Thailand - Uthai Thani to Chiang Mai

Hello all,

At this very moment, I am writing only hours after the events of this post. So, hopefully, I will be caught up for the moment. If you please, you can skip down to the end of the writing to read an update to my travel plans. They have changed. Im still on my bike, still in Asia. And I am still writing from the Chiang Mai train station - though the scene is not so quiet anymore. A train station officer has plugged in television set, the sun is about to rise, and the sleeping travelers are beginning to stir.

Before I begin, a nod to my Indonesian brother Rio who deserves special mention. He has, upon his recent graduation from University and the completion of his senior honors thesis, begun a bicycle tour in his own right. Thats him in the bottom middle. Still riding his fixed gear (thats crazy!) he began a tour with his friends across the island of Java. One of many, I hope for him. And I thought I packed light...sheeesh.

So at this point in the photo journey of my travels, we have just left Uthai Thani. 

Every now and again, you'll be served this when you ask for water. It is in fact water. The pinkish hue comes from an added rose extract. You can see, and taste, the lovely additive. Though, this picture was snapped more for the intricate carvings on the tin cup. It's all in the details.

Among my favorite reasons to love Thailand is the subtle images of cycles hidden in shop keeps, cafes, and almost everywhere you have the presence to look. All you have to do is slow down, and live in the moment a while.

...here is another, snapped just now outside the train station. Do you see it?

If you've been keeping up with my stories, it might have occurred to you that sleeping in temples is very much a hit or miss event. Not in the sense that they happen to invite or turn us away, no. That is not the hit or miss pattern I am referring to. Rather, that each of the temples facilities are as much a variable (and vary) as much as the prolific food choices from town to town. Here, you can see just how very well the washrooms are maintained. Even warm pressured water was made available to us. Definitely chalking this one up as a hit!

Spotting parting clouds are usually worth the risk of taking your eyes off the road for a moment. I felt that these next few pictures were worth even more, so I stopped and snapped a photo. More cloud shots to come, they are just absolutely stunning to see in person. 

These are the people we stayed with in Phitsanulok; Mark, Mint and their daughter. They took us under their roof, fed us, shared stories and lots of Phitsanulok knowledge and history. Here we are observing the fishes at a small temple. We did a lot this day, I think I'll save it all for a separate post (Update: you can read the rest of this day under post: Phitsanulok Temple Run.)

How's this for impromptu breakfast grub?! Mark makes his own cereal - outstanding. The topping? an all fruit, no sugar dragonfriut shake topped further with fresh farmer's market bananas. Hands down, unequivocally sure, the best breakfast had on the trip thus far. 

A dog at a temple. By no means rare, dogs of all kinds make Thai temples their own.

Leaving the town, we continued on as we normally do. Up some hills, down some hills. turning left and turning right. Then, out from nowhere, something unexpected happened. It began to rain. There were not many clouds in the sky that day, my friends; we had simply rode into a passing storm. I was worried a little bit because Chris had reported a large storm to the West of us, by the Myanmar boarder where he was at the time, and that was coming our way. Luckily for us, we never saw much of the mentioned storm, and this patch of rain clouds was something we just happen to ride into.

The rain came, and we staked out this pitched police checkpoint. They were...indifferent to us staying there with them out of the road. I asked them if I could have some of their instant coffee and hot water and they gave me a look that made me feel like it was absurd to even ask, as if I didn't need to. It was like asking for a cup of water at home - "yes, of course you can have some (duh)." Anyways, there was a very cute dog here who kept rolling over and playing dead. I am sure he was as anxious as us for the rain to stop and carry on about our ways.

Photo by Rajiv. Somewhere along the way, we ended up along the major Asian Highways. Not wanting to ride along huge passing eighteen-wheelers on slick roads, Rajiv and I looked onto the GPS for an alternate, parallel-ish rout up north. And, we found one. I don't know how, but the GPS got us to where we wanted to go by passing through - literally - routes made from wooden beams to cross water, through the rear of homes, and across these gravely train tracks. Who even designed the maps for this GPS device did not leave any route option unturned!

The next few flora pictures are all from separate locations. Some I stopped and got off my bike to take a closer look at. Others were just in the moment of my lens for moment. In any case, I love the detail my camera picks up on them.

Made it to Chiang Mai! Well, not really. We stayed close to 15km outside of the city with the man in the middle (below), Robert. He lives in a beautiful wooden house he constructed himself (see below), including a complete and separate guest house. Robert is also an avid cyclist who has done some serious trekking as well. Maybe a bit slow on the uphill - but you don't want to see him on the flats because he is fast! This picture was taken at the top of one of the mountains surrounding Chiang Mai. Its also one of the rare ones of me with my favorite Mexico jersey. (PS. Mexico has to get it together if they really want to make it into this year's World Cup!)

Ahh, yes. This is the home I was talking about. I still cant believe that Robert designed and built this house on his own. We had a talk, and my assumptions were correct. That building a home like this is much easier to do in Thailand than back in his native Germany where, like America, construction is blocked at every turn with regulations, certifications, licenses, permissions, inspections, and taxes. If you are thinking about building your dream house one day, just do what Robert did. Find a lonely location in the middle of a paddy field, break ground, and build your f**king house. Period.

You know, it really is cheap to travel via bicycle. And if you stay in the temples or mosques, you are really looking at only spending money on food - which you should have budgeted for anyways. There are however little things that do pop up from time to time. Like, as you see below, the need for haircuts.

The Before.

The During.

The clean cut After!

