Friday the 13th

Superstition is for chumps. Or so we thought when we decided to leave on Friday the 13th. After 2 years of planning, what could go wrong?

So we loaded stuff in the back of our truck: Tau. As little and as light as possible, but enough to manage a reasonably comfortable life on the road. Plus spares and tools, loads of spares and tools.

Leaving home

After 21 kilometers, Friday the 13th released its power upon us by turning off our engine on the elevated expressway near Bang Bon. Still in Bangkok…

A (free!) tow truck later we found ourselves on a gas station with a blown fuse. Something to do with our brand new auxiliary battery, but what? P. Nid, who has saved our asses before, came again to the rescue. His big truck took us and Tau back to his shop to fix the wiring.

It was 9pm when we arrived at his shop, 30 kilometers East -the wrong direction- from where we started. Not exactly an ominous sign for the first day of our little expedition.

We slept at his shop, in the morning he would fix the wiring around our new switch charge relay.

When Damski disappeared

The next morning, P. Nid’s minions were working on the car and one of them let the back door open. Kinda silly since he knew our cat was in there. Poor Damski, stressed out, stuck in the back of our tiny van for almost 24 hours. I don’t need to explain what happened next.

Benz and I spent a couple of hours looking for Damski. But the street is full of warehouses, car wrecks, engine blocks and trees, surrounded by rice fields, elephant grass and more trees. After lunch the car was finished, we looked around for another hour, but our cat was still missing. P. Nid then offered to take care of Damski, if he would ever show up again.

P. Nid & his minions

Towards the end of the afternoon we reached Benz’ parents house in Damnern Saduak. A huge home made seafood dinner later we called it a day and went to bed.

Going South

So far we had driven West, but now we had to make a 2200 kilometer detour: South to Kuala Lumpur, and after shipping our car, North from Kolkata to the Nepali border. From there we would continue West again.

Knowing it would be a couple of years before we would see them again, it wasn’t easy to say goodbye to Benz’ parents. But after our tearful goodbyes we were on the road again & for the first time feeling we were really leaving. Really leaving our old home, family, jobs, friends, neighbors & pet behind. Strange, sad, happy, nervous, liberating and exciting; we cranked up the volume on our stereo and drove South towards Chumporn.

By the time it got dark we got off the highway, bought some food, a bottle of whiskey, soda and ice; and parked Tau next to the first beach we found. It was the first night we slept in the back of our truck.

Breakfast at Sari beach near Chumporn

To Ao Nang

Next morning, before cooking breakfast, we took a walk on the beach, while the sun rose over the Gulf of Thailand, feeling pretty damn great.

But as usual, whenever we started to feel confident in our little expedition, things went wrong. This time we our little engine wouldn’t take us faster than 60 km/h, instead of our usual 90km/h. A detached spark plug cable this time. Easily fixed by the good folks at Sophon garage. A little later than we hoped we left Chumporn province.

After a quiet, beautiful drive through the rolling green hills of southern Thailand we arrived in Ao Nang Bay, where we met up with our friend Rick. Rick has been living in Thailand for over a decade, previously around the corner from our old place in Bangkok. Now he’s working in Ao Nang, staying with his friends who run Gur Hostel & the Sandwich Market.

Upon seeing our sleeping arrangement in the car, they took pity and put us in a nice comfortable room. For free! On top of that they literally make the best sandwiches & burgers we’ve ever had in Thailand. Creamcheese burger, Philly cheese steak, bye bye daily spending limit.

That evening, the three of us spent finishing off our bottle of whiskey, overshadowed by the massive limestone cliffs next to the touristy beach town.

Rick in Ao Nang

Mosquitoes attack

The comfortable rooms, the whiskey the night before and more splendid sandwiches prevented us from leaving very early, which was just fine with us.

We figured we would not reach Kuala Lumpur in time to get Tau on the vessel of the 25st anyway. The next boat would leave on the 28th, not a huge deal (or so we believed with our typical pseudo-expedition ignorance).

Perhaps a 100 km further South we stopped at a national park: Hat Chao Mai. Apart from the forest rangers, we were the only ones there. From what we could see Hat Chao Mai consisted of a beach, a pine forest and some limestone outcrops. We parked the car in the forest, explored the beach, and starting eating our food when they came…

First one or two mosquito bites, hardly something us intrepid wannabe adventurers care about. In Bangkok we hardly notice a couple of bites. Real tough guys, us two. These were big, nay huge, mosquitoes though. Itchy, big bumpy bites too.

