Merdeka Ride to Thailand
28 - 31 Aug 2008
We set off
through the main street of Sadao trying to follow the only rule of the
Thailand traffic that matters to motorcyclists: we, motorcyclists make way
to big vehicles. Still, I couldn't think of a better way to explore Thailand
than by bike; the flexibility and mobility offered by two wheels is
peerless. We even pleasantly found some Thai trucks drivers considerate
enough to signal us to make passes on the narrow roads.
Our group started nicely from SG Buloh R&R just before the crack of dawn, and soon we quickly found a common bond in riding together. This came in handy from the start, as we have a lot of mileage to cover one the first day. Our target was to cross the border by noon and we made it just after lunch. Here it became apparent why the itinerary was a little rigid as our target was to reach Krabi before dusk. Rashid and Mohan were unfortunate enough to be ticketed for speeding only at 137km/h by Penang Highway patrolmen while the rest of us were lucky to escape the speed trap though speeding way much faster.
We arrived Hadyai, an extremely popular town about 3 pm and made an immediate exit to Phatthalung via Route 403. Rain poured intermittently and we kept stopping to change into rain gears much to Chin' chargin as he was wearing full all-weather suits.
We
already rode about 600 km and fatigue was slowly creeping into our bodies.
Loovi was riding a newly registered naked ER6N with no wind shield and was
probably getting more riding fatigue than the rest of us as he had to battle
wind blasts throughout the ride. The next four days were split between
riding and the usual Bagsters misadventures. When I first called our group
Bikers Adventure Group, we wanted to explore and ride in an area of our
country or neighboring country that we hadn't yet explored. I told the err
.. boys that the idea of hurdling them onto bikes and then cruising to the
horizon sounded like the perfect adventure.
We promised to ourselves that we wound not ride at night as there are so many variables making riding in the dark in unknown territory a little risky. However, the on-off rain was playing a little havoc to our schedule.
By the time we checked into a Andaman Sunset Resort, a resort in Ao Nang some 17 km north of Krabi, it was already past 930pm. Here, 1000B gained us cosy bungalows-type accommodations. The resort’s main view looking the great Andaman Sea was simply breathtaking. Michel, a Swiss chap and old pal to the resort proprietor Stefan, helped us settled in. I sat on the reception’s lounge and peeled off my now crusty and smelly gear. We can use a nice hot long shower to wash off the day’s road dirt and whatever sprayed to our body by trucks and cars alike.
The resort was smacked along the main beach-town area and looking for food was easy. We broke into subgroups looking for diners of choice. Ivan, Mohan and Fadzil dined at Burger King while Phang, Chin with Anne and myself dined at a local Thai-continental fusion restaurant. Ivan-Mohan with his cousin, Loovi disappeared discreetly. Meanwhile, Rashid had a tough time looking for halal food as it was already quite late in the evening.
We huddled around our table in the restaurant and drank our heart out on local beer. . We had a sumptuous meal of local Thai fried rice which the went down smoothly with the local brewed beer
Before the ride, I made a pledge to eat as much local food as I could but I slumped to a minor flu symptom attack 2 days before the ride. My body felt like it was falling apart piece by piece which was literally pieced back by tons of paracetamol and vit c
The
local girlie bars were just a stone throw away from our resort. They were
practically devoured of the usual tourists and the GROs were trying their
very best to attract us to their bars. Maybe the ongoing protests and
blockages at airports did put a serious damper to the tourist arrivals.
We had a good time playing pool and table games and slurping Thai beers. Clean fun ..
Part of pushing all the way to Krabi in one day was to have the entire Friday to chill out and relax by the pool side or beach side. Well, some of us were eager to catch some glimpse of ang-moh-poh sun bathing in birthday suits or least in skimpy bikinis..
The
day started great with the sun blazing on us in full glory. We only planned
to assemble for lunch leaving those sneaking out for some late night fun the
night before to sleep in late. After all, we were on our bikes on-off for
almost 15 hours the day earlier.
We
had breakfast nearby as we were too lazy to ride out. Food was not that
great as they are more geared for Caucasians tourists’ mild taste buds. We
could not find any real local noodles stalls.
Saved
for IM and Loovi, we regrouped at the hotel shortly after noon. The heavy
riding the day before was the perfect excuse for some R&R at the local
massage joint. We all opted for 2 hours of ancient massage therapy. Funny,
we all felt tired and hungry after the session. Subsequently, it was a
logical to go hunting for food again.
We
found a nice Thai cafe overlooking the great Andaman sea. Thai green curry
tasted gratifying delicious. A supposedly light lunch ended very heavy as we
kept reordering food. There something satisfying about indulging Thai food
by the beach side. Maybe it was some view we could take our eyes off. It was
already past 4pm when we finished our lunch. Fad, Ivan and myself decided to
lounge out at the resort’s tiny pool while the rest decided to hit the road
to see the other side of Ao Nang.
