To Laos 2011

I was exhausted as I put the tent up after the first day of cycling after a few months of R&R in Chiang Mai, Thailand. My legs were not used to the hills and riding with luggage. It took three full days before I started to get back in shape, and the roads were increasingly mountainous as I got closer to Nan province. It took me five and a half days to get to the new border crossing north of Muang Nan. It was a very quiet border and I didn't see anyone there except some salesmen and border officials. On the Lao side I got a 30 day tourist visa for 31 dollars.

The road quickly deteriorated on the Lao side, but a new road is supposed to be completed and sealed within a few months (late 2011). Unfortunaltely the half finished road was not much help in heavy rain. The red dirt soon turned into slippery and sticky mud that made it almost impossible to ride a motorbike, or even a car. Even I had great difficulties. I was either sliding and slipping all over the place in even the slightest inclines, or I got the wheels and gears full of the sticky mud. I had to stop for the night after just a few kilometers.

In the morning the road was drier and much more useful, and I continued to Hongsa - a district capital in Xayabouli province. Hills, mud and road construction made the 35 km trip take most of the day.

A new 12 meter road being built between Hongsa and The Thai-Lao border at Muang Ngeun.

After a rest day in Hongsa I continued on a small but decent asphalt road to Xayabouri (many spelling alternatives).

Most of the more exciting sections can be found as tracks on GPSies.com:

Wang Neua - Phayao

Pong - Song Khwae

Song Khwae - Chiang Klang

Mae Man Ngeun - Hongsa

Hongsa - Xayabouri

...but the most exciting section will be covered in the next blog post.

Western Forest Complex: Day 5-7 (and to Chiang Mai)

Morning at our camp at the Sri Nakharin Lake. Kevin is making coffee and oatmeal.

Ready for another day of cycling.

A typical lunch restaurant in a mountain village on the road.

Small country roads in a farming landscape.

Kids getting ready to soak the crazy foreigners (falang bah!) with their buckets of water. Songkran water festival in western Thailand.

During the fifth day we basically cycle east ocer two nountain passes. After that we follow the eastern edge of the Western Forest Complex to the north.

Western Forest Complex: Day 4

Farming, forest, and mountain landscape near Ban Khli Thi.

One of the checkpoints on the road from Ban Khlity to Sri Nakharin Lake.

We cycle back the same way we came during most of the day. It's a bit disappointing but still a beautiful landscape to travel through, and great cycling. We also miss out on the steep climbs on gravel and concrete slabs near the Nakharin lake.

Monk and kids on the ferry across the Sri Nakharin Lake.

We get to the lake shore and the little ferry on the beach at 2 p.m. and we leave for the western coast at 3 p.m. An hour later we arrive on a similar beach on the Si Sawat side of the lake.

Enjoying a cold beer (Beer Leo) at the camp fire on the beach at sunset. Sri Nakharin Lake, Kanchanaburi Province.

We camp on the beach near the ferry. There is a small hamlet with a restaurant where we buy a couple of cold beers. We swim and wash in the lake.

To be continued.

Western Forest Complex: Day 2

We kept cycling along the western side of the Sri Nakarin (Sri Nakharind) Reservoir during the morning. At the largest village there was even a short stretch of asphalt. As we got closer to the lake shore and the ferry the road got smaller and rougher again. There is a small shop/restaurant at the "jetty" (gravel beach at the end of the road), and the ferry is supposed to leave at two p.m. or whenever it's full. The "ferry" looks like a barge with a longtail motor at the rear right corner. It has some shaded seating space along the sides and can probably take up to nine cars or other loads.

We continue inland and west from here and the road climbs steeply into the forest complex. Some sections have concrete, but it's mostly loose or hard packed gravel.

Steep climbs into the higher areas of the Western Forest Complex, Thailand.

The road meets another road connecting to highway 323 later in the afternoon, and there is some asphalt road around a larger village. We see the first foreigner on the trip in this village, a dutch pensioner living there with his Thai wife. We camp a couple of kilometers north of it near a couple of steep limestone formations.

Morning mist and coffee at our second camp site.