Then more and more mosquitoes showed up. Impossible to move your arms without hitting a couple. More bites too; arms, legs, head. We put on long sleeves, tucked our pants in our socks, tucked our shirts in our underwear, even moved our table and food to the beach. It was no use, after 15 minutes we were covered in bites, those fuckers biting right through our clothes.

We abandoned our dinner and evacuated ourselves inside the truck, turned on the fan, lights, set up our notebook, speakers and watched a couple of movies. Bullied by a couple of mosquitoes, but at least we are well prepared for such ‘emergencies’.

Last night in Thailand

The next morning our bodies were covered in nasty, red (for Joost), dark brown (for Benz), big, hard, hella-itchy bumps. But seeing the big empty beach in the morning made everything sort of worthwhile though.

Hat Chao Mai

And off we went again, stereo blasting loudly, cruising over small roads through quaint Muslim villages. Stares, surprised looks, smiles and friendly waves along the way.

Around 3 ‘o clock we were nearing Satun town, deep in the Muslim South of Thailand, just 40 km from the border with Malaysia. We were faced with the dilemma of crossing the border the same day and entering Malaysia in the dark or spending the night in the Thai side in Satun. The expedition decided to find beers and a guesthouse in Satun.

The expedition needs a cold beer

By this time we started to call ourselves “the expedition”, in tribute to Tim Slessor and his much more real expedition (see First Overland). It sounded funny to us, but perhaps also to convince ourselves of something. Like we knew what we were doing. Anyway: “The expedition needs a cold beer, let’s see what Satun has to offer”.

At first the expedition could not find a guesthouse within our budget in Satun. So when we saw a white guy on his big Yamaha bike, expat type, we asked him. Turned out the man (Ray) had a wife (Da) who owned a bar (Radar) just down the street, we could rent a room above it for 300 Baht.

After dinner we went back to Radar bar where the majority of Satun’s expat community had gathered. A dozen fast-talking, hard-bodied, hard-drinking, slightly over-weight & very welcoming expats. I got talking to a friendly Dutch man who’s the founder of the Pink, the coffee shop in Eindhoven! A small world indeed.

That evening me, Benz and the local expat crew finished off about half the beers in the mainly Muslim province. At least that’s how it felt the next morning. An appropriate last night in Thailand.

It’s been a while since our last update: work, real life and trip preparation got in the way.

But we’re getting closer: Benz has given notice & we’re busy gathering the last bits of paper, stickers & stamps necessary to take ourselves and our truck across the borders.

Estimated Departure Date: 20 June 2012!!!

Before we leave we want to update this blog a bit. Starting with our trip last New Years holiday: down south and back up.

Koh Lanta

We left on the 24th December 2011 and two days and 900 kilometers later we were on tropical island Koh Lanta. We spent a few days relaxing, swimming, squid fishing (fun!) and visiting our friends Ann, Rob & Shazia from BKK.

Rob and Joost snorkeling of the beach near their home

West coast

It was all very chillax, but these touristy, paradise type islands tend do drive us nuts (and broke) after a few days. So we decided to slowly drive back to Bangkok via the west coast of the peninsula. Absolutely breathtaking, twisting roads passing through limestone cliffs covered with dark green jungle, sometimes taking us to a quiet beach or waterfall.

We traveled slowly, perhaps 200 km a day. But it was really quite impressive. The last night on the west coast we camped in Laem Son (near Kapoe, Ranong), 150 meters from the beach. A flock of hornbills chilling right above our tent, us below watching the sunset. Nice!

Camping in Laem Son

Accident

So far we didn’t have any car problems, but almost as soon as we hit the east coast, trouble began. Benz made one of these tricky highway U-turns. Not used to our tiny turning radius, we nearly drove in a deep concrete ditch from hell. But Benz miraculously managed to keep the car on the road with no more damage than a busted indicator light, a few scratches and two minor heart attacks.

