The Remote Hospital

1.Arrival at RTC ( smart hire car)

2. Sunny & Me on a big pile of poo

3. Khampuan holds court at lunch

4. Some patients wathcing French movie on Chris's laptop

(No I am not making that up)

5. Irish spot the ball

6. Chris, Souly & Sunny attampting to re activate my spell checker

7. I have no idea apart from 125 cc Honda

8. I'm sorry your morning swim is cancelled

9. first SEDA/EWB meeting

10. Chris with Noi & Ven

It’s been a busy couple of days so I haven’t had time to blog. But it is Monday morning and I have a bit of me time so I’d thought I’d try to get a few words up into the ether. I have met up with what could loosely be described as the ‘team’ which is Sunny, a really cool dude from Canberra, and was instrumental in the instigation of the RTC biogas project, and Chris nationality indeterminant but it is somewhere between French/Swedish and American, although at the current time it is definitely Laos. Permits organised and a hire car found (Souly had a meeting to go to so we had to make our own way up there). When the phrase ‘hire car’ was banded round and images of Getz, Barrina and excel’s come to mind, completely forgetting what the access roads are like to the hospital, so I was pleasantly surprised when a Ford Ranger got delivered. As I’m the only one with the international licence, I had to drive. So the four of us set off, that is myself Chris, Sunny and Somkid from SEDA who was there to ‘keep an eye’ on us and act as interpreter. The trip is a lot more unpleasant than it sounds, I have got used to the VT traffic on a bike (a lot more scarier than anywhere I have been so far), and all of a sudden I’m in a huge 4 wheeled drive, left hand drive with manual gearbox with about a zillion different drive options, instruction book is in French. No problems I can do this. The hospital or RTC as it is known is not far from VT, a left turn at KM 52 on the way to Louanphrabang, the turn off is not marked at all. Then about 10 or 15 Km of some desperately bad road, the Ranger or its ilk are the only tool for the job.
We were welcomed by Master Khampuen and his wife (wife# 5 or 7 we haven’t quit deciphered that yet, seems although being a remarkable doctor, personal relationships are not his strong suit), he is an unbelievable young looking 78 year old and exists on a diet of hard work, Lao beer and local brand of cigarettes called ‘double lucky’, you may be surprised to learn that they do not have a health warning. I have heard a good deal about Khampuen from Souly, Sunny & Chris and was keen to see for myself the work which was being done there, the only diagnostic tool he has is a blood pressure measure kit and some remarkable claims were being made about his abilities. I will state for the record that he is medically trained, he uses a combination of western medicine knowhow and traditional medicine and his own diagnostic abilities, I will come to that later. My personal interest is not in the medical aspects of the centre but the biogas and electricity generation side. But the fact that the place exists is a tribute to local guile, ingenuity and support from donations and of course the work of Master Khampuen. It is a true collective built with next to zero finance. The good doc was in consultations until 2:00PM when we would have lunch together so this gave me ad Sunny some time to shoot the video about the Biogas project. There was a problem with the system as the pressure was down, either there was a leak in the distribution or there was a problem with the fermentation chamber, after some discussion we concluded that the first and obvious thing to do was to put a pressure gauge on the outlet of the fermentation tank to see if the problem is up stream or downstream. I could prattle on about the workings of the biogas system and its construction but that would take forever. The most important thing to know is that every morning 100 kg of cow poo and 100 litres of water are poured into the fermentation chamber and as it breaks down it produces methane, the shape of the fermentation chamber is such that a pressure build up in the dome forces the gas through the outlet and into the distribution system which are then used in a number of burners for cooking and gas lamps, the idea is to convert their small diesel 11.5 hp to run on a mixture of the biogas and diesel as well.
It was a very hot and humid day so lunch was a nice diversion. Khampuen speaks very little English so we worked a lot through Somkid and Sunny who speaks a little Laos, my Thai was useless. We had been chatting and eating for about 30 minutes and Khampuen turned to me and grabbed his right knee. Somkid said “he says you have broken right knee”. I thought I’d seen enough in the world not to be too surprised anymore but I admit to being genuinely surprised on how he would know this. I was wearing tracky dax so you could not see the scar, I do not have a limp at all and I have not told anybody in Laos about my unfortunate drinking injury sustained at the Belgium Eurodemo in ’96, there is no way this man could have been told this. I did a mental double check to see if there is any conceivable way that he could have been told this and again negative. Khampuen pointed to my right eye and said he could see the injury there. Without trying to offend anyone I am not at all spiritual at all and have a severe problem with Runes, Voodoo, hex’s etc etc. This does not include what could be classed as ‘alternative medicines’, the Chinese have been using them for over 5000 years and if they didn’t work they wouldn’t still be using them. So I don’t believe there was any ‘magic’ in his ability and I understand that there is a branch of medicine where the eyes reveal a good deal about your health (name escapes me) but top Kudos to Khampuen for being unbelievable good at it. I still am wary about the claims of some of his work, he has patients recovering from Cancer, diabetes, HIV and the effects of Agent Orange, but I will keep an open mind, especially having had personal experience of his diagnostic abilities.

Looks like the team are turning up, we are making a simple water filter today from clay, coffee grinds and cow poo, what is with the cow poo. Next blog more on poo powered things.

Laos - Sleepy hollow

First of all I’d like to thank all of you who have made comments about my blog, yes I have turned my spell checker off, but I hope that’s not deterring anybody from it, also I have been requested if the link to the blog can be passed on to other people, please go ahead the more the merrier.

