Day 4 #B.E. Surat Thani - Chumphon - Hua Hin : 500KM Worth of Poorly Patched Roads

Today's ride is gonna be a longer one, with close to 500KM to cover from Surat Thani to Hua Hin, hence I was up an ready at the first light of dawn with my eyes barely half open.

My alarm sets off at 5:30am daily, but oh.. how tempting it is to hit the snooze button! I can't allow myself to say "5 more minutes" because we know, it's NEVER 5 minutes. LOL. The next time I really wake up, I'd wake up in shock because I'm darn late already.

Haven't we all been there before? Haha.

When you move off early, you'll reach your destination earlier. Also, you give yourself a bit of allowance for small detours to explore places that may not be in your planned itinerary.

I headed towards Hua Hin, passing Chumphon first.

It was a gorgeous morning, with flowers in full bloom that lined the smooth, well paved roads.

But this lasted only for the first 80KM.

Road condition started to worsen, with very uneven tarmac patches everywhere. Heavy duty vehicles travel a lot of this route, so much that their weight have caused the tarmac to sink in. There are quite a lot of cracked roads an pot holes too, some deep enough to potentially cause damage to the rims.

Credits to qnews

This was almost all the way to Hua Hin, which was about 420KM? Man, it was really uncomfortable. Though my baggage was tightly strapped on, all the non stop bumps caused it to shift and I had to stop to make sure it wasn't falling off.

At Amazon Cafe

The weather is hot and dry in Thailand, with today's temperature hitting 37 degrees. I only stop for refuel to save time, even skipping lunch. But around 2pm, I had to escape into the only place with air con at the gas station, which is Amazon Cafe, to cool down.

Or just chill under a big shady tree

And dream about jumping into that lake to cool off all the heat. Looks so inviting.

Ok better stop dreaming and continue on my way before it gets late!
On the way to Hua Hin, guess what signage did I see?

In Singapore, we see a left exit to Bishan or Tampines. Here, I see a left exit to Myanmar!
Way too cool that I HAD to take this photo.

It was around 5pm where the sun started to slowly set as I arrived at Hua Hin and rode to the historic Railway Station that is a must-visit for anyone that comes here.

Hua Hin Railway station is one of the oldest in Thailand and is known for the Royal Waiting Room that was designed almost exactly like the Maruekkhathayawan Palace. Want to feel like a royal family member? Step inside, because the waiting room was used to welcome the King of Thailand and his court when they visit the town.

After hitting against all that bumps on the patchy road, avoiding pot holes as much as possible, man, the discs of my spine felt reshuffled, like how you shuffle in Mahjong or something.

Checked into Baan Talay Dao Resort, a place that is surrounded with such lush greenery, and located right on Hua Hin's famous beach, where the Thailand Royal family built their very own villas there too. That was when Tourism here flourished ever since.

Time to unwind by the beach, again, with the sky painted nicely in pink, and two tall glasses of fruit smoothies to quench that thirst. Can't wait for all the activities happening tomorrow in, Bangkok!






[Singapore.Malaysia.Thailand.]
[Mileage Clocked: 2,002KM]
[Weather/Temperature: Sunny/37°C]
[Terrain: Road/Poor Tarmac/Patchy/Bumpy]


Next stop: Bangkok, Thailand