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Date: June 13, 2003
I've spent about a month on the beaches of Thailand recovering
my health. I think I am free of illnesses now but still weak. I
have gained four kilos of blubber and I am determined to it into
muscle.
My friend, Pete, came to visit me. He had spent two weeks in Bangkok
waiting and when I arrived, it seemed he knew everybody on the block
and had the women swooning for him despite telling them he had a
girlfriend.
We spent a few days in Bangkok where I was made dizzy by the oxygen,
humidity, heat, flashing lights and women. Then we packed and headed
south to the tranquil beaches and islands. Pete rented a luxury
resort on Koh Phi Phi and we spent our time in the buffet breakfast,
the pool, the ocean and the restaurants and bars. One week in a
luxury resort goes about as fast as one hour in the deserts of Peru
without water.
Now Pete has gone. My friend, Debbie, has come and gone again and
I am heading back towards Bangkok feeling a bit spoiled and lonely.
Yesterday, I did 112 kilometers. (Only 9,950 left to have pedaled
the circumference of the planet.) I had spent the night in my tent
soaked in sweat and the day on the bike dripping sweat so I felt
no choice but to head to the nearest cold shower and fan. Unfortunately
the coast is littered with tantalizing and pricey luxury resorts
and i had to ride past them all feeling like my radiator had burst.
The heat, humidity, monsoons, mud roads, mountians and politics
of S.E. Asia are going to be much more challenging than I thought.
At one intersection, I nearly turned and headed straight to Malaysia,
which would be the easiest but least challenging and novel path.
I am considering heading to the fmaous temples of Cambodia then
to Ho Chi Min City in Vietnam and possibly up the coast to Hanoi.
There is a Lonely Planet book that describes this route so it should
be fairly safe. However, Pete thinks I am crazy. "You should
stay in Thailand as long as possible. Get a beautiful Thai girlfriend
while you still have the chance. Soon you'll be an old man and have
prostrate cancer and no amount of viagra will make a difference.
What is this number you are chasing?" I'm inclined to agree
but we all to set goals and Thailand will always be an ace up my
sleeve.
I am hiding from the sun now. I still have another 50 km to the
next possible cold shower and fan. I better get on the old bike
and find some lunch. I will probably have as yesterday's menu read,
"Fire rice with offensive odor of chicken."
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