Wade asked me to write another post, here it is.
http://www.vagabondjourney.com/travelogue/safety-and-security-tips-for-traveling-by-motorcycle/
Archive for the 'travel' Category
EXPENSES
For the most part, traveling in Thailand is rather inexpensive. Not everything, but if a person was smart, they could travel all over Thailand, skipping the big tourist areas in Southern Thailand, for very little money. Even some touristy things such as trekking (hiking, elephant rides, or other excursions) can be done on the cheap. Of course, if you are going to rent a motorcycle, and also spend 4 nights on a boat diving, you will still be spending a decent chunk of change.
Being that I was on a relatively short trip, spending a decent chunk was not out of the question. I recorded some of my expenses. The total cost of the trip was $4,470.65 for the 21 days I was out. This included the rather expensive last minute air fare of $1,367 flight to Bangkok, plus an additional $400 for the rest of my transportation costs. A frugal person could have taken shared transportation or buses in many cases if they were trying to save bucks, especially if they have plenty of time to plan. For example, getting from Khao Lak to Bangkok can be done very inexpensively by taking an overnight first class bus. Due to limited planning time, I ended up spending $40 on a taxi and $80 on a flight to get there, sleeping in the airport on the way.
SCUBA is expensive anywhere. Thailand is no exception. A day of diving (2 dives), with equipment, Nitrox (different air mix) and lunch will cost around $100. That is about how much I would have paid for a single day of diving in the Florida Keys last year. The live-aboard alone was $643 for 4 nights accommodation, 14 dives, rental gear, dive guides plus pretty much all the food you could ever want to eat. This is rather cheap for a live-aboard.
Food is very inexpensive. A good meal can be gotten for around $1 almost anywhere. Decent restaurant meals at small restaurants can be gotten for double that. Adding beer can raise the price rather quickly, as much as $3 for a 22 ounce beer in a restaurant, half that in a store. There is something wrong with paying as much for one (large) beer than you pay for your meal. Other alcoholic drinks are also fairly expensive relative to other costs.
As with most places, trying to live like you do at home will make the costs a lot higher. An American breakfast (eggs, meat, coffee) will run you about $3 sometimes more. The price didn’t vary much, but what you got did. Anything from one egg with a small piece of ham, to a meal with 3 eggs, lots of fruit, two kinds of meat, and french fries. The coffee adds a lot to the price. In some places, a good American Breakfast without coffee is about $1, but it is almost $3 if you want real coffee. Good coffee is NOT inexpensive in Thailand (or most of the world) even though it is grown here. Now, if you want to eat like the locals, you can eat cheap. Eggs cooked on the an open charcoal grill like hard boiled eggs. Plus some Rice Soup, and maybe a dumpling with Pork. A pretty good breakfast, for less than a dollar.
Bottled Water is VERY cheap, compared to the US. Around $.20 for a quart. Less sometimes.
Tuk Tuk to airport in Chiang Mai $3.50 Cab was $5 and not as quick or as fun.
The average price for gasoline was $1.31/Liter or about $5/gallon. My average MPG = 48.1
As mentioned before the bike rental cost $417.65, since I rode 1,836 miles, that is $.23/mile not including gas. That is pretty much what I would expect to pay for my own bike, long term, so it is a pretty good deal. One could spend less than half that, if they chose a different bike.
Although I kept my trip fairly simple, conversations with others showed me that many things in Thailand are inexpensive. My take on it is that if the bulk of the cost was labor, it was cheap. If it required gasoline, or imported gear, it could be a bit more expensive.
Hotels were running around $8 for a very basic room. These could be gotten for a lot less if you were going to spend more time there. A basic room is a room, with a bed or two, and a bathroom. Maybe a couple of chairs and a table. Now, the quality of the accommodations varies wildly, but the worst I stayed in was still pretty good. If you want to spend twice that, you could get a room with air conditioning, and nicer sheets, maybe a TV (in Thai), and a view. In areas with lots of tourists, and few accommodations, you could spend twice that if you were not careful, but you would not have to. In places like Khao Lak, a beach resort area, you could spend $35 on a very basic room. A little searching and bargaining and you could probably cut that by 40%, or better, just get a better place in a better location. Or, if you really want to splurge, you can get a room in a very nice resort on the beach (with views of banana trees) for $60. Food in these areas are also more expensive, about twice the cheaper places in northern Thailand. As always, the more time you have to travel, and the more time you are willing to spend bargaining, the better you will do. Mostly, when I travel, I spend almost no time bargaining. It just is not worth it to me for the few bucks saved. I will go from hotel to hotel to find the place I like the best, but price is only a small factor. Even if I got a room for half price, I might only save $4. Now, when I travel in the USA, I ALWAYS bargain for a room. Getting just a 25% discount can be $20 or more. In the USA I have gotten $70 rooms down to $30 Them’s some REAL savings.
Yeah, sure, you take pictures of people, places, and things. But what else can you use a camera for?
When most of us travel, we bring a digital camera with us. Some even bring a phone that has a camera on it. These have uses past just photos.
When you are in a country with lettering different than your own, you can take photos of signs. For example, in Thailand, the lettering is, uh, cryptic. To many it looks upside down and backwards. Although a lot of the signs were either in English, or at least the phonetic spelling of town names and such. The problem is that they were not always that way. A sign says that such and such waterfall is 6 kilometers that way. You go 6 kilometers, and there are signs pointing every which way. None of them in English. If you took a photo of the sign 6 kilometers ago, you could pull out your camera and compare the Thai spelling to what is on the sign.
