Attribution: Phuket News
Keep pedalling: Nattaree and Paul Hamon
A newly married couple are spending their honeymoon in a rather unconventional way — cycling 9,000 kilometres on a tandem bike around Thailand.
Thai national Nattaree and her Australian husband Paul Hamon arrived in Phuket on Friday morning (June 15) on their two-person bike, a Hase Pino, after starting out from Surat Thani on May 29.
The couple live in Bangkok and their trip is expected to end around November, after they visit every province in the country. They will cycle around 100 kilometres every day.
“We just wanted to do something different for our honeymoon, and also wanted to promote green tourism and cycling,” said Mrs Hamon, who works as a tour guide.
The Hase bike is perfect for the couple, she says, because they used to have difficulty staying together on two separate bikes.
“This bike makes us share our strength and we can interact more. It’s not like two separate bikes, where you are often separated because he is riding far ahead of you,” said Mrs Hamon. The trip has given the couple more understanding and knowledge about Thailand. For example, they found the three southernmost provinces did not appear to be as dangerous as reported in the media. Unlike being in a car, cycling means you can smell the local smells and get a real sense of each place, they said.
“You can interact with people,” said Mr Hamon. “The best part of the trip is meeting people.”
The Director of Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) Phuket office, Bangornrat Shinaprayoon, said the bicycle touring market in Thailand is continuing to expand, and she encouraged it.
It is not the couple’s first visit to Phuket; three years ago they cycled from Chiang Mai to Phuket.
Follow the Hamons’ cycling honeymoon trip at everyprovincechallenge.com.