As
the day passed, heavy clouds set in and threaten to break loose. The sky
finally opened up as we were getting ready for dinner. Again, we had to
settle for a walk able distance restaurant.
Sat am
As
it was an easy 300 odd km ride back to Hadyai for the night, we decided to
check out the local town. Krabi town is about 17 km south of Ao Nang or 15 min
casual ride away. We found a great tim-sum restaurant for breakfast. For the
1st time, we ate at a restaurant that served local food. Tim sum was
simply delicious and the 64 baskets we emptied proved the point.
Weather was always unpredictable with the local web sites offering little advise with forecasts ranging from bits of sunshine and scattered rain ..
Road signs were in multi
languages and were put up well before any junctions or exits making late
exits easy. Saved for a brief encounter with a group of local protesters
manning the airport entrance, we had a relatively smooth ride out of Krabi
town. We waved and cheered them on and thankfully, they did not stop our
convoy.
We
reached Phattalung about noon and we needed to stop to make a call to Alex,
our local hotel agent arranging our night stay in Hadyai, to reconfirm our
arrival. Hotels in Hadyai town were already fully booked by holiday makers
from Malaysia. A supposedly quick stop for phone call and drinks turned into
another eating frenzy with Phang ordered a plate full of roasted chicken and
fish balls. Local pineapples completed the unscheduled munching.
Alex came and guided us to a funny looking motel some 3 km away from Hadyai town.
As I entered the room, there were mirrors on the walls complementing the king-size bed . A toiletries basket with a complimentary condom proved my initial suspicion that the ‘hotel’ we were putting up for the night was a love-shack. Anyway, it was cheaper, quieter and most important away from the frantic mad-shoppers from Malaysia. We even get to park our bikes next to our rooms with a convenient water hose to wash our bikes. We could not asked for more for the 500-550B we paid for our rooms. However, Mohan was too claustrophobic to use the room's blanket fearing it might be too smeared with you-know-what.
We
got Alex to arrange a tut-tut, the local truck-based taxi, to shuttle us to
town for shopping and dinner. Hadyai main shopping area was filled to the
brim with Malaysian shoppers. It was like one big pasar-malam with something
for everyone. We had beef noodles for tea as it was a little too late to
call lunch.
Chin, Rashid and Fad opted for massage again at Sakura Hotel while Phang, Ivan with Anne and myself decided to check out the shops and road-side stalls. Meanwhile, Mohan, with Loovi and IM tagging along, was at a bike shop trying to get his bike’s Scoot-oiler bracket repaired. They got very lost while trying to get back to the love-shack motel. Fortunately, they managed to find Sakura hotel and Phang managed to negotiate a tut-tut to guide them back to the motel.
Meanwhile, Chin, Rashid and Fadzil joined us at the shopping center. I got mesmerized by the Levi’s salesgirl and ended buying a pair of jeans I could barely stuff into my already full-to-the-brim tiny Hepco-Becker pannier.
A
lot of walking, shopping and bargaining took toll on our bio-fuel cells and
we had two satisfying rounds of local suppers and a round of road side
Thai-style teh-tariks.
The
driver got very lost when he shuttled us back to the hotel. Apparently, it was
not a place tourists would stay for the night. The driver was visibly very
upset when he could find the motel despite repeated calls to the motel for
directions. We were more worried that he might give up and drop
us off at some roadside
Thankfully, we got back safely and we even had a nice round of beer at the motel to chill out our last remaining evening in Thailand
T
Sun am
Our
last day of the trip. Everyone was still cheerful and perky. Alex surprised
us by taking us to his tim-sum cum bak-kut-teh restaurant. Another 64 tim-sum
baskets and 4 bowls of bak-kut-teh and some halal take-away for Rashid and
Fadzil, we were ready to hit the road. We had about 550 odd km to cover to
our respective homes. Weather God was in a kind mood to grant us a rain-free
trip back to the border.
We reached border shortly before noon and there was already handful of people queuing at the border exit control. Thankfully, we had a fuss free exit. However, Rashid was stopped at the Malaysian border as his 1150GS was allegedly sporting an out-of-specification registration plate. Mohan stayed back to wait while Rashid continued to argue with the police constable manning the check point. We regrouped at Gurun rest area for lunch. Mohan, Rashid with IM and Loovi checked in last after the unnecessary hold-up by Royal Malaysian Police at Bukit Kayu Hitam check point. We had our final check in point at Tapah rest stop before break away to our respective homes.
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