Now, you are looking for some town or another. You get lost. No matter how many people you ask, no one can understand your pronunciation of the town name. If you had a photo of a road sign, or a bit of your map, you can show it to people. Even when people can’t read, they often recognize the spelling of local towns and can point you in the right direction. Just remember that if a person can’t read, and does not recognize the symbols, they might still give you directions. They will be wrong, but their conviction might convince you they know what they are talking about.
You are in an internet cafe, the printer is not working. You make reservations to some hotel, or other place the next town. The best way to get to this place would be with a print out of the address, which may not be in your language, or even recognizable lettering. If you take a picture of the address on the computer screen you will have something to show the bus/taxi/tuk tuk driver.
This photo of the screen works on a lot of things. Reservation confirmation numbers, maps, bus schedules. Photographs can be taken of other things as well. Take a photo of a bus schedule at the bus stop. You can then zoom in as necessary to see the details you need.
Often times there are things you might want to have reference to sometime in the future but don’t want to carry. You see a brochure for some tourist site or festival for a town you will be in a few weeks from now. Take a picture.
Sometimes there are signs up for what looks like an event you might want to go to, but in a different language. Take a pic.
Frankly, you can use your camera as a substitute for a good memory or to help communicate something to someone that is of a different language. Take a photo and say “What’s this?” can be a lot easier than saying “you know that yellow fruit that looks like a deranged Easter Parade Balloon?” Want to remember the name of a street your hotel is on? Take a pic. Don’t forget to take a pic of the front of your hotel before you leave. It might help you find it later when you get lost and need to ask directions. If the hotel does not have business cards, you can take a pic of some letterhead or whatever.
Room numbers, lock combinations, whatever.
Of course, your camera can get lost or stolen, so you would not want to rely on it. But as a backup, it is great. There are a few things, such as your passport and the entry visa that might not be a bad thing to have. I keep a scan of my passport on my camera, as well as on-line. It may help a bit if your passport is lost.
If you are using your camera’s memory as a backup for scanned files, you will need to try it out first. As storage, it generally works fine, but you may not be able to retrieve it directly from the camera and you may not be able to look at it. Cameras tend to have a file naming structure that needs to be followed. If you put your memory card in a reader, and look at the files you will see a directory (Folder) structure and naming convention that is used. If you name your files similar, and put them in the same directories as the other pics, you should be able to look at them on your camera.
While you are at it, put some pics of your family, friends, pets, whatever on there so you can show people you meet.
Some of the other things to think about: Guide Books, translation pages, phone books, even hand written notes and journals. Backing up notes. Scraps of paper that people write their e-mail addy’s on.
Some say it is a good idea to keep a photo of your name and address in your camera to assist in it’s return. This is a good idea, but one must decide if you really want to give your addy to someone that just stole your camera. I think a picture of your first name, telephone #, maybe e-mail addy, and a note that you own the camera. Even if a thief took it, he might want to sell it back to you.
I posted a new article to Vagabond Journey, a site run Wade, a friend of mine.
http://www.vagabondjourney.com/travelogue/how-to-rent-motorcycles-abroad/
You may find it of interest.
Bob L
SCUBA DIVING THE SIMILAN ISLANDS
SCUBA diving the Similan Islands is awesome. The only practical way to dive them is on a live aboard SCUBA boat. This is where you rent a cabin on the boat, and live there for a few days to a week or more. There are speed boats that go to the islands in a day, but it is expensive, and you only get two dives a day. If you really like to dive and only have one or two days, that might be worth it for you, but I recommend a live aboard. I lucked into getting on the Dolphin Queen through Similan Dive Safaris. www.similan-diving-safaris.com I say lucked into for a number of reasons. I had a limited schedule to dive. This was one of only a couple I found that were scheduled to go out when I could reasonably make it. I made my reservations through a third party organization, that I knew nothing about. I knew nothing about how best to dive there. This dive boat turned out to be one of the best values in the area. Normally one has to rent a room. The room costs the same whether it is one person or two, and it is expensive. This boat had the option of renting a bed in a 4 bed dorm room. For a dive adventure, this was downright cheap. I was a little worried that I would get what I paid for (low price = low quality) but I had no reason to fear. This was one of the best operations in the area. It had a reasonable number of divers, plenty of dive masters, plenty of crew. I spent 4 nights on the boat. The weather was cloudy much of the time, and some rain, but it was a very comfortable trip. Leave the dock at 5pm or so. Head towards the islands while having dinner. The next day, dive at 7am, 11am, 3pm and 7pm. Repeat for 3 days, with the boat moving from island to island. On the 4th day of diving, there are two morning dives, then a boat ride home, getting back in the late afternoon. In between there is food. More food. Rest and relaxation. Talking and making new friends. I was worried that it would be too crowded and I would not have enough time alone. That was not the case. I could always find someone to talk with, but I could also be left alone if I wanted. There were plenty of places to hang on the boat where you were more or less alone.
The diving was great. I saw a Sea Snake (the 3rd most poisonous snake in the world), I was pretty close up before I realized what it was. It was not until after the dive that I found out they are not normally aggressive under the water. NOWWWW you tell me. Under the water there is just about every kind of sea creature you could want. Eels galore, turtles, crabs, shrimp, nudibranch, sea horses, you name it. The only things we did not see, were Whale Sharks and Manta Rays. The whale sharks have not been being sited at this time and the Manta Ray’s eluded us. Better luck next time.
