Tourists! That was us today. Meeting George. And those gosh darn dogs!
We made like tourists—shopping at the market, avoiding the sun (we get enough of that!), and enjoying tales from the road with another cycle tourist we met from the Netherlands. “George” as he told us to call him, has been on the road for 5 months. He’s the one and only cycle tourist we have seen in our time here so far. We stopped in the road to talk and then we headed into the nearby restaurant for some Pad Thai. We were happy to be exchanging like-minded conversation about where we’ve been, and our common experiences. We picked up some good tips from George about how to deal with ongoing issue of aggressive dogs. He carries a few sticks on his bike, both front and back and exhibits an attitude toward them when they pounce. So far he’s been successful.
We sure could have used some sticks tonight when we walked down the street again to our hotel. We dealt with a group of three dogs that came out barking and ready to give chase. Earlier we avoided a few pit bulls with muzzles (fortunately) who vocalized their desire to do battle, and at one point a very large and fat bulldog fell off the steps and into the bushes as he lunged at us. We applied the “stare them down” method and it appeared to work. After a while we just decided to walk along the median that divided the road, figuring dogs would need to battle the cars to get to us. Not a bad strategy.
Shopping is an extravaganza that needs to be seen with your own bare eyes to be believed. We can barely contemplate such a concentration of consumer goods, industrious individuals making things, food stalls, produce piled 6 feet high, stores with deep and narrow aisles with merchandise layered floor to ceiling, cars & motorcycles and pedestrians all sharing the spaces, and utterly endless rows of stalls selling everything imaginable as far as the eye could see—it’s like a confluence of Dollarama on steroids, and frenzied farmers markets all hyper-concentrated in the steaming heat of the city.
My only purchase (due to an overwhelming array of choice that made me simply unable to choose much at all), was a simple white shirt for 100 bhat ($4) from a location that sold only white shirts….thousands of styles to choose from. Right beside the “white shirt stall” was a one offering an absolute mountain of socks & underwear and the other side sold phone cases with thousands of styles to choose from.
We left, thoroughly impressed by the magnitude and impact of the market, but equally appreciating the simplicity and neatness of Cobourg’s Farmers Market.
“George”
Just three dogs who finally backed off
Our “safe” median where we walked to steer clear of the dogs
I can’t wait to see all the souvenirs that you have bought or will buy from your time there. Feral dogs have been an issue for me especially, in many parts of the world and carrying a big stick and a confident stare, was always a good idea. Maybe if you ate more cockroaches they would be less interested in you?
Those cockroaches were baked to a golden brown and delicately spiced, as were the grubs beside them …. but I wimped out. There’s not enough beer in Bangkok!
Maybe I’ll build up the courage … we’ll see.
It can be frightening having even one dog approach you in an aggressive manner. Maybe you can give NHCC riders a lesson in the Stare Down this spring. 🙂
What do the locals do to deal with the dogs?
We are trying to figure that out ourselves. Maybe they don’t go after the locals as much? We stand out like a sore thumb here and maybe the dogs know we aren’t from these parts.
What a gift to be able to follow your incredible journey. Anita, your descriptions and photos make us feel like we are there but I must admit it’s lovely being with you from the distance and perfect weather of Portugal. Safety on your travels, oh brave, courageous, adventuresome ones! ❤️ Rita Mary & Adrienne