Day one

I Sent my bike from Sydney to Kuala Lumpar by air on Monday 11/09/07 , It even managed to get there without taking their twin towers out.

17/9/7
I went to the cargo terminal at KL airport, Took my bike out of the box and put it together. It was like Christmas, in a warehouse full of forklifts and the like. The whole process took no more than 2 hours. I was finally free, that is, to get lost.

Well that’s all part of the adventure isn’t it, after all I cant ask for directions I’m a man. So off I went round in circles for what I think was 127km, I finally found the right road but I was heading south instead of north. A quick Ueeeee later and I was all set, Pinang here I come.
For some reason I’d pictured Pinang to be like Phuket or some other holiday resort, well was I wrong, it would seem that the english got there some time before me an we all know what a wonderful legacy they left behind, (as well as the damp and the flu ).
So I got myself a hotel an put my ass on ice, all an all a long day.

18/9/7
Today I was going to do things right, get up early and have an easy day’s riding. Off I Went over Pinang bridge an back to Malaysia heading north on the right road. Everything went plain sailing at the border, my bike seems to be a tourist attraction in these here parts, they were more interested in the bike than my passport or carnet, I was even given a drink off an angry looking guy in Malaysian customs.

 Well riding in Thailand varies slightly from Malaysia, there all crazy as. Driving down hill towards a narrow bridge with a truck coming against me was all right until another truck decides to overtake his comrade . He flashed his lights at me , I flashed back at him, He kept coming, I took a deep breath, closed my eyes and somehow missed the both of them and the railing on my left, Lesson learned, always stick your head in the sand.

Wisdom will keep you from getting into situations where you need it.

I reached Krabi around 8:30 in the dark of night, found a five star resort for half price and soaked my ass in the pool for a bit before hitting the Bars.

19/9/7
I got up early and stepped outside, What a sight awaited me, lime stone cliffs completely surrounding the hotel, a most beautiful sight I must say.
Breakfast over it was time for a massage, before hitting the road again for Phuket, A short journey of about

250 km and I am in a hotel on Patong beach, need I say more ,who hasn’t been here.

20/9/7

Hungover,lying by the pool all day, after a night out with the lads

21/9/7

?????? your guess is as good as mine

day after....ish

well I've forgotten what day or date it is already, i wasn't long getting into holiday mode, I think its Saturday and I'm in a place called Raynong or something like that on the river between Thailand and Burma. It seems that I can't get into Burma from here with the bike so I'll try again further north. I'm staying in this little guest house with 4 Thai sisters sheltering from a storm from hell. When it rains here it rains. It seems that I'm the only guest they've had in a while, not to many people stray this way, It's all good they got beer and food.

23/9/7

Well rested and well feed it was time to get out of this mountainous cloud infested region of Thailand. I bid farewell to my hosts, put on my rain gear an got back to the job at hand, getting to a beach. These were defiantly the worst roads I'd come across yet and to make it easier it pissed rain for the first 2 hours. The road wound It's way through the mountains and I wound my way around the many truck sized pot holes it contained. I actually saw a 4wd inside one of these sink holes with two perfectly round head holes in the windscreen, the one time occupants no where to be seen.

The weather finally cleared as I got out of the mountains and down to the coast. In true Thai style everyone had a lot of time to make up so I cruised along with the traffic at an average of 130km even through towns with police checkpoints, is seems they just couldn't be bothered with the paperwork involved in trying to fine a foreigner all of about 12$. I got myself a hotel on the beach in a place called Cha-Am, a Thai resort, not much Farang here but me.

I hit the road the next morning for a short trip of about 300 km to a place called Kanchanaburi, I was passed on the road by about 40 dogey looking Thai bikers so I dutifully took up my place at the back and tried to keep up, they were averaging speeds of about 160kpm so the whole ride went quick
On reaching kanchanaburi I got a little hut floating above the river Kwai and checked out the area. It’s a pretty interesting place, during ww II the Japs forced POW’s along with Thai Burmese and Indians to construct this rail line through the mountainous jungle and to build the Famous bridge.
160,000 men died during construction in horrendous conditions.

The next day I went to Euwan waterfalls, one of the nicest places I’ve been in a while, except for the climbing that is. Nobody told me I would have to climb a mountain to get there in about 40 deg heat, so I sat in the falls for most of the day just to keep cool.

The next day I ventured to Bangkok, a trip of about 170km, Riding in these here parts is pretty crazy to say the least, Traffic starts to build up about 40 km out and then the fun begins. In a city of 9 million people I found where I wanted to go without even getting a map, I think I’ve been here to many times. I meet up with a French biker doing a similar trip to myself also on a BMW an we got on the beer around 7ish and that was that.
I spent most of the next day sorting out Visas for Iran, it was like a days work I can tell ya but I got it all sorted out in the end.

