This was our last day of riding as we head to Laem Mae Phim, our home for the night . . .

Huey is very proud of his handmade bike and the fact he bought it along!!!

On the way out of town we were passed by several of the HUGE touring buses we have seen all long the trip

They are usually double deckers, got every bell and whistle on the outside and usually have some type of wild paint job. They always look top  heavy to me, especially when they are rounding a curve!!

Today it would be all about riding through an aquaculture area, mostly farm raised shrimp. Check the bag of frozen shrimp next time you buy some . . . bet they are from Thailand!!! The infrastructure to support the industry was very good. Actual concrete lined canals . . .

. . . and well maintained ponds. Some were in production, some were not.

We also stopped at a fisheries demo area, where many kinds of fish were being raised . . .

. . . turtles being raised in captivity too.

. . . and as we have seen so far in Thailand, shrines to the beloved King are EVERYWHERE!!!

 

These women were fishing off the loading ramp next to the demo area and were clothed from head to foot, including their hands and faces. Going for the ‘white skinned look’, I guess.

Our new lead guide Nik made a good impression on us  by including this coffee shop along the way as our first rest stop!!!

Not sure what Popeye and Olive Oil had to do with it but the coffee and smoothies were GREAT!!

Here Nik jumped in and helped distribute the goodies!!

What . . . are we back in Cape Cod??? Hard to believe this architecture so far from home!

If it was closer to lunch . . . we could have had the seafood platter!!!

It was time to climb our steepest pitch so far on the trip so far, an 18 percenter up to a scenic view!

Oh yeah!!!

Before long it was time for lunch and we ate seaside!!!

My tummy was feeling a little better and I needed to get some protein in my system so tried a little of the sea bass. Looks good but unfortunately has a lot of little ‘pin bones’, one of which I got stuck in the back of my throat!!! It would be two day until I got it out using the ‘rice ball method’, recommended by Nik.

Rolling little gobs of rice into balls about the size of a marble and swallowing them whole. The fourth one that went down snagged the bone and pulled it out!!!

Along side the restaurant, and now landlocked, was this old frigate. We couldn’t tell if it was US or Canadian made. But we climbed all over the thing . . . probably wouldn’t be allowed in the US for liability reasons!

It was time to shove off and Eileen discovered she had the first flat of the trip. Easy ‘pit stop’ change though as her flat back tire was just replaced with the rear wheel off a spare bike!

Down the road we biked through banana plantations . . .

and onto a bike lane!!!! Heading towards Peggy’s Cove Resort, another East Coast US designed building. Go figure!!!

Other than the mosque I saw along the river, this is the first sign of any other religion other than Buddhism.

. . . and soon we arrived t our last hotel, the Bandara On Sea Resort. Nice place!

. . . with some interesting vegetation.

Well kept up . . .

. . . and all the plumbing worked!!!

Tommy H decided to go swimming and after putting on the furnished robe and slippers grabbed his cute little dittie bag and headed down to the pool.

The gang headed into town for dinner but I decided to stick close to the hotel . . . after enjoying the sunset on the beach . . . (where is my Smoochie???)

I enjoyed a nice little margarita pizza . . . and a glass of wine.

 

Today it was a leisurely breakfast and then van transport to the booming city of Bangkok, urban population of 9.5 million!!

The trip was ‘officially’ over when we reached Bangkok and three of our folks were on their way home. The rest of us had two days of R&R in Bangkok and would then head our on Bike Trip #2!!!

TommyH and I were staying at the Salil Hotel Throng Lor Soi for the two nights and upon our arrival our room was not ready so . . . how about a little lunchy and a few beers, poolside!!!

It was a nice place . . . but not as nice as the Sommerset, where some of the rest of the gang were staying  . . .

. . . nice Lotus parked outside of our hotel.

. . . a washer and dryer in every room and an infinity pool on  the 15th floor . . . no net!!!

Lots of restaurants in the area and the first night we dined at the ‘Eating Room’ !!!

The next couple of days were sort of a whirlwind blur . . . however I kept pretty close to the hotel . . . tummy seemed to be getting better!!??

