Vespas, or what?

1959 Vespa - Note the small wheels allowing
a step-thru chassis, spare tire, cowling

Why would I write anything at all about Vespas? They're not even true motorcycles but motor-scooters — you know, they have those tiny wheels, a small motor — everything about them is small and low to the ground. I remember them from my childhood years when they were practically the only two wheeled vehicle on American roads that wasn't named Harley or Indian. By the way, the name Vespa derives from the Italian word for wasp and is a reference to the buzzing sound those tiny high-revving motors made as they raced along the highways of Italy.

During my motorcycle trip to Nan last month I spent a few evenings chatting with biking buddies Al, DC, Sean, and Andy over beers at our hotel. These guys have been riding for years. They're true aficionados. When we get together we constantly talk about motorcycles; Bimmers, Kawasakis, Hondas, tires and exhaust pipes, street bikes vs off-road, etc. One evening the conversation somehow turned to Vespas. To my surprise, Sean said he'd gladly pay $4,000 USD for an older Vespa, properly restored. Al immediately chimed in with his affirmation.

I said, Whoa, are you kidding? You'd both be willing to pay four grand for a Vespa, an old Vespa?

"Yes", they said, practically in unison, "in a heartbeat  — cash money."

So I thought I'd do a little research about Vespas. If I do some reading, I reasoned, maybe I'll end up liking them too.

As it happens, the Vespa was a revolutionary 2-wheeler for its time. The small wheels allowed a step-thru chassis that made getting on and off easy even if the driver was wearing a skirt, unlike other motorcycles of the day. The 2-stroke engine was enclosed and hidden inside a streamlined rear end and they had a cowling up front to protect the driver from rain and mud. The modern Yamaha Finos and Honda Scoopys and Clicks borrow heavily from that original design and you see hordes of them in Thailand, often driven by attractive gals in skirts and high heels. These bikes far outnumber Vespas on the roads nowadays. Vespas are made in Italy by Piaggio and always have been. The company started out making interiors for train coaches but in the late 1940s developed the stylish motor scooter that made the  Vespa marque famous. I read somewhere that over 15 million Vespas have been manufactured since they first appeared. That's more than 4 times the number of Harleys that have sold in their one hundred year history. Who knew?

(More reading: Here's a blog article about the Vespa Museum near Pisa, Italy: Velvet Escape)

Chiang Mai girl riding a Honda Click

Because the modern bikes have automatic transmissions these machines have no clutch lever. Of course, having no clutch to operate with the left hand, only a brake, makes it easy for people to hold a drink, or even a cell phone, with that hand. This is all too common a practice in Thailand. Hell, you're never gonna need that other brake anyway, right?

Taking a call while driving one-handed in heavy traffic

Vespas are fairly common in Thailand. Most of those I see here are older ones with 2-stroke engines. The two-strokes are the ones that have lubricating oil mixed with the fuel which results in the production of a lot of smelly smoke, which in turn causes me to curse them. Lonely Planet calls the Vespa the iconic motor scooter, the machine that defines what a scooter is. I call them crop-dusters. Whether on the open road or waiting for a light to change, there's almost nothing worse then being caught behind a crop-duster. Two-stroke engines have been pretty much phased out in the U.S. except for chain saws and other applications requiring a high power to weight ratio, which is one of the few redeeming virtues of 2-stroke motors. (They're light because they use no valves or camshafts. Plus they deliver one power stroke for every 2 crankshaft revolutions, while a 4-stroke engine delivers only one power stroke for four revs.) Every once in a while you'll still see an old outboard motor or vintage motorcycle trailing a characteristic plume of blue smoke but they're mostly gone now. They're very inefficient compared to four-stroke engines and the stinky exhaust gas they produce is both smoky and polluting. Good riddance.

2 old Vespas in our parking lot Business end of  a 2-stroke Vespa motor

Another neighborhood Vespa Mirrors and lights

But things have changed. The company almost went bankrupt a while ago after losing ground and sales dollars to Japanese bike makers for many years. But beginning in 2003 new management and the employment of Japanese assembly line techniques have reinvigorated the marque and have once again made Vespas a cult item, in demand for the metropolitan commuter and Sunday drive in the country crowd. For example, the young fellow I chatted with at Wangwon Farm the other day had a new LX150 of which he was quite proud.

