Cycling in Thailand
I was about to start exercising in the gym from work, the semester had just finished. My mind was relaxing, then one of my
colleagues Dave, came up to me and asked what was I doing in the semester
break. “Nothing really, preparing for the next semester" I said. Dave said he was off to Thailand to do a
600km bike ride, “Do you want to come?”.
Why not! So I tried hard to ride the exercise bike for the next 30
minutes and went home to ask Leanne, if it would be OK to head to Thailand in 7
days to go on a short ride. Obviously she must have said yes or I wouldn't be writing this blog now.
Dave organised a bike hire for us in Thailand. So with no
real training, apart from riding an exercise bike for 30 minutes three times
per week for a few months, and with 6
days preparation, we headed off to Thailand.
The trip ahead....
Day 1.
Flight Ho Chi Minh City to Bangkok. Found out in the flight, that we should catch
a mini-bus not the train to Hua Hin. So
off to the victory monument and found the mini-bus stop and after spending a
huge $6 for the three hour journey we were off.
Arrived in Hua Hin around 4pm , found the Velo Bike shop and confirmed we
would be there in the morning to pick up the bike.
Dave on the first day out...
Day 2
The ride commences. With some excitement got out of bed.
Finished a Mango and sticky rice from the night before...... my belly felt great, and I
was a little excited. The prospect of the 600 km ride in 7 days was a mixture
of excitement and what the hell are you thinking! One thing we underestimated, unfortunately, was the wet
season. October is the low tourist season, with so much rain I can understand
why. We had a late breakfast, waiting for it to
stop raining, well it didn’t. So at 10:40am we decided to man up and head
out. After almost 80 km, we called it
quits for the day. Managed to get to a
small place near Bo Nok, Thailand, and found a room at the Pink Resort. Room
cost 700 Baht ($23) Only us two and the
caretaker, no food, nothing there. At least we could dry out after being rained
on all day.
Room for the night....
The resort was right on the beach.
AND.....Water...water....everywhere...
The Rain first day and the last day, was just like this...
Day 3.
Off we started around 8am, and with no breakfast, it was a good incentive to find something somewhere quickly. We called in at a roadside stop. They had local food, and was told everything was very spicy, decided not to try, as Dave and spice don’t go together. Prachup Khiri Khan, was the next major town, only about 20 km to down the road. So off we headed, we spotted a breakfast place, nice bacon and eggs, a bit of a surprise in rural Thailand with 2 Latte’s, why not. It was raining when we arrived in Khiri Khan and continued for the next two hours. I managed to get a Sim Card for my Iphone and get it working.
Latte's and free wifi....of course.
Headed out after breakfast, stopped for some amazing Pad Thai for lunch and continued riding in the rain ....again. We decided to stop for the night at a beach resort in Thap Sakae
district, it cost 800 Baht (around $26) for the night. I managed to get the standard room – no hot water but Dave was luckier and got the deluxe with hot water. Fantastic food,
Tom Yum and Green curry for me, very spicy, Dave tried to get his favourite
Sweet and Sour Chicken. He was successful but with about 400kg of chilli. You remember me mentioning earlier, Dave and spice don’t mix? I
went home content, Dave hungry. We managed to down one bottle of Singha beer,
felt drunk straight away, I think from the ride...a combination of tireness and empty bellies.
My Tom Yum and Green Curry.
Day 4
Feeling tired, hadn’t slept well the last two nights, my pre-conditioning really wasn't that great for the ride.
The sun was out today for a change. We only managed to ride 70km, and by 3pm, we
decided to call it a day. A quick change then off we went for a swim in the sea. So
relaxing, we cooled right down. Managed to get a thai massage before dinner.
Had a nice thai meal, Dave with sweet
and sour once again. Coffee by the beach and then
bed. Felt great, and only 800 baht for a
fantastic room.
