Sorry it's been so long since I've posted anything. I've been going nonstop ever since my plane landed in Thailand (almost 7 weeks ago!). Just writing that makes me realize how much time has flown by. So my first 2.5 weeks were spent in Ton Sai, a beach town near Krabi that boasts world class rock climbing and a super relaxed backpacker scene. That was awesome (see my earlier blog for a link to pictures).
Then we headed back to Bangkok where Nicole and I were to begin our epic adventures together. We had such a good time together, so much that we both walked away with the 'best vacation ever' title to be imprinted on our photo album. We ran back down to Ton Sai (Thailand) where we climbed for a few more days, then crossed the peninsula east to the island of Ko Pha Ngan where we explored waterfalls, discovered our own private beach and personal paradise of Hat Khuat Beach, surreal. Then we caught a flight to Luang Prabang, Laos where we went on an elephant trek, took a Laotion cooking class, played in a heavenly blue waterfall and fell in love with a super lazy city. Then caught a train to Vang Vieng, Laos. This place totally took the cake (at least my slice of it). We rented bikes for about $1 USD/day and after some persuasion they threw in some well needed umbrellas for sun shade. We rode to the blue lagoon and cave where we found some of the bluest water I've ever seen and our own personal swimming hole (here's an appetizer until I can upload all of them (http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2023279&id=64201834&l=afc62). From there, we caught the public bus down to Vientiane, Laos and zipped down to Singapore, where we strategically booked a room in the heart of the Singapore's red light district (actually we ended up there by total chance that the cheapest hotel online happened to be there....thanks cheaphotels.com). It was actually rather depressingly comical....this RLD didn't exactly have the girls behind glass. The first night we pulled up, it was raining and the street was lined with umbrellas spaced about 10 feet apart. In addition, all of the streets all run parallel and each street represents a different ethnicity. We think our street was mandarin Chinese.
Then came the bicycle preparation. We tracked down the bicycle shop that brought us to Singapore in the first place, T.R. Bikes (We Pimp Your Ride). I bought my bicycle from these guys, who turned out to be some of the coolest guys on the planet. So I got a first glance at my chariot, all that stood between Charlie and I pedaling into the abiss was Charlie's bike, which was shipped all the way from Alaska. So as it turns out, his bicycle was waiting for us to pick up at what would be the Singapore equivalent to the Customs Area at any of our international ports (if that helps out at all :)). So Charlie and I knowing darn well that his bicycle box, filled with all of his gear (bicycle, tent, sleeping bag, clothes, etc) was much too large to fit inside a taxi (a. he had his bicycle box custom made, b. only people with clearance were allowed inside the gate). So we went through about a 4 hour process of paying tax on his bicycle, receiving the appropriate permits, clearing his box then getting the freaking fork lift drivers to get his box. We finally got the box and decided that he would simply assemble his bicycle and ride it back to the hostel (some 20 km away) and I would just grab public transport back. Well....we changed our mind after getting freaked out about customs agents peeved at us opening the box, so we were stuck with one gigantic box, which neither of us could plausibly carry to the front of the gate and no transport to take us there. So we flagged down some random truck drivers, who at first looked at us like we were completely retarded then obliged to help us out. So Charlie and I rode in the back of what appeared to be a truck full of sacks of grain through customs. Then spent another 20 minutes in front of the customs gate asking/harassing large enough trucks until one super nice man agreed to give us a ride back to the bike shops area for a few extra sings. (See pictures below). It was a pretty epic day....but all the pieces of the bicycle puzzle has aligned and we were ready to start cycling.
So let the bicycle journey begin!
Charlie, Nicole and I spent the last night sorting gear, packing our bags and preparing for our departure from Singapore. It was at this point that I realized a very important lesson in bicycle touring; always pick a hotel room closest to the ground floor because bicycles don't exactly fit on elevators (at least not asian elevators). I know, you might be saying, 'that seems pretty logical'......well, it wasn't at the time. We were on the 6th floor...
The next morning, we hit the road through the outskirts of Singapore's Red Light District and directly into town where Charlie and I 'popped our cherry' and delicately weaved (wove?) through Singapore traffic (which is on the left side of the road). We were so amped to be riding that we flew into town. We arrived at the harbor front center and bought ourselves two one way tickets to Pekanbaru, Sumatra (Indonesia). We loaded our bicycles onto the ferry and embarked on what is to be an absolutely epic journey....
