12 km short of reaching our intended destination of Phang Yao (excuse the spelling) on the A331 but the heavens have opened for the second time today and we're done for another day. Here's a recap of the last two days;
Sunday, 7 September; Early start as soon as the service station opened up for business at 6am. Initial progress was good and managed to get in a good initial hour and a half before our first break for breakfast. Went downhill after that as my feet started to play up and getting through the three kilometer segments we'd mapped out got harder and harder. Then the rain arrived! Ros had parked the car on the crest of a hill in the distance. The dark clouds crept across and it started raining; slowly at first, which was quite bearable but then the nasty stuff arrived and again, I had nowhere to take cover. Ros sat in the back of the car waiting for me to get to her, which wasn't what I wanted, as it would have been much better for me if she'd put the car in reverse and rolled it down the hill to meet me, but she didn't. Soaked to the skin twice in less than 24 hours. Everything, even the money in my pocket along with some business cards I'd been given on Friday, wet. Closed down the back of the car, stripped off and got changed into something dry, and then we sat it out. Less than an hour later, we were on our way again though the enforced break wasn't what I'd wanted and it was to be another hard day leaving us about 15 km off the pace. Found a service station with a big courtyard at the back for coaches and the folks who ran the place, from Chiang Mai of all places, were only too happy for us to pitch up for the night. Managed to find an internet shop on the high street and get the blog started as well as getting some photos to Grant, our webmaster, to put up on the sites. Couple of beers with our hosts went down well before we called it a night.
Monday, 8 September; This has probably been our best day so far since we got on the 331 on Saturday morning. Slept really well there being much more room to stretch out in the tent than in the car. People were up and about at around 5 and we were off by 6. Ros had changed my plasters on my blisters before we left and the shoes that I'd been wearing when I'd got caught out in the downpour yesterday were still wet so I had to resort to my back-up pair, which I've only worn a couple of times. However, the morning was overcast and the new shoes fitted well and we made some good progress, so good that we didn't put in a proper stop until 10 and reached yesterday's intended destination of Ko Chan. I also had my first brush with the boys in brown, The Royal Thai Police. There were half a dozen of them on the southbound lane and in the central carriageway looking for motorists to pick on. As I approached I could sense that they were somewhat intrigued by this big foreigner striding northwards and eventually one of them piped up "Bainai?" ("Where are you going?") "Lamphun" I said. "Durn?" (Walking?) he asked. "Chai krap" (Yes"). He said something to his mates and gave me the thumbs up. Let's hope that they're all like that as I dare say there'll be plenty more road checks to negotiate over the next 6 weeks. This morning, when things were going well, I started taking more notice of my surroundings. Like how much rubbish there is on the sides of the main roads. Why have I yet to see a pair of shoes on the hard shoulder; always just the one! Where's the other one? When will I see my first dead dog or cat? Go on any reasonable journey in Thailand and you're almost guaranteed to see the carcass of what was possibly somebody's pet puppy or kitten not longago with its entrails hanging out for all to see. Three days on a very busy road and not one! Oh yeah. Before I forget. Ros and I stopped for our midday break at a service station just north of the Ko Chan intersection. Not long after we arrived, a couple of young girls came to see what we were doing. Ros explained to them about the sponsored walk. It then dawned on me that today's Monday and it's not a school holiday, so I asked Ros to find out why they were not at school. "Paw, Mae, mai mee tang" was the response. Their parents don't have the money to send them to school. Baen is 10 and Pook is 12. They're cousins. For their parents inability to be able to afford the cost of school uniforms and for their school books, those two girls have paid a very heavy price. They've lost their education. Baen said she used to go to school when she lived in Sa Kaew but then her parents moved to work at the service station and that was the end of that. We can't do anything for Baen and Pook but it makes us more determined to succeed in our aims so that we can help as many children as we can to stay in school and make something of themselves. It's why we're doing the walk.
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