Farang
Bar, Chumpon, Thailand, 17-04-08
Here, have everything you need: the island sellout
Life's a Beach: at
least that's what they say and I suppose in a way they
are right. At least thousands of western tourists think
so every year as they flock to this island to soak up
the sun, sand, sea and partying atmosphere. In all fairness,
it has been pretty relaxing, just lying in the hammock,
reading and contemplating the wonderful skies over the
ebb and flow of the Mae Haad waters, but after a couple
of weeks we are more than ready to move on. Unfortunately,
Ko Phangan doesn't quite have what it takes to keep
us engrossed for much longer. The attitude of local
business is consumed entirely by the colour of your
money, even though you'll have conversations with owners
that say otherwise. The smile is typically correlative
with the amount of cash you spend or how 'big' you can
note yourself in society in general and that does become
a little tiring after a while.
Prices are severely inflated. The best
example being an hours internetting for 120 baht. In
tourist areas on the mainland it is on average 40 baht
and in the regular Thai town it is not much more than
10 baht...
Tip of the month: decision by postcard
This tip is
from John and Linda and although it may
sound a bit strange, postcards can actually
help you make your mind up as to which sights
you want visit and which ones you might
like to avoid.
The logic behind this is as follows: if
you are in two minds about visiting a museum
or a particular attraction, then go to the
nearest postcard rack and check out what
they show off as the main features. This
way you can get an indication of what's
in store and whether it's something for
you to visit or not.
Ko Phangan - Bangkok (Thailand)
Kilometres: 948 kilometers and 550 meters
Riding days: 15 out of 30 this month
Alti meters: 3708 meters
Weather: man, it's hot !
Best accommodation: Our brilliantly, fabulous
apartment in the middle of Bangkok, near
Khao San Road and at the Ratchadamnun Condominium
kindly offered to us by Pedal
Revolution. Thanks guys!!
Special thanks to:
John and Linda for the comfortable bed in a mosquito free environment, the delicious breakfasts and the remeniscent conversations about everything and anything to do with travelling • Taxi driver 36062 for escorting us around to all the hotels in Kra Buri, Ranong Province • Pedal
Revolution for the generous offer of using their Bangkok apartment. We can't tell you how much we enjoyed our stay there. After 21 months on the road, it was just simply
fabulous to have such a comfy environment, a fridge and so much room you
could swing a few dozen cats around in it (not that we tried
that out).
Breakdowns:
09: flat tyre (Son)
12: broken spoke (Son)
12: replaced back tyre (Son)
22: 3x broken spokes (Ali)
26: 1x broken spoke (Ali): damn, damn, damn and
double damn!
