Chiang Dao Caves

Chiang Dao Caves

Met three Americans doing a scooter tour at the guesthouse last night and headed to the caves with them this morning prior to them heading on their way.  The cave was interesting as the upper level was very hot and made me nervous as all these propane torches were used to show us through.  But it was fun to be able to actually have to crawl through spaces.

I decided to stay another night but needed to head into town to the ATM.  On my way back I saw two cycle tourists without their panniers.  Turns out they were Canadians (Damon and Judy) who were both riding Surly Trolls!  That was the bike I was contemplating getting prior to realizing I should stick with something that is know to work.

They say they love theirs so it might have to be added to the flock at some point.

Anyway, they were looking for a Japanese Hippy festival they had been told about so I went along and we discussed their previous tours (including India) and bikes.  Sadly the music for the festival was only at night and as it's best not to cycle in the dark we wandered around talked to some people (one guy who has a Long Haul Trucker) and stopped at the hot springs for a look.

It turned out they were staying at the place next to mine so when we got back they should me a route into Chiang Mai and I described what they would be coming up against.

Then I went back to my place and met a French couple who had sailed from France to the Philippines.   Really good day.

Tha ton to Chiang Dao cave

17 February 2012 - Tha ton to Chiang Dao Cave - 105 km?

So after yesterday's little rant about how people suck.  I woke up with "How I live (without you)" stuck in my head.  NOTE TO SELF: Really? REALLY?

Anyway,  started the first part of the day not sure if it was foggy or smoky.  That would be the second, guess they burn off land in Thailand as well as Laos.  I was still in a icky mood from yesterdays thinking about stupid people and having this annoying song stuck in my head was not improving it either....not even Yellow Submarine would budge it from my head.  So I pedaled towards the destination of the day.  As it appeared I would make it there prior to 11:00 I needed to stop and have a coffee.  I have a rule that I can't stop prior to 11:00, well unless I'd planned on it so this would allow me to get into town perfectly at said hour.

Of course sometimes when you're a lemon life throws you some sugar to make lemonade.  As I was waiting for my coffee the guy next to me and I started chatting.  He was Taiwanese and owned a orange grove.  He left and then I heard a horn honk.  It was him in his vehicle, I went over and he asked if I wanted to see his grove and he would cook some Japanese food for lunch.  How could I refuse?

Now there is always about 5 minutes after saying yes to these types of things where you wonder if it was a bad idea.  Especially when you get to his land and he locks the gate behind you (this is very common but unnerving with a stranger).  When we were going into his house I was pretty sure I was okay as I put on paw shaped crocs.

Cat paw crocs

He had 5 cats!  I immediately thought of some of my friends.

Anyway,  he showed me around part of his property and let me feed the baby geese.  Then we went back where I learned he was a textile engineer for 40 years prior to moving to Thailand to own the orange grove.  After some relaxing he started to cook an amazing meal of tempura vegtables, sushi, and miso soup.  It was lovely and I think we were both in need of company.  Of course as time went on I learned he was in his 70's!  Another wily 70 year old to make me feel better (when I broke my arm Baz who took me in is also in his 70's).  It makes me feel that my 70's will be equally interesting and filled with 20 something guys.

Chang with his beautiful meal

Chang and I before he drops me off

After hanging out for a few hours it was time for me to get back on the bike.  The best part was the last song that was playing was "How will I live (without you)"...hahaha I just got it out of my head.  Though from now on I will think of it as an amazing meal with great company!  When I was dropped off back on the highway he even purchased me a snack of roasted chicken!! Super sweet and just what I needed mentally.  Now I had less than 10 kms to do for the day.  I got into town and was looking for a place to stay but wasn't finding any so I just kept going and before I knew it my 'high on life' self flew through the town which I then decided to continue the 60 km more to Chiang Dao.