The Therm-a-Rest case: E-mail problems

As I mentioned in my last post, I sent in photos of the ballooning mattress. The latter bounced however, and I had to send it again. Eventually I got in touch with people at Cascade Designs. They promised to replace my mattress based on the photos I sent, and that I could choose one of two equivalent models from today's product line. I chose a Prolite regular. I picked up my new Therm-a-Rest a few weeks later when I was in Kuala Lumpur. I works fine, and is lighter and more comfortable than the older one. I guess the lifetime warranty was for real this time.

http://cascadedesigns.com/therm-a-rest/mattresses/fast-and-light/prolite/product

Sorry for the late update on this issue.

Is lifetime warranty for real?

I have used a Therm-a-rest on some of my trips, abut on this trip it failed on me. The outer fabric has disconnected from the foam material, creating a large 'balloon' or 'bubble' across the middle of the mattress. It failed in Malaysia so for seven months in Sarawak, Brunei, Sabah, Indonesia and East Timor I used a simple (and very light) foam mattress from a local Malaysian supermarket (Rm 17).

The Therm-a-Rest has a lifetime warranty though and I prefer the comfort it provides. I'm no about to find out if manufacturer Cascade Designs is good for their word. There are some rules about cleaning your gear, and storing with the valve open it in a dry place. I've followed the rules, so let's see what happens. They have now asked me to send in photos of the mattress, so they can conclude if I have the right to a replacement or repair, or nothing. See photos below:


Ballooning with a little extra inflation.


Ballooning with extra inflation.




The tag/sticker.

Do you have similar experiences with "lifetime warranty" products in general or the Therm-a-Rest in particular?

Do you think they will help me out?

I think so. They would loose out big time if they get a bad reputation about their warranty. They depend on this to keep selling their products at the premium price. Why would people by "the original" if there is no benefit, and the warranty doesn't work when you need it?

UPDATE (April 4): Still no answer, so I sent a reminder to my contact at the local distributor here in Malaysia. I was also surprised to learn that the e-mail address I got from Cascade Designs doesn't exist (the mail to that contact person bounced).

UPDATE 2: I got the good news on April 6. They will give me a replacement.

Roads of Sumba: Toward the central highlands

The road from Tarimbang to the main "Trans-Sumba Highway". Sumba Timur, Nusa Tenggara Timur, Indonesia.



This will soon be a nice asphalt road through a beautiful landscape of rolling hills. It's the road from Tarimbang to the main "Trans-Sumba Highway". Sumba Timur, Nusa Tenggara Timur, Indonesia.


The road from Tarimbang to the main "Trans-Sumba Highway". Sumba Timur, Nusa Tenggara Timur, Indonesia.

Roads of Sumba: Livestock

Cows on the road 14 kms north of Terimbang, Sumba, Indonesia.

Roads of Sumba: On the beach

The road is laterally on the beach just before Tawui on the southern coast of Sumba.


Around Tawui it's possible to cycle on the beach, and go for a swim if it gets too hot.

Roads of Sumba: Paradise cycling

The main coastal road between Ngonggi and Tawui is sometimes paved and flat.

Roads of Sumba: Small Hamlet

One of the most remote roads of south-eastern Sumba (The road between Baing and Terimbang along the coast) passes very few villages and hamlets. This is one of them.

Photo of the day: Taxi Driver

A Dili taxi driver is taking a break at the beach west of the airport. Dili, East Timor.

Sulawesi - Heaven or hell

Arriving on the pier at Toli-Toli was extremely hectic. Porters were running aboard shouting (to get passengers to move out of their way) to get to the goods or bags as fast as possible. Fortunately the port is small, and few people were getting on and off. After less than ten minutes I was on the road south through the streets of Toli-Toli. I didn't stop in town, but kept cycling out of curiosity about this island.

It soon started raining, and I had to stop at a small shop. The shopkeeper sold me instant noodles, but not just dry ones in plastic wrappers. She actually made me soup, and charged the normal price for the noodles.

Later, after a few kilometers cycling, the rain continued and it was getting dark. A man on a bicycle invited me to stay in his house. I accepted to camp on his veranda.