I met with Souly from SEDA-Laos (www.SEDA-Laos.org) last night, a very committed and determined young lady. I now have a much better idea of what I’m getting involved with. The EWB member from Melbourne who has been the project leader on the RTC Biogas project will be arriving on Thursday along with another member of the team and we plan to meet later in the day and head up north to the site which is only 50 Km away on the Friday. As I understand it, it is not as straight forward as you might think being a NGO project there is plethora of paperwork and permits. A couple of days spare to take in the local sites and do some research, so this morning I thought I’d take Eddie out for a run and have a look at the local country side. There are not many roads in Laos (and no road signs out of the city) I thought I’d have a spin out to Muang Pakxan about 150 Km away along the Mekong Valley. It is one of the possible routes to Hanoi so I was keen to check out the road conditions. The local maps showing routes out of the city are useless and as I said before, there are virtually no signposts, having learnt lessons about asking directions leaving only the compass and gut feeling to go on. I headed off in what I believed was the right road which went under the Thai-Loa friendship bridge and skirts along the banks the Mekong. About 20 Km’s down the road it became clear that this was a bad decision, the road deteriorated quite dramatically (see photo), I stuck with it for about 5 Km to see if it would improve but it only got worse, the recent flooding tuning the red soil into patches of quagmire. Now along with the not camping thing I’m am not on an ‘off road’ trip either. I understand why people get the buzz from the off road thing and it would be a great adventure but Eddie at getting onto 450 Kg is not the machine I would be wanted to pick up on a regular basis. It was time to head back, and the contemplation of re organising my journey if this is the general standard of the Laos roads. A wrong turn turned out to fortuitous, not only did it put me on the road I wanted by accident but it gave me a chance to see Laos police corruption first hand. I was pulled over for a spot check and told I was to pay a 50000 kip ‘on the spot’ fine, the reason for the fine was unclear, I think it was just a generic ‘on the spot’ fine, I remembered to smile and apologies for my misdemeanour whatever it was, unfortunately I forgot the protocol of not overtly handing over the money and they were very keen to show me it has to be done discreetly. 50000 kip lighter (about $AUD6.50) I set off in the direction of Pakxan. I must admit I did not feel very comfortable on the road at this point. The road was narrow and had numerous lumbering trucks crawling along at 30 Km/h belching out acrid black smoke. The complications came from the other road users antics to get round these trucks which very much relied on you getting out of their way, the weapon of choice of the ‘well-heeled’ Laotian is the ‘Toyota Hilux’, apparently makes you invincible. The road was bumpy and undulated quite badly and there was the odd small pot hole but nothing suspension threatening. About 30 Km out of town I threw off the last remnants of the city traffic and pretty much had the road to myself. The route to Pakxan is a succession of small villages about 10 Km apart, these were a real eye opener. Only ½ hour journey but seemed to have stepped a good 50 years back in time. The overall impression was of a third world or as we correctly say a ‘developing country’. I am acutely aware of making mistakes on first impressions and trundling through on a motorbike only gives you a general feel for a town, village or a city.

But the living conditions could only described as primitive. There were many small towns and villages in Thailand who would be primitive compared to Europe, US or Australia, but this seemed to be taken to new heights (or depths). I must stress that although the conditions are primitive it is not poverty, I’m sure life in these small villages is hard and they would not have the access to healthcare and education we are privileged to have in the west but paradoxically everyone you see looks very healthy (active lifestyle and a proper diet would I’m sure be contributory factors). I rode for about an hour through a succession of these villages, the other thing I noticed was I was really off the tourist trail as I seemed to be the centre of attention for everyone in the village, which can be a bit unnerving at first but if I smiled and waved at anyone it was almost without fail returned with a big beaming smile and a wave or a thumbs up. It did seem that I was something of a celebrity, I was not the first furongse to travel this way but I think the bike was unique, this is a novel experience for me but I warmed to it quite quickly, the only time I’m the centre of attention in Australia is usually after somebody has yelled ‘officer arrest that man’.

The weather ahead looked like it was going to get rough so I thought I’d thought I’d grab a bite to eat and then head back. I’d gathered the information I needed that the roads were fine and there were plenty of small guest houses along the route, to continue to Pakxan would have been surplus especially as it looked like I would have to ride there and back in the rain. I stopped in the town of Ban Tabok which straddled a river. I filled up petrol & noodle soup and was instantly surrounded by a group of smiling, giggling kids. I was not to keen to give them any money, I was still struggling with a currency where anything below 1000 had no value whatsoever, and knew that I would have to give them all the same amount which I’m sure didn’t have also I could have a micro riot on my hands. To be fair they didn’t appear to be begging they were just happy to giggle amongst themselves and stare at this strange apparition that had descended on their town.