Nut and I looked at an assortment of new Vespas at the big Honda dealership in Chiang Mai the other day. They are pretty cool I must admit. Why the Honda dealer is selling them is a question I cannot answer. (More profit margin? If you can't lick 'em, join 'em? The owner loves Vespas as do my buddies Sean and Al?)

Vespa GTV 300

The new Vespas boast state of the art fuel injected, 4-stroke engines ranging in size from 50cc to 280cc. Gone are the smelly plume of blue smoke and the ring-a-ding-ding sound of those venerable 2-stroke motors. Enter Halogen headlights, electric starters, disc brakes and efficient automatic transmissions. But I had an attack of sticker shock when I looked at the price tag on the top of the line GTV 300. This little baby will set you back 300,000 baht, close to $10,000 USD. I read an article in Wired magazine while I was putting this together that talks about an experimental model, the X9, which has a 460cc motor.

Note: Feb 2013 - I learned the X9 was released in 2005 but was not particularly successful and is not listed on the Vespa site (link below). It never caught on in the states, nor here as far as I can tell.

(The Vespa site for the USA is  here.)

So, now that I've looked the situation over have I changed my mind about Vespas? In a word, No.

I do like them better than I did but still think my buddies are crazy. Pay four grand for a restored crop duster? No way. Pay 10 grand for the new, sportier 4-stroke, automatic transmission equipped GTV 300? I don't think so. The Japanese brands competing in the step-thru category cost far less than any Vespa. A brand new 125cc Honda Click or Yamaha Fino can be had for under $2,000 USD and there are service centers literally everywhere in the kingdom.

Just for the hell of it and as another point of comparison even though not completely fair, a new BMW F800GS, practically a superbike here in Thailand, will set you back around 800,000 baht, ($26,000 USD!) In the U.S. the F800GS can be had for a paltry $13K USD. My CBR250 is, of course, manufactured in Thailand while the Vespa and the Bimmer are imports and therefore carry a stiff import duty that jacks their MSRPs to almost double the cost elsewhere.

The 2012 BMW F 800 GS - you can have one for only $26,000

---

The other day I bought the tickets that will take me to the east coast of the U.S. and out of Thailand for the summer months. My original plan was to spend a month or so in France and the Netherlands but I decided for various reasons not to do that and will instead come more or less directly back to the states. I'll fly west out of Bangkok to Amsterdam for a 3-day stop at one of the favorite cities of my 2009 visit to Europe and then on to Buffalo and North Carolina. After that I'll spend a few weeks in Eugene while my son Tuli recovers from knee surgery for a torn ACL and then sometime in late May or early June return to Alaska for the main part of the summer.

What does the summer hold now that I no longer have a place to hang my hat in Homer? Good question. I'll tell you about it when I figure it out.

Strawberry Ride

Nut's on her way to Bangkok tonight to be with her daughter, Dui Dui, who's about to give birth to her first grandchild and I've been hanging out with Willy and Janice, Homer friends who are here on the tail end of a two-month trip around SE Asia. Lots of great chit-chat, gossip and travel information were passed back and forth across the table at one of my favorite restaurants near Thapae Gate in the old city. You might recall I talked about Janice in some of my early blogging because she has been a friendly and knowledgeable influence on my traveling and my destinations: she's been practically everywhere in the world, and sometimes more than once.

Anyway, yesterday was a beautiful day (aren't they all?) and seeing as we're pretty much settled into our new place over breakfast I suggested a ride into  the country to buy some strawberries. Nut, always up for explorations involving food, immediately started gathering up her motorcycling gear. Strawberries are both a tradition around here and an important crop for which the area is famous. We repeated a ride we had done with Big Al a few months ago before the strawberry season, a loop through the little town of Samoeng, which is about 30 km west of Chiangmai. The roads are, well, I imagine you'll soon tire of hearing me say it, perfect for motorcycling. Absolutely perfect. Smooth and very twisty, with light traffic and just enough ups and downs to make it interesting. Goddamn, it's pretty country!


View Samoeng Loop in a larger map

As we approached Samoeng, Nut began to notice signs on trees and fence posts advertising a certain strawberry farm a few kilos ahead. There were roadside stands selling berries along the highway but for some reason Nut had become fixated on getting to this particular farm, so we persevered, or I guess I should say, I persevered, until we reached the Wongwan Farm just a bit south of Samoeng. Nut's intuition is seldom faulty and I reckon I should just learn to trust it more because the little farm turned out to be quite an interesting place -- a farm, resort, and restaurant located in a fertile and pretty valley nestled in the same hills that make motorcycling so damn much fun. People come here to buy strawberries and to pick them. Some even stay in the funky little bungalows to get away from the city and immerse themselves in the rural atmosphere.

