Its the ultimate way of travelling, getting a glimpse of living in a region and come closer to the locals off the beaten track.
You pass a school, the bazar, the locals and the atmosphere with a pace where you have time soaking up all the happenings around you.
Driving a scooter is good fun but beeing accompanied by a big helmet and the monoton sound of the engine, you are kind of seperated from the world surrounding you.
While cycling, you pass slowly. Looking at the people and the people follow you with their eyes. They analyze your bike, the heavy luggage and your sweatie face in a very critical way.
Then comes the moment where you forget all the hard uphills. The heartwarming smile from an old man, dark skin from the sun, missing teeth, sitting in front of his hut repairing something. He gives you a slight bow with his head to show you all his respect for what you are doing and that you take all of this effort to explore the beauty of his home in such a quiet and pieceful way of moving.
At the moment:
Since one week I live here close to Phuket town with a very smart and openminded thai couple. Aey (the girl) is a marine scientist and a guru in terms of living green. She taught me how to prepare Tom Kha Gai (Thai chicken coconut soup) with the incredientes from the jungle around and also how to prepare a dish washing liquid out of fermented fruit.
Tho (the man) is an absoloute bike guru . I would have been completely lost without him. His passion is bikes. So he managed for me to order a bike, bags etc. from Bangkok and today arrived my bike. A black trekking beauty!
The Plan:
Cycling from climbing crag to climbing crag all along up north Thailand, down south Laos. Considering next Vietnam, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea...
Starting from Phuket in a couple of days aiming for Tonsai with a stopover in Phang-nga, where I should find some rocks.
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