At 6:00am on Sunday morning we left for the airport get fitted for the bikes we would use on Bike Trip #2 and for a little shakedown ride around the airport on a the ‘Happy and Healthy Bike Lane’.

This track was constructed in 2017 and is used heavily by the urban recreational bicycling population. In a city of 9 million . . . you don’t see too many people riding on the streets . . . too dangerous!!!

His Majesty the King  presided over the official re-opening of the  23.5-kilometre (about 15 mile) cycling lane at Suvarnabhumi airport on Nov 23, 2018. It has several restaurants and high end bike shops servicing the bike crowd.

Prior to the re-opening, the track was know as the ‘Sky Lane’ but in the spirit of enjoying bicycling he renamed it the ‘Happy and Healthy Bike Lane’.  The track has a very smooth surface and the recreational, or slower riders, stay in the blue lane.

The adjacent purple lane is reserved for those more serious speed crowd, with the riders racing around the track in a paceline.

We met up with our crew to get fitted with our new bikes. Nice TREK’s again, that looked almost new!!! This is the bike I would ride today . . .

. . . and this is the bike I would ride on the Bike Trip #2 . . . an ELECTRIC Giant!!!

About 5 days ago, on Thursday, I had to make a decision regarding what my riding options were for the second trip. I had not been eating much, was usually very weak by the afternoon, and had to jump into the van on and off due to fatigue. I didn’t seem to be getting better and on the second trip we would be a loooooong ways from Bangkok and Spice Roads HQ.

So rather than potentially spent time riding in the van during  the afternoons (if I didn’t get any better) I ‘bought some insurance’ by changing from a standard road bike rental to an electric model that would help me get through the day.

They do not allow E bikes on the track so this morning I road what would have been my road bike on trip #2.

Here is the Garmin track of the ride . . . FUN!!!!

After the ride we had coffee and smoothies at a restaurant adjacent the track where they had this great motto posted!!!

After our track run we returned to the hotel, showered and headed by tram to the Bangkok Market. Quite the place with lots of stuff you don’t need . . . but the place was packed!!

Before we knew it , it was time for dinner. Tonight we went to a GREAT area know as ‘The Commons’ . . .

. . . sort of a high end food court where you walk around and get everything from steak, seafood, pork, international and western cuisine.

. . . something for everyone. And more advice!!!

. . . yes!!!!

After a restful night, mid afternoon the next day we transferred to our first ‘official’ hotel of our second trip, ‘Biking the Mighty Mekong’. Of course our van was outfitted with the latest Buddha gear insuring a safe ride through the  city of 9 million!!!

We were staying overnight at the Midi Hotel which was close to the airport.

Haven’t seen many bugs, of the flying variety, but they had recharged electric bug zappers just in case!!!

. . . and the requisite Buddha shrine outside in the parking lot. This Buddha evidently liked small painted wooden animals!!!

Nice place . . .

. . . where they wanted guest to know this was a  ‘No Squat” zone!!!

Interestingly in the Bangkok newspaper there was a photo of a US Navy ship, ‘The Green Bay’ an amphibious transport dock,  that was visiting the area.

In this video you can get a fell of what it was like all night!!!

We met our new guide for Trip #2, Woodie, and planned to have our initial ‘meet and greet’ dinner and meeting to discuss the upcoming trip.

The nicest restaurant in the hotel complex seemed to be this one. Woodie said it had music but when we walked in there was gentle ‘musak’ playing which didn’t; seem to be overwhelming or too loud for our meeting. Unbeknownst to us it was karaoke night and there because a steady stream of participants that rotated and took their turn belting out the latest Thai pop songs. This woman look like a regular, complete with her ‘lounge dress’ flowing down to the stage. It was a looooooong dinner and no meeting tonight!!!

An early morning flight north and we soon landed at the Loei airport in northern Thailand . . .

. . . where we met our new crew and bikes . . .

. . . they were very attentive to getting all of our gear working correctly . . .

. . . and soon Woodie was leading us out of the metro area on a bike path . . . nice!!

