Chiang Mai South To Hat Yai Then Train And Plane To The Sepang

bigal

0
Sep 7, 2009
108
7
18
Old Blokes Tales-
MotoGP 2018 Sepang.

Here is a short snip of the trip we made with thanks to all that helped on GT Rider in the planning.
A full report can be seen HERE


The bike ride this year is a hybrid trip to see the MotoGP in Malaysia. The original plan was to ride all the way on that trusty bike the Honda Forza but holiday allocations combined with the fact that bike hire shops in Chiang Mai did not, at the time of hiring, allow a hire to Malaysia meant we had to turn the trip into a whole variety of travel experiences.

This was the route we took down;

Ashampoo_Snap_12 May 2019_11h40m10s_001_Chrome Legacy Window.jpg


The trip down was to a time schedule as we had tickets for the train to Kuala Lumpur.

Day 1 was mostly highway, well all highway to Chai Nat. The hotel I had picked, the Chai Nat Thani did not live up to expectations and has since closed.

2018-10-29 17.39.37_resize.jpg P1010808_resize.JPG

Day 2, Chai Nat to Bang Boet Bay Chumphon.
30/10/18 Day 2 and we wanted to get a fair way along the road to Hat Yai. We also needed to skirt around the west of Bangkok in order to avoid traffic and road restriction problems. We had spotted what appeared to be an idyllic resort right on the beach called Bang Boet Bay Resort. We made that our target.

P1010810cd_resize.JPG 2018-10-30 17.34.48_resize.jpg 2018-10-30 13.11.58_resize.jpg

Bang Boet Bay Resort was what we hoped for and right next door was a cafe serving fantastic seafood.

Day 3 Bang Boet Bay to Hat Yai.
31/10/18 The ride on the final down ride was, to a large extent, uneventful.
There were a couple of light showers that enhanced the pleasure of the ride by cooling us. One looked like it would get us very wet as in a few minutes it soaked out T shirts but no sooner had we stopped under a tree to discuss putting on our wet weather bin bags and deciding no, as we were already wet it stopped, the sun came out and we were dry in no time.
Our destination in Hat Yai was Hay Yai Centara Hotel. The bikes parked underground right next to the parking security.
The hotel tried to ask us to pay for the days we were not guests in the hotel, the days in Malaysia but they had agreed to include it when I booked and I had a copy of that.

P1010847_resize.JPG P1010842_resize.JPG

The bikes were parked until our return to Thailand.

Day 4 The Train to Malaysia.
Having been advised we needed to be there early we set off about 6.30 am from the hotel.
We needn't have worried, there were few people about.
We got out tickets, 40฿ each and wandered over to the train.

2018-11-01 06.41.36_resize.jpg 2018-11-01 00.57.37.jpg

The Thai train took us to Padang Besar where we passed customs and immigration and waited for the modern Malaysian train to KL. We took a local train and were met by our hosts who took us to a local mall for an Bali style meal.

2018-11-01 08.58.21_resize.jpg 2018-11-01 11.30.11_resize.jpg 2018-11-01 21.47.45_resize.jpg

Day 5 Circuit day 1
2/11/18 After a restful evening and a nice spot of breakfast it was time for Chris to drive us to the Sepang circuit.
There was lot of activity, rider meeting, practise and a ton of product displays enhanced by some very pretty girls.

P1010889_resize.JPG

For the evening meal. Our host had picked Yong Thau Foo Leong Ya. What a treat!

2018-11-02 20.15.31_resize.jpg

Day 6 Circuit for qualifying.
3/11/18 There was a good attendance for qualifying and it took a couple of minutes to get into the circuit with ticket bar codes being scanned and security.
We drank a couple of waters and a couple of beers as the pre qualifying and qualifying got underway when the heavens opened and the track had a few cm of water on it.
Upon reaching the exit we were required to scan out ticket bar-codes to exit, monsoon rain pelting down and we have to produce paper tickets with bar-codes on them!

P1010950c_resize.JPG 2018-11-03 14.45.25c.jpg


Day 7 Race Day
4/11/18 Even with setting off in good time, the traffic was heavy and often static going to the circuit. There was not too much trouble nipping out of the cat to the trees for a pee when required with the car hardly having lost any time.
By the time the car was parked the circuit was packed with more spectators arriving by the minute.

P1020013c_resize.JPG P1020032c.JPG

The race order had been arranged so the MotoGP was the first race. Rossi led from the start with Marquez in pursuit and catching him. The promising battle between the pair was cut short when Rossi came off.

Post MotoGP the clouds were starting to gather although the heat was oppressive and we once again decided for an early exit to beat the traffic. As it happens tens of thousands of other spectators had decided to do the same thing.

