It burns, it burns!

Lessons learned.

In India, I can buy a skirt for less then a glass of wine. No, I'm not good at bargaining, they lower the price when you say you'll think about it and walk away, but usually I bargain very little to none. But the irony of paying 100 RS for a skirt, and then ten minutes later paying 250 RS for a glass of cold white wine makes me laugh. The skirt was too long so I cut the bottom off and used the fabric to make a hat band and a belt for my jeans. The jeans had been held up with a boot string, I think the flowered fabric is much nicer. The jeans themselves have now become shorts hacked off at the knee with my folding knife. Not evenly hacked off, but cooler.



When you throw sticks for dogs in India, they think you are trying to hit them and they run away. To them, it's not a game of fetch. Even if the dog seems like a nice friendly well adjusted 'sure I'll follow you up the mountain because I have nothing better to do' type of dog, it still thinks you are chasing it away. It makes you feel bad when the dog cringes and runs.

The great Snake Brand Powder sold to combat prickly heat in Thailand feels pretty funny if you accidentally get in on sensitive areas of your body. Rich and I can both attest to that.

The Spicy Beef in Laos is really spicy. Yam siin ngao it's called. And whichever word means spicy really should be in capital letters. I was sure that I had steam coming out of my ears and fire shooting from my mouth like a cartoon character. So I kept eating more, it really hurts when you stop.

Being a slow cyclist on a knee masher clunky bike is a great way to spot the best street food vendors, including our new addiction, Kanom Krok, otherwise known as those yummy little coconut cakes - oh my god stop, pull over, more coconut cakes! Rich with Kanom Krok.



And Kanom Krok being made at the Night Market in Chompong.



When riding bikes out in the countryside of Thailand, get ready to wave and shout hello at pretty much everyone. If the people of Thailand were any nicer and friendlier I'm not sure that we could have made any progress on our bike ride. When stopping at small roadside restaurants where there is no menu and no English spoken, it's easy if you just make sure to stop where other people are eating. You just point at something that looks good and point to yourself, nod and smile. That's how we ended up with the most amazing octopus dish. It was fresh, it was good, and the locals were eating it too.



Ah, Thailand.