Day 5 Rest Day and Day 6 Georgetown to Thailand
Day 5 was a much-needed Rest Day in Georgetown. Most crews slept late; did minor repairs on their cars; refueling; and found a nice restaurant for dinner. We did all that and Brant and I had a couple of hand-made safari shirts made for us by the tailor at the hotel. We had a very good Chinese dinner on the Church Street Pier (built in 1880) with a nice couple from Rancho Santa Fe in San Diego......it's small world. The Danglard's collect Porsche's (they're driving a '73 911 with a big engine) and own the K-1 Go-Kart Tracks around the US. She's from Boston; he's from Limoges, France, and they drive regularly to Malibu to eat sushi at Nobu's......see I told you it was a small world.
Day 6:
Today is a transition day. Two Speed Stages in Malaysia; a border crossing into Thailand; and then a long drive to Trang (famous for its fish cuisine, although it is not close to the sea.....go figure).
The first Speed Stage was a 7 km track through a rice paddy. We raced on the levees that separate the irrigation canals from the rice growing areas. Track was very twisty and very slippery. If you approached a corner too fast, there was a good chance that skidding on the rocky road could land you in the canal ditch. We overshot a couple of corners, but avoided putting the car in the water. No results yet, but I thought Brant was very fast over the course.
The second Speed Stage was over the Unimap Race Course; a smallish Go-Kart Track with lots of turns including a very strange hairpin. Hard to tell how we did there, but we'll see when they post the results.
It was then on to the border crossing. Three years ago, we crossed at this same border station and it took us approximately 3 hours, most of it standing in the hot sun. Much better today; it only took about 30 minutes thanks to our great immigration crews that help us at all border crossings. The customs officials on the Thai side were very interested in the cars asking lots of questions about their origin.
Observations:
As we continue north, we leave the palm plantations behind and enter an area of row crops.....string beans, corn, cabbage (bok choy), and berries. Further north in Thailand we see our first rubber plantations. The rubber trees are tall and slender. They are planted in long rows like an orchard. After about 7 years, each rubber tree is 'tapped" by making a rather artful cut at the base of the tree. Below the cut they attach a cup to the tree to catch the sap or "rubber' that drains out of the tree into the cup. There are literally hundreds of acres of the plantations with each tree having a cup attached to it at the base.
We have traded the mosques in Malaysia for pagodas in Thailand. Both houses of worship play important roles in the towns or villages where we find them. They are well kept, brightly painted, and a structure of pride to their worshipers. The pagodas in Thailand are decorated with garlands of flowers to bring sweet smells to one's earlier ancestors.
Roads are better in Thailand than Malaysia, but there are more motorbikes in Thailand and they don't seem to obey any particular rules....they just point and drive.
One more sight. During the drive, we made a stop at a police checkpoint which had slowed traffic on the highway. As we were pulling away a six foot lizard (and I do mean six feet) casually walked from one side of the road to the other. He/she was a beautiful creature and never gave us a look.
Day 6:
Today is a transition day. Two Speed Stages in Malaysia; a border crossing into Thailand; and then a long drive to Trang (famous for its fish cuisine, although it is not close to the sea.....go figure).
The first Speed Stage was a 7 km track through a rice paddy. We raced on the levees that separate the irrigation canals from the rice growing areas. Track was very twisty and very slippery. If you approached a corner too fast, there was a good chance that skidding on the rocky road could land you in the canal ditch. We overshot a couple of corners, but avoided putting the car in the water. No results yet, but I thought Brant was very fast over the course.
The second Speed Stage was over the Unimap Race Course; a smallish Go-Kart Track with lots of turns including a very strange hairpin. Hard to tell how we did there, but we'll see when they post the results.
It was then on to the border crossing. Three years ago, we crossed at this same border station and it took us approximately 3 hours, most of it standing in the hot sun. Much better today; it only took about 30 minutes thanks to our great immigration crews that help us at all border crossings. The customs officials on the Thai side were very interested in the cars asking lots of questions about their origin.
Observations:
As we continue north, we leave the palm plantations behind and enter an area of row crops.....string beans, corn, cabbage (bok choy), and berries. Further north in Thailand we see our first rubber plantations. The rubber trees are tall and slender. They are planted in long rows like an orchard. After about 7 years, each rubber tree is 'tapped" by making a rather artful cut at the base of the tree. Below the cut they attach a cup to the tree to catch the sap or "rubber' that drains out of the tree into the cup. There are literally hundreds of acres of the plantations with each tree having a cup attached to it at the base.
We have traded the mosques in Malaysia for pagodas in Thailand. Both houses of worship play important roles in the towns or villages where we find them. They are well kept, brightly painted, and a structure of pride to their worshipers. The pagodas in Thailand are decorated with garlands of flowers to bring sweet smells to one's earlier ancestors.
Roads are better in Thailand than Malaysia, but there are more motorbikes in Thailand and they don't seem to obey any particular rules....they just point and drive.
One more sight. During the drive, we made a stop at a police checkpoint which had slowed traffic on the highway. As we were pulling away a six foot lizard (and I do mean six feet) casually walked from one side of the road to the other. He/she was a beautiful creature and never gave us a look.
 |
| Your trusty reporter ready for a day’s Work |