The rest of the ride was beautiful as the jagged hills were on the right.  Even the climbing didn't get me down.  I truly did get an energy and morale boost!  A great rest of the ride with not too steep hills and nice decents to break up the climbs.

I knew there was a back way to get into the Chiang Dao Caves so I followed my not good map where I thought it should be.  Well soon I was in the middle of nowhere and started heading back towards where the highway should be.  I got a great view of the sun going behind the hills.  As I continued on I started to get nervous that I was lost but luckily a lady was outside and she pointed me in the right direction.  After a few more direction stops I passed the caves and headed to find a guesthouse.  It was a truly great day and reminded me that most people are awesome and not to get stuck on the negatives. A lesson that seems harder than it should be for me to remember.

The guesthouse in Chiang Dao is really nice so I will be staying at least one more day.  Exploring the caves tomorrow and maybe part of the forest.  Though won't be going to the top as the smoke limits visibility.

Oh and the reason all of the km notes now have question marks is that my computer has become even more erratic.  It used to not work before 8:00 am (no joke it would start working between 8 and 8:10 for the last bit of Vietnam).  It worked for a bunch of today but not the whole thing (I know I did at least 75 km).

Mae Chan to Thaton

16 February 2012 - Mae Chan to Thaton – 65 km

I took 1089 because the cyclists I met in Pakbeng had said it was one of their best rides in Thailand. It would mean I would miss Chiang Rai but it seemed that this was just another city. Things to offer but nothing that I'd really be missing.

The ride today was very beautiful. I'm glad I cut off some kilometers yesterday though the climb itself was much more pleasant than I expected. I know some of the others had went on a hillier route which I could imagine being both more beautiful and a lot more hilly.

As it was the heat got to me more than the hill...as usual. Luckily I did have a fair amount of riding in the shadow of the hills. Went through little villages with hay stacked up everywhere. It was a pleasant ride but if it was one of the best in Thailand I'm glad that I choose just to do the north.

Outside Mae Chan

Two of the buddhas as you get to Tha Ton

Closer up view

The last 20 kms were hard as they were flat, hot and dusty. The scenery was actually the best here but I'm close to my mental endurance and I just wanted the last 15 km to go away. Of course I know some of this has to do with the fact that I need to adjust my left cleat as my foot starts to bug about 45 km in.

After traveling in Laos my mental fortitude is just a lot less. Laos was the first place that I thought it was disgusting that westerners were traveling there and where I just didn't want to be part of it. (That being said I had some of the best experiences in Laos and met some of the best people)

For one thing westerners have an alarming rate of illiteracy! I'm guessing about 90%, they also aren't able to recognize pictographs! Laos is a very conservative country (most in SE Asia I've been to) with people that are extremely poor and quite shy in nature (curious but never imposing). Here almost all westerners ignore the signs that state to cover yourself! I will say that I was bad with wearing my sleeveless below the knee dress...but laundry takes 2 days and it's all I had (plus is my swimming outfit).

So after dealing with items like this plus some personal items my brain is spent. It doesn't want to test it's limits. It just wants to get somewhere, relax, look for jobs, and get back to some routine. That will have to wait four more days but I've broken it out into short days with some sightseeing mixed in.

Don't feel too bad for me I'm having an amazing time but sometimes I just need to vent some of the negatives.

Huay Xai to Mae Chan - 90 km?

Got up today and headed for my last Laos meal prior to heading to Thailand.  Had a great noodle soup from the same stall I had supper the night before.  Then went to get a coffee prior to heading to get checked out of Laos and take the short boat ride across the river.

Had the guy put Mabel on the boat panniers and all.  I helped lift her and was hoping someone would help on the other side.  Of course I had forgotten I'd be in Thailand where multiple people helped me and amazingly the boarder check was done quite quickly.  With that I headed towards Chiang Sean.  Immediately the changes were evident.  There were signs to the city with distances (I haven't seen signage the whole trip).  The dogs will bark and chase you (only rarely have they on the trip but here it's pretty much all of them).  Not to mention the roads were in good condition.

