Took on too much yesterday ... paying for it now!

Saturday, 11 October: Seemed like a good idea at the time to press on when I'd really set my heart on pitching up the tent in the rest area we arrived at around 4 o'clock yesterday afternoon after clocking up 24 km for the day, the last 5 of which served to remind me of what to expect when we eventually get to Khuntan, between Lampang and Lamphun. But unfortunately, one of the stall-holders there told Ros that all the peope that work there leave at 5pm every day and she wouldn't recommend that we camp out there as it was so far from anywhere should we have 'a problem'. I don't know for sure what she meant by that but we decided to take her advice after she said that there was a service station about 5 km up the road. Well, now we know that there isn't but there is one about TEN km up the road! So, shortly after 7, I followed Ros onto a pieceof wasteland behind the petrol station in Sop Prap where we set up the tent for the night.



At that stage, I didn't feel too bad physically but when I woke up some time around midnight to go to the toilet, I couldn't get up! My ankles had both locked and I had to wake Ros up to help me get to my feet. Even when I was upright I nearly pulled the tent in on us both trying to find something to hold on to! I was in a real state and must have resembled Bambi when it had to get up and walk for the first time! Having done what I needed to do, I had to go through it all again so that I could get some more sleep. I actually slept quite well but we had to repeat the performance at around 6 so that we could move on. This morning has subsequently been a nightmare and with clear, blue skies and lots of sunshine, any advantage gained yesterday will be lost today and my hopes of spending Sunday evening in an air-conditioned hotel room with clean, crisp sheets and a mini-fridge full of chilled beer have now been dashed unless Ros can find somewhere this side of town late on tomorrow.



The roadside donations fund now stands at 940 baht after a couple of people chipped in down in Thoen. I'll be calling Grahame at The Pub in Chiang Mai later today to confirm the arrangements for the charity night there next Saturday, the 18th. Once I've spoken to him, I'll do a block e-mail to all the Chiang Mai and Lamphun-based people on our mailing list to let them know and I'll keep you posted on here.