We will remember Chai Nat for the best night market we have seen in Thailand. Our eyes were bigger than out bellies as we collected bag fulls of delicous curries, bbq meats, and rowan's bag of horrible chilly pork crackling (eww). This is the cheapest and best way to eat in Thailand and, indeed, few locals bother to cook as the street food is so easy. Its really interesting staying in these non touristic towns, as people are a lot more interested in you and eager to practice their english.
We were stuck on the freeway on the ride to Suphan Buri but as we left at 4 am we only had the dogs to worry about. It was a challange to find a place to stay in this town (as it is in most of the transit non-tourist orientated towns). We rode around for ages looking for what might be a hotel/hostel but nothing is in english so our conversation goes something like: "is that one?", "no that's a dentist". However, when you do find something they are usually pretty good value for money (somewhere between $7 - 15 for a room). Having said that, with Cambodian and Laos prices in my head from the last trip is seems a lot more expensive in Thailand (Laos = $1-2 per room).
Suphan Buri to Kanchanaburi was a decent ride with more flat road which passed through some interesting market towns and sugar cane farms. It is getting hotter the further south we go, so to avoid the heat (and sun burn), we have been starting earlier and earlier. On this ride we knocked off 50km before dawn and arrived at our destination by 8:30. This is mostly because we were 'racing' again and managed to maintain our top speed of 40km/h for at least 30 mins (ouch and as if we needed it after 5 days straight of riding!).
Kanchanaburi has the classic 'backpacker strip'. Yes its good for cheap accomodation and menus in English (usually we just point at something and say please in Thai), but the lazy tourist syndrome gets to you after a while - there is no requirement for independent thought, tours our pre-organised, everything is there for you and everything is in English. Excellent if you require some serious relaxing but not good for those who are trying to be a bit more adventurous.
On our rest day we hired a moped to visit Erawen National Park and its
majestic waterfalls. We clambered up a steep path through seven tiers of waterfalls. The highlight of the day was the little sucking fish in the pools, which eat the dead skin off your feet. It's a natural kind of exfolient? Rowan thought it was hilarious and had about 30 on his feet. Kate got 'bitten' a few times and spent the rest of the time hopping aroud trying to avoid the fish to the amusement of others.We woke up the next day at 4:00 to embark on our longest so far, 155km leg, to discover the bike was locked in the shed, which wouldn't be open until 9:00. So we started late and had to ride all day in the sun and didn't arrive until dusk. That morning over breakfast we watched some of the debates surrounding the recently completed Copenhagen round of negotiations on climate change. It really got as thinking as we rode along covered in smog, truck fumes billowing in our face, finding it difficult to breath, the road sides piled in plastic sometimes as deep as your knees as thai drivers whimsically toss more rubbish out the windows as they drive past in their brand new hilux's, that responsibility for climate change and pollution in general, must also fall on develeping countries. From our experience so far, Thailand is increasingly a wealthy country and, arguably, has the capacity to effect some change. Indeed, something has to be done, especially given that people's homes are built along the roadside, children's schools and play areas are along the roadside, food is harvested, dried, sold and eaten along the roadside and our skin and clothes at the end of the day is testement to the fact that everything and everyone is covered in the grime of pollution. I feel that the developed nations have a responsibility to aid developing countries like Thailand, but ultimatly what is required is a change in attitude from the people - what a task ahead to clean up this planet.
The entrance to Phetchaburi was gaurded by millions of monkeys, clambering on every surface and getting up to whatever it is that monkeys do. We went straight to the first accomodation we found (not so good but we could have slept anywhere after that ride). We left for the coast the next morning, following a small coastal road through fishing villages and abandoned / never finished resort towns until we got to Cha-am, a beach resort apparantly geared to Thais which has sweedish/dutch restaurant's on every corner? Although perhaps not the best place to stop, as Rowan will no doubt explain we needed to have a rest day and some beach lounging will be nice.
Rowan-
MY ASS!!! I think i am the first person to have a terminal case of monkey butt (think babboons giant red behinds). The seats I chose for the trip (wide gell supported touring saddles) were good but are not the correct ones for tandem riding, which requires you to be seated all the time. I think we needed a wider flater seat and pants with padding to suit the wider seat as kate has noticed that her bum padding is too narrow. At the moment i have a big towel folded up on mine and that helps a bit but Kate has decided that there is no helping her rear end and is just toughing it out.
We had our first mechanical, a broken spoke, which
causes the wheel to buckel pretty badly. This is a pain as the whole wheel has to be pulled apart and the rear sproket removed. Once the spoke is replaced, straightening the wheel is a bloody pain. I expected this to happen a fair bit as there is about 180kg sitting on both wheels with a bias towards the rear. Also, with the bike being so long, cornering at speed puts a massive load on the wheels. I have to be super anal with maintaing the wheels and re-tension the spokes every couple of days. Photo of the day: who want'
s to go on the next trip with us?
s to go on the next trip with us? 
sounds good. :) pick me!! xx
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