I had been warned by the cyclists that there were two routes - long and short.  Short was more hilly and long was less.  It just so happened that I had wanted to take long as it followed the river the whole way which just made it better that it wasn't as hilly.  This was a very quite road through rural Thailand with gentle rolling hills most of the way.


I got to Chiang Sean around lunchtime and had to decide if I wanted to stay or continue.  The town looked cute and the ruins of the old wall and old city were quite beautiful but as I had changed the next days itenary to include some major climbing I thought it best to reduce the kms.  So I continued on my way after a beautiful pork red curry with rice.  Yummy!

I followed a road that was under construction hoping that the sign I had followed was indeed now the road I wanted.  About 20 km in it was confirmed as the road.  This was a fairly boring roadway which allowed my mind to wander.  Prior to 3:00 I was in Mae Chan and looking for a guesthouse.  I found one with a very basic room for a good price but no attached bathroom so I decided to try my luck and see if there was anything better.  Glad I did as I came across a villa (w/ mean dog) that had a sitting room, double bed, carport (though Mabel came into the sitting room), free wifi, and attached bathroom.  I pay $10 US which was triple the other room but worth it for all the conveniences!

Along the Mekong on the Thailand side

Mabel chillin

Condiments!

Crispy pork in curry paste

Men or Western Men

Okay for the last month or so I have been inflicted with the most horrible types of men...or should I say western men.

Laos was the first place I met someone who went and propositioned a prostitute while hanging out. I actually had quite liberal views on prostitution but after this I think they have changed radically.  Here is a situation where someone is using their strong currency (AUD) to exploit a local. For the Aussie the amount of money probably is less then he pays at McDonalds, that is just disgusting. Not to mention the fact that there was a largish group hanging out and he left it for that. I now know why there is so much violence against women in the world because in most parts of the world we can be purchased for the same as a Big Mac.  It's interesting to me that right now in the USA republicans are trying to disallow birth control coverage at the same time I'm dealing with these items.  Just proves that there are a lot of dumb guys out there.  (Sorry for all the amazing guys I know but I'm just over it right now)

Also, I dealt with a guy peeing on the floor in the dorm room. And not cleaning it up! Just leaving it for the cleaning staff. Not apologizing to the others in the room!

Who are these people? Why do they have absolutely no respect for other people? I mean I know I have a lot to improve on but in general I try not to blatantly disrespect people.

Luang Prabang to Huay Xai - Slow boat

13 and 14 February 2012 - Pak Beng and Huay Xai

After not much debate I decided to take the two day slow boat from Luang Prabang to Huay Xai at the Laos/Thai border.  I was worried because there were reports of it being very cramped and imagined 2 days on the second boat to Nong Kiaw!  That would be horrible.

This was totally the right call as the boat ride was amazing!  As we were heading the opposite way of most travelers we had the double bus seats so plenty of room.  Not to mention there was actually an aisle we could walk down along with a toilet.  It was an great ride with beautiful scenery.  Totally relaxing and wonderful.

The first day everyone pretty much stuck to themselves and read or listened to music.

When we made it into Pakbeng for the night I saw a couple of cyclists on the hill as I was unloading everything off of the boat (and ensuring I wasn't going to pay anyone an 'unloading' fee).  By the time I got Mabel and the bags up the stairs they were gone but I would find them shortly just checking into a guesthouse.  Six of them, they all met on the boat from Huay Xai.

So I decided to stay there as well and we had dinner and chatted.  It was great to meet so many cyclists and one of them was from Wisconsin so that was kind of funny.  It's nice to hear someone else with the same accent.

The next day there was more talking and I chatted with a Czech couple and a French guy.  Also filled out a job application.  That felt really weird but hey I had 10 hours on the boat as we were traveling against the current.