The next day I headed in the opposite direction towards the world heritage site of Louangphrabang, this is about 200 Km so was impossible to get there and back in a day, so a similar sort of plan to yesterday was in order, ride until I find something interesting and then turn back, the town of Phon Hong looked like a good spot for refuel and feed so that was my plan. This may sound a bit of an odd way of doing things but it suites my journey the best. If there were more roads I’d take a different way back plus the fact that Laos is a totally new experience for me so there is something new and different around every corner. I have found a short ride then with a few stops, buy some fruit, attempt to converse with the locals and take in the surrounds rather than covering long distances have been more rewarding. The difference in the villages and townships was quite marked from yesterday’s journey, there certainly seemed to be more affluent, there were a smattering of houses which looked like people with money and a number of fairly new looking factories. Numerous signs pointed to construction works and building projects, so clearly money was coming into the area in some form. There was a little more traffic although the road conditions were about the same, a lot more Toyota Hilux’s ‘ metallic silver being the colour of choice, there were so many of these I was beginning to think it was the same one, certainly the driver seemed to be on a mission to hit something with as much impact as possible. I got to Phon Hong and refuelled, and thought I’d get a noodle soup to eat. In the centre of town there was a small market which I thought was worth a check out and to buy some fruit, I’m not normally a fan of markets but this was defiantly in the bizarre and exotic, I could have spent hours their sampling all the weird and wonderful foods they had of offer. I was accosted by a young lady with a small barrow with a strange selection of goods, including digital watches. I mentioned previously that I was in need of watch so I thought a bit of haggling might be fun. Now before haggling it is important to a. understand the currency and b. understand the language. The currency as I’ve said I still have a problem with, parting with 100,000 of anything seems excessive but it will only get you bowl of soup, the notes don’t have the value clearly marked and in some cases, as with the 20000 have different numbers of them. Also the Thai language and therefore I am taking an educated guess the Laotian language has different words for 1,000, 10,000, 100,000 and 1,000,000. Not a problem in Thailand where the numbers are realistic but when every single transaction is 6 or 7 figures it becomes a bit of a handful. Very important points in the haggling game, needless to say I think I got a raw deal from this very smooth operator who is destined for big things, I paid over $AUD15 for a watch I could have got for less than $10 in Springvale. Hey I’m not complaining $5 for the experience is worth it and I now have a watch which is bang on time twice a day. On my journey back into Vientiane I stopped to take pictures of the new national stadium under construction, by far the largest civic construction project ever undertaken in Laos. This should give you an idea of this remarkable country, there is nothing spectacular to look at,( I haven't been to Laungphrabang yet) there are the numerous temples as there are all over the Buddhist world, all beautiful and ornate in their own right, but unremarkable when put into context. It is a sleepy backwater of the Asian subcontinent but with a vibrancy and appeal which is distinctly Laotian.

Thought for the day.

Before setting off on my trip much vaunting was made of the perils of such a journey. This journey was supposed to be an adventure and with all adventures there is an element of danger and a good deal of inconvenience. If you can’t accept that you might as well stay at home or go on a cruise. The dangers can be spilt easily into two, there are the road hazards and there are people hazards. Riding a motorbike anywhere is potentially dangerous; the thrill of the ride is its main attraction. There are parts of Melbourne, particularly around St. Kilda where you do feel you are taking your life in your hands. Riding round Bangkok and Chiang Mai is just plain hairy, however on reflection the speeds are pretty low so unless it is a freakish accident, a dink would most likely be limited to superficial damage to the bike and the odd bruise. The open roads offer new dangers with stray fauna which in Laos tend to be either dogs, cattle, water buffalo or goats, of which the dogs are the most dangerous, you would tend to slow down if there is a heard of buffalo near the road, they are big and stupid but would normally be facing the direction of the road before stepping onto it, the goats you would only find in the surrounds and in the villages, as you would generally slow down going through a village even if it is just to have a look, you would be able to brake in time. The dogs could run out from anywhere and there are quite a few out in the countryside. There are a few pot holes but nothing so far that could be a real problem, riding within the limits of the machine, the limits of your ability and the limits of the road conditions are the wise words indeed.

The people problems are the most unpredictable, I have not been anywhere that I felt threatened in anyway, and on the contrary everyone I have met has been friendly and courteous and has been enthralled by the futile attempts of a furongse to speak their language.

Being a furongse, especially on a large motorcycle, you are an oddity and therefore by default something of a potential target for any loon in the vicinity, also it wouldn’t take a genius to figure you are probably carrying more money than they could earn in a month, even if you are not you would certainly give that impression. To conclude the ‘people danger’ is no worse than in the west in fact there are good arguments that would suggest that it is a good deal less, it is the fact you stand out raises your profile. Following basic safety procedures and instinctively being aware that you are the centre of somebody’s attention and its potential hazards are just common sense.

What I have found from the people I have met on my trip is that even living in what are essentially several notches down the standard of living ladder, their welcome is always warm, the smiles are genuine and the laughter spontaneous. Perhaps with all the luxury trappings with become accustomed to in our lifestyles we have forgotten the basics, perhaps these Laotian villagers can teach us something.

