B.P.A.

This is ridiculous. I actually stress over what to write on this thing. I've concluded that I suffer from Bloggers Performance Anxiety (BPA). It's like strutting around naked on stage for a million faces I can't quite focus on. What if I sound like an idiot! Ha ha...and really, who the hell cares? Here, have another Chang.

Right, so there was an inquiry about the Guardian Angels and who they are. They are friends of friends, who just finished bike touring in Myanmar, and have spent a total of 5 or more years in the saddle touring the world. They sat w/ me for hrs, divulging information about the areas I am going, gear and equipment needed and routes to take. Alex (the girl half), then proceeded to weed through the chaos of bartering w/bike shops and street vendors to produce a collection of information and gear that has me thinking I could climb to the top of the world on sugar cane juice and duct tape alone if I felt so inclined. They pumped me full of "hell yes" and "get 'er done", then handed me what they were willing to part w/ from their travels and climbed on their bus back to Holland. Fucking brilliant. I could not have imagined a more inspirational or encouraging send off.

The night before, I had been talking to a guy in the dorm who has been traveling non-stop for the last 15 years. He just goes, and then finds work and connections to stay for a while. When he gets the feeling that he doesn't want to be there anymore, he looks at a map, picks the next place, and goes. Between talking to him and the crazy Rainbow hippies, I realized that I knew exactly what I wanted and exactly what I came here to do. I came here to bike. It's all I want to do. Once I got that straight, the rest of the fog cleared and w/ in a few hrs, I met the Holland couple, Alex and Tjies (Tice), who parted the seas and bid me follow. I cannot thank them enough.

I think the best parts are still to come when I hit the road and the world of hurt that awaits me. I haven't been on a bike in 3 mos, and I haven't been for a run in weeks. Bangkok air is so polluted I have let physical activity fall to the wayside and taken up a solid habit of fruit shakes, curry and Thai iced coffee. Whatever. I'm begging for adventure and can't wait to hit that first 50km wall. Honestly, I am just hoping the saddle I found still lets me walk after day 3. I am reading this great book, Catfish and Mandala, about a man who starts a tour up the West Coast of the US and then over to Japan and through Vietnam w/ a very similar approach. It's hilarious to read his very candid commentary on saddle sores, over packed bikes and brutal hill climbs, as I fully expect to be empathizing in the coming months. Yeah, that's right, I said MONTHS!!!

Anyway, for now, I am methodically packing as best I can for a million and one things I cannot forsee. I want to post photos to show you the incredible...insanity and chaos that this place has to offer on every corner. It's kind of like the Vegas strip...on crack...gone Asian. Replace every slot machine w/ a street vendor selling every fruit, vegitable, meat, pastery, knock-off shoes, jeans, purses, backpacks, nail clippers to knives, cd's, dvd's, jewelry...and really, that's just the beginning. It's dirty and smoggy and loud. The tuk-tuk's, pearlecent fucia cabs, motorcycles and traffic are a constant ocean of unruly racket and stank. People come here mostly to shop the streets and get shit-canned, and they do just that. It's nuts, and I kinda love it sometimes. I found the best latte for 20B ( the exchange rate is 35 Baht to the US dollar) accross the street from the hostel. They are doing my thoroughly neglected laundry for me too, while I dive into the a/c internet room for hrs on end. It's an easy way to spend the hot afternoons and recoup from the madness outside.

So, effortlessly, here is another novel for you to read. I generally hate reading blogs for this very reason. Who the hell cares what my days consist of? Well, that's for you to decide. Maybe one day I will torture my grandchildren by reading them exerpts from my travels, forever captured in the vaults of blogging history. Mwaaaahaha!

Okay, enough. Jack I love ya honey! Thanks for your response. I was feeling like a flake for not calling or e-mailing you before I left. I appreciate your thinking of me for the ski bit. Needless to say, I had a few other things brewing. Stay in touch. Mmmmmmchwa (that's a kiss). Cheers.