Yunnan and the Tibetan Border-Southern Thailand
 

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This "intro" page from my book, "Southeast Asia on 2 Wheels" shows my route through China, Laos, Cambodia and Thailand.


Yunnan, China. Although I started my journey near Shanghai, in Wuxi City, it was in Yunnan where I finally got the 'right' bike and really got going. I bought this 150cc Zhongshen dirtbike for $600 USD with about 7k Kms on the odo. I first went north toward the Tibetan border - some 4,000 meters above sea level. From there it was back down south through Shangri-la, Dali and then back to Kunming. After resting up and planning my route I made my way south toward Xishuangbanna, the border with Laos. Here are some highlights from Yunnan in photos.

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Somtang Monastery in Shangri-la

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Some highlights along the way include being stopped by the cops no less than 6 times - one rather serious scrape near the Myanmar border which ended in interrogation. I did it all without a license or registration!

Laos I entered Laos from the border point at Boten, on the south of China. Here is a blog post on how to exit China on a Chinese bike.

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I found a great village School in Laos where I volunteered to teach English for a day and ended up getting invited to a village party.

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I traveled through Nam Tha, Oudomxai, Luang Prabang, Phongavahn, then down to Vientiane, and all the way down to Savannakhet and Pakxe. Laos was my favorite country to ride through. Smooth asphalt all the way and great people! I put more about it in my book.

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Finally I exited out of Laos and entered Cambodia at the border near Stung Treng.

Cambodia I was not in Cambodia for more than 2 hours before I had my first accident on the trip. I hit a nasty sinkhole and flew over the handlebars. The bike and I limped into town and I checked into a hotel for a week to heal up my shoulder. When I finally moved on toward Phnom Penh a week later, I still wasn't 100% well, but I couldn't handle watching any more "CNN Election Coverage" on satellite TV...

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Angkor Wat and Me.

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I spent about 2 weeks in Cambodia and then I made my way out of Siem Reap (that road really does suck as bad as the guidebook says..) toward the Thai border at Arunyaprathet.

Thailand

I had some minor hassles at the Thai border surrounding my lack of insurance.. But nonetheless, I was able to enter and make my way toward that cesspit that is Bangkok. Yuck. But Thailand proved to have a nice string of Gems along the southern coast - the cities of Phetchaburi, Prechaub Khiri Khan and Chumphon. I rendezvoused (sp?) with my girlfriend on Koh Samui and we both spent more time there than we had planned on due to the political crisis.

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I made my way back up toward Bangkok and ended up staying there for a while - I got my Thai massage license.. and of course enjoyed the food and nightlife.

When I got back to Japan (in need of work and cash) on Dec. 19th, I had traveled 12,000 Kms, over a span of 4 1/2 months. It was the ride I had always wanted with all the dangers, trouble, beauty and hilariousness that goes with such a thing. I wrote lots more about it in my blog - including some "How-to" articles and more info.

Finally I finished the print and e-book versions of my travel tale: "Southeast Asia on 2 Wheels." I hope you will check it out, but if not then I hope you enjoy these photos. There is plenty more on my blog, ChrisOn2Wheels.com.


Here is a page from my book.
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