skysworldadventures

I feel like I need to say something to wrap up this trip. It was a fantastic adventure.   It was amazing if you just look at the number of different types of transportation that it took to get through this adventure. It started with planes. A prop plane, a small jet engine plane and then a really big plane. There were 2 different busses, 16 passenger vans, shuttles and tuk tuks (motor cycle in front with a 2 person cart behind), a cyclo (passenger seat in bicycle powered vehicle) and boats. There were dozens of feries, big and small, passenger boats, floating villages and markets, speed boats and long tail boats. And last but not least, the bikes. Between the three countries I was on 3 different bikes. And there was a lot of walking that happened as well. We met an amazing assortment of people from the people that went with us on the adventure from Boise, the guides that helped us along our journey and the people we met along the way. I would like to say one more time...

Being lazy and smooshing 2 days in to one blog entry. From Bangkok we took a short domestic flight to Phuket. Asia Air is the Southwest Airlines of southeast Asia. From the air port we had a driver with a "Mr. Logan" sign waiting for us who whisked us and out baggage to the marina. We had pastries and drinks waiting for us before the speed boat departed. Our luggage was loaded on to the boat and off we went. It was an hour of crazy fast, choppy, bone wrenching, occasionally drenching, wind whipping, wave hopping insanity to get to out little island. When all was said and done I wasn't sure I'd ever be able to comb my hair out again. The resort and the views in are amazing. I was mostly unable to take pictures between the spray and the huge chop. Our room is it's own little cabin. There is a sleeping area, an open area with a private out door shower, living room and sink and a second walled area with a second shower and toilet. It is beautiful and lu...

This was the last day of riding. So sad to be at the end! It was a mix of city riding which was crazy and frightening and pleasant riding along the beach. The hotel was fantastic and had a beach again. This time the activity of choice was attempting to body surf. The waves really were not quite big enough but the group spent quite a bit of time trying anyway. After the swimming came the drinking. A few rounds were purchased. Jeff and I missed out on a couple since we had an emergency run for ice cream. By the time we got back they had apparently done some coaching of the bar staff on how to make a good blended drink. Jeff and I were encouraged to get caught up with the rest of the group. We tried. Some how 9 of us decided that skinny dipping in the ocean was a brilliant idea. Since nothing went wrong, it kind-of seems like it was. A good way to end a great adventure. The morning of the last day or riding. A temple we stopped at for a quick break. Th...

Today was the official end of the bike trip.  We are scattering all over the place in the morning.  Jeff and I are out early and said out good buys tonight.  It's sad that its over but it is also time.  We have spent a lot of time together and I think its time to do our own thing for a while. We started the day out with a lovely run along the beach.  Its the first time since I've been here that I've ran since I've left home.  Between the bad belly, biking and heat, today was the first day that it seemed like a good idea. The drive in was pleasant but frustratingly slow.  We had very little time to check out the city and the guide we asked gave us bad info (I am unimpressed with out Thai guides, the are not very warm, friendly or useful).  We saw as much as we could and met back up with the group for our last dinner. Dinner also has traditional Thai dancing which was interesting.  We finished off the dat with looking over the city from the...

Yay!!! I got a bike the right size today. The Thai bikes are definitely not as nice as the Cambodian bikes or the ones we had in Vietnam, but at least the fit issues were resolved. Last nights storm was not quite done this morning. There was a little bit of a downpour right before we got rolling this morning. We waited for it to pass. The roads were wet when we did ride and without fenders we had all that water splashing up on us and was not super pleasant. Fortunately in only lasted a little while and then the streets dried off. The rain seemed to have cooled the day off quite a bit and cleaned the air. Crazy when 96'F feels like a nice cool day to ride! We are staying right at the beach and got in early despite out 85K of riding. We went to the beach and enjoyed the warm water. Someone found a coconut and a game was started. Ultimate Coconut! Very similar to ultimate frisbee, but with coconut. 2 teams, chest deep water, to move the coconut it must be thrown and cau...

We crossed over to Thailand after about 15K. Unfortunately we had to say good bye to some of our fantastic Cambodian guides. One of which was Polo who I thought did a fantastic job with organizing our rides and Smie who was our cultural guide. Vanik is our only guide that is constant throughout the trip. The other thing that was sad to go was my little red bike. I really liked it, I had the fit dialed in and was quite happy with it. The bike they had for me in Thailand was 2 sizes too small. This made the hills in Thailand both difficult and painful. My knees were really aching and due to the bad position on the bike I got a saddle sore where my butt cheek meets the back of my thigh. Ouch! I should have a bike that is the right size in the morning (fingers crossed). The place we are staying is near some mountains and very pretty. We watched a storm roll in in the evening and it was lovely. There was karaoke at the restaurant tonight and of course Jeff sang. It was not f...

Dinner tonight turned in to a Cambodian dance party. They tried to teach us some of their dances. Some remind me of salsa dancing with really pretty hands and supple wrists and others reminded me almost of a country line dance. Was a ton of fun. Jeff is convinced that Cambodian music sounds line mariachi music. We had a great time and will miss our Cambodian guides when we cross the border tomorrow. I tried to take some photos of the dance party, but they didn't turn out. The dance of the night was Gangnam Style... Popular all over the world, lol! Since the dance pictures didn't turn out, here are some other pictures from our day: This was a cool temple that we stopped at for a quick break. This is Jeff and a Buddist monk. This was a carved stone lion that I put my bike helmit on.

Today was hot. It was another 102'F day. There was no shade on the ride but it was all on pavement (faster but hotter). I don't think I have ever sweat this much before. We got an early start and rode hard. This group has some exceptional riders. One our guides rides for the Cambodian National Cycling team has said that after 7 years of cycling tours, we are the strongest group he has ever rode with. For us to come out here in the dead of the Boise winter and go from a low of -2'F to a high of 102'F and kick some ass is pretty impressive. With the heat and hills today I hung with the lead pack for the first 55K. I slowed a little for the next 30K, there was a breakaway group of three people that I just couldn't seem to keep up with. And the last 5K was after a lunch stop, and we all stayed together. I'm one of the stronger riders on the trip but it has made me relize that I've been a bit lazy with my training and should push a little harder, do...