2002-01-31

Exploring the valley

I finally have a proper motorcycle to get around. It's a Yamaha TTR-250 that was imported illegally from Japan. Almost all bikes bigger than 125cc are smuggled. The usual method is to disassemble them into parts and declare them to be "spare parts" or "scrap metal." Each of the major parts on the bike has a hand-written label which suggests that this bike was given the usual treatment.

My bike has no license plate and is unregistered. What if the police stop me? The bike shop owner assures me that it won't be a problem as long as I stay out of Bangkok. I look around and notice many other bikes are going without plates too. The cost to register a bike and make it legal would frequently be more expensive than the bike itself so few people even bother.

Botter and Toi hop on their scooter (also unregistered) and I follow behind on a tour through the valley.

They call this an "iron buffalo."

Botter and Toi at a park featuring a waterfall.

Plastic bags on sticks make effective scarecrows.

The valley is a fertile garden of beauty.