Huey told these piggies he might see them tonight . . . on his plate!!!

We left the city behind and soon were on low traffic, nicely paved roads . . .

. . . where after about two hours we stopped in a rubber plantation for a nice morning rest break .

. . . which again, had something for every appetite!!!

Our guide Woodie explained the rubber making process . . .

. . .the trees can begin producing sap at about 10 years of age.

The field crews arrive at about 3;00am to begin mounting the collection bowls. They peel back the bark and cut thin slits along the bark edge which allows the sap to ‘bleed’ and run down to a spout where it drips into the bowl. The process starts so early because it is cool and the sap flows freely from the new cut wound. By mid morning the temperature is climbing enough that the wounds’ heal over’ and the sap stops flowing.

Unfortunately,  there can be quite a mosquito problem early in the morning. The workers wear mosquito repellent  coils mounted on the brims of their hats which are ignited and slowly smolder keeping the bugs away from their face. But . . . they breathe the smoke which who knows what chemicals it contains. Didn’t sound like a pleasant experience.

The sap is collected later in the day.

As we biked along there were many rural homes and this is an example of the most common architectural style.

There was some forestry practices in progress along the way . . .

. . . as well as some locals critters along the road!!!

. . . along the way Woodie had us pull into a little plae making  cottage industry. The upper parts of the a banana leaf stem were steam or heated in a press plate mold. After about 4 minutes, the operator would open the press and these ‘disposable’ plates had been formed.

We tried to take some photos of the this process going on behind this cement wall but they told us ‘No photo . . . No photo’!!!

Must have been some proprietary process they wanted to keep secret and from us westerners stealing intellectual capital !!!!

We had about 40 miles today to ride north of Loei before we came to the might Mekong . . . the  hills ahead meant we were getting close . . .

. . . soon we came around a corner and there it was, the Mekong River. We would bike along the river for the next six days. I was immediately impressed by how much it reminded me of biking along the Wisconsin River from Prairie du Chein to Madison. Same width and same rolling hills  . . . but here there were banana and coconut trees!!!

Tonight we stayed at the Norn Nab Hotel . . .

. . . where we had a great view of the river.

After getting cleaned up, we walked down the boardwalk to this great restaurant  . . .

. . . where we ate dinner outside on the second floor, while looking across the river to the lights in Laos.

We were ready to pull out this morning when Huey discovered he had a flat . . . our pit crew jumped right on it and soon we were on the road . . . GREAT SERVICE!!!

While Huey’s tire as being fixed he, offered some yoga advice to a local retired teacher walking along the boardwalk!!!

Whats’s Cynthia doing jumping that chasm???

. . . actually it is a 3-D art project on a stairway down to the river, sponsored by the community!

. . . pretty neat!!!

On we ventured down the board walk . . .

.. passing this floating motel!!!

. . . the mighty Mekong was looking more like the Wisconsin River every mile we rode!!

. . . another example of the wildly appointed buses we have seen along the way  . . .

Here is a statue to a local legend . . .

. . . who fired his crossbow at invaders crossing the river. . .

. . .stopping them dead in their tracks as they crossed  . . . thus the land form, or dead bodies, stretching across the river

. . . things were getting a little steep across the river in Laos!!!

. . .soon we came across this group of pilgrims heading to a retreat somewhere down the road, caring their pots, pans and bedrolls . . .

. . . and soon we came across another two groups of travelers, both going in different directions. The first bike touring riders we have seen on either trip. . .

. . . both groups were from the Netherlands but had never me until now!!!

Soon it was time to stop for a break, so we pulled in where this snake statue was being constructed . . .

. . . and out came lots of goodies supplied by our van drivers . . . another great thing the crews have done during both trips is every time we stop for a break, to look at a temple, or some other interesting thing they fill all of our water bottles. You never run out of water or even think of it!!!

. . there was a large drum that of course Bo had to ‘drum’ with the mallet. Woodie said it was to call out the monks who live on the other side of the road up the mountain. We left right away  . . . !!!

The only snake spotted along the way. Woodie ID it as a cobra and said they are very deadly. Glad it was dead!