At Wongwan Farm - smoke from burning fields is plainly visible

The CBR at Wongwan Farm (N18.83837, E98.72796)

Nut attempts to carry a heavy berry-burden -- about 40 lbs of berries on a bamboo stick

Nut picking strawberries

In the photos you can see the pall of smoke that curses the northern provinces every spring. At this time of year rural Thais, farmers and townspeople alike, burn everything they see. At least that's the way it seems to me. I can understand burning weeds and chaff in fallow rice paddies, but they also burn roadsides, deeply forested hillsides, railroad corridors, in short anything or any area that has combustible material present. It's crazy and seems to serve no definable purpose, there are even laws prohibiting it, but every spring countless fields and forests are burned to the point that visibility drops to few meters in some areas -- busy urban airports actually close. Nobody, no farang anyway, can understand this frenzy to burn but it's widespread and totally out of control. Many folks look forward to the beginning of the rainy season when the water will wash the air and subjugate the smoke and heat from this annual burning.

I struck up a conversation with this nice young fellow, the owner of a new 150cc Vespa scooter, as I waited for Nut to finish picking berries. Like most Thais, he was very friendly and cooperative especially as I had asked him if I could take a picture of his bike. I've become curious about Vespas because two of my Homer buddies (Sean and Al) told me one night over drinks that they would gladly pay $4,000 for an older restored Vespa scooter. I  don't understand that and intend to do a short entry about Vespas at a future date.

Talk to you later, and stay tuned....

We're living in Chiang Mai

It's been quite a while since I last wrote. A lot has happened since the apartment hunting episode. Of course we found a nice place as I've already mentioned -- not as quaint as the one on Samsen Soi 4 in Bangkok but it's brand new and quite a bit larger for about the same money. Our new place is actually roomier than the cabin where I spent the last three summers up on Diamond Ridge. And it has running water!

A couple of weeks ago I did a 4-day stint with my Homer buddies over in Nan where we traveled on some of the best motorcycling roads in Thailand -- terrific stuff. Then Nut and I made the return to Bangkok to pack our things for the move to our new place. But the break in writing is mostly because I've been lazy. What we've been up to these days isn't particularly exciting. The mundane, quotidian things that everyone must do when moving just does not make that compelling a story. And I imagine any guy who writes about his day to day routine while trying to make it sound perpetually exciting must slip into the doldrums occasionally. That's where I've been.

I've also been reading. A lot. I finished several page turners over the past couple of weeks. I've really been caught up in reading books on my little Netbook computer. I buy them from Amazon online and usually have several going at one time. Cutting for Stone, by Abraham Verghese, is about a family of doctors set in Ethiopia. Verghese himself is a doctor, so the story is especially compelling and very well done. His writing is smooth and masterful, his characters breathe on the page. A hell of a good book.

I also read 1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created by Charles Mann. It's about the Columbian Exchange, as researchers call it, and is the reason there are tomatoes in Italy, oranges in Florida, chocolates in Switzerland, and chili peppers in Thailand (not to mention rubber trees and sugar cane). When Columbus opened the New World the planet was changed drastically and permanently by these exchanges, either intentional or accidental, of plants, animals, and people, including slaves. I read Mann's earlier book, 1491: New Revelations of the Americas before Columbus, about the Western Hemisphere before its  discovery and subsequent domination by Europeans, and loved that one as well.

And Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival ... by Laura Hillenbrand, who wrote and received critical acclaim for her book Seabiscuit a few years ago. This is the true story of Louis Zamperini, Olympic runner and bombardier on a B-24 Liberator bomber in the Pacific Theater during WWII. The plane crashed in mid-ocean in 1943. After surviving shark attacks, starvation and serious dehydration during 47 days adrift he was rescued. But by the Japanese. Far from being over, his ordeal was only beginning. This is one of the most remarkable war stories I've ever read, and I've read plenty of them. Now I feel compelled to read Seabiscuit, a book that came out when I worked in the library and that I dismissed out of hand because I didn't want to read about some damn old race horse.

