Day 966 13th March 2019
32 miles (Ko Lipe to Ban li pang ) Average speed 11.5 mph Top speed 28 mph
I got up at 7 for a shower and then had coffee, bread and jam on our terrace. The resort took us by moto taxi to the hostel where I packed my bike and we said goodbye to the lovely receptionist. Ji ji invited her to Nice for a holiday and she took a tuk tuk with another girl to the ferry while I followed.
Tuk tuk to the ferry
I managed to get the bike on board without paying extra and we took a good boat ride back to pak bara. We said our farewells and Ji ji left by minibus for Bangkok.
I rode off but couldn’t get into the top chainring. On closer inspection the cable had frayed. I tried to fix it, then went to a moto repair shop. The guy didn’t have any cables but pointed me in the direction of a bike shop. This one couldn’t help either, so I went to town on the lowest gear and found a very helpful technician who fixed it for me and only charged 80 baht. I had lunch of bbq chicken and sticky rice with coke and changed into cycling gear. Then I found the road I needed which after some dodgy patchwork tarmac soon turned into a good surface.
As I was getting a bit tired a pick up with tinted windows pulled up alongside me, the guy opened the window and offered me a drink from his bottle of beer. I took it on the move a la le Tour de France, had a glug and handed it back to him, this was a very smooth operation and I waved goodbye as he pulled away from me. What an amazing gesture.
As I rode on many people were waving and saying hi. I stopped at a shop for a Fanta and the owner chatted with me for ages in very good English. The plastic bottle was poured into a glass full of ice and we had a great time. She told that she lived alone with her son and she had family in London. I was getting very tired and took 40 winks at a bus stop before arriving at the police rest stop for cyclists; the rooms were not available so I took some cold water and continued on to this cave where I had a delicious healthy meal of papaya salad washed down with two large sprites.
Papaya salad
I shared a wash in the river with some friendly locals who I gave some shampoo before setting up my new hammock, a gift from Ji ji. I was in bed by eight once I had mastered getting into the hammock!!
Camping at kaoh ting cave. Ban li pang. Free.