The border crossing from Tachiliek, Myanmar into Thailand was a much ado about nothing. We all made it without guides. Apparently, we hit it on the right day at the right moment, people have been sent back to India though Burma before, but all was well for the group.
Thailand serves as a stark comparison to other parts of Indochina. Its almost a first-world country, so there are grocery stores (with isles, not just stacked bags of beans and rice), malls, maintenance facilities, western style roads, huge infrastructure projects, etc, etc, etc are all present. The feeling when riding from Chang Rai to Chang Mai was surreal. It was as if we were teleported 40 years into the future. All was well until I was stopped by the police... three time...within 48 hours. Two bribes and one warning later, and I realized that Thailand has a ways to go to earn its first world status. The bribes were quite low so no point in arguing, just paid and left, no arguing, I save that for a higher threshold as it takes about 45 minutes to an hour to successfully maneuver my way out. While I am on the subject, bribes are usually very high or very low, and have never been in between. The lows have been in India, Thailand and Kyrgystan, which were about the five dollar mark, the highs have been Peru, Columbia, and Bosnia & Herzegovina, which have been in the $200 to $350 range. During this RTW journey, I managed to extricate myself from all of the large bribes, with the exception of one, which did land me in a holding cell, but even then I got the fine down to $70.
I made my way from Chang Mai to Bangkok, although faster than I really wanted. I did get to see some sights, but I had to have the first real repairs done on Greta, and parts supply can take close to the length of a visa, so shot down to Bangkok I did. Greta needed allot of little little things fixed, like fork seals, clutch covers, remapped and timed the engine, repair the pannier rack, recovered the rear seat (monkey damage in India, which is a phrase I never thought I would use in my life)) etc, etc.... The one big expense ticket item was a new rear shock. It was expensive, but worth it. Ohlins really helped me out. I told them my of my plight, and they sent a shock overnight (at no charge) to Bangkok, a wait time that would of normally taken 2 months. My spine and back has rewarded my purchase decision since its installation by not going into spasm at night.
I have been to Thailand many times, so there is not allot of bucket list items I have to do here, it has been more of a relax and enjoy an uncluttered mostly modern civilization for a while. Indochina is very difficult to traverse. Denied entrance at borders, motorcycles being detained in holding yards until days of paperwork are approved, and extremely high fines for improper paperwork, are all common. I have enlisted the help of Dave who is a legend in the overlander community. He owns and runs an overlander community called the Plodd Stop (near Pattaya). He offers vehicle storage, new and very nice apartments, and most of all his knowledge of the visa/carnet requirements for Indochina, which border posts can be traversed with a vehicle, and most of all, how to get around the tour guide requirement. As odd as it may seem, a country's rules in this part of the world vary by border crossing point. So here I am working out a path from Thailand into Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, all supposedly doable with my dear Greta, and of course, Dave's help.
Leg Distance: 606 mi (1,042 km)
Thailand serves as a stark comparison to other parts of Indochina. Its almost a first-world country, so there are grocery stores (with isles, not just stacked bags of beans and rice), malls, maintenance facilities, western style roads, huge infrastructure projects, etc, etc, etc are all present. The feeling when riding from Chang Rai to Chang Mai was surreal. It was as if we were teleported 40 years into the future. All was well until I was stopped by the police... three time...within 48 hours. Two bribes and one warning later, and I realized that Thailand has a ways to go to earn its first world status. The bribes were quite low so no point in arguing, just paid and left, no arguing, I save that for a higher threshold as it takes about 45 minutes to an hour to successfully maneuver my way out. While I am on the subject, bribes are usually very high or very low, and have never been in between. The lows have been in India, Thailand and Kyrgystan, which were about the five dollar mark, the highs have been Peru, Columbia, and Bosnia & Herzegovina, which have been in the $200 to $350 range. During this RTW journey, I managed to extricate myself from all of the large bribes, with the exception of one, which did land me in a holding cell, but even then I got the fine down to $70.
I made my way from Chang Mai to Bangkok, although faster than I really wanted. I did get to see some sights, but I had to have the first real repairs done on Greta, and parts supply can take close to the length of a visa, so shot down to Bangkok I did. Greta needed allot of little little things fixed, like fork seals, clutch covers, remapped and timed the engine, repair the pannier rack, recovered the rear seat (monkey damage in India, which is a phrase I never thought I would use in my life)) etc, etc.... The one big expense ticket item was a new rear shock. It was expensive, but worth it. Ohlins really helped me out. I told them my of my plight, and they sent a shock overnight (at no charge) to Bangkok, a wait time that would of normally taken 2 months. My spine and back has rewarded my purchase decision since its installation by not going into spasm at night.
I have been to Thailand many times, so there is not allot of bucket list items I have to do here, it has been more of a relax and enjoy an uncluttered mostly modern civilization for a while. Indochina is very difficult to traverse. Denied entrance at borders, motorcycles being detained in holding yards until days of paperwork are approved, and extremely high fines for improper paperwork, are all common. I have enlisted the help of Dave who is a legend in the overlander community. He owns and runs an overlander community called the Plodd Stop (near Pattaya). He offers vehicle storage, new and very nice apartments, and most of all his knowledge of the visa/carnet requirements for Indochina, which border posts can be traversed with a vehicle, and most of all, how to get around the tour guide requirement. As odd as it may seem, a country's rules in this part of the world vary by border crossing point. So here I am working out a path from Thailand into Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, all supposedly doable with my dear Greta, and of course, Dave's help.
Leg Distance: 606 mi (1,042 km)
Total Distance Traveled by Motorcycle: 32,327 mi (53,040 km)
Countries/Territories Visited: USA, Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, Uruguay, Canada, Portugal, Spain, Morocco, Gibraltar, France, Monaco, Italy, Vatican City, San Marino, Slovenia, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Czech Republic, Poland, Ukraine, Transnistria, Moldova, Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia, Greece, Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, China (for 20 seconds), India, Nepal, Burma, Thailand
One thing everyone knows is Thai people are nice and kind :-)
ReplyDeleteYes they are, they are a rare breed.
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