1 hour later, we arrived in Sekupung (Batam) and jumped another ferry to Selat Panjang. We exited the boat and it was immediately apparent that we were the most interesting and peculiar things to ever grace this tiny island. We literally stopped traffic, everyone surrounded us as if they had never seen anyone like us before and immediately wanted to either shake our hands, take their picture with us, or just sit down and chat with us (which was interesting because the only English phrases that most people knew was: 'Hey Mister!' and 'How are you?'). One person actually spoke semi-coherent english and we were informed that 'farrangs' (foreigners) havent landed on that island in over 5 years. It was pretty incredible....then we saw this huge, ancient, wooden, barely alive, blue boat limp into the port. It seriously reminded me of what I would envision an old slave boat harboring hundreds of slaves, with each person receiving a tiny cubby hole for sleeping space and a small circle approximately the diameter of one's head above their bed for looking out the window. We exchanged smiles with tons of people, who at this point had each poked their heads out of their personal 'windows' in amazement at our mere existance. It wasn't until a few minutes later that someone came by, looked at our boat tickets and pointed to that ancient gigantic blue vessel. We were stoked...riding this asian titantic some 10 hours with no other foreigners. It was awesome; a tile bed, no blankets, no one to speak english with except Charlie and nonstop Indonesian movies including what resembled to be the three stooges indonesian style (see pictures below).
So we arrived in Pekanbaru after some rough sleep on the coolest boat to grace the planet. We got off the boat and started pedaling towards town (as we still didn't have a map of Sumatra). And once again, we stopped all traffic. It was like we were war heroes returning from the front lines of a battle won in the favor of Sumatra. People were bombarding us on motor bikes, kids were flocking from their yards...all to yell 'Hey Mister! 'How are you?'. Then once we waved and said, 'fine, How are you?', they would begin smiling and laughing like we just told the funniest joke in the world. If this is any indication of how this trip is going to be, we're in for a serious adventure. So I'd call this first day a success, although my saddle is still in the process of breaking in, so my butt is super sore. Our plan is to ride to West Sumatra to Bukittingi and Lake Maniju (sp?) and then up towards Medan where we'll catch a ferry to Georgetown, Malasia. Then boogie to Bangkok, where we'll hook up with Spencer and Breckan and continue the journey through Laos and beyond.
Then we headed back to Bangkok where Nicole and I were to begin our epic adventures together. We had such a good time together, so much that we both walked away with the 'best vacation ever' title to be imprinted on our photo album. We ran back down to Ton Sai (Thailand) where we climbed for a few more days, then crossed the peninsula east to the island of Ko Pha Ngan where we explored waterfalls, discovered our own private beach and personal paradise of Hat Khuat Beach, surreal. Then we caught a flight to Luang Prabang, Laos where we went on an elephant trek, took a Laotion cooking class, played in a heavenly blue waterfall and fell in love with a super lazy city. Then caught a train to Vang Vieng, Laos. This place totally took the cake (at least my slice of it). We rented bikes for about $1 USD/day and after some persuasion they threw in some well needed umbrellas for sun shade. We rode to the blue lagoon and cave where we found some of the bluest water I've ever seen and our own personal swimming hole (here's an appetizer until I can upload all of them (http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2023279&id=64201834&l=afc62). From there, we caught the public bus down to Vientiane, Laos and zipped down to Singapore, where we strategically booked a room in the heart of the Singapore's red light district (actually we ended up there by total chance that the cheapest hotel online happened to be there....thanks cheaphotels.com). It was actually rather depressingly comical....this RLD didn't exactly have the girls behind glass. The first night we pulled up, it was raining and the street was lined with umbrellas spaced about 10 feet apart. In addition, all of the streets all run parallel and each street represents a different ethnicity. We think our street was mandarin Chinese.
