26 July 2011

Ride to Koh Samui

                                     A couple of friends and i planned to take a ride to Thailand  before the start of the fasting month.  Initially we planned to ride to Hat Yai and back but after some discussion  , the new plan was to ride to the island of Koh Samui , spend 2 night there and on the third day ride to Hat yai , sightsee and on the fourth day ride home. The 1st days ride was going to be interesting as the distance from KL - Don Sak(ferry to Koh Samui ) will be about 860 + km , then a 1 1/2 hour ferry ride  , and another 30+km from the Samui pier to Chaweng beach .

                                      Earliest i 've left ever


RV point


Still predawn hours


1st rest stop , time to break out the shades.


on the hills near Ipoh


Hazy early morning view( or lack off)


Reached Gurun R&R quite early


Stopped here for a pic as the last time we passed it was raining quite a lot.
 


fellow bikers


Another rest stop. We stopped frequently to rehydrate.


Quite near to Don Sak


My navigator trying to figure out the route on the GPS


Fail . so old school method employed  : )


Nice roads


Perfectly surfaced


After 13 hours we reached the pier of Don Sak


bike parking onboard


not too bad ..


Leaving the Thai mainland


we timed it right so we managed to catch the last ferry


On reaching Koh Samui we left the port and rode around the island to the main beach of Chaweng where we managed to get a good hotel right on the beach


Nice room . Got dinner , walked around a bit then promptly crashed. long day.


The next morning we could appreciate our surroundings as we came in quite late the night before.



Breakfast right on the beach



Chaweng beach proper




Nice parking . Secure .


The main street of Chaweng right outside our hotel



Nice place. 2500Bhat per night


After breakfast we decided to explore the island.
1st stop was at the viewing point




Then we went to see the famous grandfather and grandmother rocks.


here


guess which is which



saw more rocks  : )
 



Then we visited the mummified monk



his holiness


surrounding temples


Dragoonnnnnnnnnnssss


From there it was to visit the Big Buddha
Temple guard here


Big Buddha



Nice carvings


Samui's mermaid


Not too sure about this though ?


More temples at another complex


The 1st. They all are built on water


No 2



No 3. very cool




Awesome carvings


By then we were all templed out so time for some food.
Got back to the hotel and checked out the night life at Chaweng.
Not too bad  : )


Caught the ferry back the next morning




Nice place to chill onboard


AC room  is also provided


Leaving the ferry we proceded to Hat Yai


Somewhere  past Phattalung


Reached Songkla


In the main street of Hat Yai



Found a decent hotel for only 600Bhat/night


Ok parking


View from my room


After a quick shower we went to see the sights


Hat yai's sleeping Buddha


Another temple in the complex


From there we visited the floating market where this caught our eye.


Closer...... fried grubs


Crickets


? maggots .....yummy


The floating market proper.






After resting the night we were up early to find breakfast


Nice restaurant. Malaysian food avaliable and halal


After checking out we took a nice ride to the border and back home.



Overall we got to see Koh Samui and Hat Yai  and the experiences along the way made the trip richer and more fulfilling.
A great ride.
Cheers




                                                           

9 comments:

  1. nice ride bro.. wah Han start loving riding over border already lah.. haha

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  2. Thanks bro . Ride ni Han jadi tuan tanah lagi bro. Otai ni : )

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  3. Thanks for the ride bro..
    Akihiro - Griffin racun aku tuu..haha

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  4. @Han - Ride memang best bro . thank you : )
    Lepas ni mana pulak hahahaha

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  5. You jadik tuan tanah pulak bro..i folo :D

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  6. @Han - arite bro , nanti kita bincang baik2 ; )

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  7. Ride ni last minit plan sis. nanti i roger bila ride lagi : )

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  8. Thailand before the start of the fasting month. Initially we planned to ride to Hat Yai and back but after some discussion

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