Entering the Kingdom

Good evening to you from a desk in the southern tip of the Kingdom of Thailand. We made it, many hours later.

I don’t exactly know what I want to write about here. It has been a rollercoaster day, right from minute zero.

Our pre-booked DiDi driver was asleep in her car when we showed up, then proceeded to swerve all over the road at 10km/hr for about five minutes, before then yelling out to about six random people on the sidewalk and performing about six U-turns in this random area; we realised eventually—for the purpose of finding an EV charger. I don’t know how she expected to drive us to the airport in time with a dead car, nor how she expected us to just patiently wait in the back whilst it slowly powered up and meanwhile, our fare meter was running.

Anyway, some madness and mistranslation ensued. We ditched the ride. Found another one. Got chased by the original lady. But turns out she only wanted to send our money back. Which we couldn’t accept without Chinese contact details. We also realised that she was being incredibly nice so that we didn’t ask for a refund via DiDi and hence, jeopardise her reputation. Regardless, we made it to the airport for our wonderful 3:25am flight. It ended up being delayed by an hour after all that.

It feels odd to now be three hours behind Australian time. I lose more and more touch by the day, sadly. Right now, I’m not even living in the same day as everyone back home. It’ll take some adjusting to.

Reasonable snippets of sleep have been enjoyed throughout the day. First before the flight. Then onboard. Again, in the van from Penang to Betong. Finally, in the wonderfully comfortable bed that graciously awaited us this afternoon. Nevertheless, not the ideal preparation two days out from an ultramarathon. Looking forward to a great rest tonight.

Betong seems cool. Live music is being played right underneath our window. Just in a random restaurant. The energy is really positive. Sure, this event coming to town brings a buzz, I’m sure, and increased external interest, but I also think that Thailand is often this colourful. We shall see.

Also, it is damn hot. Expected, and certainly noted. The twelve bottles of water we purchased earlier have nearly all disappeared.

I don’t know all that much about Thailand honestly either. It is a monarchy. I hadn’t really clocked that in the past. Apparently there is actually quite a bit of unrest in these southernmost provinces. In Betong, ethnic Thai Chinese and Malay Muslims both outnumber native Buddhist Thais. Similar trends are present throughout the region. The Cambodian land border also closed recently, I’ve learned. Plenty to learn!

Now that the difficulty of getting here is done, the hardest part begins—this actual race. Feels a little surreal to be honest. We’re still finding our feet and looking forward to the beach, but being here for an event brings a lot of energy that I think we’d otherwise be lacking. I’m optimistic.