Muar-Pak Bara-Krabi-Koh Phi Phi-Songkhla-Pattani-Narathiwat-Sg Kolok-Malaysia

[Abg Acid]

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Me and wife, Dr.tt decided to do a round trip from Muar, Malaysia. We traveled into Thailand taking the west coast route and returning through the eastern side of south Thailand. It was a 2,500 kilometer journey and since we traveled a bit slow, it took us 9 days to do the tour.

However, I did advertise the ride in our local website and a large number of bikers signed up, but all drove back after Koh Phi Phi as they have limited holidays.

Come the day, (it was night to be precise) me and wife rode off from Muar, which is 180km south of Kuala Lumpur. Me on a 150cc Yamaha FZi and wife was on a Kawsaki ER6n. We took the expressway, it was a piece of cake. At a Rest and Recreation stop near Kuala Lumpur, the big group was waiting for us and the journey started at 12 midnite. Amongst them were some big bikes, V-Strom 1000cc, Yamaha Faser 1000, 2 suzukis 650cc, BMW F800gs and a Hayabusa. Beside these there were 3 cubs as well, they were 135cc Yamahas. So, actually its a merry thing, a mixture of big and small bikes riding together on a trip.

We had always love to ride during the night. Its cool, less traffic on the freeway, and further more we will be at the border checkpoint early in the morning to avoid the mad rush from holidaymakers that came by the loads, on buses and cars. We knew the situation would be very bad that weekend since Monday was a holiday in Malaysia (coincide with labour Day May 1st), thus we avoided crossing at Sadao instead drove west to the border Wang Kelian-Wang Prachan, a hilly region with twisties I called them mini Pai - Mae Hong Song loop!. And by 8.30 am we were already at the crossing point. It was almsot a 700 km journey when we started from Muar. cool!



Crossing the border from Malaysia at Wang Kelian-Wang Prachan. It was opened up less than 10 years ago. Small, less busy , it caters for the locals to cross into Thailand and vice versa. Picture above is the Malaysian side, the immigration and custom complex at Wang Kelian, the state of Perlis. It has hence became an International crossing border and opens up at 7am till 5 pm Thai clock.



This is the Thailand side of the border, Wang Prachan and the road will lead to Satul

[Abg Acid]

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From the border we rode off towrds the town of Satun and then had north towards PaK Para. We had been on our bikes for almost 10 hours now and fatigues are showing on every faces. Pak Bara is a small little coastal village facing the Andaman Sea. Its a sort of getway village for tourist to get to island of Koh Tarutao, Koh Lipe , Koh Adang and the rest. There is pier at the end of the village. There's still considerable Malay influence that can be seen here, particularly in the food and clothing, almost like Malaysian, but they dont speak Malays. we found this out during dinner when we went to malay restaurants (plenty of them throughout) and making order was quite difficult as none of us speaks Thai on the other hand.

Accomodation was plenty, but getting 8 rooms for all of us in the same location was simply not feasible. The rooms were quickly filled and in the end, me and Dr.tt had to depart the group as the resort had ran out of rooms. We were the organisers for this trip and thus obliged to look elsewhere. The group stayed at Best House Bungalows, price range from 500bh to 1000bh, air conditioned.
http://www.travelfish.org/accommodat...kbara/all/3655

It didnt took us long to fine one. A perfect place for us at Sai Kaeo Resort, a beach bungalow at 500bh, just a few hundred meters south of the Pier.



Sai Kaeo Resort, a little cosy beach bungalow with air con and hot shower facing the Andaman Sea. At 500bh per nite , it was a bargain!



A view from our bungalow. Its nice to sit on the benches and looking out at the sea as the sun goes down. Perfect to stay idylic.



After dinner ( after the hard time making orders due to bad langguage barrier, we sound like ducks trying to communicate with chickens) it was another session of idylic stay at a waterfront square. Perfect for the group to talk about the day's journey

[Abg Acid]

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Day 2, Pak Bara - Krabi

This was a short drive, just slight over 200 km. However, we were ready to leave as early as 6.00 in the morning. There was a nice stall beside the main street just in front of our Bungalows. A perfect place for the rest of the gang to rendevous and regroup here for breakfirst. Food was almost like Malaysian, and we had no problem picking up our choices. It was just "point and grin" proceedures. Easy!



