired Swiss gynaecologist and that he lived in Pak Chong with his wife, Jackie for part of the year.

Part of our rules for travelling is to accept offers of hospitality unless it is clear we should not do so. So we gratefully accepted Othmar’s offer and followed him and Moo for about 5 km. Moo peeled off to her own house a few blocks from the finish, and then we entered the quiet, serene atmosphere that Othmar and Jackie have created for themselves in their beautiful villa. It was reminiscent of staying at Adit and Archie’s house in Delhi – a calm oasis at the edge of a bustling city.

We had coffee and chatted, and soon made up our minds to accept their offer of an overnight stay. After a sleep, a bracing swim in the outdoor (unheated) pool and a few hours planning, Bernie felt a good deal better. Having time to consider the maps and guidebooks we decided to change plans and not head north east to the Laos border but go back to our original plan and head due east to the Cambodian border. It’s good to have plans but such a joy to be able to change them on a whim once we were finding our feet and got more information.

Moo and her husband, Eddie, came over for a beer in the early evening and then Othmar and Jackie took us to a wonderful restaurant for scrumptious Thai food. I could not begin to describe the delicate balance between the different flavours, but it was wonderful. We also had long discussions about Thailand. Othmar and Jackie have lived here for good parts of the year for nearly a decade and were informed and intelligent observers of all things Thai. It was a total privilege to listen to their views and understand more about the country in which we are travelling and its people.

Meeting with the Othmar on the road was, of course, a pure coincidence. If we crossed the motorway 5 minutes later or they had not lingered at their tea stop (where Moo had amusingly got herself locked into the Ladies toilet), we would have missed each other. But fate was on our side.

Once we had met, there was no limit to Othmar and Jackie’s hospitality towards people about whom they knew nothing apart from the fact that we were touring cyclists who came to their town. Perhaps hospitality comes more naturally from one cyclist to another, but it was really Othmar’s innate kindness that meant he immediately offered hospitality to us, and only found out about us later. It was a memorable day.

We woke and in our ‘homestay’, which was in fact a complex of several buildings rather than a room in someone’s home, although it is true it was very much a family run business. We had an average breakfast. The mum carefully whizzed us up 2 types of smoothies – one spinach and one a mixture of beetroot, carrot and apple. David spurned both but I gulped down both, holding my nose a bit for the spinach one but I felt healthier just drinking them!

Then off again on our bikes. We knew we had some climbing to do as the map indicated the National Park was in a ‘pink’ coloured area of the map i.e. somewhere between 500 and 1000m but we had no idea where in that range.

The first 20km were mainly gently climbing along a beautiful valley lined but steep tree covered cliffs. It was still quite humid but at last the air felt fresher. We had an expensive but delicious coffee at the last town before the national park entrance then paid our 400 bhat entry fee (about #10). It was then 14km to the visitors centre…..and we found a 450m climb, much of it steep. The 18% gradient at one part defeated us and we had to get off and push! It was really tough, this was meant to be our short easy day! No more guest houses or coffee shops, just dense jungle either side of the road. The last few km to the visitors centre were flatter but up and down and we rolled in exhausted!

The visitor’s centre was modern and well run. We had soon sorted out how to get to the campsite (which we were keen to do, having brought all our camping kit this time but was the only available accommodation anyway as we had coincided with the weekend). We had something to eat and tried to revive a bit before the last 4 km to a large, well kept campsite. A snip at 75p each!

After a brew, a cold shower (so refreshing) and a rest we decided we had to make more of the day. But first we had to “monkey proof” our tent. This involved packing everything into panniers (apart from food) and then leaving the tent open. The slightly dubious theory is that monkeys will break into tents if they suspect food but probably cannot get into panniers! I remained wholly unconvinced but, given a lack of an alternative plan, followed the instructions. 2 hours later it was all just as we left it which means either that the plan worked or the whole things was totally unnecessary. However there were monkeys in the vicinity and so it was probably better to be safe than sorry.

