So it has been many kilometers since I last posted. I have covered some ground on two wheels and have not been in a vehicle in three weeks. It is absolutely incredible. Most of my riding has consisted of curvy mountain roads. Sometimes I am clinging to the side of a mountain, sometimes I am climbing up and over, and my favorite is riding the ridge line. There is not a lot of traffic on the roads; and even when there are a couple slow cars you can easily pass them.
I can’t say enough about Roxanne. The speed is perfect to be able to experience your environment. If I pass a Wat on the hill that looks interesting I just whip the bike around and climb the dirt rutted washed out hill climb not worrying about turning around or dropping the bike. I can easily get her out of anything. Such freedom in this.
Side note; as I m writing this I am having the most delicious fruit and yogurt muesli with an iced latte. I am calling this Western Wednesday. I have been eating only authentic Thai food; breakfast, lunch and dinner. As they do. There is no specific food group for each meal, it is all the same. It is also Very cost effective. Today though I am going to eat western. ( this was $8 as opposed to a $2 Thai breakfast, coffee included)
Recently in Mae Hong Son I was riding through a Shan hill tribe village and saw a faded sign that said ‘cave’ that pointed up into the jungle. I started on the path that quickly got steep and turned into a cement runway that was about 16 inches wide and lifted about 18 inches out of the earth leaving no room for error. I was climbing in second gear full throttle when it got so steep I had to drop into first. The thing is you can’t slow down, you have to fully commit at the highest speed possible, until,,,, you run into broken up pieces of concrete and no solid path. I came to an immediate stop and found it difficult to keep the bike from going backwards, there was not much room for my feet to plant themselves. It was also so steep the brakes were holding but the tires were sliding. A little bit of a panic for a second. I told myself to breath and that I was okay and just needed to problem solve.
I let the back tire roll off the side so that I stopped sliding and could figure out what to do. I obviously had to turn the bike around in a very narrow steep section. This took me about a half hour. I built up the sides of the cement path with rocks and bamboo so that I had somewhat of a platform to turn the bike around on. I woman handled the bike turned it around and got it standing up. Again the brakes were not holding so I had to quickly jump on and accelerated very fast. It wasn’t long after hopping on that I heard a bike coming up quickly. I hadn’t even had time to start my bike so he didn’t hear me coming and was surprised to meet head on with me. I was able to stop and this poor man reversed down backwards for quite a ways. This man was from Japan and spoke pretty good English. He asked me how I found this place and I told him about the sign. He had been here before and I told him why I turned around. He was grateful I was okay and felt some responsibility for me having to turn my bike around myself. Very respectful.
Meeting people in these places in this way is just what I look for. A few days earlier I was in the town of Soppong. Staying at a wonderful lodge in the jungle next to the cave I had previously visited. There are many hill tribes and treks to be explored and I set off early in the morning on foot. As I was leaving I met an older couple from Canada who had been here at least a week and were headed out in an unknown direction; we said farewell to later find ourselves in a farmers hut in the rolling hills discussing our similarities and adventures. We spent over an hour in the shade of the hut overlooking corn fields and red clay foot paths strewn about the hillside discussing life. We made a dinner date for later and went our separate ways.
Back at the lodge I got to know Jeanine and Micheal much better. Jeanine is 70 and originally from Switzerland and Micheal is 62 originally from Ireland. They met 30 years ago when Jeanine was visiting the Yukon where Micheal was living. She didn’t speak a lick of English and Micheal spoke no French. She fell in love with his blue eyes and he fell in love with her smile. They married 3 months later and stumbled their way through communication and understanding.
Micheal told a story of Jeanine one night coming home and saying she was ‘hungry’ So Micheal made her an omelette and she threw the plate at him. “Not hungry! Angry!” And they both had a laugh. 30 years later they are the best of friends and travel often. He loves working in his shop as an iron worker and mechanic and she loves gardening and cooking. They couldn’t be more different and yet so similar. They are so inspiring! I really enjoyed them as individuals and as a couple. We exchanged emails and I will most definitely be visiting them in the Yukon. Something on my bucket list.
Another meeting of the minds was a group of women from Thailand who were traveling around visiting different Wats and monestaries. We met at the top of a mountain with our feet dangling in the sky eating breakfast, having great coffee, and enjoying expansive views. These women were ordained nuns. We had a language barrier but were able to smile, giggle, and point. Just a few words and gestures of another language can create connection.
The Cave lodge was a great place to explore from. It was off the main drag and tucked into a Shan village on the river close to the mouth of the cave. Remember when I was talking about all the sweet bat noises in the cave? At night the bats leave the cave, and thousands and thousands of swallows take their place. At dusk I watched as streams of swallows came home for the night. About 30 minutes in the bats started to leave. As you can image, there was a bit of some navigation happening as they were headed into on coming traffic. It was incredible. I was 45 minutes into the show and it was still going strong but I had to leave. It was getting so dark and I had to trek back to the lodge.
I spent three nights here and am ready to move on. The mornings have been very cold, this morning it is 46 degrees. Bundled up and loaded up I say my farewells. Micheal and Jeanine see me off. It is always mixed feelings when you leave a place you so much enjoyed for the unknown. But this is part of having itchy feet; and I have itchy feet. I will find joy in the next place too.
