Thailand is an hour behind Malaysia, so getting up early means I’m still an hour behind what I was doing a week ago, just to beat the heat. So, I’ll really have to be up early here ! Having said that, yesterday and today were overcast, so the heat hasn’t been an issue.
Breakfast was a few kms along, from a roadside goodies stall. I call it ‘breakfast surprise’, because you get a bag and load it with goodies that are laid out on a table. I have no idea what I’m getting, as sweet and savoury items all look similar to me. All went well today though. Very happy with my choice, even though it was nothing like what I thought I chose.
The morning was full of stunning karst scenery and quiet wide roads. The people here are as friendly as their Malaysian neighbours, so there were lots of waves and smiles and hellos. The riding was easy and safe. There were few hills, but even they were scenic.
I’ve noticed that as I’ve gone further north, the islamic influence has reduced. This was more pronounced today, and there was a large Wat just outside Trang.
As I approached Trang, I had 10-20kms of roadwork which was getting tedious until I spotted a Cafe Amazon (I’ve heard about them) and stopped for a decent coffee.
I took the 404 nearly the whole way today.
I stopped at Stegadon Caves but there was nobody there, and it looked like tourists hadn’t been here for quite some time. It’s clear that the country is reopening (from the tourist perspective) after being dormant through Covid. It’s been obvious all the way from Singapore, that things aren’t yet back to normal, and that quite a number of businesses have yet to return, if they ever will.
I still don’t have my mojo going for Thailand. The language barrier in this part of the country is profound, and the Thai alphabet means even some roadsigns are unreadable to me. Dinner last night had lots of pointing, sign language and laughing – along with Google Translate. I suspect that is going to be the norm until I sort it out. I really don’t mind that at all, as everyone is helpful and happy.
I’m trying to plan tomorrow’s ride. Krabi is 125kms from here, and I really don’t want to go that far – but there’s not much in between (more research required though). I think that once I’m past Krabi, it will be much easier, as there are more places to see and the distances are less. Time will tell.