The crowds were bumping and jostling on the way out and I felt a quite firm jolt once. I carried on and to the exit where I reached into my pocket for my phone.
It had gone! The jolt! I have little doubt some thief took it although I do apportion some of the blame to myself. I was daft enough to have it in an open shirt pocket.

Day 8 Sightseeing
5/11/18 When we planned this trip we planned a day where we could see some sights.

To start we went for a sightseeing drive around Putrajaya, purposely built to house the government and its offices making it the administrative capital. It is a green (garden) city.
It's major interests include information technology and it is next to Cyberjaya.

After touring Putrajaya we went to another little gem, an open sided cafe this time serving Indian food.

P1020046_resize.JPG

In the afternoon to the evening we went to Kuala Lumpur and the Petronas twin towers area.

P1020063_resize.JPG P1020094_resize.JPG

And our time in Malaysia was over.


Day 9, Back to Thailand
6/11/19 It was time to say goodbye to our friends as we climbed into the taxi and headed to KLIA terminal 2, the terminal that has replaced to awful "low cost terminal" which I am sure was modelled on a bus station.
Terminal 2 is modern, clean and has a host of facilities.
Our flight left just before scheduled departure time, Air Asia. It was a good flight lasting just over an hour before we were deplaned onto the tarmac and walked into the terminal for immigration.
Land side and we took one of the many car taxi services on offer at 200฿ and we were back at the hotel.
Having checked back into the Centara Hotel my overriding objective was to replace my stolen phone.


The Ride Back

to follow...
 

bigal

0
Sep 7, 2009
108
7
18
Old Blokes Tales-
MotoGP 2018 Sepang.

Here is a short snip of the trip we made with thanks to all that helped on GT Rider in the planning.
A full report can be seen HERE


The bike ride this year is a hybrid trip to see the MotoGP in Malaysia. The original plan was to ride all the way on that trusty bike the Honda Forza but holiday allocations combined with the fact that bike hire shops in Chiang Mai did not, at the time of hiring, allow a hire to Malaysia meant we had to turn the trip into a whole variety of travel experiences.

This was the route we took down;

View attachment 130116

The trip down was to a time schedule as we had tickets for the train to Kuala Lumpur.

Day 1 was mostly highway, well all highway to Chai Nat. The hotel I had picked, the Chai Nat Thani did not live up to expectations and has since closed.

View attachment 130117 View attachment 130118

Day 2, Chai Nat to Bang Boet Bay Chumphon.
30/10/18 Day 2 and we wanted to get a fair way along the road to Hat Yai. We also needed to skirt around the west of Bangkok in order to avoid traffic and road restriction problems. We had spotted what appeared to be an idyllic resort right on the beach called Bang Boet Bay Resort. We made that our target.

View attachment 130119 View attachment 130120 View attachment 130121

Bang Boet Bay Resort was what we hoped for and right next door was a cafe serving fantastic seafood.

Day 3 Bang Boet Bay to Hat Yai.
31/10/18 The ride on the final down ride was, to a large extent, uneventful.
There were a couple of light showers that enhanced the pleasure of the ride by cooling us. One looked like it would get us very wet as in a few minutes it soaked out T shirts but no sooner had we stopped under a tree to discuss putting on our wet weather bin bags and deciding no, as we were already wet it stopped, the sun came out and we were dry in no time.
Our destination in Hat Yai was Hay Yai Centara Hotel. The bikes parked underground right next to the parking security.
The hotel tried to ask us to pay for the days we were not guests in the hotel, the days in Malaysia but they had agreed to include it when I booked and I had a copy of that.

View attachment 130122 View attachment 130123

The bikes were parked until our return to Thailand.

Day 4 The Train to Malaysia.
Having been advised we needed to be there early we set off about 6.30 am from the hotel.
We needn't have worried, there were few people about.
We got out tickets, 40฿ each and wandered over to the train.

View attachment 130124 View attachment 130125

The Thai train took us to Padang Besar where we passed customs and immigration and waited for the modern Malaysian train to KL. We took a local train and were met by our hosts who took us to a local mall for an Bali style meal.

View attachment 130126 View attachment 130127 View attachment 130128

Day 5 Circuit day 1
2/11/18 After a restful evening and a nice spot of breakfast it was time for Chris to drive us to the Sepang circuit.
There was lot of activity, rider meeting, practise and a ton of product displays enhanced by some very pretty girls.

View attachment 130129

For the evening meal. Our host had picked Yong Thau Foo Leong Ya. What a treat!

