Solo ride Singapore to Laos (Thailand section)

phuah

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Feb 7, 2003
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Hello All!! Sorry for the long overdue ride report.
The ride was done during the month of January just me and the bike from Singapore to Laos and back. The whole trip lasted 20 days, covered a distance of 7230km.
Have divided the ride report into 3 parts. First part is from Singapore to Thailand border. Second part is within Loas, which I will post at the Laos section. The third part is from Chiang Khan back to Singapore.

This is the first part of the ride report from Singapore to Khong Chiam.

Day 1, Singapore > Hatyai, distance covered 880.3km
Wake up at 4 am; plan to move off at 5am, so that can reached Hatyai in the afternoon.
But it was still raining when I woke up. So went back to bed again.

Rain finally stopped. Load up everything to the bike and move off, heading towards Second Link.

Move off at Gelang Patah at 8.40am after having a full top up. My meter was reading 94972.3km.

First top up at Ayer Keroh R & R at 10.40am.
Second top up was done at Tapah R & R at 1.30pm. Found the sole of my boots was hanging in the air due to my boots touches the road when I try to stretch my leg while riding. Bought super glue from the petrol kiosk and mend it on the spot.
Third top up was done at Gurun R & R at 4.30pm.

Stop at the last stretch of shop house before the custom to buy the third party insurance and the voucher for Daiichi hotel at RM$68. Price has gone up. Was RM$55 the last time I was there, but that was almost one year ago.

Check in to Daiichi hotel at 7pm. It was 6pm Thai time. Start to adjust my watch to one hour earlier.

After doing some laundry and shower, headed out for dinner.

Went to my usual vegetarian place for dinner, which is opposite central hotel. But it has change to a foot massage place. There are three vegetarian stalls around the place. Manage to find one that is further up the street. It is having more business that the last time I was there.

After dinner, walked around the few busy streets with the roadside stall, found it is not crowded as before.

Then went over to Oliver for my usual 2 hours of massage, and back to hotel for a nice sleep.

Day 2, Hatyai > Hua Hin, distance covered 768.8km
Moved off from Daiichi hotel at 10.35am.

Encountered bush fire on one stretch of the road. The smoke was so thick that totally cannot see the road ahead.

Riding at crawling speed following behind a van as I am using the van as my guide. When get into the section of the road that was covered by the thick smoke, found there is an accident in the section. When out of that area, found only around 50 meter of the road was affected.

While riding around Hua Hin town, saw a group of choppers at the roadside in front of a steak house and someone was waving at me. So stopped the bike, and chat with them. One of them named “Sky” offered to bring me to look for accommodation. Went to 2 places, which is quite nice, but fully booked.

Finally settle for a guesthouse in an alley with all the bars, called Sukwilai Guesthouse. Room rate was 800 baht, expensive for a guesthouse. But the place was cleaned and quite new. So it is still alright.

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After shower, I went to meet that group of bikers, and they bring me to a pub, which is also their clubhouse. They are having BBQ at that night. They called themselves Easy Rider. Mostly are expatriate, or farang that has settle down in Hua Hin.

As they tends to gather among themselves, after being left out for a while, leave the place, and went back to the guesthouse and take a stroll around the shopping area in front of Hilton hotel before went to bed.

Day 3, Hua Hin > Korat, distance covered 560.8km.
Moved off from Hua Hin at 9.45am.

Today, need to do a loop around Bangkok to avoid getting into Bangkok. Everything went smoothly until I reached Supha Buri at route 321. Based on the map that I have, route 321, which is coming from the west, will meet with route 340, which is running north south. And I have to cross route 340 to go to route 329.

But when I hit 340 from 321, I cannot see route 329 at the other side of the road.

While stopping on the roadside, checking through my map, one thai biker in a small bike stopped and offer help. This is the usual encountered that you will get when you stopped looking for direction. Thai showed how helpful are the Thai peoples.

After figuring out the road around the junction, I turned into 340, going north, make a U-turn and look for route 329 at the other side of 340, which is going south.

Managed to find 329 some distance south of the junction where 321 meet with 340.