1. Stop for a cold drink

2. Cattle Hazzard

3. Next year I'll be bigger than Ratners

4. Nipping down to the shops

5. Cow in transit

6. Bizzare Bizzare

7. The New National Stadium

8. Vientiane Victory monument 1

9. Vientiane Victory monument 2

10. Caution kitchenware in transit

11. Fruit & Veg

12. Fruit & Veg

13. The Town of Ban Thebok

14. The new trike

15. Lunch audiance

16. Fresh Bacon

17. The Wrong road

18. Lunch break

19 Lunch break

This is Vientiane calling

1. Yours truely putting final touches to this blog in

the selubrious souroundings of the Mekong Hotel

2. The Mekong Hotel and one of Vientiane's 'busiest' thoroughfares

3. Fishing on the Mekong

4. Nice place for lunch

5. Evidnce of the recent flooding

6. View from my hotel room

Welcome to Laos

A good six weeks into my trip I have finally entered my second country. Udon Thani is only 60 Km’s from the Laos border and the capital, Vientiane is only about 20 Km’s in on the other side, the plan was to get me into a hotel by mid afternoon . Just a as a matter of interest the Thais’ do not have a ‘v’ in their language so pronounce Vientiane ‘WenChan’ . In distance terms it is certainly within an hour’s ride, but add a border crossing into the mix and anything could happen. So it was a fairly leisurely pack after my swim and a head off at around 10:30 AM. As is now almost a daily routine about 15 Km’s up the road the heavens opened again this time with real gusto. I put on the waterproofs but this was a monsoon, the genuine article and riding was difficult, I was looking for one of the roadside shelters that cover the countryside to take refuge whilst the rains did their worst but it was over just as quickly as it started. At this stage I did not have Laos currency (the kip) and although I had enough fuel to get to Vientiane I wanted to fill up as a matter of precaution. There wasn’t any hurry, I knew I would be in a hotel by mid afternoon but there is a slightly uneasy feeling of low fuel and no currency which just smacks of bad planning. The border town of Nong Khai looked like the place to fuel up and maybe get a bite to eat whilst I still had some comprehension of the language. (Remember I had been advised that they would speak Thai in Laos but never take anything for granted). I entered the outskirts of Nong Khai on Highway 2 and before I knew it I was at the border crossing, so I thought I’d hang the refuel and at least grab some currency. It was fairly busy the vast majority of people travelling by couch either from Laos to Thailand or visa versa. A furongse on a Thai motorbike threw them a bit.
Now bleating on about border crossings is in the same rich vein as bleating on about travelling by airline travel and I wouldn’t want to step onto that slippery slope, I understand the need for border integrity and customs control but why why all those pieces of paper ?. I have vague recollections in the past of travelling throughout Europe needing passport controls and customs checks, with the EU that has all but disappeared unless you are travelling in out of the UK. Australia being a huge Island does not even have the opportunity to sample the delights of the red tape frenzy which are border controls. I was arrived expecting problems which always a good attitude to have so if it all goes smoothly it is a pleasant surprise. I was regretting not having a good feed before arriving (a good piece of advice by the way, you have no idea how long you could be there). As always, the key virtues are patience, politeness and keep smiling, they have a procedure they have to stick to and I was prepared to pay a bribe if it oiled the wheels. A good lesson I took with me from the series ‘long way round’ is to ask if there is a ‘fee’ to pay, which gives the illusion that the bribe is official. To be fair to the customs and immigration they helped me through the procedure of the forms which as always is far too many, I have just counted I am now no less than 12 pieces of paper heavier than I was before I arrived at the border crossing. There were two booths facing one another, one for declaring exportation of a vehicle from Thailand, the other declaring the importation of the vehicle to Laos. Most of the paperwork revolved around the vehicle, the visa I had acquired in Australia was no problem, but I had to too and fro between the two booths no less than 3 times, each time queuing with another 20 or so people doing the same thing. The immigration guards although not being overtly friendly were no officious and seemed happy to help a furongse through the forms. The whole process took less than an hour and I was waved through the gate. I was not prepared to pack the paperwork away and put my helmet on until I was clear of the customs post and on the road; you just know there is going to be at least one more check. The narrow road