South-East Asia 1968 (2).

hen in Singapore, we got on our Dutch bikes, still not very comfortable between the rickshaws. The itching of the sweat in the eyes, poured from underneath a brand new sun helmet, between tropical palms and rubber plantations and the heavenly refreshment of a glass of ice tea, at a table in a Chinese cafe, images of the new, which became our every day life. Luggage carriers on the handlebars tested, seen using by the Malaysians, having other panniers sown by a tent seamster, having the bicycle repairer inspect our wheels, a loose pedal, all teething problems.
In a decent Chinese hotel we got towels, small and thin, ideal for lightweight cyclists We went into the first textile shop for a set of lovely flowered towels, leaving the large terry towels - Greetings from Staphorst -, behind in the hotel, and thus, saved some weight again. Yes, we travelled without any preparation, adapting our material constantly to the things the country offered us and what popped up in our minds. The down sleeping bags were sent home - much too warm in the tropics - not much of the luggage was left over: each of us two spare tyres, inner tube and outer tyre, a photo and film camera, and films, some clothes, a mug, toiletry and cutlery, an extra pair of shoes, a sleeping bag of linen and a mosquito net.
Untrained, also in Australia where we lived and worked for one year, we hardily had touched a bicycle. We did, however, get used to the tropical heat in Australia, otherwise we would not have been able to cycle so unprepared. Malaysia is also an ideal country to start in: good roads even the secondary roads, neat Chinese hotels for little money, even youth hostels, many eateries, enough to drink (tea and bottles) and now and then a marvellous palm beach to take a rest and to swim.
In short the first 1.000 kilometres was a paradise.
The first thing we did in Thailand was buying a booklet : Thai - English. The road signs - in Thai characters - were absolutely incomprehensible to us and when you wanted to know the right direction, it was necessary to decipher the names of the towns So in the afternoon, after a refreshing bath in a small hotel we began studying Tai. On our way we practised "Keng sjuet" - soup - we ordered. And what did we get: sugar. Wrong. The wrong pitch, because that, you do not learn from a book.
Until, one day, we could not find a hotel. Went to the police station. Next to the desk was a cage, could we sleep in it ? That was not allowed. Then the local teacher took care of us and there we slept genuine Thai in a little wooden house on poles, on a wooden floor. In the local pub, with a delicious cup of tea, the teacher taught us the ABC and like schoolchildren we repeated him. Every now and then we saw, at the door, the glistening eyes of schoolchildren, who had great fun in these strange pupils. "Do you carry guns?" he asked. "There are still many tigers in the jungle, but well, they very seldom come to the road".
Continuing our way, on a road which became gradually narrower and unpaved, no houses, but through pure jungle, we became somewhat uneasy. Involuntary, you looked skittishly when there was a cracking sound somewhere in the woods. We were glad when a lorry passed us from which a laughing Thai was leaning so far outwards, that we wondered how he could hold his steering wheel. No, we did not see any tigers. The jungle was undisturbed, like a green wall encrusted with long lianas, ornamented with blossoming flowers, it stayed on both sides of us, only some mysterious cries came out of it. Alone on your bicycle amid an overwhelming grand nature , not stared at by curious eyes, no crowd, was in itself very easeful.