Mabel is getting a suntan on top

1000 buddha cave (tour we missed but got to see the outside)

locals swimming and playing

Long boat on the Mekong

Dien Bien Phu to Moung Khoua

3 February 2012 – Dien Bien Phu to Muong Mai – 67 km

Started in the dark as I woke up early and thought I might as well get to the ride as I knew there was going to be 25 km of climbing. The first 20 kms were pretty flat but it started to rain shortly into the ride so I stopped and put on my rain cape. Needless to say the rain didn't stay so I had to take the cape back off. This would happen again before I realized it wasn't going to pour and just road the while that it was raining.

The climb was long and of course foggy. Slowly upwards I trudged. Finally I got to the Vietnam border and got stamped out and then started on the way to the Laos border. I believed there was shops halfway there (3 km) so I skipped the cafe at this side. That was a mistake as the shops were closed in between and when I got to the Laos side there cafe was also closed.

Luckily the border was open so I filled out my forms gave them my money and got back on the bike. The first 3 km were terrifying as the fog was thick, there was no guard rail, and the road was slick and greasy. Luckily that didn't last long and coming out of the fog there was a couple of rough km but then got to the section where the class 5 has been put down. After this it was 15 km of downhill, still fairly heavy on the brake but mostly smooth. I was glad it hadn't rained here.

Another 12 km and I found myself in a town which I believe to be Muong Mai. Though at the time I didn't care as I was starving. I hadn't had a proper breakfast because I left so early nothing was open and then the last food stall came sooner then expected. It was great to get to the restaurant and have the owner mime “You want food?” and then just bring out a bunch of food. So much so that I actually didn't finish all of it.

Then trekked up the hill to follow the sign for the guesthouse. It was worth it as the guesthouse is very cute. Later I found 3 more and a hotel but I'm glad I chose mine. I was surprised to see it had a shower (cold), had expected a bowl shower.

Coming into Laos is not as dramatic as Cambodia to Vietnam but it is different. Now back to the basics of finding out how to get myself fed and housed. So far other than the distance between restaurants it's been pretty straight forward.

Wandered through the village and looked at the thatched buildings and dirt roads. It has a very different feel from Vietnam and the hustle. No horns honked, few cars, really delightful.

We'll see what tomorrow brings.

04 February 2012 – Muang Khoua – 40 km

Today started muddy. I had to grip the railing of the suspension bridge to push Mabel and I off the ramp and onto the bridge. Thankfully a guy came and gave me a little push at the end to get me up. Then cycled some rough roads for the next 20 km or so. Once again climbed for the morning while enjoying beautiful views of the valley below.

Then as I got to the downhill section I was delighted to find that the class 5 had been poured and as I went was finishing being compacted. A smooth ride for the next 5 km prior to an even more surprising brand new asphalt! 5 more km of that and on to a gentle downhill with a decent roadway.

Got to ford a stream today. First of the trip. Then shortly after I came upon the river that needed a ferry and as such Muang Khoua. This was a surprise because I thought I had another 15 km to go. As I was looking for a guesthouse I saw some white people and asked them if they knew about the ferry.

Then as I went to the second guesthouse I heard my name. There was John. I had thought he would be long gone by now but turns out he did a few day trek and decided to have a rest day. Sounds like he has been putting in quite the km which makes me very glad that I decided to take my own lumbering way!

Son La to Dien Bien Phu

31 January 2012 – Tong Lenh – 30 km

Technically I was suppose to have a long day today but the hill was at the end of the day and I didn't know how my legs would deal with it so I slept in and stopped at a village. I was suppose to stop at Thuan Chau but accidentally stopped at the little village prior to it.

One of my favorite moments of today was when brothers on a bike stopped at the top of a hill to wave at me and the younger one reached out and touched my hand. He then proceeded to shriek in excitement. I think he said something like this “Oh my I touched the falang!!! You didn't do it brother...I did though!”