When Neptune puts me in charge of protecting the reefs, the first thing I am going to do is outlaw cameras. I may make an exception for professional photographers, but they will be followed by someone carrying a shock pole, and if they touch the reef, or harass wildlife, they will get a serious jolt. I have seen more damage done by any one so-called experienced diver with a camera than by all the beginners I have ever seen. Having a dive buddy with a camera is worse than having no dive buddy at all. Not only is your dive buddy not paying attention to you in case you need help, but they are not paying enough attention to what they are doing, putting themselves in danger that you may have to help them out of. The absolute worst are the people with too much money. The ones with the huge, incredibly expensive camera outfits. It is like they forgot how to swim or something.
After we got back from the live-aboard, I wandered around the town of Khao Lak. Nice enough for a tourist town, but not my style. I decided I needed another day of diving, so I took a trip to do a wreck dive. This was fairly shallow, and really just an artificial reef. The wreck part was not all that interesting, but the marine life on the wreckage was great. LOTS of eels, lion fish, scorpion fish etc. This trip was taken on one of the long tail boats. These are magnificent boats. They seem to be perfectly adapted to the open waters here, as well as the crowded ports. It was also the only time I got a bit of sunburn. Although I was under a canopy, the time in between my dives I was on the side of the boat with no shirt on Just enough to get a burn. Damn it…
The dinner, relaxation area.
The kitchen area, library, Coffee, TV room, beer storage, etc.
A turtle came around to look at us, and to eat the bananas we were throwing to him.
This is a similar boat to the live aboard we were on. It is hard to get a photo of a boat you are on.
These are all the divers and the dive masters/guides.
This is a long tail boat. They come in all kinds of sizes, some look home made, some are pretty sophisticated. They all have a motor with a long tail which has a prop on the end. The whole motor/tail combination rotates left-right and up-down. I was able to go for a ride in one of these for one of my dives. It had one of the more interesting flex couplings I have every seen. Home made I think. For those of you that are not engineers or techies, a flex coupling probably holds no interest to you.
LANGUAGE Revisited
I have a bit of a problem with certain things about language. I do not expect a country to learn English just so I can travel easier. It is their country, they should not be expected to learn a foreign language if they do not want to. But there are certain places where people really should know one of the more universal languages (English, French, Spanish) For example, airports. Here is an area that is likely to have people that do not speak the local language. You would think that the people in the airport shops would have a better handle on languages. For example, I go into the airport, which looks like any big airport anywhere in the world. I try to order a Starbucks coffee. Just a plain coffee with half caffeinated, half decaf. At a Starbucks, this should be easy. No way…. The language barriers were too great. No understanding of English. No ability to figure out what I was trying to say. Finally had to get the supervisor, who spoke a little English and understood what I wanted. The supervisor tried explaining it to the woman waiting on me, but finally gave up. And this was in the BOSTON airport. A similar thing happened in Thailand, but the person there figured out what I wanted even if he did not speak any English.
While staying at a guest house in Chiang Mai, I received my first virus. I had decided to use my camera’s flash memory to store a few programs that I use to edit photos and such. It seemed like a good idea. Normally when I upload photos to the web, for back up or to display publicly, I slide the switch on the memory card to lock. This hopefully protects the data on my card. The programs I had on the card required me to have the switch in the unlock position. This was why the problem was allowed to happen. The next time I used the computer to upload pics, I had errors and could not read the pics from that computer. I eventually gave up on the computer and went to an Internet cafe. The anti-virus software on that computer told me I had a suspicious program on my card and it would not allow me to run any programs from that card. I looked at the files. In every directory (folder) on that memory card that I had accessed, there was an executable file with the file name being the same as the directory name. I never ran these files, so did not cause any problems, BUT……. I could have. I have no idea what the files would have done. I suspect it would have just replicated itself, and installed itself in such a way that these files would then be installed on the next users storage. The risk here is that often times the name of the file you would normally run is the same as the directory name. This would be a very easy to miss, if it were not on a photo card where there should just be photos.
Fortunately, no harm was done to my photos, my card or anyone else’s computer. From now on, I will NOT keep anything except photos on my memory card. I will also not run any executable from any flash card on a public computer. If I want to use my own programs, I will copy them to the public computer, and run them from there. Why any public computer would allow me to load, or even run an executable is beyond me. This is a huge security risk.
Public computers are not exactly the safest way to access the Internet. It is much better to have your own computer. This still does not guarantee security, but it helps. There are few things I will do on a public computer. I will only log into sites that I would not be too upset if they got hijacked. Frankly, any time you use the Internet, you are at risk. You can reduce this risk, but never eliminate it.
OK, I lied. I have not had much of a chance to write anything. Here are a few things that I wrote earlier that I did not yet publish. Not sure when I will write up more, or if any of it will be worth much.
I did get the rest of my pics up on the web at http://whereisbobl.com/pics/index.php?album=2010-11-thailand-all These are ALL my pics, so there are a LOT of them. I plan on eventually trimming this down some.
NO HANDS VOLLEYBALL
In Thailand, they play a game that is similar to volleyball called takraw, but played with the feet and a light rattan (Palm Tree) ball. I watched a game played by some college aged guys on a concrete court. The ball is a little smaller than a volley ball and a LOT harder. The net is at about the height of the top of their heads. Imagine spiking the ball with your feet, while your opponent uses his feet to prevent the spike. There were some amazing acrobatics, flips, twists, everything, and no one hit thier head on the concrete. Impressive. I never did get a video of it, but here is one on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15asVgf66KI that really describes the game.