We decided get off the main road, to find a nerve-calming cold beer and bed in the first place we could find. That this was a luxurious, expensive resort didn’t bother us at all this time. Besides it was the last day of the year and the owners of the, otherwise empty, resort invited us to their BBQ. On midnight we watched fireworks on a completely empty white-sanded beach and our first real car accident was already forgotten.

More car trouble

But our troubles didn’t end there, they never do. Next day we wanted to drive all the way to Benz’ hometown, but daylight ended too early for that. Instead we decided to sleep near Kaeng Krachan national park.

We took a shortcut (do they ever work out faster?) and we found ourselves driving in an empty, completely dark road, when we heard a familiar sound: the tik-tik-tik of a frayed alternator belt. Soon followed by a loud snap as a piece broke off. We stopped next to a sign warning of wild elephants.

Often people think of elephants as peaceful, friendly or perhaps even wise creatures. That all might be true, but they are also responsible for more deaths than tigers, bears, hippos, lions and sharks combined.

We were too pussy to spend the night near these gentle, dangerous giants. Our next best bet was to drive slowly, on the small remaining strip of belt, to the one light in the distance.

Do you drink beer Leo?

That light turned out to belong Khun Mee and his wife Lek. An awesome couple who were just starting a lavish dinner with their friends and servants. Retired, rich, a heart of gold, with a spare bed and a table full of food, beer and whiskey.

Joost, do you drink beer Leo? I bought a case and I’m the only one who drinks it.

It’s without a doubt humbling to experience how welcoming Khun Mee, P. Lek and their friends were to a couple of poor strangers. They even included us in the New Year’s gift giving celebration! The rest of the night we spent talking, eating, drinking and listening to music.

Khun Mee, Khun Lek and friends

Going back to bangkok

The next day they helped us find a mechanic. Some welding and a new belt later we were on the way to Bangkok, joining the thousands of other holiday folks on their way home in Bangkok. Apart from a running-on-fumes-on-the-express-way-oh-shit-go-down-and-get-lost-in-a-slum-stress-situation we made it home without any more problems.

Looking back, the highlight of our trip was definitely the night spent with Khun Mee, Lek and Toey. If you are reading this: a big & sincere thank you! We will try and stop by to say hello on the way to Holland.

Revenge of the Tau

The 5th of December is not only party times for the Dutch. It’s also the birthday of the Thai king. This year it’s on a Monday, so we had a long weekend. Time for another road trip!

After the failure of two weeks ago -I picked up our Hijet from the shop only on the night before (2 new belts, a new head gasket and a refurbished compressor)- we decided to take it easy and pay a visit to Benz parents in Damnern Saduak, famous for its floating market. Not that we go to that market, that’s for tourists. Not how we roll

Day 1: Bangkok to Damnern

We left Saturday around noon, a good 3 hours later than planned. No problem, we figured, it’s only 110 km west of Bangkok. What we hadn’t realized is that we were not the only Bangkokians leaving town for the long weekend. By the time we finally were out of Bangkok, Benz had been driving through hellish, hectic Bangkok traffic for 3,5 hours straight. Poor girl.

When I took the wheel traffic miraculously disappeared, the GPS directed us to a small road surrounded first by shrimp farms then by coconut plantations. Needless to say, Benz was a little jealous. We explored some small back roads, got lost in the fun way and at 5pm we finally arrived at Benz’ parents home. 5 hours – 110 km

Lost in Ratchaburi

Benz told her family for the first time about our plan to drive to Holland. Luckily the reactions were positive all around. Benz’ mom even gave us an antique lucky Buddha charm for the trip. Nice! The rest of the evening we sat outside next to the canal, talking and drinking beers until midnight.

Day 2: Amphawa

The morning was a lazy one. We washed the car while Benz’ mom cooked up a nice lunch: moo satay, rad na and raw shrimp. By 3:30 we left their place, looking for a different place for the night, hoping that a resort or home-stay would allow us to set up our tent, which was still in the back of the truck.

Because of the long weekend, everything was full and no one wanted to deal with some weirdos and a tent. When we finally found a remote place -a weird home-stay in an old coconut plantation- which wanted to put up with us, it was almost dark, the soil was rock hard and the only place where we could pitch the tent was right below a coconut tree. Ever seen a coconut fall out of a tree? They crack a skull or tent poles easily. So we pussied out and rented a bungalow.

