We left our homestay this morning with high hopes that the wind had died. The homestay was tucked away in a palm plantation so it was very protected but not even the tops of the palms were moving when we left.  As we got out on the road we realised the wind had not stopped.  

Riding into the wind feels like you are going up hill all day.  If you then have to go uphill as well, it feels like someone tied a brick to your bike and you are dragging it along. 

Without too much nashing of teeth, we reached our 55km that we had set ourselves.  We started looking for an hotel but because we had reached a beach side tourist strip, we could not find one at a reasonable price.  In the end we cycled 70km before we found a guesthouse with a room available at a reasonable price.  The only downside is we are going to have to share one kingsize bed between the four of us. I think we are all so tired after 70km riding into strong headwinds, we could be sleeping in a single bed together and we would all still sleep well. 

The boys did have enough energy to brave the choppy ocean. Both boys got dumped, they loved it. 

We did something crazy yesterday.  

We hired a car!

Only for the day. It was really strange getting back into a car again after so many weeks cycling.  The boys were great for about an hour of driving  and then they started bickering. I could feel Allister’s blood pressure going up and I turned into a navigation witch with a ‘b’. It wasn’t all bad but it definitely made me realise how much stress we live with in our lives. Driving on unknown roads with kids in the car is stressful. I am loving the simplicity of our cycling days. Very low stress. My only stress at the moment is wondering how long Patrick can live on cucumber and white rice. 

We visited a bunch of places but I have photos of a really tall gold person, a cave with bells and a lookout with 6 monkeys one of them being a silver back. 

I know it’s Buddha. 

We stayed in a recycled shipping container hotel last night. Very cool. If you ever get to Chumphon you have to stay there. There was also a rev of bikers staying at the hotel.  When they realised we were cycling they offered us WD40 for our chain and wished us luck. I got the feeling they thought we were crazy. 

Today has been a hard 57km day. We had relentless 20 knot head winds the entire way. We made it, but there was some frayed nerves by the time we reached our accommodation.  You can see in the next photo how rough the water is in the gulf of Thailand and how much the coconut palms are being blown.  

We reached the east coast of the gulf of Thailand a day or two ago. We stayed in a beach side hotel with a restaurant 200m down the beach.  Robert and Allister cycled the tandems along the road while Patrick and I walked along the beach. A gaggle of women saw Patrick and decided that they all wanted ‘selfies’ with him. They only used two English words, cute and selfie. They laughed and carried on like he was Justin Beber. 

Thailand has had so much rain that storm water had washed these coconut trees into the sea.

On a very quiet road at about 7 at night we allowed the boys to ride back to our hotel from dinner.  As you can see, they thought it was great fun. Robert is only 4cm shorter than me now.

At a drink stop one morning we had a bunch of locals give Patrick a watermelon.  He was very happy about the gift until it came time to eat it when he remembered that he doesn’t like watermelon. 

Riding along a quiet beach road in the middle of nowhere we came across this kangaroo. Very strange. 

Last night we ate pad thai beside the beach. Allister met the cook earlier in the day at the laundry. We would not have known about the beach market if it wasn’t for Allister chatting. 

On one of Allister’s ‘short cuts’ we cycled down a large gravel hill, then turned left into the fisheries college. When we reached the far side of the campus we were stopped by this gate which was padlocked.  We debated what to do.

1. Go back up the steep gravel hill. 
2. Lift the bikes over the gate. 
3. Lift the bags and boys over the gate and Allister and I cycling back and around.  

We chose number three but while the boys were climbing over the gate, a lovely guy walked over from a small wooden shack and unlocked the gate for us. We could tell by the look on his face that he thought we were crazy. He is not the only one. 

Because we are so remote, everything is so clean. The water in this river was blue.  I was even tempted to go for a swim.