We passed through one village after another . . .

The temps in northern Thailand are much nicer in the morning. Usually about 72 degrees when we start and they climb to the low 90’s by mid afternoon.

Nice morning temps, smooth road, no traffic . . . perfect biking.

The King is everywhere . . . long live the King!!!

Today we would have some rollers . . .

. . . which gave you plenty of time to look around  . . . Holsteins and windmills . . . am I back in WI????

. . . and ‘You Pick It Strawberry’ patches!!

We stopped for a break and a van ride up a very steep and hilly road to a lookout area. We lefttour bikes near several little restaurants, one of which already had the salted fish roasting on the grill  for lunch. . .

. . . and had two cute little inquisitive puppies!!!!

. . . a big ride uphill in the van got us to this temple and scenic overlook area including this ‘infinity’ walkway that had a glass bottom . . .

. . . shoes were provided so you would not scratch the glass. Nice!!!

The scenery and vistas was spectacular, but once again the other tourists wanted photos of US!!!! Here, through lots of hand gesturing, Cynthia figured out this guy wanted to tale a ‘heart’ photo (seems to be the latest photo phenomenon) with her. Tom, Cynthia’s significant other, got a big kick out of it . . .

. . . and of course, not to be outdone, Bo got the same shot with the guys wife!!!

. . .and these folks wanted their picture with us too. Maybe they thought we were some famous biking team (uh . . . probably not!!)

. . . not sure what this statue was all about but looked like someone from the disco era!!!

. . . and of course there was a beautiful temple on the top of the mountain . . .

. . . with lots of offerings available . . .

. . . and statues covered in gold leaf!!!

. . . but bigger is always better when trying to attract visitors and right next door to the temple was a ‘bigger and newer’ version being built.

. . . the artists were actually forming the statuary right on site with re-bar and cement!!

Back on the bikes we pedaled past this structure . . .

. . . a multi head snake which I wonder if had been constructed the same way.

. . . here was a guy with a little popsicle concession on his motorcycle filling the forms with a sweet juju . . . I wondered how he got it cold enough to freeze. By now it was in the mid 80’s. Liquid nitrogen??!!

Woodie found another interesting noodle shop  forus to stop at and visit. This time the rice flour was mixed with water formed into 1 pound blobs . . .

. . . that were fed into a hydraulic extruder and pushed through the many holes in the head. You can see the noodles being formed and dropping into the steaming water . . ..

. . . after cooking for a few minutes, the noodles were transferred to two more baths to cool . . .

. . . then washed once more, separated and  . . .

. . . packaged for sale !!!

Along the way today we also biked by acres and acres of tobacco, some of which had been harvested and was drying on racks along side the road.

Soon it was time for lunch and Woodie picked a GREAT lunch spot. It may have been the best of the whole trip.

We sat under the shade of an awning, on the banks of the Mekong with the capital of Laos, Vientiane, right across the river from us  . . .

. . . FABULOUS lunch!!

. . away we went to our final destination of the day, Sang Kom.

The blue sheathing ahead is some work being done on the ‘Peace Bridge’ connecting Thailand and Laos, over the Mekong. We were hoping to have crossed the bridge to get our passports stamped in Laos but the visa process made the whole thing impossible .

. . . as we entered the city here was a new development being advertised. Oh . . .  I guess the Thai’s too have a dream of a three bedroom home in the burb’s . .

. . . we turned right and headed to our hotel. Here Cynthia bargains with a local broom maker while he pedals along with his wares.

Only a mile or two down the road we came to The Park Pool Resort, our home for the night . . .

. . . where we had nice little cabanas . . .

. . . located on the water

. . . along with a beautiful pool.

We ate dinner outside, next to the pool . . .

. . where Huey made a friend for life, this drunk German. He didn’t speak English and Huey didn’t speak German but they got along famously!!!  The German kept wondering around the grounds and the staff had to keep escorting him back to his table and beer!!

Again . . . great temps in the morning to ride in were lovely . . .

