Exhausted. These roadworks are dreadful and consume all my conscience. 50km of relentless mudbaths, rock gardens, pools and trucks. No tranquillity. Any views obscured by mountains of rocks to be used in road construction. Oh. And I have diahorrea.
Temple in the evening
I cycled with Andy and Summer today. We enjoyed the mud together. Here are some photos of our ordeals.
Yuck!
Yuck!
What a day. Sun. Rain. Torrential rain with thunderstorm. Roadworks on a rocky, muddy dreadful road. Flat tyre on the first 500m of bad road. Welcoming by lovely Tibetan family. Tyre fixed in dry shed, followed by lunch with the family – all 3 generations. Meeting 2 other cyclists. Only another 40km of dreadful road to go.
The awful road
A question to the road-building experts out there. It seems that when the Chinese do a road upgrade, they take the 100km of road to be upgraded, and dig up all of the existing bitumen, leaving a muddy rocky mess. They then work on rock barriers on the side of the road, on bridges and other things, while the road remains almost impassable. Why do they do this, and why do they destroy all 100km of old road in one go? I am sure there is a good engineering explanation. Just asking..
The start of the 100km of roadworks
If it wasn’t for the roadworks and the rain, I would have not met such a wonderful family. Matthew, the drowned rat, knocked on their gate and they welcomed me in with such warmth. I was ushered to the shed, and a heater was brought to my side. I was then invited to lunch as it started to bucket down outside.
The lovely family
Grandpa
When I left my friends after lunch, the sun was out and it was positively warm. The scenery was stunning. I just had to make sure to stop regularly to look at it. While cycling, all my concentration was taken in keeping the bike in one piece.
The valley in the sun
The valley in the sun
45km of roadworks and a thunderstorm later, I find myself in a lovely little room with 2 other cyclists that have made their way along the same road. We will be cycling onwards together tomorrow.
My new cycling friends Summer and Andy
It’s weird when you connect the dots. Air travel creates a set of places you have been, disjoint from each-other. Bangkok – my favourite Asian city – was always a short stop after a long-haul flight. Bangkok is no longer separated. It is connected to Eindhoven through my 24326km journey here. The whole world is connected, and I am happy to live on it!
Dripping in sweat, I arrive in my lovely apartment in Bangkok
I saw the sea for the first time since Greece – at Bangpoo Recreation.
Bangpoo Recreation
Bangpoo Recreation
I sit here in my lovely air-conditioned room in the middle of this enormous mega-city feeling pretty proud of myself. I have finished cycling for 2015. I’ll spend the rest of the year here and with a friend in Assam, India.
What a year 2015 has been. In this year, I have studied Chinese in Taiwan, becoming moderately fluent while in China. I have cycled through rain, snow, muddy roadworks, blistering sun and hurricane winds. I have cycled through deserts, high altitude plateaus and tropical rainforests. I have had heatstroke, altitude sickness and lots of diahorrea. But, most importantly, I have met the most beautiful people. The people I share this world with – in far-away places people are just like at home. Caring, loving people – they laugh, they play, they work, they live.
With this I sign off for 2015. There will still be daily (3 month delayed) posts of my trip through China. Have a great new year, and I’ll see you in 2016!
My route up to Bangkok
The approach into Bangkok
P.S. For those looking for a good cycle route into Bangkok, I can recommend the one I took. Approaching from the south is a good idea. The roads were mostly (relatively) small, with not too much traffic. Of course, it is all relative – given that you are approaching Bangkok, the roads were quite quiet.. 🙂 The route can be downloaded from Google maps.
I dropped 1000m today to a warm, sunny place. Kids were swimming in the river. People were drinking beer on terraces on the river shore in the town. Today I just felt tired. My friend the headwind was back, and this evening I was informed there’s 100km of roadworks ahead. Tired.
Tibetan village
I need to cycle 100km each day to get to Shangri La in time to extend my Chinese visa. There are other solutions, but, it would be good to get there in time by bike. 100km is fine in usual conditions. The Tibetan Plateau is good at throwing up non-normal conditions. This is all making me tired.
The valley was beautiful. Here are some photos.
Tibetan tourist village
The river
Tibetan bridge
The world is a different place in the sun. The yurt filled valley was beautiful, bordered by low rolling hills, a wide meandering river in its centre. Then, over a small pass, and I find myself cycling down through a green, forested valley, sun and wind at my back.
The plains in the sun
It was many hours on the bike, trying to get through some kilometres (in an attempt to get to Shangri La to extend my visa). Beautiful views. Here are some photos.
Waiting for the dumplings
The high plains
The watershed
The watershed
The river going down
Bernadette and I slept in today, and then talked and talked and talked. We only started cycling around 11 (rather than the usual 6). Consequently only a few kilometres were done today through the plantations of various crops.
Me and Bernadette
It was quite a pleasant road, although at the end, it was clearly getting busy – approaching the mega-city of Bangkok.
Lovely view over the plantations
I feel rather silly, but, this crop is being grown everywhere in Laos, Cambodia and now in Thailand. Does anyone know what it is?
What is this plant?
Tomorrow and early rise, and into the Bangkok traffic-jam.