After storing our food at the reception area (“no we don’t rent lockers – all the lockers are for staff – yes we can mind a food bag for you” …. and then we saw it placed for safe keeping in a locker). C’est la vie. Job done.

It was a 2km up and down ride to the other campground where the trail started. This was a 4km trail which took in 2 waterfalls – or at least there were 2 in the wet season. In the dry season it was more a case of one and a bit waterfalls. But the delight was walking through the dense forest, with bird noises constantly in the background (but not a single bird seen).

The frogs were also in full throat and there were numerous signs encouraging people not to swim because of the crocodiles. We were not tempted but didn’t see a single croc despite carefully looking. Whether any crocs saw us is, of course, another matter. But the fact that I am back at the campsite typing this means that any that did spy us decided that we would not taste nice enough to be worth the effort. On the whole, I was with the crocs on this assessment. It was surreal to be in the jungle, with a single path leading us along a beautiful river in the late afternoon sun. The temperature fell a bit and the oppressive humidity dropped off. We met a few walkers going the other way – French, German, Chinese and even a few Thai! The French woman seemed to be suffering quite a lot. We met them about half way and she asked in a pained expression “is it far”. The answer was “No” but it may have been a long way for her. The jungle is not for everyone.

Finally we got to the end of the trail and saw the second waterfall – well the first really – which was a pretty good sight. It must be magnificent in the wet season.

We hitched a lift back to the campsite, in the back of a pick-up truck, clinging on between the suitcases of a large, friendly Thai family. This travelling business gets us into the strangest situations.

The back to camp for tea (noodles and chicken – wonderful) and then this “full” day was topped off with a night safari. We sat in the back of a jeep with a guide who had a powerful torch. As we started I wondered if we would spend an hour looking at shapes of trees in the eerie light from the torch, but in fact we had a bumper evening.

We saw varieties of deer, a fox (more elegant than the Kennington variety we see on the way back from the tube), two elephants – one close up – and a black bear. We also saw some small animals I could not identify – one looked like a large mole and another indescribable but jumping away from the light.

Am finishing this blog in the tent with Bernie saying “what a relief to be horizontal”. Yes indeed, but a great and varied day.

We both slept much better – nothing to do with 85km cycled the day before of course, but welcome nonetheless. Porridge with bananas and coffee set us up for the day and we were on the road by 7.30. The traffic was just as busy as on a weekday. As we crossed the bridge from the sleepy old centre of Ayutthaya where all the tourists stay (like us), we found there was a thriving modern city of the same name. We battled our way through the traffic and had our first encounter of the trip with a Thai motorway.

Thai motorways are similar to their European cousins but have a number of key differences. First, there is always a relief road at the side of the motorway – so with 4 main lanes each way there are another 2 or 3 lanes of the relief road running alongside the main carriageway, with a hard shoulder on the edge of the relief road. Secondly, there are no restrictions for bicycles – but we stayed on the relief road rather than venturing onto the main carriageway. See we do have some residual sense left. Thirdly, the hard shoulder is effectively 2 way – in that if you go in the direction of the traffic, you keep meeting motorbikes going in the other direction. Thirdly, there are only a few junctions but the occasional “U Turn” space in the middle for those who wish to cash in their life insurance. Finally, there are lots of trucks, pushing out lots of fumes and so the air is pretty horrid. Having said that, there has been some impressive investment to create a network of roads that carry a vast amount of freight around the country.

The first motorway we encountered was outside the modern, busy Ayutthaya and was impossible for us to cross. So we had to do a 20km diversion before we finally got onto quiet roads. Then we left the main roads and suddenly the air was clean, there was less noise and we were ambling through paddy fields. It was all flat in this part of Thailand and rice seemed the staple (if not nearly the only) crop.

The landscape was criss-crossed with canals to provide water for the fields, with little pumps constantly at work to draw the water out of the channels to irrigate the fields. It was idyllic cycling, albeit we had to stop frequently to check the map (thanks Mr Google) to make sure we were moving in the right direction.