. . . 10 miles down the road we came to Sala Keoku, the ‘mother of all sculpture gardens’,

where they made no secret about charging foreigners a higher entrance fee!!!

Lots of school kids arrived for a visit too  . . .

. . . saying, ‘Hello . . Hello’

We never got into this building, but there was plenty of other things to see . . . you can see the building in the aerial photos above.

. . . lots of multi headed snakes . . .

. . . happy Buddhas . . .

. . . big Buddhas

. . . and this one that must have been very special because lots of folks were stopping and making an offering . . .

. . . it had three women on it with sarongs!

Then is was back on the bikes and down the road. Here was an interesting banana vendor who had the bananas priced by how ripe they were!

A common place for us to stop for a break was an elementary school. Shade, bathrooms running water and happy teachers . . .

. . . and very well behaved happy children, all saying ‘HELLO’.

Back home, Cynthia is a physical therapist, and here is helping Bo work out a few kinks before we started biking again . . .

. . . which when we did,took us along a busy highway but with our own lane . . .

. . . which had a friendly woman selling fruit . . .

. . . and a fellow selling lottery tickets. Lots of lottery ticket vendors. There’s a lottery drawing every day!!!

Oh and there were elections in two week. Not only do roving pickup trucks with outside speaker setups continually broadcast political advertising but there are countless roadside signs giving you info on who to vote for . . . I think this guy was going for the older crowd . . .

. . . this guy was for the younger crowd (the men all seem to play up their military background)

Women running for office too . . .

. . . not sure if you are supposed to vote for this guy 8 times . . . ???

. . .this group looked like a television news crew . . .

. . .and I think this guy was going for the religious vote!!! All that political intrigue made us hungry and today Woodie pick a French restaurant for lunch where we all order off the menu . . .

. . .  everybody likes pizza . . .

. . .  including me!!!

. . . another rest stop at a school in the afternoon brought a bunch of happy kids out of their classroom!

. . . and soon we were entering the city of Beung Kan . . .

. . . where we saw only the second self supported bicyclist of the whole trip.

Tonight we would be staying at ‘The One Hotel’. Nice place!!

. . . and walked downtown for a lovely dinner!

Some of us that had rooms located on the front of the hotel slept fine but those on the back of the hotel had a noisy night as a wedding party spent most of the night . . . partying!!!

Evidently it is not uncommon for Thai weddings to last three days. It started last night and this morning, as we were leaving, the grooms family arrived on this coach.

. . .there was LOTS of loud music as the group headed across the parking lot to the entrance of the hotel . . .

. . . where the brides parents and family had gathered.

Check out this video of the procession!!!

Down the road we went, a busy highway actually, and came upon this statue . . . lost in translation???

. . . but soon Woodie steered us back onto some beautiful biking roads . . .

. . . and a couple of hours later we stopped at this little resort to use their pavilion for our morning break.

. . .the advertising made the rooms look a little . . . ‘spartan’!!!

As we continued to bike along the river, sandbars were popping up, just like at home on the Wisconsin River.

Woodie steered us into a little mat and weaving operation that was employing about four people.

This woman was making some type of linen. You can see the finished product rolled up near her elbows . . . lots of arm and foot movement involved!!!

. . . and these women . . .

. . . were making floor mats out of reeds.

Cynthia bought a couple of mats and here she is with the woman who made the mats . . .

. . . out of material that was growing right outside of the house!!

. . . and here was her pup posing with it’s legs crossed just like our Daisy does back in WI. Where is Daisy and Smoochie . . . I miss them so!!

Today was out last day of riding and here Woodie gives us a little geography lesson of Thailand as we waited under the veranda for the rain to stop  . . . the only rain of the whole trip!!! Tom also reminded us to be careful. From his experience most accidents happen on the first or last day of the trip.

. . .  it didn’t look like it was going to stop for a while so we finally decided to load the bikes in the vans and head down the road, looking for dry weather. Sure enough, by the time we loaded up the rain had nearly stopped . . .

. . . and five miles down the road we unloaded . . .

. . .  and took one last group photo.

We met some interesting locals along the way . . . this couple was going to a wedding . . .

