Salty sweat and sweaty tears

So far this journey has been full of surprises, mostly very nice surprises. But there were also challenges.

One of those challenges was when Theo and I decided to go separate ways and I decided to keep going alone.

With mixed feelings I cycled out of Chiang Mai. ALONE. For days I haven’t seen any tourists. Now there were busloads of tourists passing me and I was wondering if I’d rather be part of them. NO WAY.

A woman stopped me and said: “You bicycle. Very good. Very eco”. Then she left me in a cloud of fumes as she drove off with her motorbike…

Under the relentless blazing sun I crawled up the hills, swallowed down some tears and wiped the salty sweat out of my eyes.

Dead tired I arrived in Chiang Dao. I spotted a temple and cycled through the gate. With sign language I asked a man if I can camp on the lawn behind the temple. Not sure whether he understood me he consulted his son who consulted his English speaking friend on his i-phone. The phone was passed between me and the son a couple of times and a whole family joined the discussion. Who are these people and why are they living next to the temple, I wondered.

I didn’t want to cause any trouble, so I said “no problem, no problem” and pointed out the gate, towards the road where hopefully another temple would come up.

It turned out they were only discussing where they could let me sleep. I was taken into the house and before I could resist the 2 sons were kicked out of their room and I was offered a place to sleep on a carpet on the floor. Their hospitality was overwhelming. The grandmother pointed towards the coffee table and grabbed me a packet of soymilk out of the cool box. The mother placed a plate of fruit on the floor of my room and said “sleep, sleep”. It was only 4 in the afternoon!

Later it knocked on my door and the mother handed me a plate of rice, followed by her son who gave me a bunch of bananas and a packet of crisps. After I ate I joined them in the living room and we tried to communicate as good as we could in Thai and English. I found out that they were from Bangkok and just visiting Chiang Dao. How they came to stay at the temple I don’t know…but for me they were heaven sent.

The next day, another encounter made me decide that cycling alone is easier than I thought!

Fully loaded with water and supplies the friendly family gave me, I continued along the road towards Chiang Rai. The road was flat and I was fast. Mae Sruai with a distance of 131 kilometers seemed a stone’s throw away. But then suddenly some hills presented themselves in front of me. Behind every curve I was hoping to see nothing but the blue sky (which in the meantime turned grey and threatening), but it just kept going up and up. The road would have been a treat, with little traffic and leading through small mountain villages where astonished people stared at me.

After a well earned 15 kilometers downhill I reached Mae Sruai just before darkness. At a temple that looked slightly abandoned I asked the only monk I saw for a place to sleep. He stepped out of the gate and called 2 ladies who helped with the translation. The ladies pointed to another house and walked me through a gate where on a wooden board I read the letters: “Akha women’s project Mae Sruai”.

Out of the house stepped a tall man and shouted in a Scottish accent: “I take it you’re lost?” I explained to him that I wasn’t lost at all but just in search of a camping spot. Looking at the sky above us he offered me a place inside the house. The timing was perfect because in that moment a massive rainstorm started and it rained the whole night through.

The house is a place where girls from the Akha hill tribe can stay during the school term. It was sponsored by a Dutch couple and run by a Thai woman, her mother and occasionally George the Scotsman who all welcomed me with great hospitality.

Family i stayed with in Chiang Dao

The road to Mae Sruai

Akha women's project Mae Sruai