I have much more to write about my two months in Thailand, but I'm now in India and about to lose internet access for the next 4 to 6 weeks. Here is the general itinerary:
I'll be riding with four friends from Corvallis: Dave, Chris, Danielle and Nyle. Dave is actually "stuck" in Thailand (there are worse things) trying to rectify an infuriating visa problem, but he should join us in a week or two in Keylong. In the mean time, the four of us will take a train to Pathenkot this evening and make our way to Dalhousie and on to Chamba. From Chamba we will take on Sach Pass, one of the highest and most scenic in India. This section should be the most challenging of the trip, so of course I look forward to it...the most. After surviving the pass we will ride along the Manali-Leh highway to Leh, taking side trips along the way. An excursion through the Nubra Valley should be a major highlight with views of the two highest ranges in the world, the Karakoram and the Himalaya. I hyperventilate just thinking about it (the spectacle and the thin air). The plan is to take a bus from Leh to Srinagar to avoid biking the highly militarized area. We'll finish the trip with few days on a house boat in Srinagar in early August before flying back to Delhi and heading off to the next adventure. I promise too much detail and lots of pictures in August! Til then:)
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Thursday, June 17, 2010
So Much Catching Up!
I have fallen way off the blog wagon. Way off. I'll attempt to breeze through the last month or so without killing off the best bits and pieces with haste. We stayed in Chiang Mai for four days- our longest stint anywhere since Vang Vieng. We took to the hills with unloaded bikes and made the most of our location at the foothills of Doi Inthanon National Park, climbing to the peak at Doi Pio and heading back toward town through lychee orchards. The mtn riding made evident the need to get the bikes tuned. We found a bike magician at Jackie's Bikes who replaced Dave's pedals, crank, chain and cassette and made some much needed realignments to both rigs for an amazing bargain.
Chiang Mai proper was a moted grid of western bars and bakeries bespeckled with towering wats and gilded statues of the Buddha. The constant rush of traffic was best avoided by ducking into the sois (back alleys) that crisscross the patchwork. I managed to find the tastiest and cheapest crop of mangoes at a stray stand down such an alley. If mangoes could dream, they would dream of tasting as good as these mangoes. Good golly. I spent a fair amount of my stay gorging on sticky fruit, machine cleaning my entire wardrobe (twice), gawking at the cost of used books, wrinkling my nose at the Starbucks, McDonald's, and 7-11s on every block (except to dash in and bask in the frigid AC...I'm weak), and reading up on the intensifying battle in Bangkok. By the time we left CM the army had overrun the Red Shirt barricades with tanks, shot a leader in the head (mid interview) and arrested hordes of others. Aside from a red flagged barricade on a street corner and smashed ATMs and telephone booths the day after the government's siege, we didn't see a hint of unrest or hear any concern from locals. A curfew was imposed the morning we left town, so we left at ten minutes after it lifted and left without a hitch.
We made our way to Pai in one 135k push. It wasn't planned or necessarily desired, but we made due after finding little accommodation and no vacancies. The first 50k out of the city were mellow. We found ourselves beginning the ascent just before noon with a very fortunate blanket of clouds protecting us from the mid-day heat. The grade was sustained but relatively mellow. A few showers kept things cool and a jovial band of firemen let us fill up our water bottles mid-way to the summit. From the top we refueld with fried rice and watched with mixed awe and concern at Dave's calf muscles twitching with fatigue. The ride down was seriously steep, windy and hot, but it shot us 8k from town. We limped directly to a guesthouse on the river and passed out.
Chiang Mai proper was a moted grid of western bars and bakeries bespeckled with towering wats and gilded statues of the Buddha. The constant rush of traffic was best avoided by ducking into the sois (back alleys) that crisscross the patchwork. I managed to find the tastiest and cheapest crop of mangoes at a stray stand down such an alley. If mangoes could dream, they would dream of tasting as good as these mangoes. Good golly. I spent a fair amount of my stay gorging on sticky fruit, machine cleaning my entire wardrobe (twice), gawking at the cost of used books, wrinkling my nose at the Starbucks, McDonald's, and 7-11s on every block (except to dash in and bask in the frigid AC...I'm weak), and reading up on the intensifying battle in Bangkok. By the time we left CM the army had overrun the Red Shirt barricades with tanks, shot a leader in the head (mid interview) and arrested hordes of others. Aside from a red flagged barricade on a street corner and smashed ATMs and telephone booths the day after the government's siege, we didn't see a hint of unrest or hear any concern from locals. A curfew was imposed the morning we left town, so we left at ten minutes after it lifted and left without a hitch.
We made our way to Pai in one 135k push. It wasn't planned or necessarily desired, but we made due after finding little accommodation and no vacancies. The first 50k out of the city were mellow. We found ourselves beginning the ascent just before noon with a very fortunate blanket of clouds protecting us from the mid-day heat. The grade was sustained but relatively mellow. A few showers kept things cool and a jovial band of firemen let us fill up our water bottles mid-way to the summit. From the top we refueld with fried rice and watched with mixed awe and concern at Dave's calf muscles twitching with fatigue. The ride down was seriously steep, windy and hot, but it shot us 8k from town. We limped directly to a guesthouse on the river and passed out.
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