Golok to Betong - Don't tell my mother

11 - 13 Feb 2011

Yes....less than a week after coming back from Phi Phi, I am up again, this time towards the restive South of Thailand. There's still ongoing conflict between the predominantly Kelantan speaking Thai Muslim and the Government. Heavy military presence has limited the skirmishes into small pockets though it is definitely still there. Does add to the already heightened  sense of adventure.

It's a pretty big group of 14 bikes and 1 4x4, so there's some sense of safety in numbers, plus I'm on the cheapest bike, so if we do get kidnapped I'm hoping they'll hold the rest for ransom and send me back(small value fry) to inform the family and Government...haha.

Assembled in BHP at 7.30am

Going up Golok

Last fuel stop before crossing into Thailand. I'm pretty chuffed to do a total 370km before refilling in Pkln Hulu.

Rantau Panjang-Golok holds the distinction of being the 4th border that I've crossed into Thailand on my bike, and I just realised that I've not entered into Thailand and cross back to Malaysia via the same border. This trip, go in Golok and come out Betong, last trip enter Wang Kelian and cross back Padang Besar. Though this time abit notti la, didn't declare the bike with customs before entering...haha.

Rantau Panjang

It's been more than 10 years since I was last in Golok and was pleasantly surprised to see the city has not turned into some abandoned cowboy town. I guess it did for a while as there were numerous bombings in 2003/04.

We're in Golok

Golok at night

No tuk tuks here, but plenty of kapchai taxi

The good thing about being in this part of Thailand is that 1. They speak Kelantan, so can (probably) understand em 2. Never worrying where to find halal food.

Rolling out after b'fast

I'm attaching the map though it may not be exact but it'll give you an idea of the route. 

View Larger Map

As this is an exploratory route there we're occasions that we had to double back, but that's all part of the fun. The army checkpoints adds to the thrill. You can see that they have no idea what the hell is going on here when a bunch of big bikes came rolling through. We pretty much went through each and every one without a hitch and amazingly my limited Thai came in handy at these checkpoints. None of the soldiers are local, so you can throw speaking Kelantan out of the window. I just told them where we were from and where we're headed to and that pretty much seals the deal for us. 

Not sure whether the army actually allows it due to sensitivity but being the cam whores that we are, we took the opportunity to snap photos with them and the soldiers happily oblige as well. 

Soldier may be smiling but Capt was actually employing his Jedi death grip handshake to get us through.

Go Betong....stutter stutter...big motorsai....stutter stutter....pls don't hurt us

Me: That's a pretty necklace
Soldier: I think you need a tight slap

Group photo

Some sections of the road are unpaved though it's hardpacked earth so that pretty much is a non issue for our bikes. What I found surprising going through these roads and passing by villages is how life goes on as normal over here. Shops and schools are open as usual, kids are playing by the roadside. It didn't give that uneasy feeling that may accompany in knowing that you're riding through troubled areas. The locals that we met were friendly and helpful and the food was aroi (that's delicious in Thai).

Regardless where you are, kids will always be curious

Kids from a religious school

We tried to go off the beaten track as well by using trail roads, after all that's what a DP bike is for, though as I was to painfully find out, there are limitations to what the bike can do. One of the proposed trail was definitely not suitable for big bikes, it's a steep climb with rocks and deep ruts that just makes it all very tough.

Husref put on knobbies for the occasion 

Didn't look that tough at first

Bike: Allo boss.....kenot la...

Though in order to satisfy our "off roadin" desires, Capt took us through a loop 20km out of Bannang Sata enroute to the 410 to Betong. Though not much of a trail left, I think it was only about 7km compared to when Capt came 3 months ago. Most of the trail is now paved.

This gravel road will disappear soon

Group photo of those crazy people.

We made it to Betong just as night falls, so it's a brilliant 300km ride. Some sections of the road reminded me of the curves in North Thailand, and I definitely missed that. This ride is a good learning experience as not many has done it. I would definitely want to do it again.

Note: 90% of the pics courtesy of Capt. Nik

2011 First Farkle - Suspension

It's 2011 and I have clocked 23,000km on the bike in 6 months.....and you thought that I'd leave the bike alone huh? Well fat chance. 

OK confession time, normally this is where you'll hear lines such as:

A) "my riding has improved and I feel that my suspension is not keeping up" or 

B) "I feel I need to make the change in order to feel more of what the tyres and the bike is doing"

as means and/or justification for the change.

Let me just say it straight.....that's just utter rubbish. The truth is, I have little(if any and if I'm feeling generous towards myself) or no skills whatsoever and as such decided to plonk on an aftermarket rear shocks to assist in keeping the bike upright. If you've never heard of YSS Suspension you can check them out here.

YSS vs stock....it's beefier

All CNC'd nicely

Nice rebound adjustment vs stock

Straight out of the box, you can see that it's well constructed and machined, the pistons and springs are larger vs stock which means it'll take longer to heat up and faster to cool down when it's working hard. You can only adjust the preload and rebound rate, there's no compression adjustment, though that's fine with me, cause the more I can adjust the higher the chances for me to screw it up.

I managed to install this in time for my Golok-Betong ride (report coming up later), and my first impression is that it feels firmer than stock though at no time was the ride hard or jarring. It did take me a while to tweak the settings as I had my panniers on, but once I got it right it was saaaweeeet!