---

A couple of photos from the bike trip deserve inclusion. Appearing below are almost the same cast of characters I first rode with two years ago on my first visit to Thailand. "Vancouver Andy" is missing but Sean from Homer, as the only Phantom owner, is with us. Along with being lifetime motorcycle riders all are Homer residents and regular winter visitors to Thailand. From the left we see DC, Al, Sean, and yours truly on route 1081 north of Nan. Al and I did this same trip a few months ago but we were both riding Phantoms then. He recently retired his 2005 Phantom, trading up to a Kawasaki KLX 250, while I have the CBR. This tour was more demanding because we did it at a faster pace. But it was lots more fun. The CBR is very well suited to the tight curves and seems to go through them so much more eagerly than the Phantom cruiser.

The Homer crew on Route 1081, north of Nan

The next day DC and I did another well known loop out of Nan to the north. This one involves Route 1148, another outrageously beautiful road that's blessed with innumerable curves and hills. Riding with DC is a challenge because he likes to go fast, very fast. But the motto with us is always, ride your own ride; that is, don't try to drive beyond your ability. Good advice for any rider. It was an awesome loop and one I'm sure to do again, especially now that I live in the north.

View of Route 1148

Anyway.

Nut and I went down to Bangkok last week by sleeper train. While we were there she packed everything up, separating things to leave behind for her daughter from the stuff we wanted to take to Chiang Mai. Rather than moving everything we elected to give away a lot of the smaller and easily replaced stuff. We sold our fridge to one of Nut's girlfriends which left the new 40" LED flatscreen TV as our only bulky item. Homer friends Albie, Phil, Big Al and Sean were all in Bangkok so we resumed our "regular meetings" at the Gecko Bar on Rambuttri Road. They were readying to return to Alaska but hanging out in The Big Mango for a few days before their flights winged homeward.

(As I write only Albie is still in Thailand -- the rest have returned to face the remainder of a Homer winter that some would term wonderful, and others awful. (I'd be in the latter camp.) There are many feet of snow on the Ridge above town -- my friend Jenny told me she's never seen snow like that in her 19 years up there. It will be around until well into June.)

I tried to get our assorted bags and boxes in the freight car where they belonged in order to keep them out of the way of the other passengers (and us) but even with Nut's help, was unable to work the Thai system to make that happen. First, the freight scales were broken, or at least that's what our hired porter insisted. Imagine, you're in Bangkok, the capitol of Thailand, at the the main rail station and you need to ship some equipment to Chiang Mai. But the scales don't work. Seems impossible doesn't it? Not in Thailand. (Well, maybe not in Laos or Cambodia either ;-)

Our guy said to Nut, No problem, for 200 baht I'll help you load your stuff into your passenger car with you. I kept insisting I wanted to pay and did not want to force other passengers, and us, to have to deal with our stuff throughout the ride. In the end there was no other way. Into the luggage racks went our stuff, all of it, including the big TV. I'm sure we were set up by the porter and I'm pretty sure Nut was in collusion with him just a wee bit. She didn't want to pay the freight rates and likes doing things "the way Thai people do" them. Why I think she subconsciously cooperated with him is because she told me later that was how she moved her things when she moved to Bangkok from Betong a few years ago. Wake up, David. Why pay for freight when you can simply scam the system? That's what Thais do.

It worked out pretty well in the end.  It took two separate taxis to get us with our boxes to the station in Bangkok but taxis in The Big Mango are cheap -- 60 baht apiece. And in Chiang Mai Nut found a friendly songtaew driver who took us to our apartment for 200 baht.  Overall I think the move, not including our own railroad fares, cost us about 20 bucks.

We've just now bought a few pieces of furniture including a desk and chair for me, and a nice wood dining table and chairs. We no longer have to eat picnic style on the floor. We're pretty comfortable in our place and the northern weather is just about perfect this time of year. Consequently, I'm back to playing tennis again and although I'm rusty and out of shape I'm enjoying it. And I'm getting to know some other farangs with whom I have shared interests -- tennis and our Thai sweethearts.

