Koh Phi Phi, Thailand

Koh Phi Phi, Thailand (19/5/2010)
Heyya,

Currently i'm in Koh Phi Phi, staying on the island for 4 days... the initial plan was to go to koh Kradan had to be canceled due to less travelers going to Koh Kradan during the low season...

Hence I took a boat to Koh Phi Phi on Monday from Koh Lanta, after staying 1 night at Ananda Lanta Resort... the bike is parked at Ananda Resort...

Amazingly, when i was riding along a narrow lane in Koh Lanta, there was a guy looking at me and saying "HooRahh!!"... i wonder if he's seen my blog..

I will be coming back to KL on Thursday without staying 1 night in Koh Lanta... the boat to koh lanta will be departing at 11.30 am and reaching at 1.00 pm... then i will put up my riding gears and ride back to KL without stopping for a night stay... i reckon i would be arriving at KL at 9.00 pm, depending how busy Malaysia-Thai Border Control will be.. it's gonna be a long trip and the ride in the afternoon will give me more time to rest tonight and get enough sleep..

I have been partying every night at Koh Phi Phi.. it's amazing to party every night here...  hahahaaa..

will upload photos once i'm back...

HooRahh!!

Ride: Koh Kradan, Thailand (Few hours before departing)

Heyya...

As usual, it is a practice for me to write the blog few hours before i start riding...

The destination is Koh Kradan, Thailand... Koh Kradan is situated in Andaman Sea, West Coast of Thailand.. it is an amazing and beautiful island... i have been to Koh Kradan in March 2010 but it was only a 2-hour visit by having a simple Thai lunch on the island during an island-hopping tour..

This time, i will have full of fun on Koh Kradan for 4 days... i have not made any room reservations in Koh Kradan yet.. Currently, it is a Low Season in most Thailand beaches... Hence, most of the hotels will be 50% cheaper...


Also, i will be staying 1 night in Koh Lanta to celebrate my friend's birthday (Nicole from Switzerland)..


I will be leaving at 3 o'clock in the morning.. the distance is 800 km from Kuala Lumpur and it takes approximately 7 hours to reach Koh Lanta..


On Monday, i will park my bike at Ananda Lanta Resort and catch a boat to Koh Kradan and i shall be back on Thursday (20th May)..

So it's time to start packing and get the bike ready to be ridden... Oh by the way, CHELSEA HAVE WON DOUBLE!!!


HooRahh!!

Koh Samui, Thailand (Part 2)

Heyya..

After my mates have left to Phuket, i really wanted to explore Koh Samui more... but first, i had to check out from the previous hotel and moved to a better one... the reason why i moved to a better hotel because the previous hotel room was very old and the bathroom was not very clean... The new hotel is called Chaweng Palace Hotel.. it is a new hotel and the hotel lady gave me a further 60% discount on the room, which turned to be 600 Baht per night... it definitely has a beautiful room, equipped with LCD TV and very clean bathroom...

After getting bored with Chaweng Beach, i went to Lamai Beach.. Lamai Beach is located 10 km from Chaweng Beach...

Upon reaching Lamai, the beach looks nice and beautiful... but as i got closer to the beach, i felt the sand is coarse, sea water is not as clear as i thought... it is cloudy with logs and rubbish.. in fact, the sea bed is quite steep and the waves are strong... Hmmm... what a disappointment... it's time to leave this beach..


Anyway, Lamai is famous for its bars and pubs in the evening... there are hundreds of girls working at these bars, great for those who are looking for bar entertainment & extra fun.. haha ;-p




So i left Lamai Beach and started to search for a better beach... as i was riding along the winding Samui road, i saw a small bay which is hidden between the hills and trees... i rode few times to find the entrance of the bay...

HooRahh!! Finally, i found it!!! 

Met couple of new friends from Norway, Finland and Switzerland.. they are very friendly and spent most of the evening at their home, drinking and checking out youtube clips...

Hanne had a swimming mattress which is so brilliant as it also can be a floating bar... it is her 2nd swimming mattress as the previous mattress was punctured by a little crab... eventually, the 2nd mattress got punctured by little kids.. hehehe..

