d80 Goodbye Thailand

It's time to leave. See ya next time... maybe.

d79 Issan Cyclin'

For the previous few days I had been cycling around Issan, the very flat north-western area of Thailand. It was an eye opener getting off the beaten track. The area is seen to be a poor region and under-developed. I disagree. As it is a money maker for Thailand from its agricultural production it has been heavily invested in and developed. It's not poor from the houses I saw.

d76 Merry Christmas and nature temples

Christmas day I found two strange temples.

The first was these huge boulders next to the Mekong River. As I was entering the temple grounds I met an elderly Norwegian. After 32 years of meditation he found out who he was. I could have saved him a lot of hassle. If he gave me his passport/id card/birth certificate I could have told him. At this point I'm not into the esoteric.

The second sat atop an outcrop. Nice views of the flats of Issan from there.

d75 What is that?

You see some strange things. Here is a giant lotus!

d71 Mekong trippin'

Finally made it back to the Mekong River. It's big!

d69 Friendly monk

At the temple I stayed this evening I met a very interesting monk. We are the same age. If it were another time and another place I'm sure we would have been good friends.

When I arrived at the Wat he was the first monk I approached to ask if I could stay on the temple grounds. He quickly helped get permission from the Abbot and spent the rest his free time with me.

He showed me around the extensive area that the temple covered. He had been a monk for 6 years but was an artist before donning the frock. With his practical skills he has been adding sculptures and other artworks to the temple.

There was a funny incident that happened that only I noticed. When I arrived there were some local youths getting instruction from the military, a bit like boy scouts stuff. The monk looked at the military dudes and rolled his eyes. After we walked past them he shooed them away with the back of his hand. He obviously doesn't think much of the military.

d68 Fight night at the monks place

After a long day of uphills I was really tired. I came across a temple an hour or so before the sun set. The first monk I found at the temple was a grumpy old man but interesting none the less. He let me camp a few meters from his hut, a typical Thai wooden dwelling that seems it'll fall over in a strong wind.

As I was cooking up my dinner the monk came to me very excited, out of character for him. The only words he exclaimed were "Boxing! Boxing!". At first I had no idea what he was on about, but then after a few exchanges I realised he was inviting me to watch the weekly Thai Boxing show that evening in his hut.

After eating and washing up I went to his hut just in time for the opening ceremony. The evening was very surreal watching Thai Boxing with an elderly grumpy monk in his spartan creaky room. But it was fun. I learned a lot about the rules of Thai Boxing.

It turns out that in his youth, this 65 year old monk was the number 3 ranked boxer in his province. At 5 foot flat I wasn't going to mess with this monk. He does know how to fight!

d67 Ibuprofen, my friend

Ok, so I'm not as strong as I think I am. After a week of cycling my knees could feel it on the climbs. You have to bear in mind these are countryside rolling hills where the roads generally go straight up.

I chanced my luck by stopping in at a local clinic to get some anti-inflammatory drugs. The staff were really surprised to see me and gave me 5 star service for free. Blood pressure 121/74, heart rate 55 bpm.... not that unfit though. And I got a gel thrown in too, good for aches, sprains, muscle pain and insect bites! My kinda gel.

That evening I stayed in a very isolated temple on the pinnacle of a lonely mound. The monks were friendly and interesting to chat with. All three had come from the same temple in Bangkok. The youngest seemed to be having a tough time adjusting to living in the countryside, even after four years of living there.

d66 Lunch with the ladies

Before heading on myself I stopped at the local store to get some snacks and water. The shop owners asked me to stay a while and share lunch with them.

Quite tasty... and spicy :-)

d65 Looked after by the kids

After a few days on the road I was getting into the swing of things. The bicycle was responding well and I was enjoying the sights. All along the way I met the friendly 'Thai Smile'. Most people couldn't believe what I was doing, cycling through the countryside for fun, but appreciated that I was doing it.

At the end of a somewhat tiresome day I found a small hamlet with a tiny Wat at the top of a hill. The village was so small they didn't have any resident monks. I would usually ask the Abbot if he didn't mind if I camped on the premises (in all the temples I asked to camp at in Thailand I was only rejected once). 

But there was a small gang of kids that took it upon themselves to look after me. In the evening they brought me some snack and a bottle of water. The next day they also came to say goodbye before going off for the day.

d61 On the road again

After completing the grueling DELTA course and exam I found out that my visa application to New Zealand was denied for the second time. Not wasting time I immediately bought a secondhand touring bike and prepared for the next leg.

It feels good to be on the road again :-)

A 430 day break from travel

After landing in Bangkok, for various reasons, I decided not to carry on the cycle trip. My options were:

• Cycle to Laos and get a Chinese tourist visa in Vientiane
• Cycle through Myanmar into India and go that route
• Find a job in Thailand and later do the DELTA course

I chose the last option. There were some factors that helped me make this decision: the coming winter, the state of the world at the time with the Syrian conflict, a desire to do the DELTA course for many years.

In the little more than a year a spent in Thailand I:

• Mooched around - 2 months
• Worked in Mae Sai in northern Thailand - 4 months
• Worked in Bangkok - 6 months
• Did the intensive DELTA course - 2 months 

I had a fantastic time with all the people I met in these places.