Ride to China ; The search for the Lost Horizon : Shangri-La - Final part.

                                                                                   
                                                                              Day 13


                                                                     Its all  homewards now.

Leaving Chiang Rai early in the morning.

We have 4 days to get home.

On the way in we took 2 1/2 days for the same distance.

The adventure is over.....

So we'll take it easy and have a safe ride home.

These novice monks were so happy when we waved at them  :-)

Many road blocks but only for the local cars...

We ride and ride to make up the miles.

Regular breaks .....

Today we're headed to Suphanburi.

Lovely roads with minimal traffic.

After China ,this is heaven.

Smooth roads and nice weather....

...pure riding bliss.

On the bike pic  :-)

Nice huh.

At night we stopped before finding a hotel.

7-11 dinner again  

Life on the road :-)

Found a hotel and zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Day 14

Early morning on the bike.

Everything aches.

A nice stupa.

More empty roads.

South East Asia type of paddy fields.

As we are approaching Bangkok the traffic increases.

Quite a lot...

We bypass the city...

And enter the isthmus of Kra.

Overloaded.

At 8pm we reach Surathani and found a nearby hotel.

Dinner from 7-11 again :-)

Day 15

Guess what type of hotel this is  ha ha ha

It started to rain...

We didn't mind as it washed off the Chinese mud from the bikes.

Almost home...

Today we reach the Malaysian border...

Wet roads = accidents.

A long ride but we reach the border before dark.

Finally we have a good dinner at the Thai Malaysian border.

Day 17

Malaysia   :-)  :-)  Home 

Roads of Kedah. 

We just have 500km to ride today.

It was cloudy and showers throughout

A friend of Han was riding and he joined our small convoy.

Natures bike wash  :-)

100km from home we met our friends at a rest stop.

They wanted to welcome us home.

From 2 for thousands of kms now there are 7.

A smooth and relaxed ride.

We can't believe it.

We made it home safely.

When i see this signboard i know i've reached home.

We rode to our usual hangout where for months me and Han sat  ,planned ,discussed and dreamt of China !!

Almost there.

And here we officially ended our ride.

Ride to China ; The search for the Lost Horizon  : Shangri-La   -

Found ,Saw ,Explored ,Experienced and returned safely.

From Malaysia to China and back.

SUCCESS !!   :-)  :-)

WE did it bro !!!

We sat with our friends and told tales of the ride and sights.

Thanks guys for welcoming us .

7257km.

In this map by Han the latitude of the Final destination is clearly seen..

Its parallel to Nepal and the Himalayas.

This has been an amazing experience.

On reaching home i was asked - how was it?

My answer....

We were cold ,tired ,aches everywhere ,hungry ,thirsty ,freezing ,lack of sleep ,lack of food ,

fatigue  , .......

BUT

It Was Amazing !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is the ride of our lifetime.The best ,most colourful ,amazing sights and experiences,

and another chapter in our story.

Nothing comes easy... you have to work hard , plan ,do your best and then hope nothing comes along and screws it up.

Just like life.

Looking back on the ride we still can't believe we rode to China.

We have been thinking about it for 3 years,

talking about it for 2 years

and planning seriously for 1 year.

We bikers of all types are all the same. No one is better than the other ,or greater or anything like that.

We were lucky we got to experience this now

Tomorrow will be your day...yes YOU .

Go.... don't worry , Ride ,see the world ,experience life

and make your life's book as colourful as possible.

This is your life !!!!

Its in your hands...no one else. .

So i told my wife that this is it ,subsequently we will have nearby rides only.

One week later someone posted beautiful pictures of northern Myanmar ,

on showing her the pics she gave me the long suffering look and said

''one week...you lasted one week!! ''

Muuuhhhhhaaaaaahaaaaahaaaaahaa

Ha ha ha .Cheers.