Our bungalow at the home-stay near Amphawa

Day 3: Going back to BKK

Wanting to get a head start on the holiday makers who were all returning to BKK this day, we left early.

Bought some boxes of food and coffee to go, turned off the GPS and used Google Maps to try to get as close to home as possible while staying away from the main roads.

A fun experiment, but a royal pain in the behind. Dear Google Maps, why are your back-roads light gray on a white background?

Anyway, a short, uneventful trip later we were back home, feeling very happy we can actually drive 300 km without breaking the truck.

Again we have learned quite a few things:

• Tau does a lot better on the frontage roads than the actual highway.
• Driving through cities in busy traffic is exhausting. We should switch positions (no, not that kind) every couple of hours.
• Pae can be a bit of a naughty girl (yes, that kind).
• There are oodles of temples in Ractchaburi. Almost as many as coconut plantations. Sweet.
• We better camp in the wild then bothering with asking resorts, etc.
• We are absolutely in love with Tau-chan! He’s awesome. So you’ll have to excuse the many pictures of him below.

Next up, driving to Koh Lanta for New Year. Let’s see if we can cover 850 km in 2 days.

A tale of a broken fan belt and ignorance

Saturday, the 19th of November we set out to drive to the Cambodian border, camp a few nights in the Khao Soi Dao wildlife sanctuary and get back to BKK the following Monday. Not everything went exactly as planned.

Why did we go?

We plan to go on as many little trips as we can before we go on the bigger one.

• We just got our truck, for both of us our first motorized vehicle. We have little driving experience, car-owning-experience or car-fixing-experience and we really could use the practice.
• Also wanted to test our camping equipment, mostly ridiculously cheap stuff from China and hand-me-downs. See what’s missing, what we don’t need and what’s just too crappy.
• Having an Android phone with a GPS application installed (nDrive), we hope to save some money and not buying a dedicated unit. But we wanted to know how well this works.
• I (Joost) also needed a new stamp in my passport. Got a one year marriage visa, but only get a stamp for 90 days. Every three months I have to cross an international border to get a new one.
• But the main reason for our little foray was to test the truck, Tau-tau. To find his weak points, push him to his limits, check what breaks. Cunning bastards like we are, we do this during the warranty period.

At least for the last reason, the trip was a big success.

Day 1: BKK – Ban Laem – Khao Soi Dao

We left home at 6 a.m. in order to beat the Saturday morning traffic around the eastern industrial estates. We jumped straight on the elevated express way, free that day because of the flooding and drove straight out of Bangkok and through Samut Prakan.

In Chachoengsao we stopped at a gas station for coffee, breakfast and, like proper truck drivers, red bull. We continued like this: driving easily, never exceeding 90 km/h and stopping often for coffee and a little break.

Tau-tau on a break somewhere in Sa Kaeo

We were making great progress, it was not even 1 p.m. when we were entering Chanthaburi province, bordering Cambodia. Surely we could be at Khao Soi Dao around 3 p.m.?

Just in Chanthaburi we heard a weird ticking noise under the passenger seat and we pulled over to decide what we should do. Ignoring common sense for the first -but not the last- time, we decided to drive to the next mechanic, instead of having a look ourselves.

Trashed fan belt

4 kilometers later we found one. Turned out our fan belt was busted. A brand new belt, shredded after just 300 km. Weird. We made a quick call to P. Nid, the guy who imported and fixed up our truck, who was just as surprised. He would reimburse the cost and asked us to bring the old belt back so he could send it back to the factory. Decent chap. And at 350 Baht (40 Baht ≈ 1 Euro), no biggie.

Benz investigating our broken "Mitusboschi" belt

Insert new belt

Wrong turn, potholes and a hot engine

Ban Laem is not on any map we checked, so we guessed its location. Wrongly. We ended up with the wrong coordinates in the GPS app. Not a big deal, but by the time we realized this we were already going down a quiet road parallel to border.

A road that at parts resembled swiss cheese. More potholes than tarmac, some as deep as 40 cm. It was a great learning experience and after 5 km on that road we had better feeling of where our wheels were and it became quite easy to maneuver the wheels over the pieces of road left. Unfortunately this meant we were going really slow now. It was getting late and we still had another 30 km to go to the border, do the visa thing, and then another 40 to the wildlife sanctuary.

