The first group (photos to follow shortly)

It has been some time since my last update. This is mainly because I have just discovered that tour leading can be hard work, and was bound to be so, on my first trip. I collected my group from the airport and we then drove to Kanchaniburi. After visiting the war museum and allied cemetery, we headed the next day up to Tong Pha Phum where we stayed on floating raft houses. These are very basic but good fun and being out in the sticks was good after the craziness of Bangkok. A run the next morning with one of my passengers was a good start to the day, followed by the giving of offerings to the monks who visited on a boat. Monks are not allowed to prepare their food, so they are reliant on locals to provide offerings each day in exchange for a blessing. The monk will eat one meal in the morning and then one before midday. They then need to wait until the next day before they can eat again.

We then took a boat ride to Sangklaburi which is near to Three Pagoda Pass (site on the Burma Railway) and the Burmese border. This area is largely populated by the Mon people who are a minority people that the Burmese regime has a distaste for, but the Thais allow many of them to live on the Thai side. At various times in history the Mon people have sided with Thailand and for this reason the Thais seem to have a soft spot for them (as soft a spot as governments have for refugees).

This was our first day cycling which is an interesting experience because it’s were I get the first indicator of how quickly the group will move and what sort of training they might have done. It seems that I have possibly the largest age variance of any trip I have ever heard of. The youngest member of the trip is 22 years old, the oldest 79 years old and a fair range in between the two, including one absolute legend called Terry who is 74 and is willing to give anything a go. They are all here with a dual purpose. You see they are from the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne. They all have different links through volunteering to simply wanting to raise some money for a good cause. Hey have each raised a minimum of $5000 for the shrine in order for them to be able to partake in the cycling challenge and to take part in the pilgrimage to pay respects to the fallen solidiers of the past on what is known around here as the death railway. All have some sort of military connection such as Graeme who actually fought in the second world war or Jay who is a member of the Royal Australian Navy. They are about as far spread in cycling speed and ability as I have seen, but a truly determined bunch.

Following our visit to three pagoda pass, we embark on our hardest day cycling. The ride is only about 70KMS in length, but it is all off road and consists of big hills running through dense jungle. It doesn’t take long for the first incident to occur. One of the younger riders hits the front brake too hard and goes flying. Landing on a rock, he breaks his collar bone in two places and dislocates his shoulder. We have to immediately get him to hospital which is a bumpy two hours drive away, so Willy takes him in the ute while the rest of us keep moving in the direction of Hae Mak Amen Waterfall.

We get there, but only after Terry comes off and hits the cheese grater, taking skin aff all protruding joints and his forehead. Jay who is the strongest rider in the group has to be part of the action, so he goes for a double samasault while still attached to his bike with clips. He sustains some more cheese grater style injuries and starts to take on a commando man