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Trip start
January 13, 2025
SE Asia Traveler
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One step further around the world
January 13, 2025 in Finland ⋅ ☁️ -3 °C
Just dropped Oliver off at the train station. He is on his way back to school at UND. I'm back to being homeless and roaming the planet in cheap hostels. I'll have a bicycle this time. Oliver is flying the opposite direction around the globe and together we'll cover more than half the distance of an entire circumnavigation. On my way back to the USA I'll fly in the same direction and I'll have inadvertently flown around the world.

Flew from Helsinki over Tallinn, saw the ferry ply the waters below. Around Ukraine and down to Istanbul, mostly cloudy. Istabul airport is actually a giant shopping mall and it's enormous. I have 7 hours here. Good place for a nap. out of curiosity look at croissant pricing, the first one I see is €10. there are other shops at 6 Euros and there are some sandwiches in the 15 Euro range and I saw a few for under $10. Starbucks pricing is exactly double a 'normal' price for Starbucks. Fun to have a chat conversation with Oliver while he is flying over the Atlantic. Time for breakfast for him and a nap for me.Read more
Traveler Great shot of Tallinn!
1/13/25Reply
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SE Asia Traveler
All the way to Thailand
January 14, 2025 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C
Istabul-Hong Kong is one of those long haul flights. By the morning the flight comes by the Himalayas, I'm on the wrong side but I snag a view from the galley area until the seat belt sign comes on. Are K2 and Everest in the line up of peaks that seem to scratch the underside of the plane? I don't know, I'll have to look up the geography, but it was exciting to see that range for the first time. I might also have seen the Pamir highway and the highest drivable pass.

In Hong Kong I have a bike tool confiscated, the Chinese have odd security rules.

In Bangkok I hook up the Sim card, charge, get local currency and I'm in the train that takes me partially into the city. There are no Uber in Thailand, so I jump on the back of a motorcycle taxi instead! it's a freewheeling country.

I think I've done enough flying for a while. In the last 5 weeks I have flown somewhere once week. that's a new personal record.

I'm worn out with a small cold and it's time to stay put in one country.Read more
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SE Asia Traveler
Bangkok relax
January 15, 2025 in Thailand ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C
I sleep in really late because I was up in the middle of the night with my cold. Today is just relax and an initial foray around the neighborhood.

The hostel is fantastic with some of the best beds I've seen in hostels and two balconies on the canal with a small restaurant across playing nice soft music. This hostel is the kind of place that you don't need to leave to chill out.
By 1:00 p.m. I do go for a walk and go all the way to the Chao Phraya river. There is a tourist boat hop on hop off, for 4 bucks I hop on and stay on for the full tour. I'm kind of comatose from the cold, I'm wiped out. So this is a perfect way to sit, take in sunshine and the sights. I almost fall asleep and struggle to get back to the hostel where I crash for a few hours.
I make a run for dinner food and throat lozenges and I have dinner on the lower terrace. It's very peaceful considering I am in a bustling city. Great pick this hostel.

Hard to believe I was just in Finland! I think my mind hasn't caught up yet.Read more
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SE Asia Traveler
Bought the bicycle
January 16, 2025 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C
Mellow morning, talk to young woman from London who just arrived and is going to spend a year in Southeast Asia, her first long backpacking trip, she has the spirit.

I set off on foot to the decathlon store. with the Google routing for walking I end up in very small passages and along a canal. probably not many tourists ever go here.

In the decathlon they have an ST100 mountain bike that I am familiar with from the Camino. It's just 7,500 baht which is $225. The only thing is that didn't have any XL sizes in store so I have to go to Korat and start ridng from there.

The French guy I spoke with yesterday had mentioned that area Northeast of Bangkok and said it was very untouristed and very mellow so it would seem this is going to be a great starting point.

I had sushi and did a massage chair session in the same shopping center. Following Google to get a ferry has me walking down an alley where an older lady said the ferry is no longer going. I'm not the first one to follow ancient Google directions, they're pretty bad in Thailand.

Pha Chang ferry to Grand Palace. I meandered back to the hostel through a few touristy zones and slept for a few hours. I'll take all the rest I can get.