The stall on the main street in front of our bungalows Sai Kaeo, pleasant place to have breakfirst and regroup. almost like a village style breakfirst. making orders are easy too.



The group having a good breakfirst before moving up north towards Krabi.



A board placing outside a restaurant, displaying some drinks in Malay. Teh tarik is Malaysian favorite tea drink, prepared with condensed milk, plus some physical stretching and pouring over 2 cups, to make it bubbly,

[Abg Acid]

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From Pak Bara we took road 416. It was a pleasant road, with very little traffic. The bikes cruise with ease at moderate speed, and a stop just before reaching Trang for a brief rest and resetting the GPS. Trang is a town you need to avoid when travelling in a large group as it is quite congested with many one-way street. Losing a fellow rider in the street was the last thing we wanted on a ride like this. Before reaching the town of Trang we took road 419 that leads to the port of Kantang. Its a detour to road 4046, without needing to enter Trang city. On road 4046 it was an easy ride through some very smooth road with long sweeping bends. Passing Sikao this road join to road 4 towards Krabi. Strangely one may notice that this road 4 is actually smaller then road 4046. We had another stopped at a petrol kiosk a few hundred meters from the junction to Koh Lanta. We have been to Lanta island a couple of times before, nice little island where you need to take 2 small ferries to get there. A cosy laid back island. Soon after the rest, we hit the road again and found ourselves on a dual carriageway passing an airport and into Krabi.



A landmark in Krabi, probably thats where it gets it name from.. Crabby? The photo was taken after we have checked in at Chao Fah Valley Bungalows



The faces of happy riders. Getting to Krabi was without hiccups, and straight to the Bungalows. The GPS prove its worthiness. Love it.



Getting around Krabi town, towards Ao Nang Beach and the Gastropod Fossil ground. Krabi is quite a big town, and there were a lot of western tourists.


A bit of Chao fah Bungalow. Regret I dont have a picture of the bungalows, actually I HAD, but it was in the other camera, and this camera went down into the Andaman sea when we were at Phi Phi Ley. Anyway, if you are on a budget, the Chao Fah Valley bungalow is hard to beat. The bungalows with fan are at 300bh each, very clean and with newly renovated lovely bath with hot shower attached. The aircon ones cost just a bit more, but they were full when we arrived. This place even have a free wi-fi connection. But what matter most was the friendly staffs at the resort. They were very helpful indeed, and when we told them if it was possible to leave our bikes at their resort the next day as we wanted to stay a night at Phi Phi, they truly obliged. And even helped us with bookings for rooms on Phi Phi Island, as well as the boat tickets. As a matter of fact, the ticket cost less that what we would have paid if we came straight to the pier and bought one. Look for the manager Mr. Os, speaks good English. He even arranged for a tuk tuk to transport us to the pier to get to Phi Phi. All this without any commision. We were told that whatever commsion they get is from the ferry operators and the hotel that we will stay at Phi Phi. Chao Fah Valley Bungalow has a registered tour, "Black tiger Tour".
Here is a link to Chao Fah Valley Bungalows http://www.travelfish.org/accommodat...krabi/all/2870

[Abg Acid]

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Getting around Krabi on our bikes. It was worth the ride. There were quite a number of statues around the town. Mostly they were a replica of animals . Sort of landmark for Krabi town.








Krabi has large crabs, and baby crabs too.



You wont miss this large mosque onroute to Ao Nang. 5 years ago when I came here , this mosque was still under construction, and yet it is still not completed when we came early this month. I guess this will be the largest mosque in Thailand upon its completion

[Abg Acid]

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3rd Day, Koh Phi Phi

It was a holiday for us on the third day. No motorcycling. Earlier we had sent our laundry that morning and they will be ready upon our return the next day. Mr Os had made all the arragement for us to get to Phi Phi. They even moved away their rentals scooters to make way for our 9 bikes to park under the roof. Cool! As a sign of courtesy we rented a room from them to keep our stuff that we dont need to bring to the island. Stuff like helmets, bags , jackets, things like that.
By 8.30am the tuk tuk had arrived as planned and we were excited to leave mainland for the island of Phi Phi.