Apartment hunting in Chiang Mai

Nut and I have been in Chiang Mai for about a week now looking for a new place to rent. I must say, apartment hunting here in comparison to the many times in my past when I've done it, is a piece of cake. There's much to choose from and rents are low. Of course, we're looking for the most common type of rental available, a furnished one room studio. If you want something other than this, say a two room apartment, you're out of luck -- they're rare or nonexistent. We found a brand new furnished studio with brand new furniture the other day and have just signed the papers. We were tempted by several very appealing houses also on the rental market but they were either too far from town for Nut, who has no transportation once I go back to the states, or, because they need to be fully furnished, too expensive for my budget at this stage. This place isn't perfect: it's in a big building and we're on the 4th floor but it has covered parking for the bike, a guard at the gate and an elevator. It's bigger than our old place and it's situated in the northern latitudes where it's so cool in the evenings that Nut shivers when she gets out of the shower.

This apartment will end up costing about the same as our place in Bangkok, that is, about 5,000 baht ($150 USD) per month. For me, living here only six or seven months a year, that's a very affordable amount even if I end up renting a place in the states after I return, although the way things are playing out right now that seems unlikely. For many years I've wondered where I would choose to live were I to pull up stakes in Alaska. That question has remained unanswered because I've never found any place in the lower 48 that I like well enough to relocate to and that I could afford on my retirement income. I wouldn't mind a stint in San Francisco, or the Adirondack Mountains, for example, but most places are too expensive, too cold, or too whatever for me. Besides being expensive American cities are by and large too crowded with strip malls, fast food joints and office parks for my taste. And what rural area down there could possibly compare with my neighborhood in Alaska?

One answer is to retire in Thailand. I suppose in some ways, I already have. When I think of grocery stores I don't think of Safeway or Star Market but Tang Hua Seng or Foodland or Big C. My neighborhood scene is heavy on temples not churches and it feels normal to drive on the left. I can whistle along with several popular Thai songs that play repeatedly on the soaps Nut loves. The Channel 3 News theme bounces annoyingly through my head from time to time during the day. My new favorite yogurt is Meiji Low-fat Mango and I have leaned to drink Chang beer in lieu of those lamentably absent and delicious Oregon IPAs I love.

On a more personal level, my relationship with Nut feels good and solid, the winter climate here at 18 degrees north is near perfect, I love the Thai culture and Thai food, and I can afford to live fairly well as long as the exchange rate stays favorable. I'm comfortable here and my anxiety level is low. What's not to like about that?

If in the future I decide to spend the majority of the year here there are other more attractive rental options. Take a look at these two houses please. This first one is not new but has been beautifully maintained. Fresh paint was evident on the wood windows and fascia. It has 2 bedrooms and 2 baths, is located in a quiet residential neighborhood and is renting for 10,000 baht per month, about $320 USD. The big drawback for this type of deal is that most houses are unfurnished and would demand a substantial investment in furniture and other housewares up front.

Rental house in the Chiang Mai Land area

And look at this gem we found while cruising around east of the Ping River just off Fa Ham Road the other day. This house is brand new, has never been lived in, and is in an older neighborhood that boasts several huge mansions and even a foreign embassy (Peru). Quiet, woodsy, and in the city, it rents for only 15,000 baht (under $500 USD) per month. We didn't look inside either of these but I'll bet they're very nicely appointed with tile everywhere and spotlessly clean.

Rental home near the Peruvian Embassy in Chiang Mai

Pretty damn nice. I don't know why this particular area has such an unusual mix of opulent homes, empty overgrown lots, and new construction but it's a pretty cool neighborhood. Tennis, good restaurants and the old city are just a short hop away.

Anyway. We're moved here from our hotel and are spending our first night in the new place. It's quiet and cool. It's a fine place to live until something better shows up.

Salad Days

Recently Nut and I tried a new restaurant named Veggie Veggie, right over on Phra Sumen Road a short walk from our place. We enjoyed it because it was quite a bit different than the other restaurants in our neighborhood; its specialty is salad, organic salad. As a bonus in these hot and stifling times it is icily air conditioned. Now, I love Thai food as you know but I do miss the big salads I eat back in the states. Thais eat vegetables of course but they don't really do much with salad and when they do, the dressing they favor is a kind of plain white dressing that looks and tastes more or less like mayonnaise. Except that it's sweet. I swear, everything in Thailand is sweet. But that's another story.

First, let me give you some background.

