Selective Manners do not Maketh the Man

Young rubber plantations

We have cycled through hectares and hectares of palm oil and rubber plantations, while the sounds of chainsaws buzz in the background. I have no clear idea of what the terrain would have once been, the best indication being the elephant park we visited near Hua Hin.

 

Roadside beef

Domestic animals graze on the roadsides, lots of chooks but few ducks, and cattle. To date I have not seen any pigs but we are in a more Muslim area in the south of Thailand. Lots of dogs still, but most seem better behaved than those further north.

 

Schoolchildren emerge in the morning impeccably dressed in white shirts. However there still seems to be many kids who are not at school.

 

The king's birthday celebrated on December 5 has had a steady build up with flags along the side of the road, bunting and convoys of trucks blasting out the national anthem. Such is the daily life in rural Thailand.

 

However it is the range of approaches to civility and manners that I wish to explore in this post.

 

It is lovely to ride past a house and be greeted by smiling women and children yelling out "hello". There seems to. Be no end of sitting outside, no matter what the time of day, enjoying extended family time. Some households host a small store out front, or perhaps a small kitchen or juice stand.

 

Michael, Walli, Kendy and Marko

Drivers are courteous and I have not seen or heard one instance of aggression. A slight toot sometimes, to let us know they are behind.

 

And of course a considerable enjoyment on these long haul bike rides is interacting with people from across the globe who have come together to grunt, grind, glide or swoop up and down hills and along roads of dubious quality dodging all manner of obstacles. Of course we are part of the lunatic fringe. Not one of us can and should make a serious claim for normalcy. Bike riding and normalcy probably peter out round day 10. Professionals are in a different category altogether, but lunacy must rank high there too. Consider the personal risks of injecting substances, submitting to blood transfusions and so on and so forth.

It's a dog's life at the Thai Malaysia border

 

Some demographics. We are 36 riders, 5 TDA staff and 6 local staff and drivers. Of the riders, only 12 are women, 5 of whom are part of a couple. Canadians far outnumber the rest of the world at 16 strong. Four riders hail from Germany, 5 from the US, 4 from ANZ, 4 from the UK and a solitary Dane, Frenchman and South African.

 

Unfortunately, a significant minority of male riders practice selective manners. This is something I have not experienced before. Of course there has been the odd rude person in the past, but several is a bit hard to take. This is in contrast to the TDA staff who are polite, helpful and friendly. What a pity. I have never liked rudeness and on a long haul bike ride where it is sometimes necessary to rely upon the kindness of others, it is discouraging to feel not quite up to scratch.

 

Ralph cooling down after the ride into Malaysia

 

 

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Coasting in Coastal Thailand

Perhaps the best way to ride from Shanghai to Singapore is to cut out the first 6000 or so kilometres. Of course by doing so, a few countries and their sights, smells and sounds are also cut out along with dirt, gravel, mud, roadworks and reams of chaotic traffic that my fellow riders have encountered and survived. Seems like this ride has mostly been about survival, and not everyone has. But enough of that, here I am on the road again. Nervous, true, but protected with my brand new leg protector kindly and patiently made by Mark Randall and Wade at a prosthetic and orthotics business in Port Melbourne. I even got to be a leg model, as Mark had never made one like this before and he took a snap in case he might ever need to again.

 

I arrived in Thailand a few days prior to meeting up with the group at Hat Chao Samran, a village on Thailand's east coast. I spent my time at a beachside resort, swimming laps and reading crime and thrillers in the company of mainly Germans and Brits enjoying their couple of weeks in the sun. The books have been most educative, and the Massamam curry very very good.

 

 

Loved meeting up with the group again and enjoyed the warm welcome. Only a day of riding then another rest day. With a modicum of nervousness I set out and am happy to say completed the ride with a minimum of fuss. A couple of troublesome dogs, some heavy traffic - we were riding along Highway 4 - and a lineup of school children that stretched for at least a kilometre come to stand and pay homage to some member or members of the royal family as they were driving by, most likely in a car with tinted windows - summed up the two and a bit hours it took.

 

In the afternoon we took a trip to a national park to see elephants. Much driving to get there, then a rickety drive in the back of a pickup truck along red dirt roads. Our reward was sighting four elephants grazing in the forest, one less than twenty metres away. This wildlife was augmented by innumerable dogs, roadside chooks and possibly a striped small cow. Another highlight was dinner in a cafe owned and run by a Calabrian, so the pizza tasted good apparently, and the pasta was excellent.

We have another rest day coming up in six days time when we cross from the east coast to the west then head down to Malaysia. I'm hoping to ride 60 or 70 kms for a few days until I pick up a bit of fitness, but I guess my riding will depend on traffic and confidence.

 

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