The next day started off quite well, that is until I woke up to banging on my hotel door, My bike was screaming , screaming everyone awake, I was informed by the bell dude. Something set my alarm off and it seems that I was the only one to sleep through it. I stumbled through the lobby and turned it off to the delight of the neighborhood. Now awake and alone at 6am there’s only one thing a man can do in Bangkok , breakfast time it was.
Later on it was time to go for a joy ride around Bangkok to try and find the Iranian embassy, I’m really enjoying driving around the city, road rules, there’s none, its mayhem but I fit right in to the chaos of it all, somehow it works. A pointless half hour wait at the embassy later and I was out with my Iranian visa in hand. I hope there country doesn’t smell like the embassy, too much praying and not enough washing will not please any God.

Well off we went, that is Chris and I. Chris is a guy I’ve met going the same direction as me and we’ve decided to ride together. He’s also on a BMW and fits right into the traffic chaos here. He is a French type that speaks with an outrageous accent and says ahh hauw hauw a lot. We headed out of the city east when we should have been going north but eventually found the right road as it started to pour from the heavens. Finally 2 hours later we called it a day and stopped in Ayuthaya, the former capital of Thailand .

29/9/7
8am and we were off to see the ruins of the former capital, not as impressive as blarney castle do not bad all the same. We then moved on to some place with elephants, (it was like Duffys.) before twisting the grip and getting about another 50 km. There were these guys in dragon boats, at least 30 per boat rowing like there life depended on it racing up some river, worth a half hour or so. I also drank a a pepsi through a straw out of a small shopping bag full of ice. Coke’s in trouble here I can tell ya.

Back on the road for about another 450km more when all of a sudden a cop run’s out In front of me pulling a barrier behind him so as I Had to stop. Why I thought to my self, I’m only doing about 160km in a ? speed zone ( I don’t even know the speed limit in this country ) whilst standing on the back pegs and weaving in and out of lanes for some exercise. Well over he came looking a bit bothered, he was babbling on in Thai for some time whilst I was trying to remove my gloves so I could remove my sun glasses so I could remove my helmet and take the ear phones from my ears. He then had to repeat himself when he realized I couldn’t hear him the first time, he wanted to know why I didn’t stop when I heard the woo woo from the cop chasing me. I politely informed him that the woo woo was drowned out by the sounds of Jefferson Airplanes white rabbit . This completely baffled him and realizing it would be easier to let me off he told me to come in and shelter from the approaching storm with them. I informed him that if he let me go I could out run the storm as my bike is quite fast enough, he laughed and sent me on my way.

About an other 200km up the road we came across the worlds first elephant hospital, they nurture sick and injured elephants back to health, There was a lot of land mine casualties from Burma there, missing parts of there legs, so we played around with a baby one for a while, poor little stumpy had lost a piece of his foot and couldn’t stay up unless he lent on the fence for support. On to Chang Mai it was to get a hotel a swim and

some beers in before calling it a day. 11 hours on the road, a good day’s riding.

stumpy lost a foot from a land mine
30/9/7
Not very well rested and a little hung over it was time to make a move, Chris and I were splitting up for a day or two , both heading the same direction but taking different routes, the direction was a little hippy town in the mountains called Pai. These were some of the most amazing roads I have ever ridden. They twist and turn every 20 meters along over and through the mountainside for 110 km. I had to stop after a while to let my brakes cool down as they were beginning to fail. It was a tiring trip but worth it, every bit. Pai is this little village set in mountainous rice fields, it’s like somewhere hobbits should live, but we all no there’s no such thing as hobbits leprechauns or Eskimos. As I approached town a local guy names Siam, who has done a lot of climbing and cycling around the world greeted me and showed me about.
It’s a little village full of techno heads searching for there lost souls and wishing they were born in the 60s when every thing was the way it should be bla bla bla. Nice scenery do! An early start again the next morning and I was heading for Chang Rai. Along the way I met up with Chris and we raced for a while on these crazy roads. We stopped somewhere on the side of the road for lunch and managed to have a meal and drinks for 35 batt each about 1$ us. Later that day we were sick. We arrived in Chang Rai after dark had some healthy grub and called it a day.

1/10/7
We had a lay this morning then got some breakfast and petrol and hit the road Heading for Laos via the golden Triangle. Today it was 35deg, not very comfortable in riding gear. We reached the golden triangle after about 150km and stopped for a while. This is the point where Thailand Burma and Laos meet, it was and most likely still is a big opium smuggling spot. We headed along the Mekong river until we reached the border crossing. An hour and a half of where’s this ,where’s that ,what’s this, what’s that, I’ve never even scene one of those and we were out of Thailand heading for Indo China , well we were on a ferry that we had to hire to get the bikes across the Mekong , I think all the crew were drunk but they made it all the same.

click HERE to continue to Laos

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