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Two Very Different Countries I

Two countries, 1300 kilometers, 30+ degrees. Countless smiles, high-fives, curious stares and one marriage proposal. As difficult as rewarding. My bicycle trip to Myanmar and Thailand.


The plan is simple. Fly to Bangkok, take a night train to some more or less random place in the south and cycle back north. To make it more adventurous, the way north will lead through southern Myanmar - one of the most remote parts of the least visited country in south-eastern Asia.


This map was made with Wanderlog, a road trip planner app on iOS and Android

Thailand - the easy part

Night train from Bangkok - very pleasant and comfortable way to travel south. I'll jump off in the morning in Hat Yai, some 40km from the border with Malaysia

Quiet good quality roads in the morning make me think the trip was a good idea

It quickly gets hot but there are plenty of places along the road when one can have a quick power-nap, something I'll keep doing regularly on this trip. Nothing's better than 15 min reset in the shade

Nothing special about this bottle of water apart from the fact that someone just handed it over to me from a passing car. Felt so pro, like a race 😁

On this trip I decided to go slightly off-road onto gravel and some other less usual surfaces. Sometimes it worked well, like in the place on this pic. Sometimes it didn't...

The road leads along the shore for the most of the time.

Finding food and drinks on the way was super-easy (usually).

Sometimes even easier. Ice coffee in the plastic bag I bought in one of small villages. Waffles I got extra from some old grannies selling them on the roadside. Do I already look so exhausted?

Cows as likely to be spotted on these roads as cars.

It's sooo green there!

Leaving main roads was one of the best ideas to have.

Not everything was easy though. In fact I constantly faced some interesting challenges. What would you do if you got a flat tyre somewhere in the forest and you broke your pump at the same time? Yay 😅

You see big gathering of people sharing food - you go there and ask if they have something to eat. Then somewhere around 8th plate that lands on the table you realise it was not a restaurant ☺️

Morning view #1

Breakfast wolfed down, water refilled, pic with local cycling enthusiast taken, go!

Ok, I got lost and this road was a dead end (which I realised after around 10km). Was well worth it anyway

I would have missed these views if I didn't get lost.

Not my usual surface and I won't say it was planned. More of these to come

Dusty water bottle, yummy!

Surat Thani, the only bigger city on my way in this part of Thailand, and I ended up here on New Year's Eve. Cliche, but I already miss thai street food.

Somewhere in the city waiting for New Year's Eve

Some things work differently here. Dogs roam free, cats do not

Go to a convenience store trying to buy something to clean bicycle chain and the only option you find is slightly more pink than expected and featuring some cute bunny. He's not that cute anymore

From two competing New Year's Eve celebrations in the city this one was certainly more interesting

Welcome 2020! Riverside breakfast

Discovery of the day - after you drink your coffee from the plastic bag you end up with a lot of ice. For the rest of the day you can enjoy coffee-flavoured water

Can you believe that Open Street Maps has all these roads marked?

notpreparedforthistypeofroad #2

It was worth cycling 150km yesterday to wake up in a place like this

Slowly approaching the border with Myanmar. There are easier roads, but who said easier is better?

notpreparedforthistypeofroad #3

Somehow I managed to get to the border. Easy part of the trip behind. Unknown unknowns ahead.


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Location: Thailand

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