We stopped for a brew about 11, having covered about 45km. It was easy going apart from the irritating but not strong headwind. People looked on as we passed, generally without initiating any contact. However if we smiled, waved or made any small gesture which indicated we were friendly, smiles would break on the faces of men and women and they waved, called and encouraged us on. Rural folk appear to be quite reserved at first, but very friendly if we made the first move.

A few km outside Saraburi we stumbled across a lovely Buddhist temple, which was clearly a cherished part of the local community. It looked stunning in the late morning watery sunshine.

After 60km we reached the town of Saraburi and so hit the inevitable traffic jam. We stopped for a quick lunch at a cafe and then found a bike shop to replace the tyre lever we had misplaced in Bangkok – a boring story which is best left untold.

After Saraburi we knew that we had a tedious afternoon making a close acquaintance with the “2” motorway as it was the one road going where we wanted to go. The hills started and this was the road – the only road – so it was the “2” or nothing. We clung to the hard shoulder – mostly with a relief road but sometimes not – for about 35km. It was noisy, polluted and not much fun. But eventually we climbed our way into the mountains and found the exit we needed. It even had a road under the motorway and so we didn’t need to take our life in our hands with the exits.

The road climbed up to 250M with climbs of about 5% at worst. However, even at that gradient, we found ourselves going about the same speed as some of the larger trucks. Not that we were going fast of course, but they were working hard to go at 10kph and pushing out vast quantities of fumes just to show how hard they were working. So not ideal cycling!

Then all changed in an instant. We were off the motorway and into a joint venture area between Denmark and Thailand involving a model dairy farm which was set up for “agro-tourism”. Black and white cows replaced trucks as our scenery. The road suddenly deteriorated and I nearly rode into the cow dip which was in the middle of the road. We then found the road deteriorated further, and we found ourselves cycling along a dirt track which was a new road under construction.

Eventually we found the main road again and reached our “Home stay”. All very confusing with owners, using google-translate to try to say “yes we have booked” – looking at emails on the phone and eventually reaching a consensus. 105km was more than we wanted to do today as we are not yet fully fit, but feel like we might be getting there. Our lives in the UK already seem to belong to a different life. Cycle touring is totally mind absorbing – because if one loses concentration for a moment, there will be a motorbike coming towards one on the wrong side of the road and expecting us to move!

Another first – we cooked for ourselves. A single pot meal of noodles, tuna, carrot and cashew nuts. Anything tastes fantastic when we have cycled for over 100km in the humidity of the day.

(Bernie) Our level on the cycling madness scale probably escalated today with our decision to cycle out of Bangkok. We had considered other options, like getting a train to the outskirts, but we have always found that loading the bikes and panniers on to trains or buses is even more anxiety provoking than braving the traffic, so we opted for an early start. Armed with a street map of Bangkok we just decided to go for it.
So we found ourselves breakfasting in the dark at 6 and setting off at first light, at around 6.30. Our bike boxes were safely stowed at the hotel with a booking to return before our flight at the end of February. A young doorman seemed to take personal responsibility for looking after them for us and gave us a cheery farewell.

The doomsayers who predicted death and destruction to anyone who cycled in Bangkok had probably never been on a bicycle. True there was a fair amount of traffic even at that time of the morning, but we found the Thai drivers to be incredibly courteous. Even as the traffic built up and we were often in narrow lanes, the cars and vans hung back until they could overtake us safely. We got cheery thumbs up from traffic policeman and just about struggled with the pollution. There was no hooting or tooting as that would be seen as far too disrespectful for the average Thai person….such a contrast to India.

Altogether it was probably easier than cycling in London and compared to Istanbul or Mumbai it was a walk in the park!! Having said that – it was city cycling so the pollution was pretty horrible and our concentration was super-charged, especially for David as he was navigating as well (I just pedalled along behind!). About 20km in, as we got to the edge of the Greater Bangkok map, we stopped for a cup of coffee feeling mighty relieved.