. . . and this  happy bicyclist stopped just to say ‘HELLO’!!

. . . a good example of what the local bikes looked like.

. . . no water towers in this little hamlet but like in many small villages , there were safe drinking water dispensers.

. . . some nice riding today among rice fields and family farms . . .

. . . and look at that  . . . c  o  r  n.    Have not seen much growing along the way.

One last rest stop and one last temple to see  . . .

. . . with a young entrepreneur selling goodies outside.

. . .  and a small offerings table where items could be purchased to give to the Buddha . . .

. . . or to use yourself, TP !!  (this place is catering to the western crowd and must be on a main visitor path.)

. . . great carvings . . .

. . . first one of these I have seen. Not sure of the significance . . .

The Thai are big on cremation and we have seen many of these little crematoriums along the way. Woodie’s wife is from Laos and they  use cremation too, but right out in the open, with large funeral pyres!

Very ornate inside the temple with great paintings . . .

. . . and a short walk to the river brought us to another BIG Buddha. For scale, you can see Lois sitting on the smaller white Buddha in the lower part of the photo.

Away we went ot our next adventure . . .

. . . a prehistoric dinosaur exhibit . . .

. . . where the likes of these critters tracks . . .

. . could still be seen in the fossils that formed with their tracks. The facility looked brand new . . .

. . . especially the bathrooms. Note the ‘privacy screen’ at the outside urinals!!!

I think they were still doing some archaeological digging!!!

Down the road we went and right before we made a left hand turn we came to this fire department operation cleaning some spilled petroleum off the pavement with water, soap and brooms. The King’s  sister was visiting the area in a couple of days and things had to be ‘spic and span’ . . .

. . . unfortunately for Huey, as we made the 90 degree turn onto the side road his bike slipped out from under him and down he went . . . on the same hip he has had replaced, TWICE!!!!

From my GPS track you can see the little backtrack at the top of the route where we pulled into the dinosaur exhibit then back on the road and the the 90 degree turn in the lower part of the photo where the mishap too place.

. . .  the staff and firefighters helped him up and into one of our vans for a trip to the hospital and hopefully some X-Rays .

By the time we left the scene, the crew was back at it!!!

Down the road we came to this new Buddha under construction. Woodie told us the word goes out when a community wants to build a new monument and donations come in from all over the country. Construction can proceed only when there are enough donations so some of these may take years to finish!!

Oops . . . speaking of Woodie, he had the second flat of this trip!!!

Riding down the roads we have seen thousands of dogs. They never chase or really give you any sign of recognition, usually just looking down the road at what the neighboring dogs are doing. AND . . . they sleep wherever they want, usually in the middle of the road!!!

Purple must be the favorite color of the King’s sister because every school and public building was covered with purple ribbons.

Two hours down the road and it was time for lunch . . . and Huey joined us!!! He had gone to a local hospital that had a small  X-Ray machine. The radiologist had never seen an artificial hip before!!! Nothing seemed broken, but he suggested Huey seek additional medical opinions in Bangkok.

. . . a great lunch of Phad Thai all around . . .

. . . which gave us the energy we needed for our final push into Nakhon Phanom, our final night of the trip. Great bridge, with huge towers on both sides,  connecting Thailand with Laos

. . . and with a sign that I presumed said ‘Welcome to Thailand’ . . .

. . . that if you lined up perfectly with this metal frame, looked like a postcard!!!

. . . we had about a 10 mile final ride along the riverway to town. Here was a fellow in a boat who was steering with his right hand and bailing, as fast as he could,  with a bucket in his left. Hope he made it home!!!

It was quite a nice ride into town. Many of the towns we bike have through along the Mekong had bike paths along the river . . . great for tourism and just for the local folks to enjoy a nice walk.

. . . St. Gregory’s Catholic Church!!!!

. . . the trail was so new, some of it was not finished yet. No permanent surface . . . no problem . . .

. . . no handrails or guards to keep you from going overboard . . . no problem!!!

Soon we were in the metro area where lots of families were enjoying the water front . . .

