Liberation Day (And Crazy Dog Struck Again)

Route: Chaiya to Surat Thani
Distance: 74km

Our legs are strong but our bodies are tired. We have cycled 1,937km and we think we can stop now.

We have travelled farther south than we had originally planned and it’s time to switch things up. Today is Bicycle Liberation Day. For the next two weeks we will explore Khao Sok National Park, possibly skip over to a beachy resort somewhere, then Bangkok—all without bicycles. Our bikes are in the hands of a bicycle shop here in Surat Thani, where they will disassemble and box them up for us.

As we were getting ready to leave the resort this morning, Crazy Dog went for round two on the potted plant. He was not giving up. We tried exercising discipline but he has some behavioural issues. When the plant didn’t work out for him he started gnawing on a discarded work glove he found. All on our door step. As we rolled out Crazy Dog followed us—running through the resort, around the corner and down the road alongside our wheels. In the heat! (it was hot today—are you surprised?) We thought he’d give up, but Crazy Dog just ran faster as we sped up. It got to the point where we were concerned about how far he was from his homeless home that we decided we need to accelerate and outrun him. He finally figured it out—he’s not coming with us.

Back to Liberation Day. After the final drop-off we all stood there looking at our bikes with mixed feelings. We felt like we were saying goodbye to a friend and we wanted to hug the bikes one last time. We also felt liberated and free. We felt appreciative. They have taken us almost two thousand kilometres with no significant mechanical failures. We have had zero flat tires (rather a miracle!). Much credit goes to Randy who diligently checks our bicycle’s well-being daily and makes minor adjustments along the way. These bikes are more than a mode of transportation. They are two-wheeled portals into seeing the world in ways that cannot be replicated.

After we left the bike shop we returned to our hotel with a big giant pool (we made sure of that). We swam our little faces off then went to the night market. Oh, the Night Market….where we can graze on delicious foods to our hearts content (guilt-free, cuz we rode almost 2,000km to get here). Fresh pineapple, strawberries, egg roti with condensed milk, fresh squeezed orange juice, pineapple juice, spiral potato-on-sticks, Chinese donuts, chicken shawarma wrap, fried flat pancakes, and lots of things that we just bought and ate cuz they looked interesting—that’s reason enough!

I think we shall sleep well tonight