Mini Update: reached Bangkok, found bike, danced to trance


look what we found!

We made it!! This is just a mini-update but we are now in Bangkok, and the bike is sat happily in the courtyard, pleased to no longer be caged. Customs was a blimmin nightmare, and took a day of faffing, and then we couldn't put the bike back together again for quite some time. But in the end all was well, and after 6 hours or so we brought Manfred home, on beautiful tarmac roads, with a real road system.


before we spent a very long time trying to wedge the disc brake back inbetween the seized brake pads, and then rode off without a front brake.

And then the madness hit home.  We were surrounded by holiday-makers on Khao San Rd, and there were fish massages on offer (they don't massage the fish. The fish 'massage' your feet, by eating dead skin. Nice.)



The streets were packed with shopping centres and trendy thai teenagers in mini-skirts. It was a far cry from our last few conservative countries. I reeled in shock, and therefore a stiff drink was quickly required.


not India.

The bars were full. We sat inebriated in a bar where tight-skirted ladyboys flirted with tourists. The pavement had a shack with crusties dancing to loud trance on the road, so we joined in after some legendary Thai Red Bull and bounced. We met an old crusty, allegedly a Navajo tribesman, who jerked to the music while he told us he used to be a gangster in Bombay for thirty years, but he got fed up with people stitching him up, and came to Thailand to set up trance parties.

We took our poor battered steed to a fantastic bike-vet (Dynamik Motors, searchable on Google), who gave it a new back tyre for a fair price, and tuned the engine and balanced the wheels. He was great, and just what it needed. Now it is purring at us.


Another culture shock at the bike doctor.  Bikes bigger than ours?  Surely not.

On the way home we found a very big golden Buddha and went to say hello.








 
 this guy was a lot smaller and less impressive, but I like his face

Tomorrow we leave for Laos! The roads are said to be 'great for off-roading'- read atrocious. Its going to be a mission. We will reach there in a couple of days- we are heading up north to do a loop south again. Will report back properly in a few days!

2 comments:

  1. Hello. Be happy.
    I found this through ADVrider. I will make more comments to piss you off. Or make you happy. But only if you post more interesting stuff. The pressure is on.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hey what sort of money did you pay to get your bike seen to + a new tyre? Would be really interested to know since i'll be following in your footsteps soon enough!

    ReplyDelete

Say hello. It makes us happy. Ta, Nicky. x

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