14 Apr 2004 - Krabi, Thailand, Day 381, Alex's 15954km

Together Again.

Jo and Alex parted ways on the 20th of November last year, after an epic episode of cycling in the freezing rain in the dark, a broken rim, and *drum roll* malaria. Jo flew back to Singapore to be treated. Alex went on with Marcel and Andreas to India.

Now, almost 4 and a half months later, the two are reunited. And in the spirit of the Expedition, almost utterly by coincidence.

Alex was already in Bangkok (Krung Thep to the locals - the City of Angels) when Jo and Joe (henceforth referred to as BigJoe, a reference to his extended wisdom *cough cough*) cycled perilously into the dreaded BKK traffic at last light. After what seemed like an endless urban jungle (Bangkok is HUGE, and it SPRAWLS like a hectic ant colony in the suffocating heat and humidity) the pair got to the outskirts of central Bangkok after a circus act of dodging buses and cars. Speeding past a bus stop, Jo spotted a guy with a bright yellow cycling jersey waiting for the bus.

Can't be...

Blondish hair.

CANNOT be...

BIG Singapore flag sewn onto the chest.

In the wake of screeching brakes and a cacophony of honking from permanently frazzled Thai motorcyclists, Alex and Jo finally saw each other again. A loud family-unfriendly exclamation escaped Jo's lips as Alex came closer and said, "Hello there. You better get your bike off the road." So at a non-descript bus stop in a city of 6 million people, 2 old friends shook hands after a tumultuous 4 months apart, another circle in our cosmic universe subtly closing up.

A few years have passed since Alex was last in Krung Thep (Jo has not been there before), 2 things remain however defied the test of time:
1. The traffic of BKK is still SO HORRIBLE, there are jams and more jams just about anywhere in central BKK.
2. Khao Sarn Road, the haven for backpackers (like Thamel in Kathmandu), is still so vibrant and full of "farangs". It is a place where sex, drugs, lies, alcohol, internet-cafes and banana pancake are a plenty.

During his university days, Alex would travel DIY in Thailand most of his holidays, making Khao Sarn road his second home. The cheapest guesthouse here then could be had for as little as 100Baht(about SGD5); those were his days of travelling on a really tight budget.

We interrupt our usual broadcast cos it's time we had BigJoe give a proper intro of himself. He's an awesome guy, loads of fun to be with, and the cycling's been so much easier with him around. So let's give a big round of applause for BigJoe (hmmm, suddenly sounds like a name from WWF) to introduce himself in his own words:

"Testing... Testing... Is this mike on?
"Oh ok. Hi everyone.
"I'm Big Joe, known to most normal people as Joe Nathan Lourdes, 39, a former senior editor at The New Paper (TNP).
"I'm taking a break from working life after 15 years, all at TNP.
"Twenty years ago, I cycled around Malaysia in 6 weeks after my A-level exams. It was an incredible experience for a 19-year-old. "Now I'm keen to enjoy the adventure of being back on the road again, living outside the humdrum routine of modern life.
"Over the past few years, I have done a few short cycling trips with Johann, whom I met through my fiancee, who wouldn't be caught dead on a tour bike!"

Kewl! Back to our regularly scheduled broadcast then:

After a rip-roaring couple of days in Krung Thep (the Jos' went to Patpong cos BigJoe wanted a 't-shirt') hanging out with the Scots (Ally bought MORE stuff as Jo and Roger discussed plans to do a buyout of Singapore's elctronics sector) and parties with old friends, the trio met up one cool morning at the end of the legendary Khao Sarn road. So one Chinese one Malay and one Indian (and for a full respresentation of the Singaporean cross-section, one of us is a PR) started out in the early morning mist that hung with anticipation as 8 days of tough cycling through 880km of paddy fields, beaches, rubber trees and Super Soaker ambushes awaited us.

