Brought together by the passion of our two wheelers, I was so glad to be able to catch up once again with Anniie and her girls from Bikerchicks Thailand right here in the heart of Bangkok.
But before that, was one of my most testing 13-hour ride, 995km away from Bangkok city, starting from Hat Yai..
5:45am
With insufficient sleep since before starting the ride on Day 1 and now pushing on to Day 2 with another 1,000km to clock from Hat Yai to Bangkok, I was trying to stay encouraged and focused despite the fatigue.
Heaven knows I'm still sleepy, so we were greeted with a sprinkle of light passing shower that was pretty refreshing! Woke me up a little bit and the weather remained cool throughout with clouds shielding the sun from us which really helped because you know, the heat of the sun really takes a lot of energy out of you.
Roads were wet but my pair of Pirelli Angel GT never fails to perform as well as it does on dry especially with those pretty wing-shaped thread pattern.
To make the journey for today feel less tiring, I broke it down into the 5 provinces I will pass through into different sections and make a brief stop at each one of them to refuel, refresh and hydrate.
They were:
1) Patthalung
2) Nakhon Si Thammarat
3) Surat Thani
4) Chumphon
5) Prachuap Khiri Khan
Before entering into Bangkok.
Just barely into the first quarter of my journey for today and look how dirty my red baby is! :(
But what concerned me more was riding through the roads to Chumphon because I remembered how badly damaged they were when I rode through it last June on my Suzuki DR200 during my Beyond Everest trip. I recalled it being really uneven and patchy with several pot holes mainly caused by the heavy-duty trucks that pass through it daily.
Thankfully, they fixed majority of it and the roads were pretty OK with just some slight bumps.
Having just water for breakfast, our tummies were grumbling by lunch time and so we decided to stop by some random roadside stalls for some local street food!
I absolutely dig Thai food and Pad krapow Moo (basil minced pork rice) paired with a cup of Chai Yen (thai iced tea) is my all time favourite combo :D I order the same dish almost everywhere I go in Thailand hahaha and never ever get sick of it cuz it's sooo good!
So much that I try to cook it at home back in Singapore but of course, the flavour is abit far off...
The ride continues after that quick yet satisfying lunch, with our average pace of 140km/h slowed down by occasional road works where two-way traffic will have to share a single lane.
Here's when you've already ridden 600km over 7 hours from Hat Yai, you see this really "encouraging" sign reminding you that you still have 400km more to Bangkok, and you start asking yourself why didn't you invest in a good pair of iron underwear....
The struggle to stay awake and focused throughout the ride despite the fatigue is very real. Microsleeping was lurking around the corner, ready to hit anytime and that is dangerous because your judgement on the road will be impaired.
After 11 hours of riding, we finally entered into Bangkok but took another 2 hours to get to the hotel due to the bad peak hour jam in the city. It was so bad that even bikes hardly have any space to lane split.
By the time we reached the hotel, my head was feeling light, my heart beat was pacing a little faster than normal, and boy I was just so so exhausted.. I couldn't feel my arms anymore lol.
But the night has only just begun because I have a date with my lovely ladies from Bikerchicks Thailand and Anniie!
Changed out of my baggy riding gear, took a good clean shower, changed into some fresh clothes and off I went!
Here we are!
At A-List Bar & Bistro in the bustling city of Bangkok, with my girls and their big hot rides! :D
All my fatigue melted away instantly when I met up with them, talking and laughing about this and that, especially Anniie whom I haven't seen in a while since the last time we rode together to Chiang Mai.
Missed Dala this time round because she was caught up with work but we talked for awhile over the phone and will definitely be seeing her soon :)
This girl, Pae, is currently working in Ducati Thailand and she's one lady to watch because she's dead serious about riding! Feel free to look her up if you ever travel to Bangkok :)
Finally got to see Anniie's hot pink BMW S1000RR with is such a darling to ride, and the sound of those exhausts were just sooooooo loud and base-y!
Here with the bubbly bunch of ladies at A-List Bar & Bistro!
Chilling with Pae and just listening to all the touring rides she wants to do gets me so excited for her!
Teddy bear overload!
With Anniie.
When I think of riding to Thailand, I always think of you :)
Thank you for always taking time to meet and catch up even though my time in Bangkok is always so short. Will plan to stay longer next time! And hope you'll come to Singapore soon!
We love riding our bikes and we love taking loaddsss of photos too! Because capturing all these precious moments in print was never a crime ;)
After dinner at A-List Bar & Bistro, we went to pay respects to Thailand's late king. It is because of this great man that Thailand has became where it is today.
Time flies when you're having a really good time with the girls :)
Before we know it, it was close to 1:00am and it's time for me to return to the hotel to catch up on some rest because tomorrow, I'll be doing about 700km in total and entering... Cambodia!!
[Singapore. Malaysia. Hat Yai, Bangkok, Thailand.]
[Mileage Clocked: 2,015KM]
[Weather/Temperature: Mostly Sunny/33°C]
[Terrain: Road/Tarmac]
Next stop: Sihanoukville, Cambodia