Sunday, March 4, 2012

North of Pathiu

Spoke to Dad this morning on Skype ... really good to see and speak to him! I don't think it will convince dad to move up a gear in his technology though! I was having to shout from here as Dad kept saying "I can't hear you" so all the neighbours probably heard me! Turns out Dad had not got his hearing aid in! There are just somethings technology can't help with :)

They are now just north of Pathiu heading along the east coast to Bangkok. They've done around 50 miles on the bike today. They were on the road for 6.30 to avoid some of the heat. Cycled for two hours and stopped for breakfast. No full English breakfast today. Instead it was Thai chicken noodle soup which cost around 30p. They've been having banana or coconut milkshakes for drinks on the islands but now back on the mainland they've not been able to get any. So Dad asked for a coconut drink. They just took the top off the coconut and gave him a straw!

Got themselves a great little bungalow, sea view, air con, TV, hot water and two single beds for £10 a night (for the pair of them!). He did say that on this trip they had had to share a double bed a couple of times!  I wasn't sure if that was with Dave or his bike.

Food has been good. Dad has been having the Thai curry and rice for around £2.00. Dave has been sticking with chicken and cashew nuts.  Weather is a steady 32 degrees day and night.  I told him it had been trying to snow here this morning!  They managed to catch some of the Liverpool v Arsenal game yesterday live on TV while they were having their evening meal.

Dad said he was glad to be back on the mainland as they were not able to do much biking on the islands as there weren't many roads and those they found weren't very good.  They are now going to head up the coast, hopefully doing around 50 miles a day. They'll go as far as they can and then the plan is to catch a train/bus back down to Phuket. 

The cow Dad was swimming with the other day was actually a water buffalo that a guy had taken down to the water on a lead!  Dad was giving swimming in the sea a miss today as in his words "it's a bit like Southport here, there is a lot of beach before you get to the sea!".  Used the goggles he's found a few times but he says he needs a snorkel now!  What's the betting he'll find one!

Asked him about the phone he'd found. Apparently they were on a ferry and they could hear ringing. Both of them checked their phones and it wasn't either of them. They looked between the seats and there was a mobile phone. It must have fallen from a pocket. They answered it but the caller spoke Thai.  No charger and the one he's got doesn't fit. Assuming it's sim free he'll have to get a charger when he gets back to the UK. Saying that I've had a few Nokias in my time, so I might have a spare charger.

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