Good nap and I woke up thinking symphony and found out that on the 19th there is one free in the park. I added two days to my stay in Bangkok. Watched a movie late into the night about creating and producing your dreams, maybe I should take note.Read more
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An afternoon adventure
January 17, 2025 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C
A morning on the laptop. Late start for a walk around, traditional meander without target. A temple gate appears, I walk through to look. Observing people. Two young guys graduated from University today, I congratulate them. A religious festival in the park, a woman sitting by herself at Starbucks, taking pictures and sending to her friends. I walk by and say hello, conversation ensues. Here for a working conference as an engineering professor for the University of Berlin, speaks fluent English and we do not switch into German. She loves her work, 57 years old and 10 years to go with an 11 year old daughter at home, happy to be away from the routine for a bit. She moves on and we walk different directions only to run into each other a few corners further on. We walk and chat for a mile and part ways. Might see her at the concert in the park on Sunday, she was happy I told her about it. I tell everybody who I think might enjoy it.

Sticky rice with mango and a papaya smoothie, more filling than you think.Read more
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Floating market day
January 18, 2025 in Thailand ⋅ ☁️ 31 °C
I'm walking to the floating market that is the closest, it's a walk through a big city but I've never been here and it's fascinating to see how the Thai live. By picking random routes you end up in random places such as a locals food market without any tourists. It's the real thing, the supposedly floating market is actually built on concrete piers. This is even true for the second floating market that I visit with three others who I hook up with to share the boat price. They are German, Dutch and French. This is a great ride on one of those classic Thai canal boats. We part, they take a taxi for speed, I take another boat. An hour later I run into them again on the ferry and I tell them what they missed. The boat sat and waited for 15 minutes, we rode for 30 and had a temple stop for 5 minutes on the way so we all got off. I got back in 3 but the boat was gone. The other pax show up, we all wait, after 10 minutes they ask, is he coming back? Then they all how much did you pay? 600 bath a German couple, 500 say the Polish group and then they look at me. I say I got the senior discount, because I know I paid 200 regular and they got had. We all got ditched by the boat driver so we end up walking the rest. My new friends couldn't believe they escaped that.Read more
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Skyview Terrace Evening
January 18, 2025 in Thailand ⋅ ☁️ 24 °C
The view from the 63rd floor bar is astounding. The drink price from the bar is equally high and both were to be expected.

At the table next to me stands a big man by himself, Marco turns out to be a financier from Zurich Switzerland. We join up and have a few hours of conversation. Every Saturday there are fireworks on the river and we're on the right side of the building to catch it far below us which is an unusual vantage point.

We were ready to leave when we get escorted to the other side, where a movie once was filmed and it is quite the setup with a restaurant, a round lit up bar and a stage where a jazz band starts playing. The whole scene is absolutely five star. Dinner here would be about $200 pp not including wine. I end up staying for another 2 hours up there. The views are mesmerizing and a dark orange moon rises through the city fumes, jazz band is fantastic.Read more
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An easy Sunday
January 19, 2025 in Thailand ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C
Casual stroll to a nearby hotel on the river for breakfast. Spent a lot of time watching birds and ships.

The afternoon evening is for the concert in the park which is put on by the Bangkok Royal Symphony Orchestra. A lot of their junior talent is on hand and they put on a fabulous show.

I struck up a conversation with Ikko who records the events for YouTube and he tells me lots of details. He is from the Philippines but much prefers it in Thailand where he has now lived 6 years. His channel isRead more
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Bye Bangkok - Bike
January 20, 2025 in Thailand ⋅ 🌙 15 °C
There are two international airports in Bangkok, My train departs from the other one I flew into. A 58 minute bus ride sets me back 21 bath. There is a surprising amount of industry along this busy highway. The 4 hr train is the locals transport as well. I'm loving it.

Decathlon Korat has my bike ready to roll, Live is good on two wheels. After a gear drop I take some back routes along a lake and find a 1000 year old temple with a worn lintel stone. It's in a forgotten corner, no tourists.

For dinner I got papaya salad, initially ordered no spice but then said actually just a little spice. When it came I just about fell through a burning hole in the ground it was so hot. On the upside I will definitely burn the rest of this cold away with that heat.

Wow, I've already been in Thailand for a whole week, that went by fast.Read more
Traveler Nice roller
1/21/25Reply
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SE Asia Traveler
Pooped Puppy & The 7 Headed Serpent
January 22, 2025 in Thailand ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C
The last two days I stayed close to the decathlon to make sure the bike would be okay. I rode about 20K both days and everything is in order.

I get up early and probably chose the target a little too far at 104km. The air quality is terrible, traversing a busy Korat city and I am still coughing up chunks and I feel like that cold is still there. Lousy way to start an exotic bike trip.

