We had one of those days yesterday where everything went wrong.  It all started early in the morning when one of us broke the golden rule of ‘don’t trust a fart if you have gastro’. Allister was not the only one to eat the pork but he ate the most so the effects hit him first. I will not tell you who broke the rule. 

As we were cycling away from our lovely accommodation Robert started to get ‘bent over double’ stomach cramps. Not pleasant while cycling. He was in pain but said he could go on. 

Allister and I debated which road to take and in the end we went with his choice. The road was fine at first but it became narrower and busier as we progressed. We realised that we were on the main rubber plantation truck route. If you have read Patrick’s post you would know that it stinks.

We stopped after about 15km for a break and that was when we realised that we had left our cheese, yogurt and juice in the fridge back at the homestay. 

Allister pulled his phone out of the back pocket of his jersey to discover that his sweat had finally got into the phone and it had stopped working. 

For the first time in the trip I was leading the way because Allister was so fatigued by the gastro. 

We stopped again at about the 25km mark. We had planned on cycling 60+km but it was hot, smelly, with big trucks on the road and both Robert and Allister were sick. Nobody was enjoying themselves.  A young guy was also at the shop that we stopped at. He was driving a twincab ute.  I asked him if he could drive us to the next decent size town, Surat Thani,  he agreed.  We piled the bikes and panniers in the ute and climbed aboard.  Robert fell asleep within seconds.  

Our driver dropped us off near to our hotel and we cycled the last few kms. When we arrived Robert realized that he did not have his mobile phone and he must have left it in the ute. With absolutely no way of contacting the driver we sadly realize that it was gone for good.  

Once we had showered Allister decided to get back on the bike to cycle to a Samsung repair place. He cycled 8km in the rain to discover that Google had sent him on a wild goose chase.  There was no samsung repair shop. 

When he got back it was getting dark and we hadn’t eaten in ages. We decided to walk to a shopping Centre that we could see in the distance.  As we were walking along we noticed that nothing was open. This is really unusual in Asia. Shops stay open late. When we finally turned the last corner to the shopping center we discovered that it was a home renovation display centre.  No restaurants in sight. 

We walked back to our hotel and found a small place that was closing up. We convinced the lady to feed us. She had pretty much nothing left but she agreed. She scrapped together some noodles and made a pad thai. We were very thankful. 

We all went to bed hoping that tomorrow would be a better day. 

Sorry no photos.  None of us were in the mood.  

We had a really good rest day in Krabi, where we went to a secluded beach called Railay Beach. There are no roads into the beach because of the mountainous terrain so you have to catch a boat. The mountains are right up to the waters edge and beautiful for rock climbing.  We all had a climb and Allister and Robert really got to enjoy their fitness and agility but Patrick surprised me the most by volunteering to do the highest climb first. He was a little overwhelmed, once or twice, but he got to the top and when he reached the bottom again he received a round of applause from the other climbers. 

Today’s cycle had more rest stops than usual because Allister was not feeling 100%. He is blaming it on the hugh portion of Pork he ate at the markets last night.  

The man in black in this photo made the assumption that we were hungry and he invited us to a feast.  We followed him to a community hall and was served a bunch of dishes that we didn’t order. At the time we thought it was a large community restaurant but after a little while we realised it was a funeral.  We didn’t take any photos out of respect to the people involved but it was an amazing community gathering.  They even have firecrackers going off to mark the occasion.  I have told the boys that I want firecrackers at my funeral. 

We have just had the most amazing two days. We spent a rest day in Trang. We decided to do a day tour of the islands rather than go and stay on one of them. We would have liked to have stayed on Koh Muk but because is was Chinese new year there was no available accommodation. We booked the day trip through our hotel and did not realise at the time that is was not aimed at foreign tourists but local tourists. When we arrived at the jetty to get on our tour boat we realised that nobody spoke much English. Luckily for us there was a lovely woman from Bangkok who spoke perfect English. She was our interpreter for the entire trip.