FOOD
The food is pretty simple for the most part, if you are in areas that cater to tourists. There are usually menus in English, although with the mis-spellings and wrong word usage, sometimes it does not help. Twice already I have ordered a type of curry, but enough for two people. OK, only about $3 for the lot, but still. The Thai people are worried it will be too hot for us Americans. Although there are a few ingredients that You might want to spit back out if you don’t like hot, I did not find these dishes to be hot. Aromatic to the extreme in some cases, but not hot. There are so many interesting smells with their accompanied tastes that it is almost confusing. Not like the Thai food I have had in the US. In Tourist friendly joints, the food can be almost boring. In restaurants that serve locals, the food is pretty darned good. There are usually markets that can be the best places to eat. They can also be the best place to go if you want to lose weight. Wander around the market only if you have a strong stomach. Various innards and heads, and bottled this and dried that. Some of these things can have…. interesting smells. Along with these smells (not bad, generally) can be the sewers that are used to get rid of waste from the market. Then, there are sometimes raw sewers nearby. If this sounds bad, it really isn’t as bad as I make it sound. The smells don’t tend to be strong, and generally the markets are pleasant. But, if the site of a pigs head is going to make you retch, be careful which part of the market you go to. For me, there is one spice or spices that they cook with here that I can’t identify. The spice tastes fine. When it is VERY strong smelling when cooking, which only seems to be at street vendors it is less than pleasant to me, but not bad. BUT…. For some reason, when it is mixed with an assortment of market smells, it turns my stomach. ONLY if mixed with the other smells. I have a strong stomach, but the nose is funny. There is a Mexican dish served in many restaurants in the USA called Fajitas where the meat is still sizzling on the platters when it comes out of the kitchen. This also turns my stomach. I love to eat it, and it smells great once it stops sizzling. Odd.
I have not tried any of the more unusual foods at the markets mainly because the only times I have been there, I was either looking for a full meal (night markets) or really not yet hungry (day markets). There are a few things I would like to try. A few different kinds of jerky, or dried meat. Chicken wings on a stick. Sausages, of unknown origin. And a whole array of things I can’t identify. Those are always a trip if you speak none of the language. Especially with a culture where the people really believe in being nice. I suppose I could order a bar of soap thinking it was a sausage or something, and the people would smile and let me eat it if that is what they thought I wanted to do.
I ate with a couple the other day. A Canadien living in Florida with his Thai wife. We shared some dried guppies, or whatever they were. We also had some crabs that looked a bit unusual Tasty enough, but very little meat. A net calorie loss I think. I was also taught how to eat one of the foods I have tried a couple times. It turns out that the more aromatic and chewy bits in the meal I was not supposed to eat. This is tricky because sometimes the bright red things are the hot items, and sometimes it is the boring bland white looking things. Good to have a tutor.
OTHER TRAVELERS
I have actually met few motorcycle travelers, which is weird since the Golden Triangle is a very popular place to take motorcycle vacations. I have met a few ex-pats living in Thailand, who ride, but few current travelers. I did meet a German who had some fascinating stories. His website has some great pictures http://bernhardaufreisen.blogspot.com But the words are in German (blogger will translate for you). He crashed his BMW in India, bad… And rebuilt it over three months there. I tried to get him to write for VagabondJourney.com thinking he is more qualified for writing motorcycle travel articles than I am, but he declined. I was hoping to get at least a couple posts from him.
One ex-pat I met was from Holand, if I remember right. He invited me and the biker from Austria to hishome to drink beers or whatever. He had lots of interesting stories but when he got on the topic of what is wrong with America, politics and all, we found ourselves diametrically opposed. We saw the same problems, but were I saw causes (too much Government involvement) he saw solutions (more government involvment). Hard to have a conversation whe differences are so vast, so we changed the subject.
There was a Bike Week in Chiang Mae which had a bunch of Harleys as well as other big bikes show up. Many were here from Malaysia, as it is difficult and expensive to buy and own a big bike in Thailand.
I have been reprimanded for not letting all know what has happened since my last post. I will write up something pretty long soon, but for now, a VERY quick summary of the rest of my trip.
I went back to Chiang Mae, then flew to Phuket and got a ride up to Khao Lak in southern THailand. Did a 4 day live aboard SCUBA trip to the Similan Islands. WOrld class diving there. Then a day of local diving.
THe trip home was brutal. Made do I guess, but it sure would be nice to have a Star Trek Transporter.
I left Khoa Lak Saturday at 5pm local, 5am EST, got a ride to Phuket, then a late flight to Bangkok, then an early flight to Tokyo, then New Jersey, then Boston, for a van ride to Nashua, NH, then a car ride home, arriving about 10:30 PM Sunday, that is 41.5 hours travel time door to door. Then I was up at 5:30 AM for work. THAT is why this post is short.
All in all the trip was great. Will post the rest of my pics, and a big story in a few days. Will let all know here.
In Mae Han Song I met an Australian and we discussed whether it made sense to visit the Karen Hill Tribe Village that was nearby. There is often a debate about this kind of thing. This village is a refugee village from Burma. They are very poor. The Karen tribe are also known as the Long Necks, as the women wear a series of metal rings on thier necks, in increasing numbers until they get married. The cons are that supposedly the tribe is paid to keep up this tradition for tourists. This being somewhat disfiguring, not to mention they often file thier teeth into points. The pros are that you pay a rather large sum of money to see them, and your guilt almost always makes you buy something at a rather high price, just to get a picture with one of the women. We discussed and discussed, and when we walked away, niether of us knew if we were going to go there. In the end, when I got to the village, the other guy was there. We did a quick visit, took our picture with a women, and left, not knowing if we should feel guilty or taken. The visit, in the end, cost more than a very nice guest house here.
On the way up there, I found out just how slippery wet elephant poo can be. There were numerous water crossings covered in the stuff. No embarassing slip ups (downs?) though.
