Motorbikes

Indeed. Motorbikes are how everyone gets around in the land of smiles. Dek dek (kids) learn how drive motorbikes young. So I got one. James and I each have a motorbike. Our coordinator Kru Lin gave us one of hers and we rented the second one from a local dealer after 30 minutes of haggling and laughing over prices but mostly irrelevant details. He let us rent the Honda bike for three and half months at a price of 5000 baht (about $150). Using these motorbikes, we explore. Gas is cheap. We whip pasts rice fields getting worked by locals with long sinewy shady tweaked out straw hats and big rubber duck boots.  We buzz through small villages on stilts with dog citizens and roosters where the people and the land understand each other and get looks from the locals that can only mean “what in gods name are you doing here?” Well, I’m not sure. But I think it’s to teach English and blend some of this friendly “it’s all good” Thai cultural fabric into the web of my self constructed identity.

James and I are men of adventure so we try to strike deep into the forest vibe and roll around the mountains searching. I guess it could be for a good trail or maybe just a good campsite. There are several national parks up in our neck of the woods so those attract us. Camping and hiking are both good. We visited one park the other day called nanthanburi national park. It was a nice space. I saw some limestone caves the other day.

If you drive these motorbikes, there aren’t really rules. You don’t need any license and you don’t really have to obey traffic laws. I guess you could drive one juggling gasoline soaked elephants while drinking chang beer out of a keg on wheels. I think James and I will go to the top of a mountain next week.

Well to sum up, Thailand is a funny place.