Soon after got going again we reached one of those navigating conundrums where the left turn we wanted to take turned out to be an elevated expressway high above us! As we paused to consider our options (or seemingly lack of options) a friendly man on a motor cycle came up and asked where we wanted to go. ‘Follow me – short cut’ he said as he turned back the way he had come to direct us. Along a track by the railway, down a back alley and over a footbridge of a large canal and we were exactly where we wanted to be! It reminded me why I so love our cycling trips as so often we meet small acts of kindness that renew one’s faith that most people in the world are good people.

The next section was a long straight road along a canal. We were definitely out in the countryside now with banana trees and paddy fields. Small canal side shacks were interspersed with the occasional amazingly ornate Buddhist temple. Flat was good for getting our legs going for our first cycling day. Inevitably not as fit as we would have liked after uninviting December weather and a busy Christmas. Unfortunately the bain of flat lands is wind and inevitably it was against us!

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t 11.30am we were tiring….but then realised we had been cycling for 5 hours (getting out of Bangkok was certainly slow). We stopped at a roadside eatery that was full of people and had delicious fried chicken wings in a sesame batter, rice and 2 bowls of a steaming veg soup each. We of course we clueless how it all work as people piled up their plates but an older woman who seemed to be supervising the cooking took us under her wing and in spite of not a single common word between us other than ‘fried chicken’ she made herself understood! We must try and brush up our Thai! The meal cost us about $2.50, so was more than worth it.

Renewed we had 25km to go. Our legs were beginning to suffer but knew we had to go through these first few days of physical endurance to build up some fitness. We were relieved to roll into Ayuttaya, the old capital of Thailand, around 2pm. Even though we found we were not booked into the guest house we thought we were (that sinking feeling when they said they did not have our reservation) it turned out we had booked into the sister guesthouse down the road and we were soon in our simple but spacious room glorying in a hot shower.

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lthough we were feeling pretty exhausted, we forced ourselves out to do some sightseeing. After all we had cycled all the way here to see the temples that had been the glory of the old Thai capital until it was ransacked by the Burmese in about the 1750s. Seeing the Grand Palace in Bangkok the previous day gave us a good clue at how the place must have looked in its heyday. The core of the old city was in a big loop of a series of rivers and so was, in effect, an island. The river island had been home to no less than 6 temple complexes.

We weren’t up to looking at all 6 but strolled round 2 of them. Although now ruins, the place was peaceful and evocative with leaning stupa’s and crumbling Prangs (Pagodas) with occasional glimpses of the carvings than must had adorned the whole place and one or two fully preserved Buddha’s with their enigmatic faces. We walked off the aching in our legs and really enjoyed it.

A day that started feeling anxious turned out to be a great start to the trip.

We started out with a bike ride to check the bikes had survived the journey. The traffic was pretty heavy and the surfaces not too reliable, with big gratings at the side of the tarmac. Good to catch tropical rainwater but not so brilliant for cyclists. We found a large park with a cycle route in the middle, but then got stopped by the police because it was no cycling until 10am. The runners and walkers had exclusive use until then.

The air quality in downtown Bangkok is legendary – and was as bad as we have ever experienced. It felt choking to do any exercise, and there were the occasional (or not so occasional) overwhelming smell of drains. So a short ride but at least we found the both US and UK embassies! The US one was much bigger and proudly boasted on a poster of a long friendship between the USA and Thailand. The UK embassy was more modest – but I suppose that is inevitable.

Then breakfast and a trip on the Skytrain to the river, followed by a riverboat ride along the Mae Nam Chao Phraya, the major river running through the centre of the city. The major hotels are on the river in huge skyscrapers, demonstrating that the Sheriden and the like have a major presence in the city. It was very polluted and we watched as small boats sucked up the green weeds that grew in the water. There were also groups of the largest barges I have ever seen being tugged along at a snail’s pace by a single small boat. I have no idea what was in the barges but this was a grade-A commercial super-highway.

We got off at Chang Ferry Pier and worked out way with the hordes of other tourists to the Grand Palace. Bangkok was founded in the C17th when the Thai King abandoned the old capital, founding a new city nearer the sea. Every king needs a palace with royal chapels to show his devotion to Buddhism, so the original palace buildings gradually developed over the next 200 years with every King adding his mark to the complex. But first we had to buy suitable clothing – hippy trousers for David and a Sarong for Bernie. Good business at the side of the palace but we were going to get these at some point anyway. My bright orange pants were suitable here but I suspect I might get some resistance from the children if I ever wear them at home!