Bob L
Rode south to Mai Sot, some great views, some great roads, some roads very rough. Mai Sot was just another crappy little city. All cities suck. I have never found one that I liked. A few have small areas that are nice, but as a whole I don’t like them.
I ran into a couple of harley riders from sweden. Broken down. Helped them get the bike in the chase vehicle. They run tours, where they transport people and their harleys to wherever, and run a tour. These are seriously long tours in interesting places like Thailand etc. The breakdown was a result of a modification, as usual. The bikes were older (Shovel Heads) although there really was nothing Harley about the S&S engines and other mods. The breaksown was due to a blown bearing in the steering stem. The bike was raked out by using an insert that allowed the bearings to be at a different angle. The top insert was turned, which may have caused the bearings to tighten and fail, or may have been caused by the bearing failing. Whatever. They were in good hands, having locals along in a truck to make the ride easier. The box of spare parts was bigger than my bike.
From Mai Sot I went down to Um Phang, to see some waterfalls. In Mai Sot a guy at a restaurant said that you get rides to the waterfalls, or drive out there. I went there, but got there in the afternoon. The ride down was great, but a bit rough. When I got there, while trying to find the recomended hotel, I asked a few tour companies about trips to the falls. They had none going at that hour. Most of the tour companies were closed. At the hotel, I inquired about a ride out there. They said the road was closed to motorcycles. True or not, I don’t know. The only way to go there was to hire a car. The amount was the same no matter how many people went. it was something like $45 US. To see water falls? I don’t think so. But, that is why I came here. OK, I spent the money. I thought I was getting ripped off, but what the hell. It turns out that the price was pretty decent. The ride was on a VERY rough road. It took over an hour and a half to get there. A street bike could do the ride, (If they let you) but I would not recomend it. Especially if it was wet, then I don’t think it would be possible. The falls were pretty damned nice, but not nice enough for me to make a special trip down here, and to spend that much money. Oh Well, it’s only money. But my hiring a car Solo was a good thing. We came across a Thai family that was going to the falls in a truck they hired. Their truck broke down. The truck I was in was nice, fairly new and had air conditioning and a back seat, plus two rows of seats in the back. We all fit fine. I gave up my seat to the ladies. It was a man, his wife, his two daughters, and a few other ladies that I never did figure out who they were. They were very sad for me travelling alone. I think one of the women was discussing whether I would make a good husband. They helped me out at the falls, showing me paths that I did not know were there so I could look at the falls. All in all, I would not do the entire trip to this town just to do the falls, the roads were too rough. There are lots of other treks one can go on here, and if one was to plan a multi-day trip, including rafting, hiking and the falls, then it would be worth the hike. I am glad I forked over the money for the truck, as since I was in town, it was sort of worth it.
The next day I rode to Mai Chaem via Tak an some big dam. The roads from Mai Sat to Tak were very fast, nice and curvy with decent scenery. I did not want to do the rough riding north of Mai Sat again.
In Mai Chaem I tried the recomended guest house, but it was full of Harley Riders, as there is a “bike Week” in Chiang Mai this week. They have lots of bike weeks, but this one is more for big bikes and a lot of people come from all over the world. I lucked into one of the better deals I have found. About $9 for a very quiet place, very clean (most are) with a great restaurant. In the restaurant there was some Thai Guy that ordered enough food for a family of ten along with American whiskey (very expensive). He thought it was funny that I only ordered one meal. He also thought it was funny that I was reading a Booth. He said it was funny that all Farang read booths.
Today, my last day with the bike, I rode some great roads (OK, most roads here are great) and some crappy city stuff. Rode up to the highest point in Thailand, and met a Loas couple from Las Vegas, then went to a temple overlooking the city of Chiang Mai. Funny to watch all the white backpackers with their girfriends on the back of scooters, trying not to crash. The road up was awesome, with two lanes on the uphill side. That makes three lanes for the locals (and me) to use. The backpackers were looking pretty pale by the time they got to the top.
Tomorow I go to Khao Lak, in southern thailand to dive. Hopefully the weather improves, as I have been told that it is rainy down there.
I will, of course, give excessive details later, but basically I find northern Thailand to be mostly wonderful, easy to get around in, the people are nice to you, and the roads are mostly outstanding. Frankly, it was so easy, I found it about as easy as traveling in the US. A lot cheaper mostly, but easy.
I will try to get some pics up, if I can get my card reader to work.
Bob L
OK, I don’t know what day it is. I think it is Monday. I am in Mae Hon Song in the western part of Northern part of Thailand. Great roads, great scenery, hard to make good time. This bike is great, but needs a MUCH firmer seat. Kawasaki could learn something from the bed manufactureres. I have slept on concrete that had more cushioning.
This is some awesome riding. Did I mention that already?
Here’s some bits I put together over the previous days when I could get a few minutes on a computer…… Damn. I just killed a mosquito. I am sure it was loaded with Malaria or Dengeue fever or japanese encephalitis. Something. Oh, wait, it is night time. I think it is the malaria skeeter that I have to worry about at this hour.
MEDICAL
I got booster shots for Typhoid and rabies. Rabies just because, well, I got the original series of shots way back when due to a planned excursion that never happened and can’t see any reason not to keep it updated. Typhoid because it is highly recommended by my travel doctor.
My doc gave me Cipro, a heavy duty anti-biotic. Three LARGE pills amounts to three doses. Each dose will cure one case of ameobic disyntery. I have never needed anything like this before, and doubt I ever will, but it is good insurance.
