And this little adventure has come to an end, but it represents only a part of the project I have in mind: connecting Australia to Italy without using any motorized vehicle. Now more than ever, I am convinced of the goal. When I left Australia, I thought of this journey only as a test to see if I would enjoy traveling by bicycle, and I must say it is not bad at all. Of course, it has its downsides: it is tiring, painful, and sometimes you spend entire days in areas without anything “interesting” to see. But it is precisely there that you discover the originality of a country. The kindest and most authentic people, in fact, I have always met far from tourist destinations. But let's recap what happened to me in Thailand… I entered the country without the slightest idea of where to go or in which direction to move. So I wrote in a WhatsApp group of cyclists traveling around the world, and Federico, an Italian guy traveling on a tandem with his wife Baska, a Mongolian girl, replied. We arranged to meet in Surat Thani, a city 330 km from where I was. It was many kilometers, especially since in the previous two days I had already done 180 and I would have liked to rest. But at the mere thought of having a beer in company and meeting other bicycle travelers (the first since the start of the journey), I started pedaling at full speed, and in two days I reached them. After the beer and a long exchange of experiences, we decided together on the next stage: Chumphon, about 200 km away. No rest for me, then, but traveling with them I wouldn’t push myself as hard as I do when alone, so it was still a bit like relaxing. It took us three days to arrive, sleeping two nights in Buddhist temples: it was my first time, but they turned out to be an excellent accommodation, free, with bathrooms and fans. You couldn’t ask for more. As the days went by, I got to know Federico and Baska better. For them too, this is only a test: their goal, in 2026, is to pedal from Rome to Mongolia, traveling very cheaply and trying to do charity along the way. A truly admirable project, even though full of difficulties. In Chumphon, we parted ways: they had little time and took the train to Bangkok, while I put my bike on a night ferry bound for Koh Tao. Who knows, maybe next year we’ll meet again somewhere else in the world. On the ferry, I met an American couple in their fifties, also traveling by bike for almost two years. They told me that once the adventure is over, they will buy a house in Trentino because they fell in love with it. This struck me a lot: if two people who have traveled all over the world chose Trentino, it really must be one of the most beautiful places. After a night of sailing (the bikes even loaded with a crane), I arrived in Koh Tao.

The island is magnificent from a natural point of view, with crystal-clear water. But there is a problem that bothered me: too many tourists. It was even difficult to meet local people. The facilities were almost all designed for foreigners: on just one street I counted four Italian pizzerias, a German bakery, and two French cafés. Although August was low season, Europeans were everywhere. It didn’t even feel like being in Thailand. So, after just two days, I took the ferry again and returned to Chumphon, getting back on the bike toward Bangkok, 450 km away. The ride was quite easy, although along the way I broke a spoke on the rear wheel. Not having spare parts (I was convinced it was impossible to break one), I had to find a mechanic to fix my bike. Once the problem was solved, in two days I reached Bangkok, where I decided to do a full maintenance: cassette, chainrings, chain, and bottom bracket. All new. Now I have a bike ready to head straight toward Italy in 2026. The journey was supposed to end here, but I still had a lot of time before the return flight. So, instead of taking a train to the north, I decided to pedal another 700 km to Chiang Mai. This stretch was not particularly interesting. Between Bangkok and Chiang Mai there is not much to see: the only real exception is Ayutthaya, the ancient capital of Siam (from the 14th to the 18th century), a kingdom that later gave rise to present-day Thailand. After Ayutthaya, the landscape reduces to small villages full of extraordinary people and endless rice fields. The days were scorching, one in particular with 42°C. I was cycling under the sun when a motorbike started honking: a Thai man gestured for me to stop and offered me a bottle of cold water and a Coke, which he had gone to buy just for me. In that scorching heat, a gesture like that is priceless. Along the way I had three flat tires, but by then nothing could stop me: in the end, I arrived in Chiang Mai, after about 4,000 km from Australia. Here I left the bike at the home of Brian, an Englishman I met through Warm Showers, an app for traveling cyclists. Northern Thailand is beautiful. I rented a Honda CRF300 to explore it better: mountains, endless rice fields, unique temples I had dreamed of seeing since leaving Australia. With the bike, I also reached the Golden Triangle, the point where the borders of Thailand, Myanmar, and Laos meet. Looking at Laos from there, I imagined myself next year again on the bike heading in that direction. Now I am back in Bangkok: on October 9 I have my return flight to Italy, where I will start planning the second part of this journey. Who knows how it will end…