One night in Chiang Mai a few weeks ago I got this compelling urge to have some farang food. I suggested this to Nut and although she adores Thai food and is as ethnocentric as they come, she readily agreed to try it. Off we went to the nearby Irish Pub for dinner. I can't recall what else we had that night but when I spotted Ceasar Salad on the menu I ordered one for each of us. It wasn't bad but it wasn't great either and it was a far cry from the Ceasar I can put together with a blender in my own kitchen. The dressing was sweet, the lettuce wasn't romaine and there was no Parmesan cheese anywhere in sight but it did have croutons and shrimp. We enjoyed it for what it was, a cool, leafy green salad. Nut actually quite enjoyed hers and wanted to have it again. I filed her comment away for future reference.

Fast forward to the Terrace Bar of a luxury hotel near Krabi, a hotel we were checking out as a place to stay. It was too pricey for that but I figured as long as we were there we might as well take a break and have an iced coffee. On the menu -- Caesar salad, again. And again we tried it. It was served with a flourish by waiters wearing special little suits, as if that could make a difference. The verdict? Not as good as the one we had in the Irish Pub. More expensive too.

I said to Nut, "wait until we get back to Bangkok. I'll fix you a real Caesar salad."

So, a few days ago we drove over to our local Foodland, an upscale Bangkok market where you can get things like olive oil, anchovies, and Dijon mustard, things that are generally absent in normal Thai markets, things farangs like to eat. Farangs like me. Luckily, Foodland also had romaine lettuce and we already had a bag of limes in the fridge. I read somewhere that the first Caesar dressing was made with lime juice, not vinegar or lemon juice. Okay, all set.

We broke out Nut's old blender and I put together the dressing, one I've made at least a hundred times. Into the blender went the lime juice, anchovies and garlic cloves: I blended that until smooth. I added some salt, a Thai chili (instead of cayenne), some Dijon, an egg yolk and got the blender back up to full speed. I drizzled in olive oil until the mixture thickened and turned creamy. So far so good.

I poured the mixture over the torn up romaine leaves that had been thoroughly washed by my clean freak Thai girlfriend, tossed them with plenty of shredded Parmesan, added some slices of hard boiled egg, and put the dish before her. She tasted it, gave it a little chew, and then turned up her nose. Mai aroi! (translation: not delicious). I tasted my salad. Damn! The olive oil was stale. And so was the Parmesan. It was indeed, mai aroi. Double damn. She managed to eat her serving but flat out  refused seconds. And I, of course, not wanting to waste all those costly ingredients, ate the rest. Gulp.

That's why finding the Veggie Veggie was so notable.

Their excellent salads cost about 90 baht. Two cream-style soups are also available, mushroom and spinach, and we sampled both. They were pretty tasty. The place is nicely decorated and you can buy fresh greens to take home in bulk or as salad packs. Dressings are available in prepackaged serving size containers. They have wraps and sandwiches too.

A day or two later Nut went over to Phranok Market help her sister prepare for the Chinese New Year so I went back to try their Caesar salad. It was excellent. Not the same as my Caesar but good nonetheless. Croutons, bacon, and cheese bits over mixed super crisp organic greens, topped with a lovely tart dressing. Not bad for 109 baht (about $3 USD).

Veggie Veggie Caesar Salad

---

We've had the pleasure of entertaining several guests during the past couple of weeks -- Jane and Miles from Homer and Tina from Anchorage. Then today we said goodbye to my old friend Terry whom I last saw in college back in Buffalo in 1963. We talked and laughed about old times, old friends and the various watering holes where we hung out during our fraternity days. Our time together was too short. By prior agreement we steadfastly avoided talking politics, on which we've come to have widely divergent views. Just as well -- that might have spoiled an otherwise perfect visit.

Now Nut and I are free to "get out of Dodge" as the saying goes. We'll pack the bike and head up the road tomorrow, the road north to cooler weather and hopefully a new apartment in Chiang Mai. I won't miss the heat and hellacious traffic of Bangkok one bit.

Touring the southern provinces - Part III

I had not expected to like Ranong all that much. I figured it to be just another big city with the usual urban blight and widespread poverty but it surprised me. Overall it's clean and nice looking, a pleasant city that I would visit again. It's a major fishing port situated on the Kraburi River from which it gets its character and to me, an Alaskan traveler hailing from a different sort of fishing port, its charm. We stayed an extra day there too at a nice hotel, the Pathu Resort. Although Nut sat at poolside for a photo but we never went in the water because the weather too cool.