turns to the left and heads out over what is called the Lao- Thai Friendship Bridge. I did notice that there were still an abundance of Thai flags and the yellow flags of the king. Which confirmed to me that I was still very much in Thailand? The narrow bridge crosses the Mekong which at this point is very wide (about ½ Km) halfway across the flag changes to that of the Laos PDR and the walkway next to the road has quaintly, a small gate. Down on the other side of the bridge was the enviable border crossing and customs post which means that the whole process had to be repeated. I was told to park the bike up and join the queue for a visa, my first discovery I made in Laos is they do not speak Thai (although I think in truth they speak a version of Thai which is heavily accented, as I was already in trouble with pronunciations I was not being understood). Although after I showed the guard my passport with the visa he still insisted I stood in the queue for a visa, I am guessing the usual logic failure, his job was to point people to the visa booth, visa or not. A 15 minute wait to get to the visa booth, the customs officer looked and my passport and visa handed them back and pointed to the immigration booth and said ‘go immigration’. (Remember this is the point you smile). The customs department shown great interest in the green book and spent a good half hour checking the details. This stop was about an hour and a half and I managed to get some money changed at the same time. Now there are 30 BHT to the Aussie Dollar and there are about 250 kip to the Dollar, by my calculations that means that there are 7500 kip to the dollar. The 2000 kip note for some reason has the figure 6000 printed on it as well as the denomination of 2000,now that is annoying in a league of its own. It was now mid afternoon so I thought and short blat into Vientiane, hotel, feed, shower. After leaving the immigration building I became almost instantly aware of how little research I had done on Laos and never never rely on the locals to give you vital information. The Laotians drive on the right, a fact I only discovered when I turned onto the road to Vientiane and I realised everybody was heading straight for me. WHY DIDN’T ANYBODY TELL ME.? Som times I annoy myself with my own stupidity, Laos is a former French colony, of course they are going to drive on the right.
The first night I found myself a cheap and cheerful hotel which was a bit too much cheap and cheerful, I’m getting used to the fact that in the cheaper hotels it is a lot to be expected that everything works and in good order. But a failed fridge and failed shower are beyond the limit.
I had a quick sojourn into the city last night, roughly the size of Adelaide and fairly quiet, but quite pretty. The French influence is everywhere, in the road names ,the architecture, the sawn-off toilets, and numerous French Restaurants ‘la Provincial’ etc. It would be nice to have a meal which did not have either rice or noodles in it. I stopped at a Chinese restaurant and had good feed of Peking duck and watched the losing ceremony of the Beijing Olympics on TV with a group of very excited and animated Chinese men. I stopped and had a massage on the way back to the hotel, I must admit I was expecting a woman but I got a man but was a good massage, this was a Laos massage which as I can figure is a less traumatic version of a Thai massage. The Sojourn also gave me a chance to check out an alternative hotel and the Mekong Hotel which runs alongside the river looked favourite.
The following morning, yes it’s raining again, not serious what you might call Welsh Sunshine, which is the rain you get in Wales when it’s officially not raining, and run across town to the Mekong Hotel. At US$50 a night it is by far the most expensive hotel I’ve stayed in and is pushing my budget but what a room, a view of the Mekong, kettle, ADSL internets and EVERYTHING WORKS.
Tonight I am meeting Souly who is the director of SEDA- Laos a charity who are involved in social development projects in the North of Laos. For those who are unaware I belong to an organisation called ‘Engineers without borders’ who are involved in development projects in poorer parts of the world. As I understand it on Thursday I am meeting a fellow Engineer who is flying in from Melbourne and we head off to the north to have a look at a project converting an old diesel generator to run on bio fuel. I believe we are shooting a video as well. I’m sure as the story unravels it will be slightly different but that is the nature of things. Personally I am looking forward to getting involved, I doubt my level of expertise is going to work miracles but I am happy to help in any capacity. It also gives me a chance to meet and get involved with the locals which I generally find a lot more rewarding than spending time with expats.