The temple area of the palace hugely impressive in parts but overall was a bit of a hotpotch of wonderful buildings, statutes, murals and temples, all in a very small area.

We were one of thousands looking at these marvellous sights – but the pictures tell the story far better than any words can.

After that we wandered through the city to China Town and experienced the organised chaos of any major city in a developing country. Tiny stores selling gems, generators, offering Thai massage and food, food and more food – often cooked right in front of us. After a couple of hours of having all our senses assaulted, we headed for the metro and back to the hotel. We rested and planned the next couple of days.

We were not so lucky with the restaurant we found for a meal in the evening – an indifferent curry – but tomorrow the real adventure begins.

(David) We have just spent 2 days in Bangkok and, with the greatest respect to those who love this city and acknowledging that we have only scratched the surface, we are keen to get out. After a hearty but indifferent breakfast, Wednesday morning was spend re-building the bikes. They came through transit remarkably well and, a couple of hours after I started, I had 2 empty boxes, a large pile of bubblewrap and 2 more or less functioning bikes. Bernie’s dynamo took a little adjusting but otherwise it was all straightforward.

We had both missed a night’s sleep (more or less) and so dozed, went for a swim in the pool on the 9th (and top) floor of the hotel and then I used the gym for a workout. I got the impression that visitors used the Bar and the pool more than the gym. We ventured out to find phones and provisions for the road. We were 2kg overweight coming over (but not charged) but brought no provisions with us at all. We needed tea, coffee, milk powder and a few things to keep us going. We found a supermarket in a shopping centre. This was one of hundreds of shopping plazas across the city. Mr Google told us that there is 25 sq km of shopping plazas indowntown Bangkok. This appears to be true.
Then we battled to find Sim cards and the old Apple phone I brought from home turned out to be SO old that it would not accept a modern Sim card. That will teach me to be parsimonious!
We then found a little Thai restaurant down an alley that had an excellent ambiance and great food. We then ambled back to the hotel whereupon I fell straight asleep – waking at half-past midnight, still tired but with part of my brain telling me to wake even though the other half was saying “don’t do it – you need SLEEP!!” So the tussle went on until the sleep part of the brain won and morning came too quickly.

Blog 2019
1st January 2019. Arriving in Bangkok.

New Year passed us by somewhat in the merge of time zones on our flight but by the time we arrived in Dubai it was definitely 1st January, the beginning of a new year and a new adventure.

The 4 hour transit in Dubai allowed the first concentrated planning – always so difficult until the reality hits. The next leg of the flight tedious was but uneventful. A few snatched cat naps to keep us going through our missed night’s sleep, then here we were in Bangkok. Smoothly through passport control, 2 bikes and 4 panniers all present and correct in baggage reclaim and our name ready and waiting for our transfer to the hotel (a whole minivan to ourselves to make sure we could get the bike boxes in!).

Then out of the air conditioning of the airport and into the balmy 28C (10.30pm) and it suddenly felt we were here! We had booked a standard modern ‘Best Western’ for our first nights outside the city centre – characterless but functional and reliable. Although we were exhausted we ventured out for a quick drink and a first taste of Bangkok.

A 5 minute stroll took us into a classic tourist street . Bars liberally scattered with Thai women in tight dresses and an over abundance of middle aged white men…although plenty of couples too. We managed to avoid both the Ladyboy Bar and another bar called Spankers – no subtlety here. We watched the passing crowds as we sipped a beer in a garish orangy-pinky light. All a bit bizarre and not our natural milleur and would be depressing if spent too long there; but a taste of being another world and ready for what the next couple of months will bring before the final bliss of being horizontal.

This blog is written as we wait for boarding at Birmingham Airport, listening to snatches of conversations in languages I understand, half understand or cannot recognise. Lots of families travelling over New Year as, I assume, like us they are seeking to avoid the expensive days either side.

