[LivinLOS]

Pushbikes.. What a way to spend a holiday !!

I have been lucky in my life to do some great road trips.. As a kid almost all of our adventures (we were not a family for holidays.. Hippies in horseboxes across the Atlas mountains.. Once lost the lot in a vehicle fire in the northern sahara.. Did the Florida keys to Homer Alaska in early 20's) were done overland, more than a couple in a VW combis and larger converted vehicles.

Since coming to Thailand I had sorta treated Thailand like my holiday and the new culture made it feel interesting but now after a few years had forgotten how good it is to be somewhere alien, just being down on Bali with Sam and heading up through Lombok on rented bikes, bribing the ferry customs guys to let us smuggle the rentals off Bali, funny mushrooms on the beach, things like that last year reminded me how much I love new places and how much great exploration is all around me here in Asia. I would be a mug not to do more of it while I can. Seems like Thailand is home now and as much as I still love it I have found myself sitting with my Atlas and maps in hand or Google Earth on the screen lots, sure sign that feet are getting itchy.

So I have sold my jeep (fun island car but no good for a journey) and bought a reliable boring runabout last weekend.. Theres some places round Thailand I want to go look at (Koh Lippe in the south where the Karma bar guys moved too.. I want to go to the gem markets in Chantaburi to see the hustle and scam scene (I like people watching and a 3rd world gem market has to have some characters) and I am kinda wondering how easy or hard it will be do get access to local countries to the north in wheels. Its so close that I would love to say I have driven the road to Mandalay. And then from there are there roads to connect to Chitagong ?? I remember seeing something about the Tigers of Chitagong national park and would give my back teeth to see one myself ?? Can you drive to Buthan (through Dacca and Siadpur) ?? And really to Nepal and Khatmandu ?? Now I doubt 1/10th of this will be done but you can tell I have been looking at the globe and pondering.. Each time I hear an alien sounding place name I get a curious kinda feeling.

First some smaller trips with spinner just locally but I am starting to feel like as I am already in this part of the world, to not explore more of it than Bangla Rd would be unforgivable.