Erawan Caves

The Erawan Caves:

I’ve been in the very pleasant town of Udon Thani for 5 days now, it’s a good place to chill for a while, about 100 Km’s out of town back towards the town of Loei ( I cannot get the pronunciation of that one at all) according to my map are the Erawan Caves. Because of the name check with the B&B I thought they have to be worth a visit. My problem has been the rainy season seems to be lingering on way to long; it should have finished at the end of June , we are well in to August we are still getting some serious rainfall once or twice a day. This morning the weather looked a bit more promising so I decided today was the day I was to do the caves. Needless to say 15 km’s out of Udon, the heavens opened. I did bring may waterproofs with me and the rains didn’t last long, but rain and motorbikes are never good bedfellow. I wasn’t too sure what to expect from the caves, two nights ago I met some Thai people who made much ado about the 610 steps required to get to the cave entrance and the need to be fit and have a strong heart. Could be a bit of a hike but I reckon I was up to it.
The site of the cave is really quite striking and can be spotted from some distance away, it consists of a series of very steep hills jutting out from a fairly flat countryside, the largest of which has the Erawan Caves which bore right through the hill from one side to the other. Visually the nearest comparison I can think of is Hanging Rock in Victoria, but much higher by quite a way.
The entrance is clearly marked from the highway even though they had changed the spelling to Arawan. It appeared to be a small monastery surrounded by a few stalls selling food, drinks and tasteless tat. It wasn’t very busy, apart from the monks, the stall holders there was only one other vehicle in the car park, an oldish gentleman from Darwin who had a Thai wife who was clearly too young for him and a family that filled a Toyota Hilux, they were just leaving but he did say if I was going to the cave that I should be prepared for quite a hike.
I packed my jacket and helmet into the bike and grabbed my camera, I had my trainers on which I reckoned were the way to go and I decided that the purchase of a bottle of water would be a smart move. After the purchase I made my way to the steps which climbed up to the mouth of the cave about half way up the hill (mountain). As far as I could figure there is no actual fee to enter but you are encouraged to make a donation, I put 100BHT (about AUD$3.50) and the lady at the entrance seemed happy with that. As far as I could make out I was the only visitor so it was going to be a long lonely climb. The first 200 or so steps go straight up from the entrance and then takes a sharp left along a slightly inclined walkway. Another sharp turn and another flight of steps. 610 steps normally shouldn’t be a problem, I wouldn’t say I was super fit but 610 steps shouldn’t be a problem in normal circumstances but add the heat and humidity into the equation and I was starting to puff and pant by the time got to the first rest stop. I wasn’t feeling too bad so I carried on. The steps got steeper and twisted around the rock formations. I was glad to reach the second stop as I was breathing very heavily and my heart rate had shot up. I took a swig of water now realising it was an inspired purchase. I had a break for about 5 minutes to catch my breath and then on with the final leg.
The entrance to the cave is huge, we are talking double decker buses (numerous) and it is dominated by a huge statute of Buddha in the lotus position. Like many of the Buddhist places in Thailand the blend between a place of religious practice and tourist attraction is blurred (the same could be said for the world’s great cathedrals). What was clear however is the standards applied for visitor safety are not as strictly adhered to in Thailand as they are in the west. I descended into the cave over what is very uneven and rocky ground which sloped downwards. There are lights guiding you through once you leave daylight, the ubiquitous 1 meter long white fluro tube which seems to be the weapon of choice across Thailand and can be hung at every conceivable angle apart from horizontal. The central cavern is enormous and there was the odd squeak of bat flying around above me. I have been to Buchan caves in Victoria’s East which has more stalactites and stalagmites formations so is very pretty but the for sheer size Erawan is awe inspiring. Also I the fact I was there on my own in this vast cavern, I really did feel like Arni Scahnesum.
The floor started to incline towards the far exit; I could just see a glimmer of sunlight in the distance and unfortunately the level of lighting drops dramatically. This part was very dangerous as the ground was both uneven and wet and impossible to see, it would have been easy to slip and break or twist and ankle and god knows how long I would be lying there before I was found. I was very glad that I had Eddie in the car park so even the vaguest mind would be able to eventually put 2 and 2 together. Anyway the only thing for was to grope my way across the floor, and testing every step thoroughly, still clutching my trusty bottle of water. Slow progress for about 50 meters and the sunlight light intensifies and lights up the way through a succession of large boulders. To get to the exit there is another set of about 75 concrete steps which seemed to be the latest incarnation of egress built on top what look like a very dodgy wooden step ladder and even more dangerous looking wooden steps. Once you get to the exit there is a stupendous view of the countryside from the other side of the mountain but little else, A safety barrier stops you from attempting the suicidal decent of the rock face.
I sat and pondered the universe for a while whilst I caught my breath and in some way quite pleased that I was blocked from doing any exploring as I was about out of water and I reckoned I had my fill of steps and rocky floors for the day, so I contemplated the trek back. OK the 610 steps would now be going downwards but there was the dodgy traverse back through the cave to negotiate. I was sweating profusely, the caves are cooler than the daylight but the humidity was very high, so I finished that last of the water, by the time I had returned to the original entrance.
The trek back was easier; I had a good idea of where the major obstacles were so I was reunited with Eddie only about half an hour later. I was pretty exhausted and in need of a shower and a change of clothes but I was so glad that I’d made the effort. The incentive in the first place had just been because of the name link with Erawan B&B, but it is the unknown little gems you find almost by accident that are the most rewarding.