Malaria. Taking malaria prophylactics is a huge controversy in the travelling world. There are a number of choices of drugs, some with severe side effects and some without. The travel doctors will recommend one or another depending on where one will be travelling, as some are no longer effective in some areas. Some of these meds can be VERY expensive. On a long trip, these can become cost prohibitive. In most cases, simple precautions to avoid mosquito bites is enough. There are enough other diseases that can be aquired from mosquitos and ticks that it is always a good idea to avoid getting bitten. Of course, if it bites, it will find me, even if no one else gets so much as a bug buzzing around thier head. Most of the diseases cannot be prevented with meds, and many are not even curable. You get them, and hope they go away without killing you. So, did I take Malaria meds with me? My doc said that with where I was thinking about going and what I might be doing, that I really should. If I was on a longer trip, then I might not have. On a short trip such as this, for me, the small risk of getting malaria are outweighed by the severity of the sickness and the ruining of the trip. Since the pills were not going to cost me anything, and the drug was one of the ones with no real side effects, I chose to go with it. Minimal negatives, minor positives.
In the past I have had shots/drugs for Hepatitis A, and a few other things. For the area I was going to, japanese encephalitis is recommended, but it takes a month or so to become effective so I did not get it. Cholera is not an issue, and most other diseases are not big in this area. Frankly, most people coming to this area do not bother getting any shots or meds. Nothing wrong with being cautious I suppose.
PROSTITUTION
Prostitution, if I read correctly, is legal here. There are many Thai Massage parlors, but that is for a fairly public massage, not porn. A deep tissue and manimulation massage, along with the ever popular foot massage. I don’t know if it is better than a chiropractor, but it is probably more pleasant. Considering the beds here, probably a good idea to get a massage every couple of days. As for the Sex, well, that is not as obvious. There are bar girls if you go to the right bars, but I don’t. There are ladyboys, if that is your taste (these are boys that dress and act as girls) that is certainly NOT my taste. From what I am told, whatever your tastes, you can satisfy them, but minors are off limits. HIV is rampant here. Might as well drive your bike into the front of a truck. I have seen a lot more obvious sex for sale in the US, where prostitution is very much illegal. I suppose if you want it, it would be easy to find. Frankly, I think anything is easy to find if you have enough money anywhere in the world. Especially AIDS.
LANGUAGE
I have a lot of trouble with the language. I just don’t have the ear for it. It does sound nice though, it has a nice melody. As with many languages, gender is a factor in speach, but in Thai, it is the gender of the speaker that changes how things are said. A man will end a sentance differently than a woman would. I don’t know about LadyBoys.
MOPEDS/SCOOTERS
Mopeds and scooters have got to be the perfect vehicle. People ride these things FAST down these mountain roads. They pack them full of products going to or from the market. Trailers and side cars are attached in a variety of ways. There are repair people EVERYWHERE. In tiny remote villages there will be a shop with a row of newish machines, and another shop with rims hanging up, and another doing welding on them. Animals, family, pets, baskets, almost anything will be strapped on. They are small and can be fit anywhere (what rule was that?). Everyone has one. If you see a rice field filled with workers, you will see bunch of mopeds parked there. Grampa on the back, driven by the grandaughter, who is holding the great grand kid, and the family dog is in the basket up front. In the city, they are amazing. Watching a bazillion of them, pilots talking on cell phones, everyone going in different directions, never a crash. So far, I saw the one crash aftermath with the death, and another where a truck inexplicably rear ended a car on a mountain road (minimal damage) and that is it. Why there is not continous carnage on the roads I cannot explain.
Additional Driving rule: NEVER try to keep up with the 15 year old that just passed you on his scooter. These are his roads, and he is not affraid to dive. If yu think being passed by this kid is embarassing, imagine the embarassment if you crashed trying to keep up…..
RIP-OFFS
Twice I have recieved drastically incorrect change for purchases. Once, I got 356 Baht of gas, gave the guy 500 baht, and got 356 baht back. I did not realize it until later when I counted my change again. Usually, when I buy something I know that I should get, say 140 and change back. I knew something was wrong, but since I had enough, I forgot about it. The second instance happened today. I went to buy water. I only had a 100 B bill and thought the girl had said 10 B for the water. That is rather high, as it should have been 7, but this is a border town after all. (30 baht is $1) She came back and gave me 70 B change. She thought I wanted to buy the whole package of liter bottles. Once I got through to her that I only wanted one, she gave me 30 baht back and a bottle. Now, my public education may hamper my math skills, but I think she just gave me a free bottle of water. I finally was told that a bottle is 5 B. So I gave it to her and she looked very confused. I think she thought I tipped her. Now, I suppose I could blame this on the fact this is a somewhat underdeveloped country and that thier education system may not be up to par, but I have had similar things happen in the US. Actually, it happens quite often when using cash in the US.
I am currently in Chiang Khong near the border with Laos, right on the river.
Spent 500 Bhat for a hotel, about $16. This is twice what I have been paying, and I know that I am paying too much because at the end of the day I just don’t have the energy to quibble over a couple of dollars. It is a nice room though, with A/C and should be very quiet.
DEAD GUYS
I mentioned I saw a couple of dead men the other day. The first one was about 15 miles into my ride. If I read the arm waiving or of the truck driver correctly, the bike passed someone just as the truck was moving away from some side of the road workers. The bike hit the truck FAST in the right corner. (Remember, they drive on the left here). The bike went under the truck’s wheels, the biker smashed into the truck and hit the road hard. He was wearing a helmet which is unusual around here, but it was one of the really cheap ones that are often seen. It split into many pieces. The helmet helped keep the head intact, but that was about it. He was resting peacefuly when I went by, but there was no doubt that he was gone already. You can see the pic of his bike in my slideshow.