In the morning the weather was great again and I started an amazing journey south along the west coast of Central Sulawesi. After a steep climb over a little mountain pass I entered a beautiful landscape on a small but good enough road with hardly any traffic at all. The few vehicles I encountered were motorbikes, and the odd truck. The hills were covered in dense jungle, and the valley floor had tiny hamlets, rice paddies and sometimes a small football field and a church or mosque.

Further on the road followed the shore, with beautiful white sand beaches, coral reefs just off the shore, small outrigger fishing boats in bright colors, coconut palms, kakao beans left out to dry, cows and buffalo in the middle of the road, and an ever present wildlife consisting of large and colorful butterflies, birds of prey, swiftlets and hornbills. In the hills there were monkeys, and lizards were basking in the sun along the side of the road in the morning. Every ten kilometers or so, there was a small village, with at least one hut selling basic stuff like coffee, sweets, instant noodles and fruit. The shopkeepers would offer to make noodle soup and coffee (add hot water and bring it out in a bowl and cup respectivly) for no or almost no extra cost. Neighbors, and all the kids in town, would come out to meet the strange white person. Kids and adults alike would shout a friendly "hello misterrrrr!" or just "hello!", or just wave their hands as a greeting. The easy beach road cycling was repeatedly interrupted by steep climbs over jungle covered ridges reaching the sea from the mountains in the interior.

If you have seen the opening scene of the movie A Thin Red Line, you know the feeling I got from riding through this area. It is simply paradise cycling.

Yes, there is a 'but'. For the locals living here it may not be such a paradise. One guy was complaining about the poverty in these villages. It's not like they're starving or anything, but they are surly economically behind the big cities and the richer parts of Indonesia, not to mention the richer parts of Asia or the world. A few more tourists would not hurt at all (according to more than one person, I was the first westerner stopping in their villages - not only the first cyclist), and increased productivity in the local agriculture, and improved infrastructure, would make a big difference.

Ut ur storstan på cykel

Skyddad djungel vid gamla Genting-vägen.

2009-06-02

Jag börjar cykla ut ur huvudstaden vid ettiden på eftermiddagen. Efter lite missförstånd hittar jag den gamla vägen till Genting Highlands. Den heter Jalan Gombak inne i Kuala Lumpur. Längre upp slingrar sig vägen upp genom djungeln. Det verkar vara en skyddad skog. Det regnar en stund och vädret är behagligt. Det finns apor längs vägen, men de är ganska skygga. Vid passet ligger ett stort komplex med resturanger, butiker och bensinmack. McDonald's finns också här. Jag äter nasi goreng och cyklar vidare nedför den gamla landsvägen och stannar för ett dopp vid en varm källa. Både bilister och lastbilschaufförer stannar till och badar eller tvättar sig i det 40-gradiga vatttnet. Det blir mörkt medan jag badar. Jag stannar längre ned, vid ett vägskäl, och funderar på vilken väg jag ska ta och var jag skall sova. Jag väljer bort staden Bentung och cyklar istället upp på motorvägen mot Kuantan och Karak. Vid niotiden slår jag upp tältet vid ett regnskydd för motorcyklister.

Travel update: Tropical night cycling

Flying Ryanair and Air Asia from Sweden to Kuala Lumpur worked out well. I had a few hours on Stansted, and landed after 9 p.m. in K.L. The humid heat was noticable but not too bad at 29 degrees celcius. There were heavy thunderstorms at the horizon and pitch dark except for lightning and street lights around the airport. I relaxed for a few hours before deciding to ride my bike to the city, 72 kilometers away. The problem was finding a good route at night. The free tourist map had only big motorways, and even on Google Earth it looked difficult to find any other alternatives, because of rivers and few small roads. I started cycling on the freeway. It's in very good condition, and lit up and didn't have much traffic at this time of night (3 a.m.). After 16 kilometers it started raining. I had cycled into a thunderstorm. I stopped under an overpass to get away fron the rain, but the wind soon made it rain both vertically and horizontally. A fine drizzle came blowing in under the overpass making averything wet. I talked to a couple of motorbike drivers who also stopped. When the rain got less extreme I kept cycling. The traffic started to build up as I had a rice breakfast at a truck stop and gas station. The traffic got really crazy around eight, and I had a puncture just half an hour before reaching the city center. I found a good guest house after asking around among some backpackers.