Me and Bernadette
We sat, together, in the airconditioned room. ‘And then there was that!’ – and another story would be told with a smile from ear to ear. I met world-cycler Bernadette in Amsterdam at a cycling trade show a few years ago when I was excitedly planning my own world cycle tour. And now we find ourselves on the bike in Thailand – in bungalows overlooking a beautiful lake. ‘Good to see you!’ she screamed and we wrapped ourselves in a big hug.
Me and Bernadette
We met at a little shop out the front of the resort. Bernadette couldn’t cycle due to cramp, and I couldn’t walk – my right hip tends to give way when I walk. It comes and goes. So, I cycle at walking pace to our bungalows next to Bernadette.
Today was undulating landscape cycling, firstly in the sun, and then through a shady park, passing elephant signs. No elephants, though.
Elephants
We arranged to meet in a town Takrao that isn’t called Takrao, off a road that isn’t the 3259. I asked for directions to a town that isn’t called Wang Mai. Google maps and Maps.me got everything wrong about the naming. So, I find myself in a town whose name I’ve forgotten.
‘This is what it is all about’ I thought hurtling along in the sun on the flat smooth road, watching the high mountain plains and the Yellow River roll by. The absolute misery of the morning had turned with food in my belly and the sun on my back. The misery had now become adventure. I have been cycling for one year today and I am on the Tibetan Plateau. How awesome is that?
The plains
This morning sucked. I had another 16km to go to make it from my abandoned hut to the village where I wanted to have a late breakfast. The road can’t get any worse, I thought. Wrong. It was a mud bath plied by big trucks, ploughing through the slush. And the road climbed – always in the deepest slush. Bumping down a mini-pass I got another flat tyre – 7km out of town. It was raining, there was so much mud wedged between the tyres and the mudguards and brakes, that a tyre repair would have not been easy. I decided to walk. In the village I fixed the tyre, cleaned the bike, and had a horrible lunch of yak with rice. No chance of replenishing my chocolate supplies. This village had nothing that I felt like eating.
The mud
The roadworks continued, although much less severe. It was usually possible to find some bitumen to ride on, even it if meant weaving around rocks. After 89km, at my 4pm meal break, I was informed by the owner that the roadworks had ended. The sun came out, and the world changed. Fourty-two kilometres to the next town, and I ate up those kilometres to make my daily total almost 100.
P.S. I guess I must admit, the cause of the second flat tyre was as I had a fold of the inner tube inside the tyre. I guess I wasn’t at my best when I fixed the tyre in the abandoned hut.. ☺
I wanted to post a 130km day. The Gods didn’t want that. An unexpected 60km of muddy road-works and then a flat tyre during the final sprint saw an end to that. It was raining and getting dark. I am in an abandoned hut a few hundred metres from where I had the flat tyre. The universe provided.
Evening flat tyre
I guess I am a loner. Today I fled from a group of cyclists. I have seen them over and over the last few days – a group of about 10 Chinese cyclists. I ran into them on a pass this morning, and then a thousand photos were taken. I then continued up the hill, only to be passed by people planning to take photos of me climbing the hill with others in view. I just had to get away. I sprinted, passed everyone and fled into the tunnel at the top of the pass. They had to wait at the tunnel entrance for everyone to gather.
The cyclist group
The photographers
I like cycling with 1, 2 or 3 people. I like cycling away from the crowds, and away from the tourism activities offered by the tourism industry. I cycled straight past the lake viewing platform, and the tourist busses lined up there. The guided group of cyclists today gave me the willies. I am interested in my own reaction. Maybe I am a hermit.
I left the main road today on a major secondary road. The altitude profile was more or less flat, and there was going to be a tailwind. I set my sights for the 60km distant town. Well, there were serious roadworks the whole way. It rained. The tailwind stopped. There were no towns – or anything much on the way (except a few yurts). And it was hilly. Up and down and up and down. And then, a flat tyre in the middle of nowhere, 15km from the town. I know, at the start of this trip, I might have panicked. A flat tyre in the rain, getting dark, at 3500m on the Tibetan Plateau. Well, Mr Hermit didn’t panic this time (of which I am quite pleased), and found the abandoned hut – I am sharing the hut only with a very loud cat.
I have changed countries, and it feels like I have changed planets. In Cambodia the kids run around naked, screaming out hello and waving frantically. In Thailand the kids ignore me, but the slick cyclists sporting their lycra-wear, riding their ultra-light racing bikes wave hi. The little tin lean-tos selling drinks from their orange ice-chests are replaced by the always open airconditioned 7-eleven. It is a shame and a relief at the same time.
Entering Thailand
I stopped for a drink at a little lean-to in Cambodia. We soon got laughing, and before I knew it I was given some strange green fruits, and the naked baby on my lap for photos. My zombie-face gave some more laughs.
Funny faces
Over the border in Thailand, and the road got wider, the cars slicker, and the mopeds vanished. The new sim-card was to be bought in the 7-eleven – an air-conditioned paradise that never closes. They have chips, ice-cream, burgers and CHOCOLATE MILK.
I passed 24000km today.
24000km
I am no longer mute. I can say some rudimentary things in Thai, which is a big relief. It all feels more familiar – but less of an adventure. Bangkok is drawing near – my favourite Asian city.
arctic-cycler.com 