25/01/24 – Retirement Central – Prachuap Khiri Khan – 118km

Rach’s biggest day ever/yet…

A bit of a nothing day scenery-wise, but with a gentle tailwind and still no climbing to talk of – we smashed out 117km for Rach’s longest-ever day on the bike yet…

Food is getting cheaper, or maybe we’re getting better at finding cheap food. 200THB entry to a cave temple we rode 4km out of the way to see though – no thank you!

After being caught out (yet again!) by Thai booze law – no beer to be sold from shops between 2pm-5pm – we grabbed a nice street food dinner on the waterfront before checking into a 450THB highway motel – with a bonus golf driving range. Well worth it to enjoy aircon and not unpack the tent!

26/01/24 – Driving Range – Namtok Huai Yang National Park – 51km

Airbase attack and an underwater world

After looking in roadside stalls for a few days now, Rach finally found some decent shorts (unlined, non-padded) for riding in on the way to breakfast. My breaky suggestion of a busy local cafe quickly got turned down though – the translation of ‘pork blood intestine soup’ was a bit much to stomach before 10am. Ended up next door for expensive American-style toast, eggs, bacon etc.

Rode through ‘Wing 5’ airbase on the way out of town to see the Langur Monkeys that live on a mountain there, including getting to ride across an active runway! Lots of military police around. The curious monkeys were super cute and totally unlike the evil things around the Hua Hin apartment – even if a sign said otherwise.

Stumbled across an amazing aquarium while riding almost in the middle of nowhere. Only 50 baht (NZD$2.20) entry and we almost had the place to ourselves! Well worth the hour of aircon taking in the different exhibits.

Creepy lunch stop that Rach was keen to quickly leave later on however. Weird vibes were reported and we had the impression they were involved in cock fighting.

A gentle climb finished the day when we arrived at our first National Park camping experience (after being turned away by another temple). Haven’t had any luck with staying at a temple yet despite the numerous reports of them being very welcoming. In this narrow part of Thailand, the Myanmar border is only 4km away from our tent.

Thai National Parks are very different to New Zealand with 24/7 protection at multiple guardhouses from the Thai military. National Parks are also one of the few places Farangs “Foreigners” pay extra. 100THB entry fee each, plus 30THB each for a campsite. Fell asleep hoping the leopards that frequent Namtok Huai Yang were well away in the jungle…

27/01/24 – Concrete Jungle – Bang Saphan – 74km

A hungry morning and awesome hospitality

After packing away the tent we trotted up to see some of the tiered waterfalls this place is known for – but being the dry season, didn’t bother wandering any further than the first…

A hungry morning was set to follow after we’d knocked back our now regular morning iced latte (ลาเต้เย็น – Lā tê yĕn) and pedalled some amazingly quiet back roads through palm, coconut and rubber plantations (Thailand is the worlds largest producer and exporter of natural rubber). We’d made the mistake again of only having 1000THB notes requiring a large shop to break one for us however.

After running into a Dutch couple in their 60s touring SE Asia for their third time and riding with them for a while, we arrived at our ‘breakfast’ stop around the 40km mark at the beach town of Ban Krut. Interestingly, the Dutchies asked us “What weapons do you have for dogs?” and proceeded to explain the large stick they were carrying among their very light load (only 18kgs between them – less than what I’ve got alone!).

Re-energised from a nice beach-side lunch we were back on the bikes, taking literal back roads until we all of a sudden popped out onto a busy 4-lane road in the middle of Bang Saphan. Clearly off the regular tourist route, our initial impressions were of a scruffy/dirty town but it had the allure of a ‘National Park’ campsite only 1km away.

The campsite quickly got snubbed once it became clear we’d be sleeping on a hot concrete slab, with Rach taking charge of another 4km to the coast in the hope of something more appealing. What a decision it was too!!

