Ah, a rest day is so nice from time to time. Sleeping a bit longer, a bit of sightseeing (the bridge, of course!), good food, and in this case time to look at our options of where to go from here. Oh yes, and cleaning the bikes!
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| Relaxing place for the day, at the river Kwai riverside. Bicycles all clean! |
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| Bridge over the River Kwai - tourists included |
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| Bridge over the River Kwai at the other end. No tourists anymore... |
It turns out that going into Myanmar from here is a big challenge. On the one hand, the border crossing requires a normal visa, to be obtained from the embassy (in Bangkok) and not an e-visa. Going to Bangkok was not really our intention but could be done if needed. More importantly, the road across the border seems to be in very bad condition (we spoke to some people who just came from there - not by bike though) and would require hours and days of tough riding. Add to that, that you are in theory only allowed to stay in approved hotels in Myanmar - which you won't find in small villages on the way so long distances might be unavoidable - and it all becomes pretty hardcore to go there. We don't feel ready for that...
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| Roughly, our plan for the next 2-ish months. It's not accurate, just to give an impression |
So, after our first plan (crossing in Ranong) changed into a new plan (riding north through Thailand and entering Myanmar later), we now go to a next new plan. In fact, these plans were never real plans, just mostly options. We hadn't done our research (intentionally) and knew very well it could still change. The new plan is: continue north until Sukhothai, then go east towards the Mekong, follow the Mekong until Vientiane. In Vientiane we'll need a few days to get our visa for China, then continue north via Luang Prabang into southern China. From China somewhere (Kunming, Chengdu?), we'll fly to Japan by mid/end April.
Is this final and sure? Definitely not! But it does look like a nice and feasible plan. We'll see what the future brings! 😀