At my first stop for a drink, about 2.5 hrs in, all of a sudden the pedal gives way and goes crooked in the crank arm. I don't force it. I get fueled up at this little store and I try to get it back in but it will not align straight and the threads will not catch to go all the way back in. Unless I fix this I'm stranded and I'll need a taxi to go back to decathlon. I was just about to give up and on this final try I managed to make it work. Long stop of 2 plus hours. The pedal keeps loosening causing lots of stops. Tomorrow I'm going to weld them in place. There!

104km was more than I should have done off the 4 week xmas couch. My body is complaining loudly. I'm a pooped puppy.

At one of my stops I find a temple It's a special one, the statue leading to the golden Buddha is a seven-headed serpent. It has a different meaning in each of the cultures that has used it.Read more
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SE Asia Traveler
Demons & Monkeys
January 23, 2025 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C
First order of today is getting the pedal fixed by finding a welder, this turns out to be a really fun exercise in exchanging information between the Thai people and me. The translator apps are of limited use but we get it done with pictures.

20km ride to a significant historical monument called Phnom Rung, a temple built on a volcano extinct for some 900,000 years. The name of the temple means vast mountain.. It is dedicated to the Hindu goddess Siva. Construction started in the 900s and continued into the 1200s., during the Khmer period.

One lintel shows demons and monkeys. It is a humoristic view of us humans and the forces we face through our lives.

What amazes me is the amount of detail that is preserved in the stone work. In Europe the stone work of the churches just 400 years old is deteriorating significantly and needs to be restored all the time. The chemistry of air, rainwater and the stone must make the difference. They used a mix of on-site volcanic rock and limestone, probably from the valley floor.

Dinner in Thailand in the 7/11 parking lot where local vendors create fantastic dinners.Read more
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Roadtrip
January 24, 2025 in Thailand ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C
It's a good mix of roads today, some busy trucking roads and some very small dirt tracks through minimalist farms. It shows me many slices of life in Thailand.

There is a temple that was built in 1977 and it shows it's time period. There is also a basalt mine, where you can see the basaltic columns created by rapidly cooled magma. Rubber tree plantations and an enormous rock quarry where they source the aggregate for all the cement based infra-structure that is being built in Thailand.Read more
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Dawn to Dusk - King of Flats
January 25, 2025 in Thailand ⋅ 🌙 28 °C
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Thai locals
January 26, 2025 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 34 °C
I get an incredibly late start at 9:30 a.m. and missed all the cool weather. It'll be 80k today to the hotel in the heat of the day. Straight in, no detours, no sight seeing.

About 22k in I stop at a local store and get to talking to the owners and their friends who are having a meal. Sahk, the younger man is very engaging. I end up sharing some of their meal and they show me things as they question me to find out what I am doing. Sahk is joking I'll never make it to Ko Kood, just stay here!

The elephant temple is right on the road, I had to stop. Then I ride along the Cambodian border, which is outlined by the shear walls of a mountain range. Riding your bike in Thailand not knowing what's ahead, what more could you ask for?Read more
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SE Asia Traveler
Wind and Water
January 27, 2025 in Thailand ⋅ ☁️ 29 °C
The last longer ride before a short one and three weeks of hanging out on a very quiet island.

The wind starts blowing from behind and the smog clears, 60km fly by spinning in the highest gear. A lot like this purple character they have setup by the road.

I run into a superb breakfast buffet. Next to me two Americans yak aggressively about AI. Everyday is different.

With 33km left, I have time to spend at a waterfall near the road. Later there is time to explore the town and there is a fabulous local market with incredible sushi.Read more
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Hanging in the Mangroves
January 28, 2025 in Thailand ⋅ ☁️ 31 °C
It's mighty quiet on the roads and there are offerings on all of the altars. I know something's up. It turns out to be Chinese New Year. The Thai also celebrate their ancestors on this day. I see many setting off fireworks and many crouched in prayer.

I ride by my favorite Buddha statue I have seen so far. It exudes an amazing sense of peace.

In order to be closer to the ferry I upgraded my stay to a nice resort on the edge of a mangrove. It turns out to be super. There is a swing built on a rickety, rope bound, set of bamboo poles. It's an amazing perch from which to observe the wildlife in the mangroves which consists mostly of white egrets.

It's quiet in the resort, I meet a French couple, they just came back from Ko Chang and it was very busy there, Ko Kood will probably be so too. That's ok, I've been off the track.Read more
Traveler nice shot.
1/30/25Reply
Traveler where are the Sorels??
1/30/25Reply
Traveler great one.
1/30/25Reply
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The locals boat
January 29, 2025 in Thailand ⋅ ☁️ 26 °C
Breakfast was included in my fancy resort package of a $30 stay, it was worth much more than that.