It took us 2 days to get to the beaches of the east shore of Southern Thailand, which were sadly covered with tourist development and littered with gaudy beach chairs under unsightfully huge umbrellas for rent. We gave camping a shot that night, much to our regret as the mosquitoes fed themselves something silly and the wind died at 9pm causing a sweltering heat from then on. The next day we did an amazing 25km to the next beach before looking at for a place to stay cos we were just too shacked. And we STILL made 880km in 8 days. Yeah, we're nuts.

But the crazily boring flat vistas of way too much green gave way to the amazing sight of limestone karst formations as we made our way down the 'spine' of south-east asia, and the hills gave us some respite from the monotony of the repetitive, mind-numbing constancy of flat riding. Here we met another group of cyclists - 2 japanese guys on a 2 week trip from Chiangmai to Krabi, and they were doing much crazier distances than we were. Of course, they only had rear panniers too, and we wish we had it that easy :(

The weather was hellish - each afternoon hovered around the 40 degree mark, and everytime we stopped we sweated buckets and could've easily watered the plants of the many petrol stations and 7-11s that we stopped at. Thailand is peppered with 7-11s (or 'seven' as they call them here) and we were thankful for them for they kept us alive and hydrated every 20km or till we nearly pengsan whichever came first. We got out really early to get some good cycling in, and were keeping as close to the shoulder of the road as possible, because that's where the most shadow from the trees were. Trust us - it mattered.

On the night of the 10th, Jo was rudely awakened from his slumber to a piercing pain shooting up his left foot. Through the searing world of hurt he found a torch and shone around to see the cause of the new pain - a six-inch centipede was crawling around his mattress. After a pain-blinded chase around the room (which the centipede won) and some help from the other 2 with a futile search for antibiotics, we all went back to sleep. Now Jo was brought up with a healthy dose of kampung stories about centipede bites, but a quick internet search and some helpful SMSes from medical friends made him breathe easy again, and Alex's jibe about having to send Jo back to Singapore AGAIN faded into memory.

On the 13th of April, we woke up and got ready for war at the police station we were staying at. That day was the first day of Songkran, a water festival which marks the Thai new year. What started out as a respectable powdering and wetting of the hands and shoulders of elders for good luck and cleansing has turned into a mass orgy of waterbombs, roadside waterpipes, barrels of ice cold water in pickups and trucks drenching all and sundry, and general mass hysteria. We had 120km to go to our next destination, and every 5km or so got drenched again and again by revellers either waiting at the side of the road or driving up next to us on pickups and trucks. For the most part, they were well behaved, asking us to stop and powdering our faces and upending 10-gallon pails of water over us, but as the day got on one could see the effect of starting to drink at 730 in the morning kicking in. Jo got held back from continuing on twice by drunk revellers who were eventually pulled back by their friends. Buckets of green and orange dye covered us and powder graced our bodies for much of the day. It was utter madness and absolutely cool. We wondered if it'll take off in Singapore, but a quick imagined scene of Robinson Road being closed for the day so people in suits and power dresses could pepper each other with Super Soakers quickly dispelled the idea - fun? Singapore? Nah. :)

We got to Krabi, an amazing small town with more character than you can shake a stick at, and ran into the Scots AGAIN. They were having some trouble with some bike parts, and we spent an amazing time catching up, and will catch a well deserved break (for Alex, at least :) for the next few days before scooting out of Thailand and down the east coast of Malaysia nimbly dodging all the trouble spots of the South.

We're roughly 1000km from home, and the wafting aroma of nasi lemak beckons. When we close our eyes at night we can see the skyline with the durians, smell the satay sizzling at East Coast, hear the construction. Watch out, Singapore. We're coming home.

Alex and Jo
With special guest BigJoe
1st Singaporean Transcontinental Cycling Expedition 2003-2004

PS: we should be on the East Coast of Malaysia soon, cycling slowly back and reaching Singapore probably on the 9th of May. Someone warn the nasi lemak stall at Changi Village can?