Almost at the border

Benz wanted to check the coolant overflow reservoir. Ignoring common sense again, I -worrying about the time it would take to let the engine cool down and it getting late- convinced her and myself that the new belt was probably a bit loose. Perhaps it was slipping and either the fan or water pump wasn’t getting the action it needed?

If you own a car you probably let out a disappointed sigh reading that last paragraph. Yup, now we know too.

Driving through a beautiful forest, we passed military camps, endless barbed wire and a gazillion potholes, which had gone from a fun learning experience to really annoying by now.

After another 20 kilometers of craters and cavities we reached an intersection, saw a sign for Ban Laem and left the swiss cheese road for a wonderfully smooth one. I think we actually cheered when we saw that gorgeous smooth asphalt.

Border and Khao Soi Dao

At 4 p.m. we finally reached the border. I checked out of Thailand, got a Cambodian visa, stamped into Cambodia, turned around, got an exit stamp and entered Thailand again. Pointless.

At the border market we bought some meat and vegetables to go with our pasta, a hat and one of those portable speaker thingies where you can play music through a USB drive.

At the Cambodian border with my new hat

We reached Soi Dao village around 5:15 p.m., bought some water, beer and ice and drove the last 12 km up to the wildlife sanctuary. In the last hour of daylight I rushed to set up the tent while Benz cooked a brilliant meal, all the while fighting off a bunch of wild peacocks. Respect.

Thoroughly exhausted, we ate the pasta in the dark sitting in our new, cheap, but very comfortable, camping chairs.

Khao Soi Dao means something like “mountain where you can reach the stars”. An aptly chosen name as we found out that evening. Us mad urban city folks were impressed. After dinner we watched a movie on our net-book and had a couple well-deserved beers under the starry sky before going to bed. Good times.

Day 2: Khao Soi Dao – Chanthaburi town

When disaster strikes

After a good night’s sleep and coffee, Benz fried up some breakfast while I had a look at the truck. Wanted to find out why our engine was running so hot the day before. One of the new belts felt a little loose, perhaps 2 cm give. Could this be the reason? Or was it the distance and heat? Tried starting the engine, at first it didn’t take. On the third try it did start, shaking at first and then sounding weird.

Coffee in the morning

It was still very early on a Sunday morning, so not much we could do. We ate our fried eggs, sausage and toast, trying not to worry too much about engine damage.

An hour later the local mechanic confirmed I’m an idiot. When starting the engine without coolant I had blown the head gasket. Luckily there seemed to be no further damage to the engine.

No way we could drive to Bangkok now. And in the one-horse-town that is Soi Dao there are no spare head gaskets for a Daihatsu Hijet S100P. It is actually on our list of spare parts for our trip, but we haven’t gotten these yet.

We were getting worried now, we both had to work on Tuesday. Ordering the head gasket alone would take much longer than that. Towing the truck back to BKK would cost around 10.000 Baht.

At that point one of Benz’ sandals fell apart. Without a way to drive or walk, not knowing how we should go home, 12 km from our tent, worrying about money, morale was at an all-time low.

A second-hand car dealer from heaven

Again we called P. Nid. He told us not to let the local mechanics do anything to our truck, lock up and wait for him to call back. 40 minutes later he called back and told us that he would come, see if he could fix Tau-tau on the spot or, if not, take us and the truck back to the city of angels. For free!

Let me re-iterate: this awesome guy will drive 300 km to get us and our truck, that we broke, fix it or take it back to his shop in Bangkok and repair it there. ON A SUNDAY. FOR FREE. What a man!

Epiphytes

Nothing to do but wait

Feeling a million times better, we left Tau-tau at the local mechanic’s lot, used their industrial strength glue to bodge Benz’ sandal and hitched a ride back to the wildlife sanctuary.

On the way to the waterfall, which we didn't see

Washing the grime off in a nearby stream

Exploring the area near our tent

Nearby stream

To Chanthaburi

Around 5.30 p.m. we started walking down the hill, soon finding some people who would take us on their bikes to the village for a small fee. A short wait later P. Nid and his friend P. Rang showed up in their truck. They confirmed the head gasket was a goner and we needed to get back to Bangkok to replace it.

