Pushing On – Chumphon to Cha-am to Lopburi

I had a rest day in Cha-am which was productive as well. Initially I thought that I would have to service the bike at a random workshop since google did not ping up any GPX center. The random one I picked “Kawasaki Motoaholic Hua Hin” turn out to be a GPX authorize service center so all was good. I had to do a run back to the hotel room to bring the service book but that was alright and the bike was oil change nicely at 5000km.

GPX Service Center at Hua Hin 

At the service center I gave a call to mom and she was still emotional and look no better than the day before. But by evening she was more calm .... going though the acceptance phase that the money is not an issue was key in my opinion.

Since I was very near Hua Hin already, I headed to the Market Village shopping center which was a regular stop for me previously and got some lunch and bought a towel which is much needed since I left mine back in Hatyai. I still had plenty of time in hand so with mom in my mind I headed to the Lua Phuar Tat Temple in Hua Hin. Nothing much really, drop a prayer and walk around and deciding thats the end of the rest day, I headed back to Cha-am to rest.

Lua Phuar Tat Temple - Hua Hin 

Lua Phuar Tat Riding a Three Headed Elephant - Hua Hin 

Along the way back, I saw a monk upfront waving his hand to the cars but none stopped. I decided to stop, thinking of giving him a ride to as far as Cha-Am. He ended up asking for water ... but I had no water on me. I offered a ride but he refused .... and he kept saying he has no money to buy water. I open my wallet to gave him 200 baht but he said it was not enaugh. 

A frown came and went very fast on my head but I decided what harm can he do. He asked for 500 baht ... and at this point I was more smiling than angry. It may be a scam, it may be a phony, it may be genuine, it may be a joke .... but I respect the game when I have been hooked. I was probably vulnarable too due to mom’s condition so without much thought I gave him the 500 baht, bade him good journey and left him on his own.

Next day it was the long ride to Lopburi. Skirting close to greater Bangkok took a lot out of my endurance riding. It was not even 400km for the journey but it took me nearly 9 hours. At lopburi and this is a first for this trip as I did not have a hotel booked in advance, I stopped at the first marker previously research on my map. Get Inn ... 350 baht a night. Decent and clean ... but only after I had bath ,,, eat ... and got time to wind down ... that the place feels odd.

Private One Bed Bungolo - Get Inn Lopburi 

Using google lens I translated some notice sticking inside the room ... so its was 200 baht for 3 hours or 350 baht for overnight. The room had a very very hard bed and the bedsheets were very old and rough but still clean ... pillow was crap and they had a huge ass "wall to wall" mirror. I think this is a special motel. 

Next morning I saw some people driving in ... a couple ... yep definately a special motel. What I could not understand thou was why here, coz I was not exzactly in Lopburi downtown ... I was in the middle of nowhere an outskirt .. just a junction with barely anything ... oh well.

Onwards North to Khao Kho .... 

Traveled on: May 2023

Morning Call, Mom Had a Stroke

Early morning in Chumphon, I got a wake up call from brother informing me that Mom got a stroke and he was on the way to the hospital with her.

I hung around till late morning, not starting any journey to get more info on Mom. Bro eventually gave me a video call and seeing that mom was able to walk albiet a bit weak gave some confidence that its not a major stroke. I started the journey to Cha-am. 300Km ride and every stop I made, I ping up Bro for another update. Mom seams to had a mile stroke so in a way it was very fortunate. I am more worried for the follow up after the stroke for knowing mom, not being well does not bore well with her mentally and no idea how this will affect her since its a hard for her being out of control.

Mom was admitted to the hospital and Docs were positive as the stroke was caught on early but warn us of ongoing degration before getting better. MRI is schedule for tomorrow morning and with that there is nothing much I can do being so far away. I dont even know what I could do if I was in SG to be honest.

I hope all goes well .... but multiple scenario running in my head is not something I would put anyone through it. Right now mom’s in the best place she could be and all we could do was hope for the better. I was midway now very close to Bangkok, there was a few options at this point really. Cancel the test run to China and head back .... push on and continue the trip leaving everything to Bro to handle, head in to Bangkok and chuck the bike and fly back to help stabalized if required ... or a second choice of flying from Chaing Mai back if I am needed slightly later. Scenario after scenario .... but the one thing that was obvious, there was nothing I could do at present.

The next few days, frequent calls to mom shows her getting better. By the time I reached Lopburi, mom had recovered enaugh to look me with all seriusness telling me to continue on with the journey no matter what. Bro told me that mom will be stuck in the hospital care anyway for a month that no help was needed and that was the best place to get the rehab done with full care.

Onwards it is to China, but the plans after China would definately be changed undoubtly. Throughout the journey I kept on calling mom, and by the time I was in China, the daily call became something to look forward to where stories and sights are shown through a video call, sharing my excitement and journey a little more directly to mom. Hopefully transfering the positive exceitement of adventure too for a little smile.

Fast forward a month later after finishing the ride in China and I’m back in SG. Its a long recovery journey for stroke patients and in a way it is lucky that I had all the time in the world with no commitments now. Travel plans will have to change and put on hold but then again I had no plans to begin with this year other than the test run to China. Initial plan was to just chill and burn time till the right season comes in 2024 so with this new situation with mom it worked out for the best.

Two weeks later after I arrived SG we finally discharged mom from the hospital and transfer her back to my place in JB. Chilling at my place while I imagine myself doing full masterchef cooking everyday while shuttling mom to rehab every other day is not too bad a way to burn time after all.

Traveled on Jun 2023