Date: Journey: Duration: Mode:	31. October to 13. November 2009 Thailand From the North of Thailand to Bangkok about 1,160 K in distance The trip is up to 14 days and around about 75 to 120 K per day. Bicycle trip with vehicles for back up and support Tour Details                                    Professional Slideshow by Darren Francis
1	Day 1 (31 Oct 2009) : Start Nong Khai  Arriving - get together
2	Day 2 (01 Nov 2009) : Nong Khai to Udon Thani (128 km)  (GoogleEarth Track) The 2009 TTOH Thailand started this morning 8 am in NongKai towards Udonthani. But rather than riding directly the 53 km on the mainroad we did a scenic loop - anti clockwise - along the Mekong and passing mainly rice and sugarcane fields. Despite some headwinds and hot weather we - 7 cyclists from Canada, Germany and Malaysia and Ant our Thai guide since 4 years - did some good speed over the 128 km and arrived well and a bit tired at 4 30 pm in the President Hotel in Udonthani.
3	Day 3 (02 Nov 2009) : Udon Thani to Khon Kaen (132 km)  (GoogleEarth Track) Today 4 more cyclist joined us from Finland and The Philippines. The latter we welcomed at the Udon Thani International Airport. We assembled their bikes in record-breaking time at the parking lot. We biked towards Khon Kaen and benefiting from the north-easternly tail winds. Unfortunately, strong side winds made one of the umbrellas from the sidestreet vendors fly towards a group of 4 cyclists. This caused multiple crashes while one was hurt more seriously. The rest of the ride went smoothly and relatively cool and overcast. The group was greeted by a local cyclist who eagerly showed us the way to the Orchid hotel, wherein we arrived at around 5:30pm after covering 132km.
4	Day 4 (03 Nov 2009) : Khon Kaen to Chiayaphum (120 km) The group started pedalling by 8am. We were to cover 120km of rolling terrain with 20% done on the highway and 80% done on the local roads. On the 46th kilometer, a dog from the other side of the street started to attack 2 cyclists. Consequently, in order to avoid hitting the dog, one of our lady cyclists heroically chose to kiss the road. Fortunately, she was still able to ride her bike until the Phusuey Parkview Hotel. Again, we had a relatively cool day with a little drizzling during the last 20km.
5	Day 5 (04 Nov 2009) : Chiayaphum to Bua Yai  (GoogleEarth Track) The group left the hotel in Chaiya Phum at 8am. It was still overcast, cool and windy, which worked as headwinds against the peloton today. We were joined by 2 local cyclists, a teacher and his son, who used wo be part of the Thailand National Cycling Team. The group passed through roads with scenic rice fields partly harvested and with many cows and buffalos crossing the otherwise empty roads. On our way, we stopped at a public school for primary and pre-primary school catering to 4 year olds to 10 year old kids. We were welcomed warmly by the teachers and the students who featured their local dance. Another highlight was a surprise reception by the Mayor and Vice Mayor of Bua Yai-Big Lotus who also treated for a sumptuous north eastern thai lunch. We finally arrived at 3pm at our Disneyland-inspired hotel after covering 88km. Buayai is home for a lot of national cyclists. With this, we were surprisingly invited by the local cycling group for a sumptuous thai-chinese dinner.
6	Day 6 (05 Nov 2009) : Bua Yai to Khorat/Nakhon Ratchasima  (GoogleEarth Track) 9 of our new-found Bua Yai cycling friends decided to join us for today's ride to Khorat. 7km from the hotel, the cycling teacher had arranged a short stop to a district secondary school with 2500 students. We were greeted warmly by the faculty. We were given the opportunity to share what The Tour of Hope and Jpeigo are all about. It was a perfect day for riding with clear blue skies and scenic roads minus a little traffic through well-maintained roads. Before heading to our hotel in Khorat, we paid our respect to the locals' female warrior monument where we bid farewell to the Bua Yai cyclists. The group finally arrived at the City Park Hotel at Khorat at 3:30pm after covering 115km for the day.