Burnjr, a member of Gt-rider on the run to the awaiting tuk tuk. As usual, Burnjr was always the last,.. he has a rubbery time, somtimes it flexed so much that can make you mad. Lol ;D



Getting on the tuk tuk, checking the cameras are working a-ok. Ready to roll



At the pier to the awaiting ferry. The pier is located about 4 kilometers from our bungalows. And it was quite a long walk from the terminal to the awaiting ferry too.

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We were the first to have arrived. Teh ferry was still empty when we came. For a moment we thought we were the only tourist getting onboard,



Pretty soon, a large number came onboard. These western tourists prefer to stay on the sides of the ferry. Not a good idea if the sea turns stormy. Its a large ferry that can take in 120 passengers.



A scene on the deck. I presume these 2 men-in-black couldnt wait to be on the island.



The lovely ladies on the deck whom I get to know a bit



Goodbye mainland, goodbye Krabi... we were on teh way to Phi Phi Island. The boat trip will be about 1 and half hours and I did checked on my GPS, the ferry travelled at app 35kmh, that would be around 19 knots

[Abg Acid]

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It was a smooth sailing to Phi Phi, the water was calm and the sky was clear. A promising sign that we would certainly have a good time at Phi Phi. Looking from far, the island of Phi Phi looked just like any other islands that we have been to. But since this is our first visit to Phi Phi, we were really looking forward to it. We have heard that Phi Phi island was ranked as the one of 10 best island in the world. This we have to see.



Coming closer, one cannot stop noticing the limestone hills that come straight from the water. There are few tiny islands that surround Phi Phi and they rose majestically from the water too.



The Phi Phi Hotel, is one of the oldest Hotel on the island. It is situated near the Pier, the site that was almost totally demolished when tsunami came in the year 2004. It lies on a tiny 300 meters of land strip. It survived the tsunami.



Other ferries that arrived earlier than ours, waiting to dock on the pier. Besides Krabi there are a few more ferry terminals that you can take to get to Phi Phi. You may either come from Phuket, Phangga and also Koh Lanta. Besides these there are other speed boat operators that operate from their own resorts like Ao Nang and Ao Railey.



Speed boat that came from Ao Nang. They are installed with 3 outboards, tremendous power of 400 hp each thus making a total of 1200hp. These speedboats sure can do 30-35 knots and may reach Phi Phi within 40 minutes. And they came as convoys too, that reminds of our bike convoy. We saw 6 speed boats sailing together from the mainland.






3 outboards, really awesome power!

[Abg Acid]

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Docking time. Tourists by the loads, getting off the ferry.



Getting off down the pier. Immediately we saw signposts telling us that we need to pay 20 bh as tax cleanliness. Its like at the airport where you pay an airport tax, but this one doesnt go together with your ferry ticket. A small amount of money to contribute though. No problem.



Here on the pier I took a chance of a self portrait. It was my first visit, so here I m standing on Phi Phi, held the camera on my left hand and press the shutter, and the guy behind did an interframe as well.




We were quite lost on the pier actually, people are moving fast. I remember Mr.Os from Chao Fah Bungalow who had made the arrangments, told us to look for a runner with RS Guest House sign card. We saw quite a number of other hotel/guesthouse runners with sign cards but no RS Guest House. I was beginning to get worried too, could this be a rip off?! At last we saw ours, he was standing a little further in, under a shade! hehe. Oh well, cheaper rooms like ours, gets a runner a little bit harder to see. Anyway, at least we have someone to take care of us amongst the crowd. I dont think we could look for the guest house ourselves if he had not been there.




Look at the crowd. Its insane!

