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. 

While we were traveling through Malaysia we saw plenty of wild monkeys but as soon as we crossed the border into Thailand we have not seen any. The boys have come up with two theories. 

1. They are on the menu at most restaurant in Thailand as “meat” ie Pad Thai with chicken, prawn or meat.
2. The electrical power lines are so dodgy that as soon as they cross the border and climb a power pole they get electrocuted. 

I am not sure if either of these theories is correct but there is a definite lack of wild monkeys. 

While we were on Samui we did ride past a monkey training center.  We originally thought that the monkeys were being trained to entertain humans, so we avoided the training centre, but we have since discovered that they are trained to work in the coconut plantations. They are kept by the plantation owner as pets like farm dogs in Australia.  They are trained to climb up the coconut palm and drop the ripe coconuts down. We saw one working today.  If you look closely at the photo you can see him looking back at me.

Lovely ride today on a coastal road.  There were many river crossings today and plenty of prawn farms. The boys won’t eat the prawns in asia because someone told them that they are fed human poo. I am not sure about this either but I did remind the boys that pigs eat any poo they can get (human, their siblings or their own) and the boys are both happy to eat pork, ham and bacon. 

On a trip like this you expect to have ups and downs.  I always knew that there would be times when we would not get along. You only hope that the good times out weigh the bad. 

What I find the most puzzling is why the boys take it in turns to be naughty.  If Robert is giving me grief then Patrick is an angel.  If Patrick is being contrary then Robert is behaving like the perfect young man I want him to be. 

There is no break from them either.  No time out. No friends for them to run off and play with.  You have to be a parent but you also have to be a replacement best friend when they need you to be. We cycled past a private school today and it was tempting to drop them off. As much as it is challenging, I feel closer to both of them than I have in a long time. 

After a rest day on Samui we all woke up with a spring in our step. We made it to the ferry at Nathon with plenty of time. The only eventful bit about the morning ride was the 26% gradient on one of the hills. You can see in the photo that the road disappears. The ride on the ferry was smooth. We all get a kick out of riding the bikes onto the large ferry with the cars and motorbikes.  

We then had to cycle another 22km to our hotel. We flew.  We all have our mojo back after the pork. Our accommodation is gorgeous.  It is called Donsak Orchid Resort.  It’s a bit more expensive than we usually pay but it was the only place that we could find in the area.  The resort grows Orchids and has the most beautiful gardens. The boys had a good time on the huge swing before heading to the river to get muddy. Muddy photos can be found on Patrick’s post. 

I booked us into a very highly rated bungalow style accommodation on the southern coast of Samui. It’s hard to know what the surrounding area will be like when you have never been there before but if someone has bothered to build accommodation, you assume it must have something to offer.  As we cycled to our accommodation today the roads got quieter and we ended up in a remote place just inland from the coast. The bungalows are ok but the French couple who own them are lovely. 

We headed out for dinner thinking we were going to have to cycle a fair way to find a place to eat but just down the road we found a British sports bar. They had a large tv playing the rugby and a free pool table.  Not the type of place we would normally choose but tonight it was perfect. Allister wished we had been here a couple of nights ago when the tennis final was on. 

Had a much better day today.  We left Surat Thani behind us and headed East to the Donsak ferry terminal 62km away. We had a dead line of 1.30pm because we had to catch the ferry.  The road was ok until we reach a long stretch with heaps of pot holes.  Now these were not your average pot holes. I was worried that if Paddy fell in one we would never see him again. 

We were weaving our way through the potholes quite well until I took one too close and plowed my front wheel into deep loose gravel. My front wheel made it through and I thought I was going to make it but then my back wheel slipped and I went down hard. Robert jumped off like a frog so he was ok. I was not as agile and ended up on the road. I have some great scrapes and bruises on my left hand side especially my elbow, hip and knee. 

We ended up  making it with time to spare. We had a really smooth ferry ride to Koh Samui and found our quiet hotel tucked away off the main street.  We are all safe and sound.