Willi Gets Going…

I had chatted to Willi about our plans for riding together, and explained that I could not see myself puttering along at speeds that I could just as easily be walking at…

“Sukhothai is 650 kilometres from here, and by my reckoning, it will take you an entire day to get up there, maybe even longer…!!” I told him…

Willi had never been an early starter, and I could see nightfall finding us “trapped” in a one-goat village in the middle of nowhere, if we set out at his regular starting time of around 10.00am…!!

I had found Willi difficult to ride with when he was aboard his GS, and I was certain that I would find riding with him on a scooter, impossible…!! He has the unnerving habit of dropping right out of sight when he is behind you, or stopping at the most inappropriate times to either look for food or something to drink…!!

"See, these two bags get strapped over here like so..."

I suggested that he leave a day ahead of me, and we could catch up along the way in the evenings, and this was agreed to…

“Well then, I think I better leave today…” he said looking at his watch…

“Good idea, because I’m leaving early tomorrow, and I won’t be waiting for you…!! So best you get packing…!!”

It was after midday when Willi began carrying his kit down to his little scooter… I watched in disbelief as the bags piled up outside his door…

I helped him carry his kit down the four flights of stairs, wondering if this really was all his luggage, or if I had been duped into carrying somebody else’s stuff down to their waiting car…

It was after all the kind of stunt I was more than capable of pulling…!!

He had always chided me about carrying too much gear, and I had always replied in the same way, saying:

“Willi… I have three words for you… “Pot”…. “Kettle”…. “Black”…!! Make a sentence with them…!!”

I stood fascinated, as he began hauling bags up onto the scooter… I filmed the entire episode, watching as the scooter all but disappeared under the load…

"Then the big gray bag goes in the middle..."

"And the blue bag with all my food goes between my feet...!!"

After his four large bags had been strapped into place, out came the cargo net, under which other miscellaneous packets and bags were stuffed…

"And Bob's your Auntie, I'm all packed...!!"

Apart from “Shag my Big Black Dog…!!”, I was speechless…

“I’m not sure I want to be seen anywhere near you, loaded like that…!!” I eventually managed to say…

I turned to the Big Fella behind me and said, “See how good to you I am…!! Not another word from you about “overloading”…!!”

"Have I got everything...??".... "No Willi, ..you forgot the TV...!!"

His clothes were soaking wet as he gingerly worked his right leg through the pile of stuff strapped between his seat and the steering column… He swung the bike around, commenting that it felt a little light in the front…

“Really…?? I’m surprised you’re not sitting on your backside with the front wheel up in the air…!!”

With a quick wave, he wobbled out of the parking lot and disappeared from view… I waited there for a while, listening for an almighty bang that would signify he had either fallen off or been hit by a passing car…

"See you in Sukhothai tomorrow night.... Don't be late...!!"

That afternoon, I went looking for a car-wash to give the Big Fella a little treat… It had been a long time since last he had a proper bath, and with all the attention he was getting here in Thailand, the state he was in was getting to be a little embarrassing…

It had been a long time since the Big Fella received a proper bath...!! He loved it...!!

What more can I say that this doesn't cover...??

"Yeah...!! And don't forget my rims...!! I want to be nice and shiny again...!!"

And a 1000 more for "gud spelink"...

Back at the hotel, I sat going over the route that Willi and I had agreed upon… I wondered how far he would have got today… We had decided to avoid the heavy traffic around Bangkok, by taking a wide detour out to the east, and then cutting back to rejoin Highway 1 at Sing Buri…

At 7.00pm I received a call from Willi, and when I asked him how far he’d got, he began by clearing his throat… Not a good sign…!!

“Well you see, I took a few wrong turnings and it was very hot out there today… I didn’t quite get to Sing Buri… I’m a little south of Sara Buri…” his voice tailed off…

“How far south…?” I asked, running my finger backwards on the map and letting out a deep sigh…

“Well actually quite a bit far south….and east…!! I’m in Nakhon Nayok… Took me five hours to get here…!!”

“I see…” I replied…. “So it took you five hours to do 180 km…!! Good going, Willi…!! At that rate we will be in Laos sometime in June…!!”

I went out into the street to find somewhere to eat and settled on a dingy little place under corrugated iron sheeting… The walls were made of discarded packing material and broken pallets… Bits of plastic had been taped across the larger gaps between the planks… The Ritz, it was not…!!

I eyed the Russian menu skeptically… The Thai waiter came bustling up, chattering away in what might have been his own language or a bastardized version of Russian for all I knew…!!

“English menu…??” I asked hopefully…

“Solly… No Ingrish…!!”

“Mmmm… Not as solly as I might be tomorrow, brother…!!”

"You want me to try the what...?? No thanks my friend...!! Bring me real food.... Something with noodles in it....!!"

While I waited to be served, this dog came over to see if my shoe was edible... "Stick around Buddy... You may be having a plateful of whatever this guy is bringing me...!!"

The plate of noodles and mixed veggies that was placed in front of me a few minutes later was actually very tasty, and my canine friend left shortly after I started eating, realizing that my shoe was going to be the only thing he would be sinking his teeth into tonight…

"Ah... That's more like it...!!! Don't be offering me any of that creepy crawly stuff again....!!"

I lay awake for ages later that night, wondering how I was going to cope with Willi if he took five hours to cover just 180 kms… That was like riding in Nepal, but here, the roads were in superb condition…!!

I needed to cover over 1000 km in the next two days, and I fretted about whether or not Willi could keep up… It was beneficial riding with him because he had already covered the ground I was planning to a few months ago… He knew all the places I wanted to see, where the best and cheapest hotels were etc…

I finally fell asleep, deciding not to worry about it until I caught up to him tomorrow…

©GBWT 2011