Biking to the Top of the World!

I'm still shaking, just starting to feel the sunburn and not yet totally rehydrated, but I want to tell you all about the motorbike ride that I took today while the adrenaline is still pumping.

A bunch of us decided we would rent motorbikes and take a long ride through the mountains beyond Mae Sai. Danielle graciously said I could ride on the back of her motorbike. I know we both regretted that offer many times before we returned to Mae Sai four hours later.

First, as soon as I hopped on behind Danielle, we hit some gravel and skidded out, both of us splayed out on the street with our water bottles flying everywhere. (The laughter coming from the kids across the street was not appreciated!) Great way to start out the trip, right? So, I'm shaking with anxiety (thought not at all injured) as soon as we begin the trip. To make matters worse, I witnessed Danielle doing the same thing going up a hill the other day because she had to switch from first to second in the middle of the hill, and she lost control of the bike. So, already I'm thinking it's insane to go on a long ride through the hills, but the beauty of the mountains and the warm sun is far to enticing to give up now.

Almost immediately, we are faced with very intense hills. We were on a little motorbike, so the bike really had to work hard in first gear to be able to get up the hills. Twice I had to jump off the back of the slow-moving bike so that it'd be able to get up ok. What makes matters worse, the turns were sharp and winding. So, not only are we stressed about being able to get up these steep slopes, but we have to make sharp turns at a slow speed so that we don't tumble off the side of the mountain. The ride to the top was about two hours, and I really couldn't relax the entire time. Danielle, too, was very stressed about the situation.

All of that was worth it, though, when we reached the very top. Seriously, the very top. We could see down for miles around on both sides, and the road only went down behind us and in front of us. It was spectacular.

But, heading back and going back down seemed even more daunting than going up. Some of those slopes were so steep, I think even a car would have difficulty, not to mention the winding roads. But, we took it really slow going down (as Thai people are speeding past, waving). In fact, we took it so slow, that perhaps one of the worst imaginable things that could have happened did in fact happen....Yes, that's right...the breaks went out.

Now, it sounds far more dramatic than it was in actuality. First, we happened to be going down a comparably gentle slope. Second, there is a secondary foot break, so we were able to come to a gentle stop immediately. But still, the breaks gave out!

We flagged down three young Thai guys and mimed our situation to them. They immediately knew what the problem was and rode off to get some water in order to cool off the brakes. Apparently, we had overheated the breaks, causing them to fail. So, after about ten minutes, we were once again a bit shaken, but we had no choice but to continue (actually, at one point, we considered stopping one of the infrequent pickup trucks going by and hitching a ride with the bike in back, but the opportunity never came along). Yes, mom, we made it home safely without a scratch or a broken neck.

The trip down was actually much less nerve-wracking than the trip up, and I was able to enjoy myself more. However, I'm not going up into those mountains by bike again! In fact, I may be taking a break from the motorbikes in general for a while. After all, Zakcq is expecting me to come home in one piece in a month.