I am very frustrated!! To cycle to from Bangkok to Delhi involves pedalling across a few thousand Km's of China via the Himalayas. The main reason for my frustration is that in Bangkok we decided we would apply for our Chinese visas, and while almost all countries in S.E. Asia only grant a 30 day tourist visa as a matter of course,... so too does China.
Great, I hear you say. And if you are cycling across Laos it is, but China is just a tad bigger. In theory, you can obtain a 90 day visa, but try as we might, the constantly smiling lady in Bangkok's Chinese embassy, would not admit the possibility of getting anything more than a 30 day visa. The upshot of all of this is that either we have to cycle to Hong Kong to try our luck of getting a longer visa there, or rely on the generosity of the PSB (the very communist one party state sounding 'Public Security Bureau') to allow us visa extension once in China. We collect our passport, Chinese visa et al. tomorrow.
Anyway on to impressions of Bangkok. After the relative familiarity of Australia, Bangkok is like a developing world slap in the face. Hawkers, trying to sell you stuff you never knew existed, you never knew you needed and you certainly have never wanted. Street venders pushing the limits of their stalls across the pavement into the road, health and safety be damned. Tuk-Tuk drivers conning naive gap year backpackers straight off the plane for 10 times the going rate for a 2km ride. Yet, it still makes for a soft landing pad into indo-china. We've not yet been given a menu without an English translation, in the area we are staying western tourists outnumber the locals and there's a heavy presence of the ever comforting 'tourist police'.
So from here we are heading to the east, to the Cambodian border, and on to the famous Ankor Wat temples. Apparently the roads have been tarmaced over the last few years... here's hoping! If not, then at least we will be getting a proper dose of adventure cycling!!
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