Practical advice for that may follow

Practical advice for those who may follow ( A.S.)
Most of us have done a bit or bike touring in the past so I don’t want to sound like I’m teaching you to suck eggs but I’d say my trip is a little bit more ‘out there’ than most so I thought I’d make some observations on the stuff I carry with me and some of the mistakes I have made and some of the things I have got right.
To start off riding gear, I purchased an Ixon vented jacket which has been a real bonus. It was a three layered affair consisting of a thermal layer and a water proof layer. The additional two layers stayed at home, you are never going to get cold in Thailand. It also has protective padding on the back, shoulders and arms. I really wish I bought matching pants because it is absolutely ideal. I tend to wear a decent pair of tracky dax which is not ideal but jeans in traffic are just too sweaty. For water proofing I have my trusty all-in-one which I have bungee strapped (hockey strapped) to the top box for easy access.
I also bought a pair of Axo boots which were the lightest I could find. They are great and give good protection but be prepared for your feet to smell when you take them off.
I brought two helmets with me my Shoei open face and a skate board helmet, the idea was to have a cooler helmet for Bangkok traffic and a skate board helmet seemed a good compromise. Wearing helmets on a motorbike is compulsory in Thailand although it is a law which is not rigidly enforced. If you are a furongse you can be expected to be stopped and pay a 300 BHT on the spot ‘fine’. I have found the Shoei to be more than adequate and the skateboard helmet is surplus, therefore left in Bangkok. If you are in the city on real hot days, I take the helmet off as the heat started becoming uncomfortable and put on a bandana for protection from the sun and accept the 300 BHT fine if it occurs. Yes I can be criticised for this but if you are sitting in stationary traffic in Bangkok and it is around 36 degrees and in the 90% humidity, your head just starts to fry.
For gloves I wear fingerless which only offer a minimum of protection and a well vented armoured pair would have been better. Leave the leather gauntlets at home.
I have not organised a secure ‘compartment’ to access useful and important stuff on the road so I pack the top box with these items at the top. It is a bit of hassle but it is the best system I have.
The items I pack to get easy access to are:
a. Plastic wallet with the copies of your important documents, your map (add compass to than)
b. Telephones ( put the Tourist police number on short dial)
c. Sun cream.
d. Map
e. Camera
I couple of years ago I stopped wearing a watch, it was Jo who put me onto this, in today’s modern world clocks are absolutely everywhere as just about everyone has a mobile phone there seems to be very little need for a watch. Unfortunately with my packing arrangement I have to open my top box to get the time.
Travelling alone I have found the laptop to be indispensable, it is not just the office where I can put together the rantings together but also a music centre and I can watch movies. And of course there is a small DVD wallet with movies & TV shows in. I brought with me a couple of small Logitech speakers. It is a big over head in terms of space but I would not be without it.
My only real luxury is my travel kettle and a couple of travel mugs, if I needed to make more space it would be the first to go. None of the hotels I have stayed in have tea and coffee in the room, it’s not a Thai thing to do. I purchase ‘Birdy 3 in1’ which is a local coffee which is in sachets which have the coffee, creamer and sugar all in one. I also have peppermint tea and sachets of sugar, the whole milk thing is a headache and tropical countries are not big on dairy products for obvious reasons, so a beverage you like that doesn’t require milk is the way to go. What I did not bring with me and purchased in Bangkok is a plastic place and a knife and fork, the local fruits are excellent and well worth trying. Your room will have no means to cut prepare and serve these so these items are essential.
The only other item which could be considered a luxury is my swimming goggles, however if space was an issue I would throw out an item of clothing first. The Bathers can double as under dax with the standard 4 day rotation.
My travelling book is Common Wealth by Jeffrey Sachs, I know a bit heavy weight and not your normal holiday book but that’s my choice, I wish I’d picked a smaller book; it takes up too much space.
As many of you may know I suffer from a condition called Sleep Apnoea which means I have to sleep with a device called CPAP (Continuous Positive Air Pressure) which is a mask which pumps air into my nasal cavity so consists of a small air pump and a mask and piping. Before I started my trip I purchased the smallest unit available and it is a huge overhead in space terms but is essential for a good night’s sleep, it is another reason why the camping thing is a real pain because I would not be able to use it.
I have two mobile phones, one that has my Australia SIMcard with global roaming and an old Nokia which has a local ‘pay as you go card’, and of course both phones have chargers, also there is a battery charger for the camera batteries.
Of course with all these items needing power, I purchased a multi board in Bangkok, I have noticed that hotels rooms are really stingy in power outlets, your TV will have one so there will always be at least 1, but you can’t run phone chargers and computer and battery chargers, kettles at the same time.
I have a sizeable travel medical kit which I purchased form a travel doctor which contains some prescription drugs and a certificate stating I can carry these for personal use. I have had no course at present to use anything apart from tiger balm from the kit, but leave a medical kit behind at your peril.
I brought my head shaver which I’ve had a couple of years, it’s a good one but the purchase of smaller unit would have been wise.
Very important is a folder with all your documents in which I place in the bottom of the top box, The original documents for your passport, International drivers licence, Green book and insurance. Addresses and telephone numbers of the Australian consulates in all the countries, insurance certificates, emergency contact details in both Thai and English, telephone numbers of credit card companies etc etc. there are two copies of this folder, one is with Ad in Bangkok and one is with Handle in Melbourne. On top of this I have a number of books on the Thai language including a Thai/ English dictionary which seems to take up an inordinate amount of room, but I would feel lost without it.
I have a rudimentary tool kit, it is impossible to take all the tools you need for any eventuality, sound advice from Jazz is you should have the tools for removing both the wheels. I good Swiss army knife is a practical thing to take anywhere. I pack this at the top of the left hand pannier for easy access.
The only thing left is my toilet bag with soap, toothbrush razor etc. and clothes. Because of the extremely hot and humid weather every time you leave your room you are ready for a new t shirt within 5 minutes, it is a compromise of space against comfort how many t shirts you pack, I have 5. A couple of pairs of shorts and 2 pairs of quality tracky dax, and a pair of jeans, a pair of trainers and a pair of sandals brings me up to the full compliment.
My biggest mistake has been keeping the stylish but now infuriatingly impractical panniers that came with the bike. I ditched the good quality gear sack pair I borrowed from Handle in Bangkok, in favour of the permanently attached slightly larger bike panniers. It means that every stop and every departure is a drama of moving my gear down to the bike by means of 2 waterproof bags and loading all my stuff in one item at a time. The shape of the panniers make it difficult to put the waterproof bags in first and then fill, so a lot of the stuff is going to get wet when it rains heavy. There are usually spectators, there are always several spare security guards and although they really only want to help sometimes create more problems than they solve. The straps do not adjust so when you over load the pannier you can’t close it, so it’s taking all the stuff out and starting again. The gear sack panniers would have meant that I could pack everything in my room prior to check out and loading, all in water tight bags. Bad decision but, hey has to live with it.