View attachment 130130

Day 6 Circuit for qualifying.
3/11/18 There was a good attendance for qualifying and it took a couple of minutes to get into the circuit with ticket bar codes being scanned and security.
We drank a couple of waters and a couple of beers as the pre qualifying and qualifying got underway when the heavens opened and the track had a few cm of water on it.
Upon reaching the exit we were required to scan out ticket bar-codes to exit, monsoon rain pelting down and we have to produce paper tickets with bar-codes on them!

View attachment 130131 View attachment 130132


Day 7 Race Day
4/11/18 Even with setting off in good time, the traffic was heavy and often static going to the circuit. There was not too much trouble nipping out of the cat to the trees for a pee when required with the car hardly having lost any time.
By the time the car was parked the circuit was packed with more spectators arriving by the minute.

View attachment 130133 View attachment 130134

The race order had been arranged so the MotoGP was the first race. Rossi led from the start with Marquez in pursuit and catching him. The promising battle between the pair was cut short when Rossi came off.

Post MotoGP the clouds were starting to gather although the heat was oppressive and we once again decided for an early exit to beat the traffic. As it happens tens of thousands of other spectators had decided to do the same thing.

The crowds were bumping and jostling on the way out and I felt a quite firm jolt once. I carried on and to the exit where I reached into my pocket for my phone.
It had gone! The jolt! I have little doubt some thief took it although I do apportion some of the blame to myself. I was daft enough to have it in an open shirt pocket.

Day 8 Sightseeing
5/11/18 When we planned this trip we planned a day where we could see some sights.

To start we went for a sightseeing drive around Putrajaya, purposely built to house the government and its offices making it the administrative capital. It is a green (garden) city.
It's major interests include information technology and it is next to Cyberjaya.

After touring Putrajaya we went to another little gem, an open sided cafe this time serving Indian food.

View attachment 130135

In the afternoon to the evening we went to Kuala Lumpur and the Petronas twin towers area.

View attachment 130136 View attachment 130137

And our time in Malaysia was over.


Day 9, Back to Thailand
6/11/19 It was time to say goodbye to our friends as we climbed into the taxi and headed to KLIA terminal 2, the terminal that has replaced to awful "low cost terminal" which I am sure was modelled on a bus station.
Terminal 2 is modern, clean and has a host of facilities.
Our flight left just before scheduled departure time, Air Asia. It was a good flight lasting just over an hour before we were deplaned onto the tarmac and walked into the terminal for immigration.
Land side and we took one of the many car taxi services on offer at 200฿ and we were back at the hotel.

Having checked back into the Centara Hotel my overriding objective was to replace my stolen phone.
My wife had already reported it stolen to our service provider blocking that sim and been told I could go to any DTAC shop in Thailand and get a new sim with the same number and account.
What I needed now was a new phone and being reactivated with the service.
I was thinking of a new phone before my phone went missing but I had hoped to wait until the end of the month as there were rumours of new improved models being released. I would have to miss that, which I later found to be no great loss.
I really fancied the Huawei P20 Pro and so it was.
Although I found a shop with the handset at a decent price, I opted to get the unit from DTAC itself. It took a little time and a consultation with a more senior member of staff before getting the sim and account sorted, I walked out of the store with a fully functional phone. All I needed now was to put some apps I use on and to find out how on earth to operate the thing.



The Ride Back



Roughly the route but more specific date on each days maps.
Note, I was getting used to a new phone and had not sorted all the mapping stuff.

Ashampoo_Snap_04 September 2019_13h11m02s_002_.jpg




Day 10 Hat Yai to Ao Nang

7/11/19 The ride back had always been planned to be the leisurely portion of the trip so we took advantage of the Centara buffet breakfast in the morning before packing the bikes which were just as we left them.
My route planning was done with Google maps which has the advantage of a specific (motor) bike setting and real time traffic (which in truth is not so real time). Ian was using OsmAnd with downloaded maps. Between the 2 systems we figured we should get where we are going.

Ashampoo_Snap_09 December 2018_11h36m18s_006_.jpg
 

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bigal

0
Sep 7, 2009
108
7
18
Unfortunately I have not been able to post the return.
It may be because it was so late after the original post I don't know but I started to get a message saying I did not have enough posts to upload a file and then, when I tried to upload the text I had added the whole update vanished.
Sorry.
Please let me know how to fix.
 

DavidFL

0
Staff member
Subscribed
Jan 16, 2003
14,455
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Chiang Khong
www.thegtrider.com
Unfortunately I have not been able to post the return.
It may be because it was so late after the original post I don't know but I started to get a message saying I did not have enough posts to upload a file and then, when I tried to upload the text I had added the whole update vanished.
Sorry.
Please let me know how to fix.

It should be ok. Please give it another try or try a different browser.
Use the save draft button as you go.

upload_2019-9-5_0-28-9.png