The guesthouse was not the nicest but the family that owned it once again made me feel welcome. They also took a turn on Mabel. Coming back with one of the ladies sitting on the rack and the other pedaling. I don't think they figured out that they could change gears. The guesthouse in Thuan Chau looked like it would be nicer than mine but I like stopping in villages that don't get many tourists.

As they were taking Mabel for a spin the rest of the family showed me how they eat the sour/bitter fruit I had tried a couple of days ago. They split it in two and take the pit out prior to wrapping it in cabbage with cilantro and dipping it in a sauce of sugar, garlic, fish sauce and probably some other stuff. It still has the sour at the end but the mixture is really pleasant.

Went and got snacks for dinner including a sweet baguette! Didn't realize how much I had missed bread until I took a bite of the freshly baked goodness. Have been drinking Milo as I can't find chocolate anywhere.

I also figured out why the hats up here are shaped the way they are. They have a wider bottom and then a tall section of hat. As I saw the ladies with helmets 3 inches above their heads it occurred to me that the hats allow for the traditional buns on the top of their heads to be covered as well as their ears. 

 

01 February 2012 – Tuan Giao – 53 km

Today was about fifty fifty of climbing and downhill. The climb was tough partly because there was a small TV antenna a couple of km from the top of the hill which has a large TV antenna (milemarker 364.4). Since I hoped it was the top when I saw the first antenna the last couple of km dragged by.

The downhill was a dream! After 5 km the fog finally cleared and I could see the valley as I descended. For some reason every long decent makes me in awe of myself. I just can't believe that I can cycle up a mountain and get to come down it! I suppose at some point this won't be such a surprise but right now I still feel like it is someone else that cycles as I can't do that.

I've become really good at getting into town just as school is getting out for lunch (or the day?). So I pass by all the children on their way home and wave and say Hello as they go the opposite way on their own bikes.

Getting into town I scouted out the guesthouse situation. I only saw one signed from the main road so I decided to go to that one first and then see if there were others. It turned out that the guesthouse was very cute and had a little cafe attached. The owner must get a lot of cycle tourists as she had the miming job down to a T and even showed me the menu before I went up to my room to say they had food. Yes, a menu which means I will not have to have Pho for dinner tonight!!!

Also, it has the softest towels! I was in heaven when I touched them as most aren't that soft.

One thing that isn't as great with the mountains is that the dogs chase you here. I don't think they are used to people on bikes because the hills are so steep so they think I'm easy prey. Luckily so far a good yell has kept them at bay.

The town is a great place to see people in their colorful garb and we take turns staring! It's nice to be able to stare and not feel self conscious as everyone is staring at me as well. Of course I don't have the guts to take photos of them unlike some of the younger generation took of me today.

Found out that the owner of the guesthouse kid lives in Oklahoma.   

02 February 2012 - Dien Bien Phu - 80 km

Today the first 30 km or so were beautiful following a river and having bright green rice paddies.  There were plenty of little villages to ride through and it was pleasant.

Then a climb started and once again climbed into the fog.  Not a bad climb and once on the other side the sun started to burn through the fog and it came out.  It actually became quite a hot day.

Saw awesome bridges were the caissons were weaved bamboo filled with rocks.  Of course the two I saw was when I was going over 40 km/hr without pedaling...which doesn't happen often so I didn't stop for a photo. 

Right before town there was an intersection and I wasn't sure which way to go.  So I took a left and saw a guy so asked him if it was the way.  He pointed the opposite way and as I went he then followed me and asked repeatedly for money and followed creepily close.  I am very happy to be leaving Vietnam tomorrow!  I'm so sick of everyone only helping you if they think they will get something out of it.

Got into town and felt like I could still go on but wanted to hit up the internet and wasn't sure if the border town actually had any guesthouses.  

Had some depressing personal news (nothing major) but left me feeling drained.

Wandered around town looking for places to change dong to kip but didn't find any and since I was feeling a little blue headed back to the hotel.  Of course prior to that I saw one of the giant monuments for the battle against the french.