Keep upright

Guz

Posssibly the best biking road in the world

1. Nasty weather ahead

2. The road through Nam Nao national park

3. ?

4. The spectaclar views from highway 12

5. Caffine break

6. The Thais know how to do toilet freshners

7. & 8. Highway 11 between Lampang and Uttaradit

9.Sala at Way palace

Chiang Mai to Phitsanulok and onto Udon Thani

A very contentious issues and I have ridden had some good ones in the past. Australia certainly can claim to have some corkers along the East coast & Tasmania, I have fond memories of Norway and let’s face it some of the roads in the mountains of North Wales are pretty good (if it’s not raining) plus you can always be sure of a regal welsh welcome at every stop ( I am with Bill Bailey on this one, there is no such thing as a Welsh language, they just make silly noises to annoy the English).Also I must admit I haven’t ridden a bike through central Europe I.E. Switzerland, Australia and Northern Italy which has been mused as ‘the best driving roads in the world’ by the lager based life forms which are the ‘Top Gear’ crew. To be honest I didn’t know what to expect touring through Thailand. The research I did before arriving suggested that there are some good roads but I did have mental images of suspension challenging pot holes, stray fauna, and random acts of driving. Don’t get me wrong, they do exist but I was not expecting the standard of roads I have encountered in the last two days.
My plan was to ride from Chiang Mai in the North West right through to Udon Thani in the east and just shy of the Laotian border. I was figuring that it was about 800km and therefore doable in a day, a long day admittedly, but a day all the same. The hotel staff said it was impossible but in all honesty according to the Thai people I spoke to, anything over 20km on a motorbike was impossible. It wasn’t until I talked to some English ex pats who said it would be very difficult to do in a day did I start to take notice.
OK, if I set of early I’ll just see how the road and time would pan out, after all I wasn’t a courier and the idea was to enjoy the journey rather than race through the country. I would head down highway 11 again back the way I came into Chaing Mai but this time head straight on at Lampang towards Uttaradit & Phitsanulok. Studying the map Phitsanulok seemed a logical place to make a decision whether to carry on or get a hotel for the night. The road between Phitsanulok and Khon Kaen was not blessed with sizable towns and therefore unlikely to have any decent hotels or any hotels at all for that matter. And once I was through Phitsanulok my bridges were burnt it was all the way to Khon Kaen which looked at least another four hour ride.
It was a Sunday morning when I set off, not to humid and traffic very light looking forward to the ride and in good spirits, I just wished the road a little more interesting. At 90 km I hit the town of Lampang and continued on highway 11 and the road really opened up and I made real good progress through some very hilly country side. A quick stop for a bite to eat and to check directions, something with rice and chicken again but very spicy. Interesting little restaurant which had very neat and tidy tables each with their own little gazebo, but the whole thing blended seamlessly into the families house. When I went to use the bathroom I had to walk through their open plan living room/ bedrooms complete with dogs and chickens. In the middle of the restaurant one of the family was repairing his motorbike.
The road to Uttaradit was glorious, very hilly and twisty which was heaps of fun but my kph was dropping, never mind. A quick caffeine stop outside Uttaradit and a text from Handle telling me the Tigers had thumped the Hawks by 40 points, OK I didn’t get it in the tipping but I’ll still count it as a result.
After Uttaradit the highway was under constant repair and some very scary driving. By the time I was reaching the outskirts of Phitsanulok I was tired and in need of a shower. I thought I’d try and find a decent hotel. Being Sunday I was hoping that the TV might have the bike racing from Brno if I was lucky. To be honest Phitsanulok didn’t look like much of a town, There were a number of signs to hotels on the right turn into town so it seemed the logical place to head, oddly enough there was a road sign for Kuala Lumpur at no less than 1800 Km’s. It is odd because an annoying convention they seemed to have is to only show signs to local villages and not major towns and cities. The villages were too small to be shown on my map which made navigating pretty difficult. If you get lost it is pointless asking directions.
Found a hotel which had a good view of an unremarkable looking city, the Pailyn Hotel for 900 Bht a night ( AUD$30 )including what is called an ‘ American Breakfast’ which is a badly made, tasteless and uncultured version of and English breakfast. Best news was as soon as I got into my room turned the Air-conditioning and TV on, the 125 race from Brno had just started - top result.
Next day after a cold American breakfast and dubious coffee I set out looking for highway 12 to Khon Kaen, this proved more problematic than I thought. I headed off in what I thought was probably the right direction but soon got the feeling I was going the wrong way. I stopped and asked directions (I know I break my own rules) and they confirmed I was on the right road, still not convinced I stopped to refuel and again confirmed I was heading in the right direction. I continued for another 15 Km until I reached a signed which confirmed my suspicion that I was heading in the wrong direction. I did bring a compass with me, but did not have the good sense to have it within easy reach, I fact I will rectify on the next leg. I have found that going with my own gut instincts in direction and checking the map against place names at junctions has served me much better than asking directions. I am not too sure what the problem is, I am sure they don’t do it deliberately, perhaps if I am mispronouncing the place name they could be thinking I asking directions to somewhere else, I sincerely think they just don’t know where anything is.
I had lost about an hour’s riding by the time I got back to the junction where the error was made which to be honest was not well signposted. But I was finally on highway 12 towards Khon Kaen and then route 228 Udon Thani. Udon Thani by nightfall was a shoe in. Outside the city highway 12 turned into one of the best biking roads in the world. Good surface, and a combinations of all variations of bends, undulations and straights in a constantly changing sequence, combine this with warm sunny weather, virtually no traffic worth mentioning and someone incredibly spectacular scenery , it doesn’t come any better. The road includes a blat through the Nam Nao national park which was just beautiful, there were numerous sings warning of elephants crossing, I think it was a bit of tourism BS ( i.e. beware of Leprechauns)
A caffeine break in the hills with and interesting urinal layout (see photo) and then onto Khon Kaen and a bite to eat. Khon Kaen didn’t strike me as much of a town either but it would be unfair to judge a place by such a short flying visit. A different variation on Tuk Tuks, these are the slowest of them all.
Another mix up in directions to Udon Thani highway 228, although I admit this time I was at fault. The road that I was directed on would have got me to Udon Thani but by a different route, I decided to turn back and take the road I wanted which was very well hidden. The road surface deteriorated quite badly especially through the numerous small towns which seemed to consist mainly of pot holes. As the timing coincided with school throwing out time which meant the roads would be crawling with the Thai version of the Dolmus ( a pick up converted with two bench seats running length ways designed to carry about 8 people but will happily carry over 20) I will attempt to find the Thai name for them. They are everywhere at school and factory knocking off time and come complete with myopic drivers.
The country side changed again, much flatter and back to paddy fields and some very heavy rain storms in the distance. I reckoned if I was lucky was heading in a slightly different direction and would end the day without getting monsooned.
By this time I realised that I was clocking up to 600 Km for the day, adding the 400 Km from yesterday makes Chaing Mai around 1000 Km, I am so glad I chose to take it over 2 days, I day would have been too much and I get to enjoy 2 days riding rather than not enjoying 1.
Next report Udon Thani

1. The lovely ladies at the Oasis hotel

2. Restaurant, house, repair shop, chicken coup all in one

3. A slow day on highway 11 oustide of lampang

4. Roadside trading

5. Phitsanulok from my hotel room

6. Last night in Chaing Mai, John, Jintana, another expat Pom and Jintana's family

(sorry flash is not to flash)

7. eddie gets a clean before heading to Udon Thani