The restaurants in Ranong specialize in seafood and we ate some terrific dinners there. Mussels, prawns, ocean fish, crab. The crab we had reminded me of the famous soft-shell crabs I used to get once in a while on the east coast. Those mostly came from Chesapeake Bay and I have no idea if the local crab is related to that species but I know this, it was delish and we ate the shells along with everything else.

We took a ride to the far side of the estuary one evening. It was nearing sunset and I took a few photos looking back toward the city and its fish processing neighborhood.

Fishing boats - Kraburi River - Ranong

Kraburi River side channel - Ranong

Sunset on the Kraburi River - Ranong

The Kraburi River separates Thailand from Myanmar. The hills you see in the above photo are in Myanmar. Many travelers use this port as a jumping off point for visa runs. For a small fee local small boat owners ferry tourists across the river to obtain the required visa stamp.

After leaving Ranong a short ride in fierce headwinds took us across the peninsula to the east coast again, back to Chumphon. The owner of the little guest house recognized us as soon as we pulled in and made us feel very welcome. As guest houses go, the Somkiss is pretty nice: 350 baht (for a nice room with TV, wi-fi, fridge and aircon. Plus it has good parking for the bike, well off the road and out of sight.  Nut tells me that having a new motorcycle with no plates on it (it takes 30 days to get license plates in Thailand) makes the bike easier to steal so I've been drawn to hotels with secure parking. Consequently we've been paying more than usual for lodgings on this trip -- about six or seven hundred baht.

I loved the route we took on our way south to Chumphon from Prachuap Khiri Khan and wanted to retrace it going north. I took my saved GPS track from that trip, ran it through GPSBabel, a fantastic swiss-army knife conversion program to both reverse the track and, due to the 500 point limitation of my GPSMAP 60Cx, with its "Simplify" function reduced the number of points it contained. I fed that track back into my GPS and merely followed it back. See it here. All the roads are good with the exception of a few miles that are potholed and if you ever drive it you'll see very little traffic other than local motorbikes on any of them.

The CBR at the beach road north of Chumphon

We did take a short side trip to a little beach that I'm sure hardly ever gets visitors. Tong Yang beach is spectacular. It's isolated, empty and undeveloped. It may even be private property although it was marked with a road sign just as other public beaches are.

Tong Yang Beach (above and below)

On the road to Tong Yang Beach

We got back to Prachuap Khiri Khan and Aou Minou beach, which although far more beautiful, isn't quite as touristy as Hua Hin, where we lucked into a fantastic guest house for only 500 baht ($15 USD). The aptly named Private Resort is a place I'll definitely keep in my little collection of faves. It's not right on the beach but it is private, quite roomy, has good motorcycle parking, and it's cheap.

After spending two nights at Private Resort we once again retraced our route back to Hua Hin. Along the way we stopped off at Sam Roi Yot National Park where we made what turned out to be a nasty climb up to the Sai Cave.  It was pretty neat and a bit spooky and we were the only ones there.  I made the photo below from 3 others shot with exposure bracketing and then merged them into a single photo with Photoshop's HDR (High Dynamic Range) function. Unfortunately, Blogger has once again  mucked up the way it displays images if you want see full them size (you cannot), so I include it here as a full size image. The idea behind HDR is that you get the low density areas from a longer exposure jpeg that has no highlights while obtaining the highlight portion of the photo from an underexposed jpeg image. Combining the two increases the composite's dynamic range. It sort of worked but digital sensors still fall far behind silver halide films in terms of dynamic range and the sunny area is still blown out.

Sai Cave - it's no Ansel Adams but hell, I tried.

Sai Cave

Sai Cave

Nut inside Sai Cave

Time to close this chapter of my Thailand travels. We're back in Bangkok as I finish writing. I'm here because friends from the states are arriving soon, Jane from Homer, and an old college friend, Terry, whom I haven't seen in, let's see, can it possibly be that long? Forty-eight years!

Nut thought these two froggies we saw at a roadside cafe were cute so she photographed them.  I captioned them later.