We are flying to Bangkok, via Dubai. It will be late evening on 1 January when we arrive, and so we will miss the New Year’s celebrations with friends and family for the second time after many years of seeing the New Year in with people we know and love. So Happy New Year to you all. Last New Year’s Eve we were in Knayakumari, and we started our cycling trip through India on New Year’s day. It has been quite year since then professionally – with the usual ups and downs. But I am really looking forward to exploring Thailand by bike, shedding a few pounds and reading some interesting books. It should be a fascinating next 2 months. We will try to blog when we can, but that is all dependent on getting access to internet. It was not a problem in IT-saavy India but not sure about rural Thailand. We will just have to see what happens.

We are planning to start cycling on Friday but have 48 hours to explore Bangkok before then – as well as the small matter of rebuilding the bikes. So we will post again when we have something interesting to report.

In the meantime, Happy New Year and I hope you have a more enjoyable time than being stuck in a large cigar holder with wings as it travels to Dubai!

Well the next leg of our trip will start 2 weeks today, on new Year’s Eve, when we fly to Thailand.  The aim is to cycle in Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos over the coming 8 weeks.  I have been busy sorting out the bikes for the next trip, fitting new tyres and making sure all the spares are complete.  we have been out for some training rides in the cold and damp of teh English winter but nothing will prepare us for the heat and humidity of Indochina.  We have started to read up on the areas we are visiting, and this year have invested in a photography course so we might improve the quality of the photos on the site as we take you with us.

Meanwhile there is the little matter of Christmas to navigate.  We have the delight of Damian and Tina coming over from Rwanda, so the house will be filled with joy as Sachia and Gracie enjoy Christmas – and we enjoy Sachia and Gacie enjoying Christmas.  we have a collection of Bernie’s family on Boxing Day – 28 at last count.

So Happy Christmas and we’ll resume the blog when we touch down in Bangkok on 1 January.

“You must be mad” was the usual response when we told people that we were planning to spend 2 months cycling in India.  “What about the traffic, the heat, the dust, the hassle, the begging, malaria, ‘Delhi belly’…….and what about your age?”.  It is true that we are at the  north end of our 50s and we didn’t really have a plan other than to set off from Kanyakumari, the most southern tip of India, on New Year’s Day and head north. It would also be true to  say that we had some of those same underlying anxieties, but that did not deter us from flying off on a wintry December day and landing some time zones later in the soft enveloping  subtropical warmth of South India. Continue reading What is it really like cycling in India? →

After 24 hours after we arrived in Jaipur it was clear that my muscles needed a few days to recover from the bruising of the fall, and so we decided to end the cycling here. We only planned a further 3 days on the bikes to reach Agra, but that can wait until the next trip. So we are holed up, reading and recovering at the wonderful Ashok Club and will head off by car to our friends in Delhi tomorrow.

This morning we visited the amazingly beautiful Amber Palace, just under 30 years after we visited together in 1988 (when we also stayed at the Ashok Club). It was still stunning and impressive, but also reminded us just how much opulence one person (or perhaps more accurately a series of individual rulers) can create with limitless wealth and no social conscience about making the poor pay for the follies of the rich. The place was a honey pot, full of tourists from every developed country in the world and has been described in numerous guides, blogs and advertorials. So there seems little point in adding our superficial views to those of others who are far more informed. It seems better to use this last blog to reflect on what we have experienced, learned and endured over the last 2 months.

First, we have had a really enjoyable time. My injury over the last few days do not, in any way, affect our overwhelmingly positive view of India and Indians. But we have realised that the idea of “India” is comparatively modern. It is arguable that the idea that there was a country called India was a creation of the British Raj because before the domination of the British, there was no “India” as such. There were a series of local fiefdoms, ruled over by maharajahs and their families, exercising power over areas that shifted depending on the outcome of a battle with a neighbouring fiefdom or, more occasionally, an external intruder like the Mohguls. When the Europeans came in the 18^th Century, various local war lords saw their chance to get one up on their rivals by aligning themselves with the Dutch, the French or the British, often coming to rue the day they ever got into bed with the Europeans. For a long time, it was unclear which European nation was best placed to exploit the opportunity of these vast lands. However the East India Company gradually came out on top and then, in the mid-C19th, the British government effectively took over from a private company which had maintained its own private army to keep the local rulers under control and hence protect its commercial interests.