I picked the cheapest boat and I'm with the Thai tourists and locals who live on the island. Easiest one to get the bike on as well. The roads on the island are 8 percent grade up and down all the time, so now it's interval training time. While it is not as crazy as the other over touristy islands it is still a tourist spot. Back in a hostel after a week of hotels.Read more
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Ao Jark Beach
January 30, 2025 in Thailand ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C
Started with a multi hour laptop session on a project. Talked with the Swedish girls who I met yesterday on the road climbing a steep hill. Then they showed up in my hostel, now they are on their way to Chiang Mai. They are from the same region in Sweden as Berit.

KoJak is the first of many beach choices, I get a long swim in, a smoothie and rest trying to make up for poor sleep in the hostel last night.

Back and cleaned up, a second laptop session. The beach only lifestyle would get really boring without some stimulation. there are Dutch and French people at the hostel that I end up sharing a table with for dinner.Read more
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Khlonghin Beach
January 31, 2025 in Thailand ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C
Long laptop session in the morning, got to beach after 2pm swam a couple km, hung in hammock, watched people, The Russians on this beach are not talkative or polite. Went next door to dinner, half the price, nicer place. Met Laurence who spends three weeks in Thailand every winter, not longer due to unemployment compensation rules in France. Met a French couple who have traveled Thailand extensively. I'm glad to be on this island, it's still old style from the 90s. Most other islands have been over built and westernized.Read more
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A Na Lay bay
February 1, 2025 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C
Same ol' already? Great laptop session, short ride to a new beach, best one so far, a longer swim, great mango smoothie, ride back, dinner with French people, bed. Wait you have heard this before. Indeed.Read more
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A O Noi beach
February 2, 2025 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C
Just a relaxing beach day. Worked laptop in the evening. Dinner with the French at the Wooden Hut.
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Scooter galantery
February 3, 2025 in Thailand ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C
Laurence wanted to rent an electric bike to see the interior of the island, they were out so a Scooter was another option, but it was up to me to drive. I let her decide what she wanted to see, it's her last day here, We hiked to some waterfalls and had lunch at the Fisherman hut, which is close to the next place I will stay and I'm glad to find out that the food is excellent and priced right and they have live music in the evenings.

At the beach, she reads while I get an overdue massage and we catch the sunset with a mango smoothie. I get on a twirly single rope swing, it's like being a kid again.Read more
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Bang Bao Beach
February 4, 2025 in Thailand ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C
Morning laptopping and making progress. Afternoon 1.5 hour swim running into schools of hundreds of fish, iridescent blue pipefish, a grouper and many others. Notable was the cliff dropping off at the turning point on the cape, tons of fish there too .Mellowing out on a bean bag for sunset. Veggie dinner and chat with the French.Read more
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Ajinta Beach
February 5, 2025 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C
Laptop work morning, met Xavier from Ibiza, Spain. He is my bunk mate. He runs his own business renting Vespas to the top end hotel guests in Ibiza, good business for 6 months of the year, for the rest he travels. It's his fourth time on Koh Kood. He tells me that it only changed moderately in 10 years, that's really good to hear. Still the same vibe.

The swim was slower on tired shoulders and not quite as far. There also wasn't much to see and get excited about. At the turn around point, I looked up to see a completely unspoilt coast line of jungle and tall coconut palms, only one far off thatched roof. There aren't many places left like that. Ajinta beach is completely mellow with a long deserted section on the left. Completely wild.

The French had gone to Huggy Beach for sunset a few days ago, so I'm having dinner there, a warm breeze flows from the water, it's dead quiet except for a few sunset watchers. Maybe it's my ears, they are completely clogged from the expanded wax in my ears, I'll go to the hospital tomorrow to get the wax removed. Papaya and yogurt for desert.Read more
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Ban Bao Bang Beach
February 6, 2025 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C
Went to hospital to get the ear wax removed which was much harder than the nurse thought at first.

Wooden Hut is closed for lunch so I ride down a new dirt path to Wind and Sea, steep enough to rather return via the regular road.

Beach time listening to interesting blogs and a passion fruit smoothie for sunset on a swing. I practice just being, still and content to observe all that is, as is. Two Thai dive boats perfectly frame the sunset, the beanbags are perfectly comfortable. The day fades away into night, the sultry air lingers as the big orange ball dips into the water.

Laptop time over dinner and dessert.Read more
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