As we were riding along we saw this enormous Buddha in the middle of nowhere....
and NEVER mess with the cooks....great Pad Thai for lunch from these ladies.
Day 5
Fantastic sleep. Rode to Saphli, found Saphli Beach Resort, around 70km. The
best hotel of the trip. Cost 1000
baht. The owner was a 32 year old Thai lady who owned the resort with her French boyfriend. they were very friendly, the owners mum is a Thai traditional medicine doctor and she proceeded to give us a small
massage, while we had a fresh coconut.
The owner went into the town to buy fresh seafood for dinner. Great food and so nice and
fresh. We felt great that night, and wished
we had enough time to stay another day. The beach was amazing , food was great. We decided we didn’t have enough
time to get to Krabi, our initial planned finishing spot. We were exhausted with the temperature over
34 degrees. Two days of only 70km had put us too far behind. Time to remember
we are doing this for fun, not a world record. New end point now we decided would be Surat Thani.
Saphli Beach Resort
Day 6.
Rode 75km to Pak Tako. Flat tyre on the way but I was so lucky! Here we were in the middle of nowhere and on the highway
right in the front of us was of a bike repair business! 10 minutes and we were on our
way. Feeling better, only a sore bum.
Surat Thani is only 150km away, and then a bus to Phuket. We stayed at another beach resort that night.
Enjoyed a swim after the ride. Only one other guest, the place was deserted. No
food available once again as it was off season. The resort next door advertised a bar and karaoke but when we went in .....sorry
no food or beer. Yes a pub with no beer! Luckily we found a little restaurant down the
road. Had an early dinner, and were back in our rooms by 6pm. Nothing to do, I
didn’t bring a book as I didn’t want to worry about too much weight, regretted it at this point, very boring night.
Day 7
Time to ride and find breakfast and water. We found a small coffee shop, they mentioned
something egg or fried rice. Ordered the
egg, which was an egg dropped into boiling water. Decided that fried rice might be better. It
started raining for a while. It cleared
up though before it got too bad on the road. Rode through a quaint fishing village, very different
for us, as well as the locals, I don’t think they have many foreign guests. Dave had a flat this time after 25km, the
third one of the trip. Some local drove him to a bike shop, repaired the tyre and brought him back.....off we went. We have had so much support on the trip, if we breakdown there are
plenty of people willing to help us out. Rode for 85km today, made it to Tha Chana. Hotel was only 360 baht ($12).
Interesting rural town, it looks like it has money, there are plenty of support
businesses around. Met an Italian guy,
an expert in carnivorous plants, he was going up the mountain the next day to
investigate the local species. He is much better with plants than with people. Planned to leave in the morning at 8 for the
push and last 80km to Surat Thani.
Lunch on the road
Day 8
The last day. Up and
on the bikes at 8am. The trip is either
60 or 80km long, couldn't seem to get an accurate calculation on google maps. Like the first few days, it was raining,
better than being hot. After lunch it
started to pour and for the first time we had to seek shelter. It was raining so hard, that we couldn’t
see. After waiting for almost an hour,
back on the bike and another 30km to Surat Thani. Managed to arrive without incident. Looked
for the bus station in Phunphin that would take us to Phuket in the
morning. Found a room at the Queen
Hotel for the night, basic but OK. Found the best ever
street food that night, very close to the hotel. Try it out if you are ever in
Phunphin. Thai massage tonight, so very
hard, but so good after a week in the saddle.
Good pain was how the masseuse explained it to me?
Took the bus to Phuket with our bikes...
Phuket relaxation, a picture from the balcony of our friend James place. He had hired a villa for a week so we got to overnight there...
So after a little over 550km we were at the end. Maybe 5
kilograms lighter. Feeling great, a good
sense of accomplishment. Thanks Dave for
the idea. Don’t know if I would do a 7 day trip again. Then again, only 2 weeks before I wouldn't have thought I would do a 550km trip. Life takes you places. Enjoy life and where it takes you. Phil