The trip involved snorkeling, a  cave, a beach and then more snorkeling. The Cave was the highlight. I will try to explain it to you. We arrived at the vertical cliff of an Island where there was a small cave at the water line. We were fitted with life vests and put in the water one by one. We were instructed to hold onto the life vest of the person in front of you. There was about 50 people on the tour so we made a 50 person long, human snake in the water. Our guides had flippers on and they towed us into the cave. We slowly made our way through the tunnel that had a low ceiling and twisted and turned in a few different directions. If it wasn’t for the head torches on the guides heads, it would have been pitch black inside. Eventually we reached the center which was a beach with a small jungle surrounded by vertical cliffs. If you imagine the Island to be a doughnut and the beach and jungle are in the hole in the middle and the only way to the beach is a small tunnel through the doughnut. It was really surprising and the boys really enjoyed it.

Today we cycled to another cave called Le Khoa Kop Cave. It is a cave in a limestone outcrop just north of Trang. There is a muddy river running through it.  It is a pretty ordinary cave as cave go but the fun begins when you are leaving the cave. You are taken into the cave in a small wooden boat with two guides. When you have finished the cave tour and go to leave the cave, the guides instruct you to lie down in the boat facing up. As they slowly paddle you out of the cave the ceiling gets lower and lower until it is only about 2cm from your face. Allister had to suck in his gut to avoid some of the stalactites from scrapping his belly. It lasts about 8 minutes but felt like an hours. You would not cope if you were claustrophobic. Again, the boys loved it.

We reached Trang today. You would only come here as a stop over on your way to one of the islands off the coast. The view from our hotel room could be any location in south east Asia except for the power lines. Such a Thailand giveaway. No other country I have been to has power lines like it.

We are on the 4th floor which I am glad of as tomorrow is chinese new year.  Tonight is going to be one big party. The firecrackers have started already. 

We are having a rest day tomorrow so planning on doing a day trip out to three islands. There will be cave swimming, snorkeling and lunch on a remote beach. 

Allister informed me that we have done over 1000km so far. So the boys are having a well deserved break watching YouTube. 

Beautiful day cycling past limestone cliffs and water caves. We stopped at a couple of the caves.  The first was a temple with monks attending to the caves. The second was a tunnel sea cave that was 4 km long and ended at the ocean. The third was a fresh water cave that we could not resist swimming in. The water was cold and such a contrast to the air temperature. 

We could not find a food stall for quite a long distance today but eventually we came across a lady selling fried banana and sweet potato.  She sent her husband for ice and made us cold drinks.  It was lovely.  

The boys are not the only ones getting asked for selfies. Very unexpectedly, I was asked by a bunch of guy’s if they could have a photo. I assumed they wanted a photo of the bikes so I stepped out of the shot. Before I knew it they were crowding around me for a photo.  

In the afternoon we hired a driver to take us around.  We ended up at the most beautiful waterfall I have ever seen. The source is a fresh water spring rising up through the limestone.  Over years and years the dissolved limestone in the water has created these ‘candle wax’ pools. Stunning. 

Yesterday we cycled from our accommodation to the cable car in Langkawi. The cable car takes you 700 meters up a mountain and you can see the most amazing views.

The boys had more fun playing in the fountain out the front of the ticket office.

Typical.

We have not told you about it much but it has got to a point now where it is just beyond funny. 

When we are cycling around we are being asked if people can take photos of us or if they can take a selfie with us. 

The guy in this photo stopped us on the road to take a photo of us and when he tried he couldn’t get the camera working on his phone. Allister helped him work it out and he was very happy with the photo he took. 

We cycled through the centre of Langkawi yesterday. For such a touristy island we were surprised to find a place called hidden valley. It was beautiful. Only locals and rice paddies. We arrived at the west side of the island and decided to stay at a guest house with basic facilities but really lovely owners and location.