. . . and taking family photos.

. . . so we too needed one last ‘family photo’ of our biking group, minus Huey.

We rolled into ‘The River Hotel’ just before the rain started. Stripping all of our personal gear off the bikes, we said goodbye to our trusty steeds and carried our luggage up to the room for the last time.

. . . where outside our 4th floor room one could see there was some  major construction going on along the riverway.

Dinner was at the restaurant across the parking lot . . . good thing because it continued to rain.

End of the trip . . . time for a tini’ I have learned it can be a crapshoot to order a martini in a foreign country. Often you just get a glass of Martinin & Rossi  Vermouth. The bar had a standard drink menu written in English but none of the staff could read it. I convinced them to let me make it myself which they agreed too. As soon as they saw me pour a double shot they gasped!!! We never did connect on what an olive was!

The waiter did a great ‘shake-shake’!!

It was such a fun process TommyH decided to have one too, his being vodka!

A nice final dinner followed with the LEO beer lady keeping the beer flowing. (even though she is seen here pouring a Polander!!!)

 

 

 

Today it was back to Bangkok on Asia Air rather than NOK Airlines which we had flown on when we traveled up to the northern part of Thailand from Bangkok..

We had a scramble to get to the airport on time because the King’s sister was coming in at the same time and most of the streets were blocked off. Luckily our shuttle driver knew all the back streets and used them to parallel her course. We jogged in and out of back streets and alley . . . it felt like a Jason Bourne movie chase scene!!!

. . . but we made it in time and as we crossed the tarmac to our plane, there sat the four helicopters she and her encourage had flown in on from from Bangkok. Rank DOES have it privileges!!!

Of course our ‘patient’ had all the attention he needed to deal with what ended up being: 3 cracked ribs, a punctured lung and a cracked pelvis. He kept a stiff upper lip through the whole thing!!!

. . . a couple of hours later we walked into the lobby of the Novotel Hotel where we would stay for our last night of the trip. Big hugs all around as we said goodbye to Woodie and his staff. They had done a super job!

The hotel was quite a place and, similar to the Hilton Hotel at o’Hare Airport, is right across the street from one of the main terminals of the Bangkok International Airport . . . and there is a tunnel you walk through to get there. Easy . . . Peasy!!!

But first . . . one last night of sleep before the grueling 26 -30 hour transfer back home.

We picked one to the five restaurants in the hotel for a ‘last supper’ . . .

. . . which really did last a loooong time, I had long ago finished my pizza when the waiter informed us they had ‘forgotten’ Tom’s ‘Spring Chicken’ entree and it would be another 30 minute wait on top of the 30 minutes he had already waited. I think to make up for it they served him the whole chicken.

They got the last laugh though, as there was a 15% automatic gratuity added to the bill!!!

Our SE Asia trip had been quite an adventure. Three countries, four sets of bikes, four different guides and four support crews helped give us a varied perspective of each country we visited from their local customs,  economy, religious views and political outlooks.

All of ones senses are challenged here. The sounds, sights, tastes and environment conditions all remind you that, ‘We’re not in Kansas anymore, Todo!!!’

Our touring company Spice Roads did a fantastic job handling all the logistics behind the scenes and providing such great staff, including Bo, our ‘travel concierge’ from the headquarters office in Bangkok that we all dealt with so much before and leading up to the trip.

It was also great having Daniel from Spice Roads along for part of the trip sharing his experiences of living in Thailand for the last 10 years.

From urban to suburban to rural to jungle we had seen it all . . . but it was now time to head home. I missed Smoochie and the pup and it will be great to see them again . . . no more long trips without her. Of course, she will need to retire some year down the road first!!!

. . . another reason I knew it was time to head home was that my fellow Wisconsinite, TommyH, was ‘going native’ on me. He has REALLY enjoyed the cuisine along the way but the last morning when he had this deep fried crawdad, that look like it was crawling out of his breakfast bowl, I knew it was time to leave . . .

. . . and this letter from the manager of the Novotel, really cemented our leaving when we found there would be no liquor served today because of a Buddhist holy day!!