Froggy conversation

Touring the southern provinces - Part II

After seeing the hordes of tourists at Aou Nang Beach in Krabi we decided to head out of town ASAP in search of a less populated area. We drove north for a few miles and found a reasonably priced guest house where we spent the night. I can see why people are attracted to this area. It's beautiful and geologically unique. There are huge and interestingly shaped rock formations, limestone actually, scattered here and there throughout the region, including many exquisitely scenic islands. Some of those appeared in the Leonardo DiCaprio movie "The beach" that was popular a few years back. Still, the huge numbers of tourists put me off to the point that I wanted out despite the urge to explore the beautiful Phi Phi Islands or even to visit a nearby fossil museum. I like being in parts of Thailand where people that look like me are in the minority I guess.

The formations are called karst towers. Found throughout SE Asia -- they're the major geologic feature of the famous Ha Long Bay in northern Vietnam, for instance -- these towers are apparently the remnants of a giant coral reef that was first lifted by the action of plate tectonics and then eroded by flows of fresh water around their bases. This is what gives them their characteristic conical shape and steep, undercut sides. They are quite beautiful.

Karst tower - near Krabi, Thailand

Stunning roadside scenery near Krabi

Towering scenery along Route 4

Another view from Route 4 north of Krabi

Nut and the CBR250 - Route 4 north of Krabi

We drove Route 4 from Krabi to Takua Pa at a leisurely pace; I enjoyed the ride for many reasons. The scenery was spectacular. There was virtually no traffic. I was traveling with my beautiful Thai girlfriend (aka BTGF) with whom I'm getting along famously after almost two years together. And the new CBR was performing flawlessly.

This motorbike is a wonderful machine for touring in Thailand. Although it's too small for our big American highways in Thailand's more compact geography and tight twisty roads, it's nearly perfect. I seldom cruise at more than 50 mph over here; that's equivalent to about 5000 rpm on the tach, and at that speed the bike gets gas mileage in the range of 80-90 mpg -- the best it got so far was on the slow cruise to Prachuap Khiri Khan last week where I calculated 96 mpg (41 km/liter). At 5000 rpm the engine is still quiet too -- redline is at 10,500 rpm but at that speed she's literally screamin'. I'm still breaking it in so I never rev it that high, well, almost never. We got the 1000 km oil change and the chain lubed at a Honda dealer last week. It has about 1500  km on the clock now.

The bike is a dream to drive even when we're riding 2-up with our gear. It has plenty of gusto on the hills and it's so light and flickable that turns are easy to execute. With its high mounted footpegs and good suspension it's built for turns -- it's much more agile than the old Phantom at any speed.

Fishing boat - Karaburi

We visited some scenic, totally empty beaches on our way north to the little town of Takua Pa. These beaches are so far undevelped but I don't imagine they'll stay that way for long.

Hat Aou Khoei beach Route 4 near Karaburi

Hat Phrabat beach - Route 4 between Karaburi and Takua Pa

In Takua Pa we found a sweet little bungalow, very quiet and private, and decided to stay there an extra night. Next day we visited the Baan Nam Kem Tsunami Memorial and spotted this tsunami shelter close to it. We saw several more of these concrete structures on beaches bordering the Andaman Sea whose shores we were touring. I remember TV coverage of the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami but in the countries surrounding the Indian Ocean it was a major disaster that killed nearly 230,000 people worldwide with roughly 8,000 of those in Thailand. The Aou Nang beach in Krabi where we had dinner a few days ago was one of those places that appeared in some horrific YouTube videos in which you could see the waves as they rose up to wipe out hotels and tourists, entire towns. The quake that caused it ranks among the strongest ever recorded right up there with the 1964 Good Friday Earthquake in Alaska.

Baan Nam Kem Tsunami Memorial - December 26, 2004

We drove around to hit a few more beaches that day as well and briefly toyed with the idea of staying a night in one of the exclusive resorts we passed but when we found out what they were getting for rooms we thought better of it. One place wanted 4800 baht ($150 USD) for a poolside room. Our studio in Bangkok costs 5000 baht per month! Another resort, an upscale beach side hotel, wanted 7500 baht. Uh, no thank you, I don't think we'll be staying with you tonight.

Next stop, the city of Ranong. We had a different sort of breakfast in Takua Pa before setting out.  It was an assortment of tasty dim sum. Some of the ingredients: stewed pork ribs, fish wrapped in bacon, seaweed, mushrooms, assorted veggies and tofu. Pretty healthy and pretty cheap as well. I had to take a photo, and having done that had to include it here.

Dim sum breakfast - Takua Pa

To be continued...