A watermelon smoothie later and we’d been given permission to sleep in one of the beach pagoda’s belonging to Follow Me Cafe. A romantic 300THB dinner under lights next-door to the cafe was a bit of a balls up however. Ended up ordering three meals that arrived nothing like what we were expecting (a translation issue – totally our fault), but after navigating my way around a tree of peanuts had a comfortably full feeling.

The real surprise of the day came right at the end while setting up for bed, a woman came and introduced herself as Yun, the cafe owner and offered us the balcony of her private villa. Now tucked away at the end of the carefully groomed beach (her dad cleans and rakes that stretch of beach every day) it was absolute bliss. Fell asleep with and then woke up to the waves gently lapping below us.

Got pretty sunburnt in a singlet today – it’ll be a shirt again for me tomorrow.

28/01/24 – Follow Me Cafe – Thung Sai Beach – 50km

From one stunning beach to another

Slow start to the day today with a good coffee and some notebooking at Bang Saphan Resort (Yun’s recommendation). Both feeling dirty/sticky this morning and in need of a good wash. Confirmed and booked plans to stay in Chumphon two nights, before catching the train back to BKK for my birthday on Thursday.

Rach isn’t having much luck with sunnies so far on this trip. Onto the fourth pair to now grace her face this morning, after leaving them somewhere again yesterday (my money’s on the beachside hammock she so casually dozed off in yesterday arvo…). Thank god for cheap sunnies huh! But, with the logic that maybe some ‘real’ ones will be cherished a touch more – we went post coffee shopping at a real optometrist. (Update six weeks later – she still has them!!!!).

Following the Royal Coast Road heading south today. A really nice quiet scenic road connecting beaches that they’ve spent a TON on! Great big wide lanes incl bike lanes, flash signs with photographs, an amazing surface that will still be this smooth in a decade – but rubbish literally strewn all over the beaches. Hardly inviting for a couple of spoiled ‘clean/green’ kiwi’s…

“On track for an ‘early’ finish before 3pm so just pulled in for a cold seaside drink in another pagoda. What a life…”

Arrived at our expected secluded beach campsite to find mountains of rubbish piled up around the high tide mark – and unfortunately rather than making memories of this amazing location and what could’ve been a postcard beach – I’ll forever remember carefully stepping through trash to swim in tropical warm waters with plastic bags and polystyrene. It’s fucking tragic!

We’d only just emerged from the water when a nasty-looking stormfront quickly appeared over the hills – arriving on top of us so fast it was an absolute scramble to get the fly on the tent before the heavens opened and wind started smashing us. Thankfully it was only short-lived (15min), allowing us to escape the confines of the tent for dinner and a wee beach bonfire later on.

Lonely dog hanging around in the dark. Could see its eyes reflecting back at our head torches occasionally.

29/01/24 – Beautiful Rubbish Dump – Chumphon – 79km

Morning tranquility to an evening market

Only one quick rain shower through the night! Woke to a tranquil morning with last night’s stray dog curled at the foot of our tent. Poor thing looked starved, shaking and nearly dead. Decided to feed it our breakfast of three boiled eggs – and then our last ramen packet after it was clearly still hanging around for more. We debated later whether our act of kindness could’ve possibly contributed more harm, before agreeing that at least if it died today it died with a full stomach – and if not, then we got it through another day.

Long, almost uneventful ride today following the main train line. Other than getting stung by a mysterious thing stuck in my shirt; and watching Rach successfully power through about 4m of deep soft mud while crossing under said train line – it was a day of plain sailing with a single goal in mind. Enquire about and book our bikes back north on the train.

Arriving at Chumphon Station around 3pm it quickly became clear we’d be separated from our bikes for the first time. They needed to go on a freight train departing at 3am in two days time – with us following on a later train at the more respectable time of 11am.

The rest of the day is straight out of Rach’s diary:

Then rode to accommodation – wow, amazing place for NZD$30 a night! Chakila Resort.
Checked out night market – definetly cheaper than Hua Hin! Found jackfruit again. Tom found replacement fuel for cooker – petrol no good. Too sooty.
Craft beer bar – rare in Thailand but too expensive for budget.