It's been a while

Wow, I am finally back in S.E Asia and ready to roll once again.
When I arrived I was unaware that the majority of Thai's leave BKK for two weeks and go on vacation. It was amazing how quite Bangkok was with a lot of the shops closed.

So once the dealership opened again I had them throw on a new chain and sprocket (the least I could do for them storing my bike 4 months) and prepared to head north to Ching Mai.

 I also brought with me new helmet, set of tires and a new jacket to kick off the second half of the world!
Nothing like adding a little more wait to carry around.

Also when you tend to wear the same thing everyday for two plus years, your gear starts too wear and give off a little bit of odour lets just say.

I chose too return to chaing Mai for two reasons. First it brings me closer to where I will be crossing over into Mynamar. And second there was a Horizons Unlimited riders meeting being held there. 

I have tried since I left to attend a meeting in one country or another but my timing just never worked until now. The point of the meetings is to give you a chance to meet other world riders and exchange info and stories. My table alone had riders from Istanbul the UK, USA, France and Germany.

Attending the meeting also really paid off for me since I won a free voucher to go zip lining in the rain forest with Fight of the Gibbons! 

Nine more sleeps and I will be writing to you from Myanmar and back to some consitent riding and blogging.

A star is born

It seems that "Fred" is doing just fine without me in Thailand. Here he is getting setup front and centre in the Triumph booth at the Thailand Moto Expo.

I just hope the stardom does not go to his head.

Fred is graciously being cared for in my absence by Asawin Mallamphut the owner of the Triumph dealers ships in Thailand. I cannot thank him enough for giving Fred a place to stay while I am back home visiting friends and family. 

Once again the generosity of the people I have met in my travels has surpassed my expectations. And Asawin has proved this again by his kindness. If in Thailand (Bangkok) drop by and see him and his team as they are all wonderful and will not hesitate to help you out.

Taking a break

To all my great followers.

I have decided to make my way towards Central Asia and possibly the Middle East.

This is just a heads up that I will be taking a break from blogging over the next few weeks in preparation for the next leg of my journey.  

Bangkok to Chiang Mai

A two day impromptu stop for some service in Bangkok.  Lead to some amazing hospitality and service from the Triumph dealer network. And a few bottles of Jack Daniels killed with some local Triumph riders.   

Do not fret my new friends as I shall return to Bangkok on my loop back.

One of the moments when you go.......Holy geez did I really just drive to Bangkok from Canada. 

How crazy is that!

The scenerey on the way up north was extremely lush due to it being the rainy season.  

The population is a little more scarce on the route through the mountains I took up north. So instead of giant fuel stations they have these bike pumps. Totally self service like a vending machine.Just put in your cash and it calculates the number of litters and pump away.

Fuel for the bike first than some fuel for me. Once again I had no clue what this was but it looked good. Turned out to be some kind of rice in a sausage skin with what tasted like sauerkraut. As for the red part could not really tell if that was supposed to be there or not. 

Tasted good though.

Looking out over Chiang Mai.

Temples, Temples, Temples

Who doesn't like dragons

All I can say is theres a high level of cute factor going on with these kids

The Island of Koh Samui

Another ferry ride finds me on the island of Koh Samui. I have left the Adaman sea for the East coast which now puts me on the Gulf of Thailand. 

As with most places in the world there needs to be a tourist attraction. It is a religious meeting place and you must remove your shoes prior to climbing the stairs. And of course I chose the dark stairs which was not the brightest idea. 32 degree temperatures means burning hot on the feet. 

View of the bay from the big budda

When on the island there seems to be two main beaches/hotel areas where most tourists stay. Chewang and Lamai. I chose Lamai myself as it is less busy, but still has enough entertainment to keep you satisfied. They are only 10 mins apart so easily accessible by scooter or taxi.

Now this big Budda is not even close to the one found in Phuket, but he is the biggest on Samui.

Hiked to  a few waterfalls in the mountains expecting to go for a dip when there. But was disappointed in both the colour of the water and lack of it.

One of the paths to a waterfall

My breakfast view for the last two weeks. I have been staying here waiting for my GPS screen and cannot think of a better place to be "Stuck".

big decision of the day......which beach chair to choose

Blue warm water.......great sunsets...... LG baby 

Lifes good

Fred is back together (99%)

It took over a month to arrange organize parts and shipping but everything finally arrived.

New front subframe bracket

All I can say is it a pain to have any form of accident in these countries when you need to source parts.  But it all came together and I spent a few hours while in Ao Nanag putting the front of Fred back together.

New lights and gauges

Yes, I could get these parts local except it was still cheaper to have them sent from North America. The import duties in these countries is out of control. To give an example of how import duties effect the final price. My bike alone cost twice as much in Malaysia as it did back home/

New windscreen and brackets

The only pieces missing (forgot in the shipping process) were the brackets required to attach the new windscreen.  

But as always things work out. While on the Island of Koh Samui the owner of the hotel had a shop below the hotel and we were able to source out and fabricate some homemade brackets.

Working on the brackets after a trip to the local hardware store. 

Allen (above picture right) is the owner of the hotel. He is originally from Montreal, Canada and has been extremely helpful. 

The 1% left to have Fred complete is the replacement of the GPS screen. It has arrived in Malaysia and I should have it soon.

Ao Nang (Krabi District)

After leaving Phuket I backtracked a bit to the town of Ao Nang. It is another beach town found on the mainland but still looking onto the Adaman sea. Since I had already been to some of the islands while in Phuket. I decided to do something more land oriented. 

I did the touristy thing and took a half day tour consisting of elephant trekking followed by hot spring and finally a cool swim in an emerald pool.

First stop elephant rides. 

Some of the scenery while cursing on the elephants.

Next stop a set of hot springs.

After half an hour of relaxing I started to wonder why I was siting in hot water when the temperature outside was 30 degrees? As nice as it was it does not compare to the feeling of soaking when it was -30 degrees outside.  Thats when you feel the real effects of a hot spring!

Very relaxing all the same though. The other great thing is I am travelling during the low season so which means very little crowds. I would hate to see these tourist places during the high season.

Final stop of the day was the emerald pool. 

Absolutely the clearest water I have seen. The above pool was not for swimming but that was taken care of by others where swimming was allowed.

Unfortunately the water was not as cool as I would have liked but refreshing all the same.

The name is Bond..... James Bond

So I decided to get off the main Island and take a day trip too some of the other numerous Islands found in the Adaman sea. First stop James Bond Island named so after the filming of the movie the 

Man with the Golden Gun.

The Island is actually very small and it is amazing what they can do with the right camera angle. 

I do need to watch the movie again to see if I notice anything familiar from the Island. Classic bond movie though! I think it was Sean Connery in those days?

After James Bond Island we had the opportunity to due some exploring in a Bat Cave with the Kayaks. 

Yes there were bats and yes it smelt like bat shit in there lol. Thankfully none decided to drop any presents on me.

After coming out the other side you find yourself in a hidden Lagoon surrounded by high cliffs.

Shameless Selfie

After the bat cave we headed to Hong Island. This whole area of the Adaman sea is what you see in the brochures for Thailand with the beautiful cliffs and green water.

traversing through the cliffs

Now everyone was given a guide and because I was the only solo person (not unusual) they decided to let the son of one of the other paddlers take me around. I felt so bad since he weighed about 25 kilos wet. But he was a trooper and I guess on his way to a first time career.

Just some more great views from the Kayak while the little kid was paddling the fat farang around hehehe.

Rest/photo stop on one of the islands. 

Southern Thailand is a must see so do not miss it!