7	Day 7 (06 Nov 2009) : Rest Day in Khorat/Nakhon Ratchasima  Rest day.
8	Day 8 (07 Nov 2009) : Khorat/Nakhon Ratchasima to Wang Nam Khiao   (GoogleEarth Track) After our restday the second part of TTOH started with 21 participants including new riders from Scotland, Singapore and Germany. On this leg of the tour we now have 3 mini vans and also 3 Thai tour guides riding with us. Moreover, we also had our very own professional photographer join us for the rest of our TTOH. We moved away from the flats into the hills of Khao Yai National Park. One of us recorded a top speed of 74.5 km/h cooling him down on a very hot day. The last 3 km to our hilltop resort was a rough, steep dirt road which caused many of us to quench our thirst that night with the ever so tasty Singha beer. We arrived at 4 pm after covering a total distance of 95 km.
9	Day 9 (08 Nov 2009) : Wang Nam Khiao to Kabin Buri  (GoogleEarth Track) Surprisingly, despite a lovely breakfast and a high-tech diagnostic strength test (courtesy of Soehnle Professional) half of the riders decided against retracing the track down to the main road. Today we were joined by 6 cyclists from the local club. The highlight of the day was certainly an 8 km long steep downhill road. After which we had a mini-break at a roadside orchid nursery. From here it was long, relatively flat and very hot but still the leading group managed to keep up a blistering pace. We arrived at 2 pm at our Hillside Golf and Resort Country Home for late lunch, after which nobody had the energy to play a round of 18 holes; this was likely due to our 93 km ride ....
10	Day 10 (09 Nov 2009) : Kabin Buri to Sa Geow  (GoogleEarth Track) We started as usual at 8 am and one could already fry an egg on the road. It was really hot today, in fact we measured 44 degrees C! The first part was easy and fast with the big guys hitting more than 40 km/h while the rest of us rolled along more comfortably. We turned into rural road which rode along the base of a beautiful mountain range with rubber, eucalyptus, and sweet potato plantations. We had a great Thai lunch by the fish pond which supplied the spicy main course. Wih the tanks filled again it was a short blast to the River Hotel in Sakeo where we enjoyed as of 3pm our well deserved Thai massages after 95 km. This obviously not being enough , some of us cycled a little longer to make it a century ride for the day and saw a beautiful Wat.
11	Day 11 (10 Nov 2009) : Sa Geow to Soi Dao   (GoogleEarth Track) We had a 130 km ride from Sakeo Spa Hotel to Sai Dao Golf Hotel with riders arriving between 4 and 5 pm. he It was an extremely hot and therefore a most demanding day. The reward was that this resort was the most beautiful and luxurious on the trip so far. We relaxed and cooled off by a nice tranquil swimming pool with a couple of beers. It was reported that several of us were not capable of staying awake for the usually painful 2 hour Thai massage.
12	Day 12 (11 Nov 2009) : Soi Dao to Chao Lao  (GoogleEarth Track) Today was a glorious day! We were blessed with a nice 30 km long downhill ride to start the day. By noon time we reached the Gulf of Siam and enjoyed a beautiful  seabreeze as well as a lovely seafood lunch. We finished today's 100 km ride with a 5 km rolling hills along the coastline to our New Travel Beach Resort where we had an early arrival of 2 30 pm.
13	Day 13 (12 Nov 2009) : Chao Lao to Rayong  (GoogleEarth Track) Today we only had to cover 80km along the nice coastline to the beach. Therefore we had the luxury of visiting the famous mangrove nature reserve as well as the infamous "chicken tower" prison. Luckily we had best weather, no winds, blue sky and well maintained roads. We arrived at lunch time in front of the lovely Villa Bali resort and had lunch directly on the beach with lots of seafood and a soothing sea breeze. We used the same enjoyable setting for dinner as well ...
14	Day 14 (13 Nov 2009) : Rayong to Bangkok - Presentation at MOPH  (GoogleEarth Track) Today we rode a final 23 km to Bang Phe Pier from where we took a coach into Bangkok to the official finish line at the Ministry of Public Health. Despite the heavy traffic we made it in time to receive another warm welcome by members of the Ministry of Public Health and JHPIEGO. This successfully concluded officially the 4th Tour of Hope in Thailand with a record participation of 29 cyclists from abroad. Now it was time to say goodbye, disassemble our bikes and move to our hotels but we came together one more time for a rousing Thai farewell dinner with beer and champagne.