[Abg Acid]

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With our runner , we were guided to our guest house, through the narrow lanes from the Pier. There are no motorised vehicles on Koh Phi Phi, and the lanes are very narrow, just big enough for pedestrians. Somehow you may see bicycles passing through the crowd and push carts laden with vegetables and fruits. But that was just it, completely free of other vehicles. Our guest housei] is situated on the most busiest section of the island, on the narrow strip of land, sandwiched by 2 coves, ie the Loh Dalam and Tonsai Bay. This was the section which was hit most when the waves of tsunami came in. It was said that the waves came from the south ( Tonsai Bay) and literally swept right through to come out on the Loh Dalam Bay which is situated on the north. This strip of land mesures 300-400 meters only. The current even magnified itself as it moved in due to the 2 hills on both sides to the east and west. A Perfect geography that induce a sad catastrophe.



A map of Koh Phi Phi, the tiny strip of land between 2 coves, Loh Dalam on the North and Tonsai Bay on the south whcih was hit badly,. and thats where we stay.



The beach on the Loh Dalam Bay,.. it's back to business now and remains one of the most favourite beach. There is NO pier or jetty here. Ferries would come to the south, Ton Sai bay.



A landmark you will see, if you were on the Loh Dalam Beach

[Abg Acid]

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Activities? There are many activities you can do here, and mostly they are water associated. Upon checking in, we made enquiery for snorkeling. There are variety of packages, full day, half day and special request as well. You name it, they got them! This is Thailand man, No problem, just as Mr bird of Koh Phangan had said. The guest house recommended us half day that starts at 2pm and we will on water till sunset. That sounded nice and for the price of 250 bh per person, who could resist. Snorkeling sets included and its free flowing mineral water plus some fruits snack too. We were a little bit worried though, a cheap package like this could end us on a small dingy that fits 6 but horde all 11 of us in it.



Not too bad, it was a long tail boat with a lorry engine behind. Its gonna be zippy.



Other passengers onboard, thats good! Our company for the day



Just look at the water, its cystal clear man! And the passengers?... eye candies man

[Abg Acid]

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The island and boat tour brought us to Phi Phi Ley, a smaller island south of Phi Phi Don. There was no resorts or bungalows there, and inhabitat . The only building was a small ranger office was on site. Its a national park. We went snorkeling and some trekking on the islandas well.



Phi Phi Ley, a smaller island south of Phi Phi Don, shaped similar to it. No buildings, zero population



Ahh, this is paradise. A tropical paradise for a perfect holiday



And the water?.. Its emerald green, crystal clear



Boats seem hanging on water,.. its a haven for those who love water and sun

[Abg Acid]

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Trekking from Loh Samah Bay to Maya Beach

At Koh Phi Phi Ley, we trek part of the island from Loh Samah Bay to Maya Bay on the northwest. Maya Bay was made famous by a film The Beach, with Leonardo DiCaprio as the leading actor. The Thais are always good at changing names, as this Maya Beach is now called as Leonardo Dicarpio's beach, just like the little known island in Phangga Bay which has been turned into James Bond Island.



Our long tail boat let us off here at Loh Samah Bay



Dr.tt hesitate whether to get into line or not, or wondering if she needs to remove the life jacket



The long line, no shortcut.



And you need to pass through a narrow opening into the viking's cave.. oh waht a name!



After the cave, you need to climb some wooden stairs... stairway to heaven?.. Just get in line, no problem



*
Then, its down the steps...



Soon after, there is abit of forest to pass through



Ahh yes, finally, Maya Beach, a National Park.

[Abg Acid]

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Pictures of Maya Beach.









Truly awesome place. It was worth the journey on our bikes to Krabi to get here

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Few more pictures of Loh Sama Bay and its surroundings I couldnt resist to put in. Its simply awesome



The final swim before we get back to Phi Phi Don for the night. How could we leave a beautiful place like this without having a last dip



Just wishding the day never ended..



On our way back, as the sun sets in,.. the limestone changes color



Its goodbye paradise.... truly

[Abg Acid]

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Day 4 - Koh Phi Phi - Krabi - Trang - Phattalung - Songkhla

We were ready early morning of day 4. The first ferry was at 9.00am, and we had breakfirst at one local muslim restaurant. they have roti, almost similar to what we have in Malaysia. We need to take the first ferry as all the boys will have to ride home to Malaysia from Krabi that very same day. At Krabi we wil collect our bikes and hit the road again.



leaving Phi Phi. Down the pier we walked ..