The second dead guy was on the same trip, a couple of hours later. I was walking to see some falls. They were really not worth the walk unless you planned to swim, as many people were. I saw the EMT’s running down the path, and later saw them carrying the guy away. He was a young white man, maybe late 20′s, but he was obviously dead as well. I spoke with a couple that had talked to witnesses. We could not determine what caused him to drown, but none of the locals knew what to do, no one had CPR training. His girlfriend was there with him on the way out, but I don’t know if she was there when he died. Another tourist had come upon the scene and went in and pulled him out. Like I said, no one there knew what to do.
ELEPHANTS
The elephants were happened upon by accident. I passed a small bed and breakfast that looked like it might have great coffee. It was closed, but I saw an elephant out in the field. I rode down the driveway and saw a bunch of them. I spoke with a man that was running it, or at least a part of it, I could not understand everything he said. He told me that his king wants there to be more wild elephants in Thailand. Their flag used to have an elephant on it, and they would like to bring them back. I think he said there were 1,500 wild ones now, and he thinks it should be more than double that. This place raises them. You can see one that is pregnant here:
http://whereisbobl.com/pics/index.php?album=2010-11-thailand-all&image=img_0104.jpg
She is due in about a month and is HUGE. I saw the baby move from back where I was standing. If you look closely, you can see what is probably the biggest natural breasts in Thailand. 8^)
If you want to ride an elephant to some falls that are near by, you have to clean the animal so that you don’t agravate their skin. If there is anything between the blanket you are riding on and the animal, it causes problems. They do not put any seats on them, only a blanket.
THEIR KING
While at the elephant farm, the guy told me that His King was so smart. They always refer to him that way as in “My King is so smart” and never refer to him as… Him. Well, his king was so smart because he figured out that if you put Poo from teh animals (including elephants) on the fields it would help the plants grow. Poo was the guys word, I don’t know what his king called it. I think Poo was the only nice word to describe it that he knew. Crap would not have worked as Krhap or something like it is a word that is used at the end of many sentances. If their king says let there be elephants, the people make elephants. Their king says Poo, there is poo. There is something to be said for a beloved monarchy who has good ideas. Sure makes it easy to get the populace to do the right thing.
LIGHTS
The colored lights that you saw is part of a weeklong celebration. The ones in the sky are small hot air balloons that you buy from a vendor, light the wax and cardboard fire puck, and release when it gets hot enough. If you are adventurous, you can attach fireworks. These things are released all over the country. They go up (usually), then cool and float to earth. I don’t know why the country doesn’t just burn up. I saw some burning in trees (one pic at least). My pics were done at the moat. If I walked down to the river I would have seen thousands. I saw some pics from another traveller. He said, and his pics confirmed, that they let them go in waves. The first wave especially they try to let go at once. The whole sky is lit up with a blanket of these. As it was, the pics don’t do them justice. There were times when the entire sky was littered with these things, both burning and ones that were falling from the sky.
They also do a similar thing with candles in the river. I have both read and been told contradictory reasons for why they do this. Good luck, to honor the dead, to honor the river and the sky…… Whatever the reason, it sure was fun to watch. The people sure do enjoy it.
ROADS
These are some of the best motorcycle roads I have ever been on. There was one section today that I was told had 1,100 curves in it. I believe it. It is like just one big curvy road. These roads in the mountains are VERY narrow though. Fortunately there is very little traffic, and most of that is mopeds and motor scooters. The trucks that are occasionally on the road are small as well. Most of the time my bike is by FAR the fastest thing on the road. Helps with passing when needed, but speeds are kept down for safety. There are occasional surprises, such as sand and snakes. Speaking of snakes, I don’t know if the snake I saw was a cobra or not. It was long and dark brown, and resembled a cobra, or a thousand other snakes. It took up one whole lane and part of another. Not very big in diameter though. I would have gotten a picture, but it was a blind corner and no safe place to pull off or even to stand.
I would have to say that these are some of the best drivers I have ever seen for such a rule-less style of driving. Well, OK, that rule-less, just fewer rules than I am used to.
Rule #1 – Might makes Right – The biggest vehicle has the right of way. ALWAYS.
Rule # 2 – If it fits, you can put it there - Sure makes getting around in the city during rush hour easy on a bike. In many places bikes are not even expected to stop at lights. We get to use the bike lane. The one cop I have seen on this trip so far yelled at me (well, as close as a Thai can get to yelling) for stopping at a red light. I guess I was not supposed to. No one else was.
Rule #3 – Vehicles drive on the left. Most of the time – And when they don’t, see rule #1
Rule #4 – Vehicles pass in blind corners. It’s a matter of pride. – If this seems dangerous, re-read Rule # 1.
Rule #5 – No one really WANTS to damage their vehicle. – Which means that even if you do something really stupid, people will almost always avoid you. But, for when they don’t, see rule #1.
Rule # 6 – Bikes filter to the Front of the Que, it’s just the natural order of things. - That’s front of the line for you Americans.
