Team 7

Team 7 is united and fully charged, meticulously hand picked and armed with logic, a ample sense of direction and enough 'cow neo' (sticky rice) to live 12 long constipated years. Enter Spencer and Breckan, two friends who will share the next 4 months with Charlie and I and who represent the logic in the prior statement. Our team hats make it appear as if we're sponsored by 7 Eleven, when in actuality we paid for them online (not to say we don't look incredibly stunning in them especially when posing outside of a 7 Eleven)

So we left Bangkok on the night train and arrived in Chiang Mai the next afternoon with just enough time to scarf down some pizza and hit the road (interstate) towards the north. We were fresh; full of energy, enthusiasm and if it weren't for the sunlight issue, we would have probably ridden to China. The Thailand leg of the trip is quite different from our Sumatra tour because of one drastic hurdle that we have managed to clear....the language barrier. Spencer, MVP, is fluent in Thai so our daily encounters no longer have to involve pointing and playing charades until someone finally realizes that we're looking for an enema (true story and an even funnier ending after we grabbed a nose cleaner and pointed it to our butts...they will probably laugh about that for years to come). So our quality of living has drastically improved, we spent the first night camping near some hot springs. Our second night was spent camping at a beautiful lake reservoir with one of the most soulful Thai guy still alive. We have camped out every night thus far, reducing our daily cost to 75 cent plates of food and 10 cent ice creams (probably one every 2 hours). Yesterday, we took drastic measures to flag down an ice cream motor cycle man, after he flew past us and vanished into a side path.

So here is a glimpse into my world....So since I bought this new handle bar bag in Bangkok, I've been able to listen to my IPOD during the day. I am loving it....here's what I've been listening to (as if anyone even cares)



and of course....


So we've currently cycled some 250 km (150 miles) in Thailand and should be entering into Laos within the next few days. We've cycled approximately a total 1000 km (600 miles) thus far. I'm working on getting a map of our progress so that you can have an idea of where we've actually gone in the world. I'll also post a summary of our total miles, elevation and time on the next post.