Krabi - Subang Jaya, 28 Oct 2012

Hai! Did you missed me? I was sick, hence my delay in finishing the final part of my biking trip with Rocker57 & his biker friends namely Alex, Sam, Ryan & Ah Yat.  To know more, go to the following blogs :

a )  Krabi, Thailand 27 Oct 2012
b)   Hatyai - Krabi 26 Oct 2012
c)   Hatyai 25 Oct 2012
 
I guess I caught the 'bike-lag'...get it? If you fly, you get jet-lag, when you ride...you obviously get bike-lag!!! DUH. I guess the dehydration caught up with me, I had fever, chills and body-aches for 2 days....haiz, 4 days after my return from Krabi.

                      Credits : Sam for photo. From Left : Rocker57, blogger, Ah Yat & Alex. Day we arrived at Ao Nang Sunset Hotel

Credits : Sam for photo. Pit stop en-route to Krabi the day before

Credits : Sam for photo.

Thanks Sam, for these pictures & more later on. These pictures were taken enroute to Krabi but only appearing now as I had posted too many pictures prior to this. This is what I call team spirits ~ "have bikes will travel, have camera will shoot".

Blogger & Rocker57. Photographer : Sam

Ao Nang Sunset Hotel

On the morning of 28 Oct at 7.30am Malaysian time, we rode off from Ao Nang Sunset Hotel via Phatthalung highway, this time bypassing Trang for Dan Nok/Bukit Kayu Hitam border. Before we checked out, I had to take this curious sticker in our bathroom :

I can understand sanitary pads but toilet paper? Seriously?!?!? Ewww....

Anyways, back to our riding trip.... We stopped at about 10.30am for breakfast along the way after refueling. What Malaysian chinese would call 'chap fun' or economy rice. The name of the small quaint town somehow slipped my mind....age is catching up on me pretty fast....hmmm..  "Rocker57, we need to ride more before my memory totally collapse!!!"

Photo credits : Sam. Alex & Ah Yat resting before the long ride home.

Clean & tasty food.

After a short & much needed break, we rode straight towards the border arriving slightly past noon after riding some 345km since 7.30am!! The border of Dan Nok/Bukit Kayu Hitam was our 3rd stop for the day. There was already a holiday crowd at the border, so we took a break for drinks before proceeding. Noticed anything different on the 100 Plus can? Incidentally, although we were still in Dan Nok, Thailand, we were asked to pay in Ringgit Malaysia! Hmmmm.....

Yesterday's price, today 28Oct...RON95 was 37.56

Leaving Thailand was a brisk. Before I leave Thailand, here are some pointers when riding or driving in the routes we went through :
1)  Fuel price fluctuates daily and differs from station to station. So, pump full in Malaysia before entering Thailand i.e. if you are travelling via Malaysia :)   
2)  Also, be fore-warn, NOT all station has RON95! 
3)  Not all petrol kiosks has washroom facilities! 
4)  Limited or practically no milestones to indicate how far you have travelled or need to travel.
5)  Limited signages unless in bigger towns. Most signages in Thai!
6)  No R & R (Rest & Relax) stations like those found along Malaysian PLUS highway.
7)  Insurance covers only the Thais, not your life or your bike/car.  

A positive point is the entire ride was FREE!!!! NO TOLLS! YAAAAAY!!! Kudos to the Thai government for not adding burden to their citizens. Road conditions were splendid! Of course, the only set back is sometimes, the highway is intermittently mixed with trunk roads. Most of it is two tracks while the trunk roads are one track. Consolation is trunk roads are wide with ample space to overtake trucks or slow & heavy moving vehicles.

Pleasant ride indeed, I like the countryside, akin to Malaysia's countryside. Only difference is that each house has a marble table and chairs at their verandah! Almost 90% of the houses has them!! Guess, sitting outside sipping tea/coffee is a simple pastime for simple village folks, something city dwellers have to drive to Starbucks or Coffeebeans or Oldtown Kopitiam to enjoy theirs...price to pay for progress & development.

After refueling full tank at Bukit Kayu Hitam, next agreed stop for refueling was Juru R&R about 142km away. We arrived at Juru R&R for late lunch break & refueling. Everyone was pleased that the ride was great & weather was fabulous. Next agreed stop was Tapah R&R, 186km on PLUS highway. In high spirits, we rode on... reminiscing about our days in Hatyai & Krabi.

What normally takes 2 hours by car took us some 4+ hours!! Of course, I am not at liberty to share our normal arrival time, lest I get hauled to the police station for speeding....hehehehe.... But THIS by far was the MOST agonizing & excruciating ride of my life!!! Non stop for 4+hours, averaging 40-60kph and having to weaved through tens and thousands of cars!!! Endless and rows after rows of cars!!! It being a 3 day public holiday weekend, understandably people need to go home to start work the next day. It seemed to me like half the Malaysians were on the road that day! By the time we reached Tapah R&R, from waist down, I couldn't feel a thing! SERIOUS! I told Alex and Sam I will need at least a week to tenderise my 'muscled' butts!! The pain was horrendous!
But for Sam's camera...we put up a brave front :

Credits : Sam. You saw the smiles but you can't feel the pain....OUCH!

Although it was another 150km left in our journey, Rocker57, Alex & Ah Yat decided to stop at Tanjung Malim for dinner & some rest before continuing. Sam decided otherwise and rode straight home. Nope, have not forgotten about Ryan! He detoured through Taiping trunk road earlier on...wonder if he was caught in similar situation???? Hmmmm....

We had an hour's break before ending our journey at 10.30pm. All in all, we were on the road for 15hours travelling 800 over kilometers!!! CRAZY? Yes, definitely!!! If not for the traffic jam, the entire trip was great as the weather was conducive, road were excellent and the company was great. Ahhh..a small flaw for a memorable riding trip to Krabi.

In case, you think I had forgotten...well, the trays of small cloves of garlic commonly found in Hatyai & Krabi's eateries are meant to be eaten raw or to complement with the chili sauce. Well, now you know!

Here's the 'still tenderizing butt' blogger signing off and saying "Ride On, Ride Safe"