All in all, I really like the way they drive. They (and I) do things that in the US would guaruntee a crash and lawsuit. Since everyone drives this way, no one is surprised. If you decide to drive the wrong way on a one way street because you missed your stop, No Problem. People make way. You need to pull into traffic? Just go. As long as you stay to the left, they will avoid you. (just remember #1)
There are NO cops. I did find a military guy today. I came to a fork in the road. I should have just taken it. Instead, while I was looking at my map, a guy comes up to me (it was an inactive checkpoint) and asks if he can help. No english of course. Fewer people speak it out here in the more isolated regions. I show him the map, it has route numbers on it, and town names, just not the ones on the signs. This is a fork remember. I pointed to the route number I wanted. He pointed in three directions, and waved his arm in circles….. Then went into a detailed disertation of his recomended route. It was like asking a Texan for directions. Even though he doesn’t know the place you are looking for, and even though you don’t understand a word of the Texan drawl, you get detailed directions. Anyway, I went in the direction he last pointed. It was the wrong way. I had remembered that I was finally back on my more detailed map, which had more town names on it so I was able to figure it out for myself.
Whatever day number it is. Anyway, yesterday I went from Chiang Mai along some amazing motorcycle roads to Nan in teh eastern part of northern Thailand. More or less due east of Chang Mai. I definitely chose the right bike for the job, what a hoot.
Today (Thursday) I rode north and did a loop on even better roads. Stopped a few places and all. Saw a cobra crossing the road. Decided not to stop and chat. Stopped in Pua. Torow I head up Chiangkhong, followed by Mai Sai the next day. At least that iis the plan of the moment.
Put some pics up at :
http://whereisbobl.com/pics/index.php?album=2010-11-thailand-all
I arrived at Chiang Mai, Thailand on Sunday 11/21 more or less on time in the early morning. Over 30 hours of travel. Slept in the airport in Bangkok prior to departure from there. It’s pretty warm here, but not unbearable.
Made it for a festival. Lots of fireworks and glowing balloons, to be shown later.
Sunday and Monday I wandered around trying to find the right bike. The right bike for me for the trip planned would be something a little bigger than the common mopeds and scooters that you see everywhere here. A 250 CC dirt or road bike would have been just right. But then, if anything is worth doing, it’s worth overdoing. As I will explain later when I have tons of time to type, I chose a Kawasaki 600 CC EN-6R or something like that. It is made here in Thailand. It is not quite a full on sport bike, but plenty close, with ABS and a luggage rack. Suits me just fine.
I spent most of Monday looking at lots and wats of wats… er, lots and lots of lots…… no uh, a crapload of Wats, which are religious temples. Also wandered all over the local historic area, met a couple of American Thai style boxers who were also bikers, got slightly drunk and just plain wore myself out.
Today (Tuesday) I picked up the bike from Mr Mechanic (who is a woman….Same Same), rode some awesome roads, met some elephants and saw two dead guys. #1 dead guy was a local on a small motorcycle that had a bad meeting with a truck, # 2 dead guy was a tourist that decided to drown at a water fall near here.
Bad Ju Ju. Maybe I will go out and get a Thai Foot massage to get rid of the bad demons. Oh, wait, that would never work, I am ticklish as hell.
Tomorrow I will head out on what is called the Nan Loop, which will bring me out towards the Laos border and the Golden Triangle, which used to be Opium central (lotsa $, hence the Golden but is currently more of a tourist $ gold mine). That trip is normally a 5 day trip, but I travel faster than the average tourist, but I also plan on taking side trips. There is a two day loop from Chiang Mai that I may incorporate into the trip. My current plan is to be in Phuket (Pronounced Puget, as in GET some POO for fertilizing the garden, you have a dirty mind) by around the 5th of dec and go out on a dive boat for 4 days.
Anyone want more info of this area for motorcycling, they can go to GT-Rider.com
I am planning on getting unedited pics up on http://whereisbobl.com/pics/index.php?album=2010-11-thailand-all Soon.
This post was written right after I arrived, but I could not get it published due to ‘puter issues.
Well, I got here no problems. I left my house at 2:30 AM on Friday, leaving Boston at 7:30 AM, stopping to change planes in Newark (yuck) and then to Tokyo and on to Bangkok Thailand at 11:45 PM on Saturday. I slept a few hours there, then continued on to Chiang Mai in the northern part of Thailand by 8:00 AM on Sunday. I finally got to my hotel at 10:00 am. 10am Sunday in Thailand is 10pm Saturday at home. So, from the time I left home to the time I got to my new temporary home it was 43 hours point to point. BrutaL.
Test of e-mail blogging.
I finally started planning my next vacation. In a few weeks I will be going to Thailand for three weeks. I will be renting a bike for two of those weeks, and probably scuba diving the last week. I may keep in touch some while away, but will provide a good writeup when I get back.
Bob L.
I have a counter on my blog site that counts the number of visits my blog. I don’t get many visits. Here is a typical week, most of these visits are probably me checking or updating my site.
Typical week 
Back in September I wrote a post about Reno John, who was participating in the Ten in Ten long distance motorcycle rally. I wrote this post to the Ironbutt Forum. This shows the year up to October.
Year to Date
September, by week.
Day by Day of the week I wrote the post.
This shows how just one post can really increase traffic, if advertised on the right site.
As you may know, I have been fielding motorcycle related questions for a travel web site called Vagabondjourney.com
Here is a link to the page listing my latest responses. http://www.vagabondjourney.com/travelogue/motorcycle-travel-on-vagabond-journey/
and the latest post on how to fight fatigue. It is a LONG post, but I think I just touched on a few of the things relative to making the ride more comfortable.
Wander around his site, and read his blog. An interesting perspective on travel, a LOT different from that which a lot of us LD riders tend to do. Read his BLOG here: http://www.vagabondjourney.com/travelogue/
Bob L
I made a few modifications to my ST 1300. Here are links to:
Throttle Lock and Switch Guards
Hydration System in my tank bag
These are not exactly intended to be good entertainment, more a reference for me for the future.
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