After buying my new motorised touring machine, a used Daelim B-Bone 125cc, decided to test the bike’s endurance for long ride. It was my epic motorbike trip after more than 15 years and a priceless experience, co-incided with my 29th wedding anniversary that falls on 3 October. It will be my wife first long ride too after getting the bike this year. As this will be my first ever motorbike trip to Thailand, I tagged along Bro Acid Mustaffa and his touring kakis.
Day 1 – 30 September 2016
Singapore to Ipoh, Perak, taking the North South Highway covering 545 km.
Day 2 – 1 October 2016
Ipoh, Perak to Betong, Yala, Thailand. Stopover the little town of Pekan Gerik for lunch before continuing our ride to the Land of Smiles, Thailand via Pengkalan Hulu/Betong Custom Checkpoint. Met Bro Acid Mustaffa and gangs. Thailand vehicle insurance was purchased in Betong at RM45. Retired at Betong Garden View Hotel. Total distance covered 185 km. I was introduced to all the riders in this trip.
Day 3 – 2 October 2016
The Nano Clouds of Betong, Thailand.
Situated about 35km north of Betong on road towards Yala, there was a site of attraction, the nano clouds (Awan Nano). How the word nano originated from was unknown, but it has become a favorite word used by bikers to describe the soft cotton clouds formation between hills and valleys. Since it was about 30km from Betong, and a detour into the hills on rural road, one needs to leave very early, and that was what we did, leaving our hotel at 4.30am. Unfortunately today’s cloud formation wasn’t so good, and we saw only few scattered clouds. And being a Sunday, we were surprised to see a big crowd when we arrived at the site. We returned back to the hotel.
Betong – Yala – Songkhla. A bit of detour covering small roads as it added some adventures and more discovery on a typical ride. We started off in a group of 6 bikers, but after Yala, the group got seperated at one of the junctions, with us taking a detour of the rural coastal roads. It was an exciting ride, discovering fishing villages and gotten caught by a bit of rain. Anyway rains always provide us excuse, for a stop and some coffee. We retired at Bro. Phongchai’s Mansion, a touring friend of Bro Acid, who owned a motorcycle servicing shop and 2 buildings.
Day 4 – 3 October 2016
Songkhla to Pa Pa Yum, Phatthalung. Since today’s ride was just slightly over 200km we decided to leave a bit later than usual. We also did a short tour of Songkhla, taking regular shots of what Songkhla has to offer. We also took a longer route, via a ferry and onto Thailand’s longest bridge, Tinsulanonda that cut acrossed Thale sap (Songkhla Lake).
Our destination was relatively a new attraction in South Thailand where kayakings were the main attraction. Situated at the border between the province of Nakhon Si Thammarat and Phatthalung, it’s a water associated resort area simply known as Longkang Pa Payom. Our resort was just next to Nam Sai River.
Day 5 – 4 October 2016
Pa Payom to Krabi. A stopover before continuing our journey to Koh Lanta. We took rural road Routes 4270, 4165, 4096, 2036, 4151, 4038 and finally Route 4 to Krabi. We retired at Chanchalay Hip Hostel@Krabi. We did a short tour of Krabi Town.
Day 6 – 5 October 2016
It was a short ride not more than 100km from Krabi to Koh Lanta. We retired at Lanta Marina Resort by the beach at a slashed down rate to 400 baht from 500 baht. Every bungalow have a hammock too.
As we didnt have time for a full island tour, instead we rode south west till the end of the island. There is a national park at the end of the road, admission was 200 baht for foreigner plus another 20 baht for motorcycle. We did not enter. This road passes through some dense forest and high vantage points though initially we had to pass through congested areas of resorts and hotels. Good for photography opportunities along the way.
Day 7 – 6 October 2016 – Koh Lanta to Satun.
It was a long ride with a couple of detours that took us the whole day. The first one was a detour into Pak Meng via Sikao. We then went into Rajamangala University to see the iconic lighthouse and later had picnic style lunch on the beach at Pak Meng Beach. After Pak Meng, we took another shortcut, bypassing Trang by taking a ferry across the Kantang River. Then it was all the way south till Satun, to check into luxury room, Chanatip Resort. We reached our destination at 5pm.
Day 8 – 7 October 2016
Satun to Taiping, Perak, Malaysia. Check into Panorama Hotel Taiping.
Day 9 – 8 October 2016
Taiping, Perak to Johor. Alhamdulillah… What a long ride… And needs a good rest…. Decided to stay a night here before ending our Anniversary Ride.. Allah is the Best of Planner! Kazi Hotel, Johor Bahru.
Day 10 – 9 October 2016
Home Run. Thank your Bro Acid Mustafa for organizing the trip and enduring all the shortcomings from both of us with a small 125 cc scooter. Most of the photo shots courteasy of Bro. Acid Mustaffa.
It was a dream comes true that we never expected to happen the same year we bought the motorised machine for our tour. It was an experience and the rest was history!
ps. Most of the pictures were from the library of Bro. Acid Mustafa.
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