June 2009
58 posts
Khao Sok National Park, headed east
Hello all. Quick update, we’re pushing off from Khao Sok in just a bit and generally headed for Muang Surat Thani, the trip will probably be broken up into two days and we’ll find a nice midway point to break tonight.
Once in Surat Thani, we’ll take an overnight boat to the island of Ko Tao and hopefully spend a few days there doing a scuba certification.
Keep checking back for...
“good for heart, good for world”
– awesome local Thai dude talking about bicycling at a coffee cart
Day 8: Day of Rest, around Khao Lak
[Tommy] Well It happened. I finally done got hella sick. We cancled our plans to roll out this morning and paid for another night at the guesthouse cause I woke up this morning with some debilitating cramping squirts. Yeah, I eat all the street cart food, and drink the local water and don’t bitch when I get ice cubes in my water, cause you know that’s how I roll. And now,...
Day 7: Phuket Airport stealth camp to Khao Lak (73...
[ Sally typing ]
During the night the waves actually lapped up under our tent a bit but we slept right through it and didn’t notice. We woke to a gorgeous sunrise and as soon as vagrant garbage collectors started appearing on the beach, we decided it was time to break camp. I was all groucy and sleepy because, as romantic as stealth beach camping sounds, it was hot and I didn’t sleep...
Day 6: Patong Beach to stealth camp under Phuket...
[ Sally typing ]
We inadvertantly wound up staying in Patong Beach rather than making further progress North. Last night, the sun set quickly and we found ourselves trolling the strip looking for a place to stay.
The strip in Patong is a bit overwhelming at night, all neon and announcements blasting in Thai. Roving pickup trucks with tall stages hoisted up on their beds trumpet Muy Thai boxing...
Day 5: Kata Beach to Patong Beach (13km / 8 mi)
[Tommy (Chatty Sally finally quit hogging the mic, and it’s my turn to post)]
We had a short mellow day today. After a morning of wrenching on the bikes to get the last of the bugs out, and install my cyclometer, we set out late again for the short jaunt from Kata to Patong. The two beaches were only separated by about 12-13 Km, but with another burley-steep climb which we tackled in the...
Day 4: Phuket Town to Kata Beach (20 mi / 30 km)
[ This is Sally. It’s Tuesday. We’re still here on Phuket island, catching up on blog posts. We’ve ducked into a little internet shop to dodge a wicked looking rainstorm that just crept up on us. ]
Day 4 was our first true launch into the bike tour. We bid farewell to Mr Tee and the nice people at the Thalang Guest house (highly recommended!), stopped by for some cart food and...
Day 3: Phuket Town to Kata Beach and back (20 mi /...
[ Sally typing ]
Hello friendly followers, thanks for visiting our blog again. Today, we started with some hilarious antics. We had to figure out how to mail our ginormous backpacking packs AND extra huge bike boxes to…ourselves…in the FUTURE! Another time, another place. Three weeks out in Bangkok for one package, and 5 weeks out in Chiang Mai for the second. What happened next was a...
Day 2: Bangkok to Phuket
[ Sally typing ]
We’re here in Phuket now, a small island off the west coast of Thailand in the Andaman Sea.
The day started nicely. We woke up early after our first full nights sleep in probably 4 days. We headed down to the hotel restaraunt for breakfast. The food in Thailand is amazing. Even simple, every day snacks are complex, flavorful concoctions and I can’t help but make...
Day 1: SF to Taipei to Bangkok
[ Sally typing ]
Holy cow, we’ve been up for days, prepping, packing, flying, then hooding all over Bangkok. The flights were pretty easy. We were able to store our bikes at the airport until tomorrow when we fly to Phuket for the cycling portion of this adventure. Out on foot today, we checked out some outdoor markets near Siam Square. An affable young guy named Ed approached us and...