At this point, Chris is only half a day from reuniting with Raj and I. He has been missing in action the last two weeks and has certainly been missed. But, as we must all do someday, he is going out into the World with little more than his wits and fists. I am looking forward to hearing of his stories in detail.

But for now, I have larger plans to enact. Bigger things on my mind, like, for instance, this sexy burrito staring me in the face. "You know you want me,\." "I want you inside of me." 

Smelled amazing, looked really good, tasted about average. I cant give any Asian burrito a winning review, but this one certainly deserves an honorable mention. It was, like fresh air and a curative beer after a hangover, just what I needed. =)

I almost, almost ate the plate too.

This is the dawn of the next morning. Chris had arrived last night after cycling through some small mountains late in the night after dark. He was in no mood to ride and all ready for sleeping in, so Raj, Robert, Robert's Swiss friend, and I all filled our tires with air and headed for the cool open road that morning. We saw the sun, rode for a long big, and I am glad we did. As I mentioned above, Robert and his friend can ride quite fast on the flats, even on 26in tires! Raj and I were struggling to keep up, but only because we were so amazed and happy to be with other cyclists who loved to ride hard and fast!

I had, to use Chris' phrase, no idea where we were. But it was a beautiful ride, one of my top five without a doubt.

You can't really see it in these pictures, but Robert and his friend in front have legs like tree trunks - they shred hard. 

We took a small rest for soy milk and crackers. Somewhere on the floor was this gigantic moth. It was dead, which is a shame. Though, the insect was still in magnificent condition and we all marveled at the creature for a good while before placing its body back into the field and started heading home.

And now, it is time to say good by. Seriously. See? even Robert's dog know its time to leave. Raj didn't want to say goodbye, neither did the dog, neither did I. We all had an amazing time staying in Robert's guest house - and he never wanted anything in payment. (Though Raj and I did pay him in beer! "No charge, it is the least we can do.")

Officially, authentically in Chian Mai. This square city is anything but. Night life, a massive Western influence, it is one of those grand cities, like Bukkittingy or Bangkok, that is on every backpackers traveling list.

The sunset was beautiful as it always is. As you can see, Indian food was for dinner that last night, a well welcomed change from the Thai food I have been injesting. Really looking forward to seeing Nick's proper kitchen again. Anyways, the food here was overpriced as it normally is in big cities, though not ridiculously. I had a matching banana lassy to qwell the spice of my chiken vindaloo.

Then, knowing that we only had a few hours left as our last night as a crew, we took a walk. Yes, a walk. Up, around, down, and back around the center of the City which is build in a perfect square. The old town walls and mini moute guiding our walk. We were about to head home, call it a night when Raj pointed out this jazz club. Oh yes! Love live jazz! Time to hang loose, have a beer, and chat with my mates between sets. Ahhhh, perfection.

And, there you have it. A lasting picture for the end of what is only a pause in the adventure.

Right then. If you have not put it together, or have not figured out the clues, then here we go:

The reason I choose Uthai Thani as a midway point between Sri Racha and Chiang Mai is because I have elected to live abroad for a while. You can read between the stories in my blog of how I pay attention to the signs and omens of traveling. I strongly believe that there is someone or something out there guiding me. I don't always agree with the path, but there is certainly one out there and a guide. 

So, the signs where all pointing for me to be thankful for what I have accomplished and take a well deserved break. With Nick and Harmony in Uthai Thani, I have a wonderful two story home to live in with a dog, a full kitchen, American football, and outdoor grill. They have also helped secure a teaching job for me in their school, where, I have been working for the last month (all of September now).

My bike has been survived well, I still ride her every day despite needing minor repairs. The weather is warm, the small village has very friendly people, and I could not ask for a more relaxing place to let my butt rest for a while as I concentrate on other, arguably things that belong in the "more important" catagory, such as organizing graduate school applications and what not regarding the next step of my life. You know, things you cant do traveling on your bike from day to day. I needed a home base of opperations, and I have one now.

Chris and Rajiv are continuing their journey, though Chris has run into some major trouble with his bike and is on his way to Vientien, Loas to try and repair it. You can follow thier respected blogs here:

http://theadventour.wordpress.com

http://nat.pedscapades.com/blog/

I plan to meet with them again in the future, to continue our travels. You know, Chris and I had always talked about splitting ways once we made it to China. He wants to stick arround there and gain work experience, condition his grasp of the Chinese language. I wanted to get the heck out of there and cycle down Japan (it will happen...). For now, though, it looks like we are seperating only a little sooner than expected. He has been an excellent riding partner and you should feel lucky to ride along side him if only for a day.

So then, its done. I am staying in Uthai Thani with an American couple from New Orleans who, let me tell you, show a lot of southern hospitality! I have a job teaching at a local elementary school - that I love! If you don't know, my mother was a teacher, my uncle and father are teachers, and my sister did substitution stints for years. So, maybe you can say I am only following the family business.

Speaking of business, I think I am going to open a Mexican restaurant. Maybe not here, but there is certainly a market for my cooking in Bangkok or Chiang Mai. More than enough tourists, less than average Mexican food. Anyways stay updated. I'll publish blog posts from time to time. Maybe one with my new students. Oh, and send me a letter! Yes, by snail mail. Its fun to get things in the mail =)

180 Moo 2 Panda Village
Tumbol Nam Suem
Amphur Meuang, Uthai Thani
Thailand, 61000

That's it for now.

I love you. I miss you. And don't think for a moment that this is the end. The end won't last until I'm dead. And I ain't dead yet motherf**kers! 

-Andrés E. Tobar