The team made several of the Bangkok papers recently, including this one written in the Thai language.

Waaa, waaaaaaaaa, waaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!!!! Waaaaahhhhhh all up and down the island on a 125 four-stroke motorcycle was what I did during my day on Ko Samed! It was a blast! The island was really small, only about 11 km long, and 90% of it was dirt road along the coast. It was so beautiful and free to be whizzing around an island in the south of Thailand. The other thing that was really nice was that the island wasn't crowded with tons of people, so you could be on the roads and not worry about hitting other cars and trucks. It was relatively safe, although, Colin did hit a huge rock and flip over his handlebars, ooops! He was alright, though, just some scratches and a big raspberry.

These were really supped-up mopeds, more than actual motorcycles, which was ok, as it was safer. During my rides, I would go back and forth from one end of the island to the other, and back and forth, and back and forth again, and so on. In between, I would stop at a secluded beach with a reef, clear-blue water, and a couple cabanas selling delicious Thai food, and eat and drink some milkshakes, mmmnnn. Tropical fruit shakes in the sun, swimming, and motorbikes...sounds like Heaven doesn't it. Well, it was!

It was a nice break between all the days on the Internet researching all the info for driving through the rest of Asia. We are about to embark on the wildest and most dangerous part of our entire expedition. It will be incredibly interesting, and a bit scary. Right now, India is having the worst flooding in 20 years, and we are supposed to be heading right there. And, Manipur, where we are heading is having riots right now too, with the military and guerrillas having warfare. So we will see if we end up actually sticking to this route or not. There are still quite a bit of factors left to decide whether we will do it or not.

So slipping away to tranquil paradise on Ko Samed was perfect. I am sure if you ever come to Thailand, you will end up on one of the small beaches in the south of Thailand, and when you do, rent a moped and zip around and have a blast!

Neil

Help support our cause: The LONGITUDE Expedition is the longest journey ever attempted with a focus on Parkinson's Disease. The Drive Around the World team aims to raise money for Parkinson’s Disease research by driving four Certified, Pre-Owned Land Rover Discoverys around the globe following lines of longitude. Readers are encouraged to pledge small amounts of money per expedition-kilometer via a pledge form that can be found on our Parkinson’s page by clicking HERE. One hundred percent of donations received go directly to Parkinson's research, and all who donate $10 or more will be entered into a raffle to win an expedition-equipped Land Rover Discovery.