Five Armies Day 2: Khao Lak - Chumphon, Thailand

Heyya..

I woke up early in the morning at Khao Lak to have a walk and watch the sunrise on the beach. The weather was warmer than yesterday as we had a rainy day from Krabi to Khao Lak. Today, we were hoping a hot and sunny day.

As i was walking back to the hotel, i met the guys who just arrived at the hotel's coffee house and were getting a table for breakfast, facing the swimming pool. They have already packed their luggage and ready to check-out after the breakfast.

We checked-out the hotel, kept our luggage in our panniers and ready to ride. Our journey today took us from Khao Lak to Chumphon for almost 300 km via the beautiful Route 401...

We visited Tsunami Museum since we were in Khao Lak.. Khao Lak was one of the worst places being hit by a massive tsunami in 2004..

We continued our journey to Chumphon via Route 4 and joined Route 401 after passing Takua Pa town. Although Route 401 is only 130 km, it has amazing curves and scenery. The corners are medium and long, therefore they really suit for huge and heavy Harley baggers to take corners from 3rd and 5th gear.

I let the guys to right in front of me and let them enjoying the curves with freedom. Obviously Otai and Najib NJ already far at the front and cannot be seen. They must be really enjoying the curves. 

Passing the breathtaking Ratchaprapha Dam was spectacular. The 130 km of Route 401 ends near Surat Thani and there is a Caltex petrol station, which is our meeting point.

We finally reached the end of Route 401 and we joined Route 41 heading the North towards Chumphon. We had our lunch along the Route 41. Chumphon district is very notorious with rain and it rains almost every day throughout the year. We had an incident where Fauzan could not stop his bike at the traffic light (which turned to red) as he was approaching it. The road was slippery and he could have either locked his front & rear tires and fall OR just ride through the traffic light. He was lucky as the motorists on the other side saw Fauzan could not stop on time and they decided not to move, letting Fauzan passed the junction. Phewwww..

We finally reached Chumphon town at 2.00 pm.. We passed Chumphon Train Station and headed to A-Te Hotel. A-Te Hotel is located in the middle of Chumphon town and next to night market.

A-Te Hotel is a Harley Davidson friendly hotel which the hotel management allowed us to park in front of the hotel entrance and we received a warm welcome from the hotel manager. Our rooms were very clean and spacious facing the swimming pool.

 

 We had an excellent dinner by the beach and came back to the hotel for a night swim at the pool..

Our journey took us from Khao Lak to Chumphon for almost 300 km via the beautiful Route 401... We could have gone through Ranong but we just could not resist the medium and long sweeping corners on our heavy Harley Davidson baggers.

Continue reading:
Five Armies Pre-Ride : KL - Khao Lak - Chumphon - Koh Samui - KL
Five Armies Day 1 : KL - Khao Lak, Phang Nga
Five Armies Day 2 : Khao Lak - Chumphon, Thailand
Five Armies Day 3: Chumphon - Koh Samui


HooRahh!!

Five Armies Day 1: KL - Khao Lak, Phang Nga

Heyya,

I am posting a post-ride report with the Five Armies back in Year 2013. You can see our bikes were still stock standard at that time.
Click the link: Pre Ride Five Armies : Khao Lak - Chumphon - Koh Samui

We left RnR Rawang Petronas at 3.00 am to Malaysia-Thailand border. We reached the border at about 7 am after we have insured our bikes in Thailand and had a light breakfast.

It was on Thursday and we managed to clear Thai Immigration and Customs before 8 am and headed straight to Krabi for Brunch. Crossing the borders on weekdays is recommended as the queue is short and not crowded with tourists.

The guys were not used riding in the early morning and didn't have enough of sleep as they were excited for the trip. So along Route 41, we stopped at Amazon Cafe PTT in Patthalung for coffee. I always stop at this Amazon Cafe, which is located before intersection of Route 41 & Route 4.



We took Route 4 heading to Trang and headed to Route 4046. I really love using Route 4046 from Trang to Krabi because there are many amazing corners along the 56 km route. It gave the boys some freedom and joy.

We reached Ao Nang, Krabi at 11 am and had brunch by the roadside stalls. The boys were amazed that they could reach Krabi within 6 hours from Kuala Lumpur. Mind you that this trip was their first trip crossing Malaysia border and riding in Thailand.

After the brunch and few Ao Nang beach photoshoot, we returned to the road for Khao Lak, Phang Nga which was 160 km away.

We arrived at Briza Beach Resort at 2.00 pm.. The ride from Krabi to Khao Lak took us nearly 2 hours as rain was pouring on us heavily. Harley Davidson Dunlop tires do not have grip on slippery Thai road. Many Harley riders have had accidents due to the slippery road.

The boys really love Briza Beach Resort in Khao Lak. The hotel has 2 separate buildings; Beach Room and Pool Room. We booked the new Pool Room as we can jump straight to the huge swimming pool from our balcony.

In the evening, we went to the beach, watching the sunset at Andaman sea and went for dinner in Khao Lak small town.

On Day 1, we rode nearly 1,000 km ride from Kuala Lumpur within a day. A big salute to these guys for riding this far on their first ever trip to Thailand with great riding spirit! 

It was their first longest ride ever.. HooRahh!!

Continue reading: 

Five Armies Pre-Ride : KL - Khao Lak - Chumphon - Koh Samui - KL

Five Armies Day 1 : KL - Khao Lak, Phang Nga

Five Armies Day 2 : Khao Lak - Chumphon

Five Armies Day 3: Chumphon - Koh Samui