Definitely happy with the first farkle of the year.

Phi Phi - To the beach we go.

1st Feb to 8th Feb 2011.

Hardly a month after coming back from my tour of Indochina I am back in Thailand. I didn't hit any beach on the previous trip as my visa ran out, so definitely something that I've got to rectify. Rode up with Husref and Shahrin as they've been to Phi Phi on a number of occasions. 

We crossed into Thailand via Wang Kelian this time, as we're taking the road that hugs the coast. 

We stayed in Ao Nang and not surprising given that it's the Chinese New Year hols there's a lot of Malaysians there. They come in all sorts, be it bikes(kapchai's included), cars, vans and buses. The next day we made our way to Krabi in order to park our bikes and catch the ferry to Phi Phi.

We looked like real goofballs as we've packed our gear into the bags, so yeah kids, a word of warning, "these stunts are performed by trained professionals and should never be attempted on your own".

I knew that silly hat would be handy.....

It takes about an hour and a half to reach there so there's plenty of time to absorb the sun and catch some zzzzzs.

noice....very noice..

It's quickly apparent once on the island that it's "farang" galore. Generally young and generally hot....wash eyes maximus.

Narrow streets lined up with restaurants and guesthouses

Famous donut lady....didn't try any though.

Phi Phi is like a 2nd Sweden.

OK Phi Phi is totally unlike the other parts of Thailand that I've travelled to. 1st thing that strikes me is that, it's not cheap, so be warned. A fried rice with chicken can set you back 120baht, so a "simple" meal here can easily cost you RM18 - 20. Along with accommodation, you should set aside RM150-200 a day.

There's a lot of lazing around during the day, just chilling by the beach, taking a nap or go for a massage. It's the night time that it comes alive with all the parties, either at the bars or the beach, and it can go on till the wee hours of the morn. After a couple of late nights my "I sleep at 10pm" ass was begging for mercy. What to dooo you're not young anymore......

I'd definitely recommend the sunset cruise if you're here. It starts at 2pm and takes you to a few places for sightseeing, snorkeling, canoeing and some beach football and get's back by 7 after witnessing a brilliant sunset. Good way to spend the day I say.

We left Phi Phi on Saturday and rode our bikes into Hat Yai for the night before crossing the border the next day. I was supposed to continue touring on my own before hooking up with some guys in Golok, but unfortunately there was a gasket leak on my bike. It's not major nor is it a show stopper, though I'd feel more at ease to sort that one out before heading back up for the Golok-Betong ride.

Music to My Ears

Some of the rides that I was on took so long that without music I'd probably have driven off a cliff. We're talking about ass numbing 10 hrs in the saddle at times. So after 2 mths of continuos use and abuse, my Ipod shuffle decided to pack it. The battery just doesnt hold the charge anymore, so it's dead after 5 songs, ....while warming up the bike.

On one hand I'm saddened though on the other there's a quiet relief. Have a look at the pic and you'll understand. Ok, I know I may never recover from revealing this, though in the interest of transparency here goes....

I know.....I know.....twist my nipple and call me sissy. 

My Ipod is pink and not just any mundane normal run of the mill pink, we're talking hawt, hawt pink here ok. I'm guessing it'll not do me any good to tell you guys that I got it for free right? I'm not gonna even try. Anyways, it's now dead and I already got myself a replacement.

In my effort to salvage some?....a bit?.....ok ok, a tiny speck of dignity, I've plonked big money, and we're talking mucho moolah here, to the tune of RM179 for a new silver/gray with black dials Ipod shuffle. 

All of a sudden I feel I'm 6 feet tall..............ya right!

Indochina(Thailand) - Post No 28: Statistical Summary

The beginning - captured in Sg.Pulai

As you can guess, I'mmmmmm back! and the first thing I did was to have Mamak food. OooOooh yeah! come to Papa you glorious and fattening teh tarik and roti telur. Me love and miss you longgg time. Though, I had to pay the price for abandoning my fave foods for 2 months, as the next day I suffered one of the worst food poisoning case ever. It's like they were saying, OooOOoo leave us for Tomyam eh? Fallen in love with food with lime leaves eh? Khun this, khun that eh? Khap here and there eh? Well take this! diarrhea and vomiting inducing curry....Attack!!!

I shall spare you the details coz pretty it ain't.

Anyways, I thought I'd just do a statistical wrap up of the trip for future reference.

1. No of Days : 51

2. No of Countries : 5

    i. Thailand - 6,500km

    ii. Cambodia - 500km

    iii. Vietnam - 2,700km

    iv. Laos - 1,100km

    v. Burma (minus bike)

3. Total mileage: 11,500km

4. Fuel stats

    i. No of fillups : 48

    ii. Total spent: USD497.00

    iii. USD/km: 0.043

    iv. Thailand avg/lit: US1.19

    v. Laos avg/lit: US1.17

    vi. Cambodia avg/lit: US1.16

    vii. Vietnam: US0.88 (mostly RON92)

    viii. Most expensive: US1.32/lit at Hat Lek, crossing from Thailand to Cambodia

5. Avg spent on accommodation: RM50

   i. The most expensive was 1000baht which we shared, so still worked out to RM50 per person. 

   

If anyone needs to know more feel free to drop me a mail.

The end - taken in Hartamas