The gang of violent peacocks returned in the afternoon

P. Nid & P. Rang come to Chanthaburi often and know a fantastic restaurant where we had the best Yam Pla Duk Foo we’ve ever had. An extravagant meal with slices of duck, coagulated duck blood, Tom Yam Pla, wild boar in curry paste and chicken.

P. Nid sat in our truck all the way to Bangkok

Day 3: Back to Bangkok

The next morning we had breakfast at the hotel’s buffet. Benz & I spent some time hanging around the pool, waiting for our saviors to get ready. We had the hardest time paying for the rooms. P. Nid would just not let us pay for them. In the end he reluctantly let us pay part of our room. What a guy!

By 10 a.m. we were on the road again. Me, Benz & P. Rang in their truck, P. Nid sitting in our truck on the back. We had an uneventful drive back to Bangkok, luckily they allowed us to pay for a full tank, alleviating our guilt a little.

Back in Bangkok unloading Tau near P. Nid's shop

Back home

2 p.m. we were back home, looking back at our little weekend trip with mixed feelings. If we can not even drive one day without breaking our truck, how will we ever make it to Holland? On the other hand, these kind of things were exactly what we wanted to find out.

Ignoring a hot engine is not something we will ever do again. That much we learned the hard way. Two independent mechanics have since told us that we should check the coolant level every day with a Daihatsu Hijet. This is the kind of information that’s probably in the owner’s manual. Unfortunately ours is in Japanese. The English service manual, that we have ordered, is still in the mail.

Looking back we feel like we have learned a great deal:

• If anything is out of the ordinary with the truck, stop and have a look. A broken fan belt or being low on coolant are things that are very easy to spot and also easy enough to fix. Even if we can not fix it, we can at least assess the risk of driving to a mechanic.
• Engine temperature. It’s no joke.
• We definitely made the right choice getting our vehicle through P. Nid.
• Those lightweight aluminum tent pegs are worthless on anything but butter soft soil. Or we’re doing it wrong? The heavier steel rock pegs kick ass though.
• P. Nid is a really, really great guy.
• Benz’ love for good deals on shoes is not suitable outside the city.
• Zip lock bags, Tupperware, etc. are awesome for keeping ants out. Need more.
• We need a bigger cooler. Ice, food & beers are quite bulky.
• Having a table makes life a lot easier when camping.
• Wild peacocks. They are not shy. At all.
• P. Nid rocks.

So, WTF happened?

P. Nid thinks the 4 km we have driven with a broken fan belt (so no fan) on an already hot engine caused some of the coolant to evaporate. Neither us nor that mechanic checked the level of coolant (they just use water in Thailand), us driving another 90 kilometer on an already hot engine with low coolant caused more heat, which lead to more evaporation, and so on. When the engine cooled down overnight the remaining coolant contracted, and what was left over in the morning was too little to safely start the engine on. Which I stupidly did anyway. Or something like that.

Yeah I know. I’m a twit. Feel free to abuse me in the comment section. That’s what it’s there for.

Now we’re waiting for P. Nid to finish replacing the head gasket. He’s insanely busy, a lot of work for him after the flood, so this will take another couple of days.

Next weekend we will drive up to Damnern Saduak for a night at Benz’ parents. A shorter trip and no camping. We’ll let you know how that went/what we broke in a week or so.

As you have probably heard, large parts of Thailand including in Bangkok were/are flooded. For us this is just annoying, but for the Mercy-folks this is a bigger problem.

Effects of the floods on the Mercy Centre

8 Mercy schools have been flooded, some all the way to the ceiling. 750 children have lost their schools and most of them their homes too. Some of these schools are still closed, but luckily the flood water is receding.

Father Joe handing out food and water during the flood in Klong Toey

Video from Klong Toey

Below is a short video where Father Joe from the HDF Mercy Centre explains the impact of the floods on the Klong Toey slum community and the Mercy Centre.

Donations

Recently we have sent out some emails to friends, family and acquaintances asking for their help; a donation for the Mercy Centre. You can see the results of their and our efforts now on the top of the page.

We would like to sincerely thank everyone who has made or will make a donation. Thanks, you guys rock!!!

If you also would like to donate, look here.

More information

If you want to know more about the situation in Klong Toey, you can check out the latest flood update from Father Joe on the Mercy Center site, where he describes how they are coping with the receding flood water.