説明
Episode four of several unreleased episodes from our adventures from South Western Australia to Northern Scotland by road between 2017 and 2021. Released at the time to our very supportive Patreon community; now for all to view as shot and edited in the back of the Troopy was back then, hopefully filling in a few gaps in the journey. The rest of Thailand, Sri Lanka, and China to come! Cheers
2018: Following a quick trip into Cambodia to tick Angkor Wat off the bucket list & apply for our Indian visas is Phnom Penh, we're back in Thailand for a couple of weeks as we continue the drive west.
Just like when we entered from Malaysia, there was no guarantee we'd successfully enter Thailand without being forced to employ a guide. We were definitely feeling a little anxious on the way to the border though thankfully it all went smoothly again. Unlike the first time though the only document this customs official was interested in was our Carnet de Passage which was interesting because Thailand isn't a Carnet country.
As we crossed the border at dinner time we only drove about 50km from the border and found a spot to camp by the beach to avoid driving in the night. We were amazed at home much the weather had cleared up in such a short amount on time and the ocean had gone from brown and murky to blue and clear again.
In the morning we drove for another 4 hours to Plodd Stop in Pattaya. Here's a brief explanation of Plodd Stop...
Dave & Lesley, a lovely English couple, drove their converted police truck named Plodd from the UK to Thailand where they now live. Dave, a passionate overlander, set up a place for fellow overlanders to stay and be able to work on their cars/bikes/trucks as well as meet other likeminded people. Dave is also an extremely helpful guy as, before we entered Thailand the first time, he obtained our insurance for us as well as supplying example documents which we could use to assist in avoiding the guide situation. Essentially showing the border control that we knew what we were doing and not some cowboys from the ‘West’. Dave also went above and beyond helping us find bits and bobs we needed to service the car. Basically, Dave is a legend!
Leaving Dave's we have about 2 weeks to fill before we cross Myanmar (the reasoning why we're going on a specific date I'll explain later on). We first drive to a nearby beach where we're treated to a pretty incredible sunset. We hang around here for 2 nights though the weather is pretty grey (again) and we were getting itchy feet.
Mark had been wanting to visit Hellfire Pass and the Bridge of River Kwai in Western Thailand so we decided that would be our next stop. We followed the audio tour as we walked around Hellfire Pass and some of the stories the Australian ex PoW's told were extremely horrific though it was good to hear that even in the worst of situations they still had a sense of humour, even betting on how many times their Dysentery would "effect" them in a day. The person with the highest tally would win a cigarette!
Just a couple of kms from Hellfire Pass we drove down to the river and found a great place to park up for the night overlooking a suspension bridge and temple with only a few locals around.
Thanks for watching! In the next episode we’ll be going north to start a loop road from Chiang Mai driving through the picturesque mountains as we wind out way back down to Mae Sot where we will cross the border to Myanmar.