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June 24, 2006
Wobbling up the East Coast
LOCATION: NAKHON SI THAMMARAT, Thailand
SEE WHERE WE ARE!
Longitude: N: 08°22'98.
Latitude: E: 099°58’32.
Miles from Singapore: 919
This entry is dedicated to my pirate princesses Jade and Hannah in Singapore. Hello girls - hope you're well and doing OK! One day I hope you find your treasure too...
The southeast coast of Thailand has been a little disappointing in terms of scenery. I suppose I associated the word 'Thailand' with instant shanghri-la. Hmmm, the danger of preconceptions. The people have been very friendly though and I get lots of waves and hellos along the roadside from roadbuilders to schoolchildren who expect a response and won't quit yelling until they get one. So much so that I've become quite ambidextrous in handling the bike, one hand being off the handlebar at any one time returning the greetings.
Everynow and then, just as I'm getting a little bored and wondering if I shouldn't have taken the busier, but reputedly prettier, west coast route, I round a corner and come face to face with some incredible Buddhist edifice or shrine that boggles my mind with its size and elaborate detail. They seem so incongruous with the simplicity of the pastoral surroundings that they almost seem comical. But it does say something for how commited the locals here are to their Buddhist religion.
Nothing much else to report, except that yesterday evening as I was biking into Nakhon si Thammarat here I was followed for about 4kms by a 16 year old schoolgirl on a moped. The only things she could say in English were 'I love you' and 'I miss you'. I just focused everything I had on the road ahead and thought of England to avoid wobbling off into the ditch ...
jason
Posted on June 24, 2006 5:21 AM