By following route 329, I supposed to hit route 1 to go to Saraburi. So when route 329 hit one highway, I mistake it as route 1 and turn into it going north. As I have the habit of double confirmed my route by checking on the stone indicating the route nos, I found that the road I am riding is 32 not route 1. So again, make an u-turn, and go south on 32 and look for route 329.

So route 329 is cut across by route 32, and in order to continue on route 329, one needs to go to route 32 norths, make a u-turn and then south on 32 then turn into 329.

Route 329 is bumpy with many trucks. And there are a few turns and small junction that are not indicated in the map. Lucky that there are signs indicating to Saraburi. So I just follow the sign.

After managed to get to route 1, just follow the signs and turned into route 2 and go all the way to Korat.

Have been to Korat twice. But have been staying at the outskirt of the town, and do not have the opportunity to see the town. So this time, I rode all the way into the center of the town and found accommodation in Tokyo hotel. It looks like it is more for the locals, as I cannot see any tourist.

Got a room at the ground floor, and after washing up, went out to explore the town.
The streets were busy and crowd. There are many stalls and even stage show that are set up for the New Year celebration. And the event was still not over. So when the nights fall, the place was very crowded.
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Have a session of foot massage at the night market, which is only 80baht.

On the way back to hotel, have a bowl of Soya bean milk for supper at the roadside stall.

Day 4, Korat > Khong Chiam , distance covered 435.5km
The morning traffic in Korat is heavy. So I took my time, went out for breakfast, and moved off at 10.30am, to avoid the morning traffic.
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Once out of the town, headed for route 226, and staying on route 226 will reached Phibun Mangsahan.

From Phibun Mangsahan, turn to route 2222, and with a few turns following the road sign, will reach the small village of Khong Chiam.

It is a quiet village and peoples came here just to see the two toned river. Looks like it is not the right time when I was there as there are many empty stalls at the temple area, and it should be very crowded during the peak season.
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After checking around the place, settle for a resort by the riverside called Ban Rin Khong resort. Room rate was 1000 baht per night. But when I check out the room the next day, they only charge me 700 baht.
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There is a sign by the river saying it is the most eastern point of Thailand.
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Have been to Mae Sai and there is a sign saying it is the most northern point, and have been to Mae Sot and there is also a sign saying it is the most western point. So it looks like I need to go to the most southern point to completely covered north, south, east, west of Thailand.
There are two floating restaurant by the side of the Mekong river. There are also a few restaurants up on the side of the river. During the peak season can expect this place to be crowded.
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The place was peaceful and quite, and it is an enjoyment to walk along the Mekong River in the early morning.
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May 20, 2005
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Ppuah nice report,one of the day i would like to go there..may be we can ride there as u hv an experience....but currently time consent...
anyway what bike u are riding and can u skatch roughly the map u go from hatyai to loaas.
c u bro..

burjr
 

phuah

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Feb 7, 2003
39
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Hi Burjr:
I have the TDM850 for the ride.

Actually if you have the Thailand and Laos map with you, you could trace the route I have taken, as I have written down the roads I take and the towns that I have stopped.

Don't think I will be riding to Laos again so soon,as I still have many places that I have not ride to, and I can affort to go for such long ride (3 weeks)only once per year.

Rgds...phuah
 
Sep 1, 2005
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Good job Phuah , the report very detail cause i planning solo ride to up north there may be end of Oct i'll use your report for my guide . cheers bro

Ride Safe , Think the love one
 
May 20, 2005
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tthanks phuah, did u thinks my zrx 1200 can go sama place as what u do..but may be i not going alone may by a group.
Hi cool men did u ride north on october end is a raining seosan..
ifyes can we ride together..since u from malaysia may i know where ur u staying ..i am staying near kuala lumpur at hulu langat.may be we can meet soon..
bye

burjr
 
Sep 1, 2005
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bro burn jr ,i'm staying in jitra kedah n about 25km oni from border , but from what i know end of oct is end of rainning season n start getting cold.1 planning go on 29 oct to 8 nov . I'm going to 3 nation charity ride in penang on 17 sep n 18 sep ,r u coming too ? hehehe

Ride Safe , Think the love one