Wak Bundle and Burnjr on the right. They had terrific time


When our ferry dock at Krabi Pier, Mr. Os from Chao Fah Valley Bungalows had made arrangment for a tuk tuk to pick us up. Splendid.

[Abg Acid]

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The ride from Krabi to the south was uneventful and the weather was good too. We had a stop for lunch on the way just before getting into Tang. After the city of Trang road 4 leads to some hilly section and this was when the boys started to to pull throttle. It was a good one, playing along the bends up and down the hills. Traffic was low in volume and this add a little fun as the adrenalin started to flow. I saw the tachometer of my little machine went into the red zone on 4th gear around the bends. Wished I had a bigger machine to play with. Anyway, the hiily section ends too soon and we were on dual lane hiway again heading into Phattalung. From Phattalung its the same flat and straight hiway.

Dr tt and me left the group when we were almost reaching Hat Yai. We waved goodbyes and hit the horns as we came to the junction which the boys will continue south to the border and the 2 of us will head east towards Songhkla. Its a sentimental feelng when your time has come to leave the group. Our holiday is not over yet as we have 5 more days to end the journey and will travel south through the east and leave Thailand at Sungai Kolok.

It was almost sunset when the 2 of us reached Songkhla. Its a nice little coastal town facing the South China Sea. We normaly stayed at Royal Crown Hotel each time we come to Songkhla but this time we made changes. Reason is that Royal Crown do not have a wi-fi and we needed one.



SonSiri Hotal and Resort. Located next to the Songkhla Muzieum. Large parking space for motorcycles. Good for spending the nights with a large group



Our room, a real bargain at 490bh. Air condtioned, how shower , fridge and a wide screen TV



And most important free wif-fi, so that I can get connected and do some work on the netbook

[schackster]

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Acid , great report so far ( actually all your reports are ) . Laughing at the bed linen in the pic above .
Those remote islands remind me of the trip we all made to Koh Lanta a while back.

[Abg Acid]

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Thank you Gary. Appreciate it and glad you like it.
Ah yes, the boat ride island hopping we did sometime back from Koh Lanta was exhilarating as well.
Remember the Pirate Cave on Morukut Island?? The swim into the tunnel like cave was the best.

AA

[Abg Acid]

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Day 5 - Songkhla to Pattani

Looking at the map Pattani is a short distance from Songkhla. So this morning its no rush, we took our time. After last night visit to the nite market, ( which was really large, even bigger than Hat Yai's nite market) we decided to do a bit of tour this morning. During all our previous visit of Songkla there was this place that we kept missing out. The Tang Kuan Hill. It is a small hill near the city (north, very near to Hat Samila), and words was that you can see an awesome view of Songkhla city from the top.

On the foothill there is a station, for the cable car that goes up the hill. But a bit funny though, it is fully housed and you cannot see the car going up from outside, neither can you see anything too when you are in car. Its more like a lift, just that it moves sideways instead vertically. Anyway, the ticket cost only 30 bh for a return trip.



We decided to check out late this morning on day 5, and do a bit of tour. Picture above is the cable car station, or should I say the lift terminal...



On top, you see a 360* or Songkhla and its surrounding. Sure is worth the 30 bh tickets. we stayed quite a while here, absorbing the nice scenery and some drinks. (there is small shop that sells drink on top too) Picture above is a view towards south, on the right is the great Thale sap. A great body of inland sealake that stretches some 60 kilometers. At the far end of the lake is the longest bridge in Thailand. But dont screw your eyes, you will never see it



Here, I had tweaked the photo a bit to show the longest bridge in Thailand, The Tinsulananda Bridge. On the right side the bridge goes to an island Koh Yo, and then it continues more northward. If you are interested in museum, there is a large museum situated just before then bridge commences. Its the largest museum I have ever visited through out my life. Be prepared to spend 4 hours here. I think its called Museum of the Southern Studies



The city of Songkhla



View towrds North, part of Samila Beach



Bells, there a lot of them up there near the wat.. It is said during the old time, these bells can beard a long way down to the people living in songkhla. Besides the wat, there is also a lighthouse here on top.