Weekly update and Satun to Trang(ish)
Was a massive 132kms today and 440 metres of up-ness, our biggest day yet. We ended up pushing the bicycle for 300 metres over the crest of a steep hill at the 86km mark. Was not really happy about it but it had to be done as I had nothing left in me. We’re going to need to get better at steep hills if we plan to make it to Mae Hong Son in the North of Thailand, with its massive hills and curves.
Satun was nothing special, or at least not that we found. We walked the streets looking for some good food, found a burger joint which did a decent beef burger with egg, and headed back to the hotel room with ‘free’ baselines from the pub across the road. It stopped at midnight and we woke up at 5 am to start our day.
Riding the first 80kms was fine, then we started looking for accommodation. It was not until 132km mark and Yan Ta Khao did we find anything acceptable, a Love Hotel, but it was clean and newish and the pillows don’t crackle, it was quiet, and it was the same price as our hotel last night (400B). I guess there is money in love hotels and not banged up traveling salesman accommodation.
So, 440 metre of elevation and about 100 more than our day from Narathiwat to Pattani via Yala, but it was along mostly nice roads. We did have an awesome section of 15kms with tall trees that shaded the single carriage road. Natt pointed out something about the same time I was thinking it – that the whole trip must have been like this shaded road at one stage before they turned all those trees into lumber and widened the road to 2 lanes in both directions.
I can now see the death of the lovely houses that are set back only a little from the road, their front doors someday opening onto a 4-lane highway and their old world charm lost without the tall trees and grass frontage to buffer them from the sound and spoil of the road. The sign of progress… would it not be better to save these old roads and build new ones in the acres of rubber plantations that hold some charm but are farmland none the less?
Were both very tired. We plan to do 25kms tomorrow to Trang, visit the Tourism Authority of Thailand office, the post office, and then hopefully find some nice accommodation with decent internet services. I would also kill for a pizza. Yes I would settle for pretty much anything that resembles a pizza but I do hope tomorrow’s visit to the provincial capital will provide me with a good one.
It’s been two weeks and we’ve:
– Spent 14,701 Baht
– Traveled 1,159Kms
Because I like strange stats – It has cost us around 12.8 Baht per kilometre for 2 people or just under 6.4 b/km for each person.
The only reason we’ve managed to stay close to 1,000 Baht per day has been the free rooms and free meals we have received from new and old friends. At the end of the month I will put together a daily costs chart which will exclude the alcoholic drinks and free meals or accommodation in order to give others an idea of how much it costs to travel for 2 people around this part of Thailand.
