A pretty flat ride, considering the mountains behind us. Although there's a few rolling hills near our destination, we find that the downside near enough propels us over the next one.
On our map, this is the last bit of green (green = flat), and from now on, we will be faced with yellow (not good) and brown (even worse). Kate's ankles have held up well; just a few twinges now and again, but we're careful to take a break every 15km. At one of our stops, Kate is given a flower by a local who comes to make conversation! Accommodation found just past Song, for the bargain price of 250bht including air-con and hot water.
Kilometres: 56
Total Kilometres: 1964
Day 82: Song to Chiang Muan
Oh, I miss the green bits on our map! Today was pretty tough but we held up well. The hills were very steep at times, forcing us into our lower gears, but we reached our destination thinking that we could actually make it another 36km to the next town of Pong (ha ha). We decide not to though; if we keep to 50km per day we will reach the border a day before our visa's expire and not put too much strain on Kate's ankles. The scenery today was absolutely fantastic, and we reach the 2000km mark at 1.45pm.
Digs found at a brothel for 250bht; free condoms again! We take a walk into the village, where it becomes apparent rather quickly that Chiang Muan does not receive many foreign guests. Word gets around quickly and soon enough, we keep seeing the same people again and again. On the way home, Kate is given some flowers again!
Kilometres: 58
Total Kilometres: 2022
Day 83: Chiang Muan to Chun
The word “hills” has now been dropped from our vocabulary because they've all turned into mountains. Some of them are unbelievable. The good news is that we have cycled up all of them to date (even if it is in the lowest gear and quite possibly slower than pushing the bike up). The downhill bits are great but all too few now and it's depressing when it takes us up to an hour to get to the top and just 5 minutes free-wheeling down. Today was no exception – we cycled over the brown bits and Kate's achilles are holding up well. We were considering cycling a little further than Chun but eventually decided against it, as it would have added another 48km to today's total. We stopped in Pong for some lunch today and a kind family bought our lunch for us after hearing we'd cycled from Singapore! Digs found at another brothel for 400bht with air-con and football on the TV. Score (for Lee Lee)!
Kilometres: 74
Total Kilometres: 2096
Day 84: Chun to Thoeng
We plan a hard -going 60km today in the brown (high mountains) and we wake up to find hard pouring rain. With no option but to cycle, we get underway – to our surprise (and relief) the ground is fairly level all the way to Thoeng. Kate's ankles do start to feel the strain but with only one days cycling left, the end is in sight and we can then rest for the recommended week. On the way we meet Liam an Australian who is a photographer for Lonely Planet; he is touring Thailand on a motorcycle. Lazy git!
Kilometres: 60km
Total Kilometres: 2156km
Day 85: Thoeng to Chiang Khong (border with Laos)
Another surprisingly flat day; it's possible that Lee and I are just so physically fit, the hills we encounter are unmemorable. Either that, or we're on the next elevation. The scenery is fantastic again, but it's still weeing it down. Digs found at P&P guest-house; a lovely place with a helpful proprieter, after a strange encounter with the first place we stop at. The sign says accommodation, but the owner does not seem to think she has any to offer. Maybe we look too wet and dirty...! Our accommodation has a wonderful view of the Mekong River; it's about half a kilometres in length and filthy dirty...
Kilometres: 78km
Total Kilometres: 2234km