The maharajahs continued to hold and exercise real administrative power (jointly with the British) until 1947 when there was the botched “Freedom at Midnight”, which led to the creation of Pakistan and ultimately to the terrible loss of life in sectarian conflicts as Muslims moved to Pakistan and Hindus and Sikhs went the other way.

A single India only came into being after 1947 when skilled and ruthless Indian government ministers strong-armed the local rulers to give up their power and surrender to the single India. Goa remained a Portuguese colony until 1961 and the status of Kashmir remains fluid.

So perhaps we have come to realise that, despite different religions, wide-ranging communal histories and multiple languages, India functioning as a single, democratic country is a significant achievement for Indians. There were few amongst the British who left India in 1947 that would have predicted that this vast country would build itself as a successful state and remain as a single country. The credit for that goes to countless Indian politicians, government officials and those who hold or have held office in this amazing country.

Secondly, we should celebrate that one half of everyone on the planet who lives in a democracy lives in India, where democracy seems to be woven into the way people think and live. No democracy is perfect of course and India is no different in that respect, but that does not stop this being a country where the will of the people can and does change the government.

Thirdly, India is fantastically diverse. Cornwall is different from London, which is, in turn, different from the Highlands of Scotland. But the UK is (mostly) bound together by a common language. India has 26 official languages and thousands of dialects. The shape of people’s faces, the colour of their skin and the outlook on life moulded by a religion tradition differs markedly from one part of the country to another. The jungles of the south differ from the deserts of Rajasthan or the mountains of the Himalaya, with different climates, food and outlooks.

Although there is some commonality, in that about 80% of India is Hindu, that is like saying that all Europe is Christian without considering the different strands within each religion. There are different practices within different forms of Hinduism, and the demise of the divisions caused by the caste system is proving far more intractable to eradicate than Nehru hoped. And the 15% “minority” Muslim population is still more than 3 times the size of the whole UK population.

We have greatly enjoyed the diversity as it means nowhere is the same as the previous place. Temples vary greatly, art is different in different regions and the landscape influences everything.

Thirdly, the common thread we have experienced is kindness. India is a place overflowing with kind and generous people. We have had nothing stolen and never been the subject of a scam. Only 1 small hotel tried to overcharge us, and quickly backed down. The odd incident of hostility towards us from passing youths (usually trying to impress their mates, as they are wont to do the world over) stands out as so different from the invariable reaction of welcoming strangers. People here are proud of their country and want visitors to think well of India and the Indians – and we do.

Fourthly, this is still a young country with many, many children. In 1988, when we last visited, it had a population of 800M. The population is now over 50% higher at 1,345M. It continues to grow at about 1.17% per year with a 2.41 fertility rate. Millions of children could mean a great future, but it also heralds serious climatic and environmental challenges.

Lastly, it is a country with vast economic and environmental challenges, with the latter perhaps worrying us most during our stay. There is far less obvious and abject poverty, even along railway tracks, than when we were last here, but it is a country of vast inequality – but then that is the same the world over. But economic progress has come at a heavy cost to the environment. To give just one example, air pollution is a very serious challenge ,as well as eliminating waste, especially plastics. There are signs that the government is focused on these issues but there is a huge environmental mountain to climb.

Bernie: David has really summed up some of our thoughts about India. My lasting impressions of India will be the kindness, vibrancy, colour, noise and richness of wildlife and culture. So we end the first part of our cycling trip in India with great memories. We hope you have enjoyed this blog.   Many thanks to those who have donated to our chosen charity Walk for Life. If you have note yet donated but have enjoyed reading the blog then please consider doing so -there is a “Donate” button on the task bar.

Signing off now for the 2018 tour – hope to resume next year (or possibly earlier).