Then came the bicycle preparation. We tracked down the bicycle shop that brought us to Singapore in the first place, T.R. Bikes (We Pimp Your Ride). I bought my bicycle from these guys, who turned out to be some of the coolest guys on the planet. So I got a first glance at my chariot, all that stood between Charlie and I pedaling into the abiss was Charlie's bike, which was shipped all the way from Alaska. So as it turns out, his bicycle was waiting for us to pick up at what would be the Singapore equivalent to the Customs Area at any of our international ports (if that helps out at all :)). So Charlie and I knowing darn well that his bicycle box, filled with all of his gear (bicycle, tent, sleeping bag, clothes, etc) was much too large to fit inside a taxi (a. he had his bicycle box custom made, b. only people with clearance were allowed inside the gate). So we went through about a 4 hour process of paying tax on his bicycle, receiving the appropriate permits, clearing his box then getting the freaking fork lift drivers to get his box. We finally got the box and decided that he would simply assemble his bicycle and ride it back to the hostel (some 20 km away) and I would just grab public transport back. Well....we changed our mind after getting freaked out about customs agents peeved at us opening the box, so we were stuck with one gigantic box, which neither of us could plausibly carry to the front of the gate and no transport to take us there. So we flagged down some random truck drivers, who at first looked at us like we were completely retarded then obliged to help us out. So Charlie and I rode in the back of what appeared to be a truck full of sacks of grain through customs. Then spent another 20 minutes in front of the customs gate asking/harassing large enough trucks until one super nice man agreed to give us a ride back to the bike shops area for a few extra sings. (See pictures below). It was a pretty epic day....but all the pieces of the bicycle puzzle has aligned and we were ready to start cycling.
So let the bicycle journey begin!
Charlie, Nicole and I spent the last night sorting gear, packing our bags and preparing for our departure from Singapore. It was at this point that I realized a very important lesson in bicycle touring; always pick a hotel room closest to the ground floor because bicycles don't exactly fit on elevators (at least not asian elevators). I know, you might be saying, 'that seems pretty logical'......well, it wasn't at the time. We were on the 6th floor...
The next morning, we hit the road through the outskirts of Singapore's Red Light District and directly into town where Charlie and I 'popped our cherry' and delicately weaved (wove?) through Singapore traffic (which is on the left side of the road). We were so amped to be riding that we flew into town. We arrived at the harbor front center and bought ourselves two one way tickets to Pekanbaru, Sumatra (Indonesia). We loaded our bicycles onto the ferry and embarked on what is to be an absolutely epic journey....
1 hour later, we arrived in Sekupung (Batam) and jumped another ferry to Selat Panjang. We exited the boat and it was immediately apparent that we were the most interesting and peculiar things to ever grace this tiny island. We literally stopped traffic, everyone surrounded us as if they had never seen anyone like us before and immediately wanted to either shake our hands, take their picture with us, or just sit down and chat with us (which was interesting because the only English phrases that most people knew was: 'Hey Mister!' and 'How are you?'). One person actually spoke semi-coherent english and we were informed that 'farrangs' (foreigners) havent landed on that island in over 5 years. It was pretty incredible....then we saw this huge, ancient, wooden, barely alive, blue boat limp into the port. It seriously reminded me of what I would envision an old slave boat harboring hundreds of slaves, with each person receiving a tiny cubby hole for sleeping space and a small circle approximately the diameter of one's head above their bed for looking out the window. We exchanged smiles with tons of people, who at this point had each poked their heads out of their personal 'windows' in amazement at our mere existance. It wasn't until a few minutes later that someone came by, looked at our boat tickets and pointed to that ancient gigantic blue vessel. We were stoked...riding this asian titantic some 10 hours with no other foreigners. It was awesome; a tile bed, no blankets, no one to speak english with except Charlie and nonstop Indonesian movies including what resembled to be the three stooges indonesian style (see pictures below).
So we arrived in Pekanbaru after some rough sleep on the coolest boat to grace the planet. We got off the boat and started pedaling towards town (as we still didn't have a map of Sumatra). And once again, we stopped all traffic. It was like we were war heroes returning from the front lines of a battle won in the favor of Sumatra. People were bombarding us on motor bikes, kids were flocking from their yards...all to yell 'Hey Mister! 'How are you?'. Then once we waved and said, 'fine, How are you?', they would begin smiling and laughing like we just told the funniest joke in the world. If this is any indication of how this trip is going to be, we're in for a serious adventure. So I'd call this first day a success, although my saddle is still in the process of breaking in, so my butt is super sore. Our plan is to ride to West Sumatra to Bukittingi and Lake Maniju (sp?) and then up towards Medan where we'll catch a ferry to Georgetown, Malasia. Then boogie to Bangkok, where we'll hook up with Spencer and Breckan and continue the journey through Laos and beyond.
I am so Freaking jealous dammit!!!
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