I spent the rest of the day on the beautiful, gorgeous and peaceful small bay...

Later that evening, i had a lovely Thai beef noodle soup... the clear broth was so yummMMMmmy...











One the next day, went to the small bay as early as 9.00 am... started to have lots of Chang as it was sold at the bay resort for 30 Baht per bottle.. fookin' Cheap!!!

By the way, drinking Chang at 9.00 am??? That's what i call, Breakfast of Champions.... hahaha

Spent the rest of the day again with my european friends... Later in the evening, i had dinner with 2 lovely Swiss girls, Nicole and Tanja.. then we continued to have big pint of Chang at Duke Pub (along Chaweng Street) which had live-band... totally a wicked night to be remembered!!!

I love Koh Samui so much... especially the beautiful bay a.k.a. "hidden paradise"... i will not ever mention the name of the hidden paradise.. the location is always in my mind..

i will definitely be going to Koh Samui again and also exploring Koh Phangan and Koh Tao (from Chumpon)...

Had to leave to Hatyai on the next day... i was only 3 minutes late to catch the 9.00 am Seatran Ferry... hmmm... Blaming myself for having too much of Chang and fun the night before... haha...

But i managed to get the 10.00 am ferry and reached Don Sak at 11.15 am... headed straight to Hatyai via the East Coast (Hua Sai, Ranot and Songkhla) and reached Hatyai at 2.00 pm..

HooRahh!!

Update: Metzeler Sahara Enduro 3

Heyya..

It's time to update some parts of the KLR 650..

After almost 18,000 km of mileage clocked, the front Metzeler Sahara 3 rear tire looks pretty soft and there is only almost 50% tread left.. I guess i can ride safely for another 5,000 km with this front tire..

Whilst the rear tire needed to be changed, most probably only 20% of tire tread left... hence, i changed only the rear tire to a new Metzeler Sahara 3 Enduro... it costs RM320.00 only for the rear tire at Sunny Cycle, KL..

With 18,000 km of mileage done, the tires have served me very well... the performance is much better, more comfortable, smoother than the Standard Dunlop tires and they reduce the high speed wobble significantly... I would totally recommend the Metzeler Sahara Enduro 3 for those who travel long distance a lot!!!

HooRahh!!

Ride: Kuala Lumpur - Koh Samui, Thailand (Part 1)

Kuala Lumpur - Koh Samui, Thailand (7/4/2010)

Heyya..

It's been 1 week since i came back from Koh Samui.. it's about time to update the blog...

There were 4 riders went to Koh Samui.. Me (Kawa KLR650), Doc Holiday (BMW GS1200), Piee (Suzi DR Big) and Bard (Yam Fazer)...

Left from KL to Koh Samui at 0600 hours on Wednesday morning (7th April 2010).. Reached Malaysia-Thailand Border Control at 1000 hours and entered Dannok, Sadao... Had a brunch at a Thai restaurant.. it was a simple brunch...

Left Dannok and at 200 meters from Hatyai Highway 4 Interchange, there was a massive traffic jam... all roads were blocked by the traffic police as some Thai VIPs were visiting Hatyai city.. we were stranded in the traffic for almost 1 hour... (1 hour of riding lost equals to 140 km of travel distance)..

An hour later, we headed to Phatthalung on Highway 4 and continued on Highway 41 towards Thung Song.. Upon reaching Thung Song, we joined Route 403 which led us to Nakhon Si Thammarat..

To avoid from entering the buzz of Nakhon Si Thammarat city, we used Route 4103 as its city by-pass.. the Route 4103 joins with Route 401 and led us to Don Sak harbour...

At Don Sak harbour, the ferry ticket costs 240 Baht per person + big bike for One-Way.. it takes 1 and a half hour to reach to reach Koh Samui, depending on the sea current.. The ferry, Seatran Ferry, has air-conditional lounge, cafe, foot massage service and open-air seating area on the upper deck.. it seems most travelers would prefer to use Seatran Ferry than Raja Ferry... mind you, Seatran ferry can be crowded sometimes...

As we reached Koh Samui at 1600 hours, the island is smaller than Langkawi Island in Malaysia... the streets are small which suitable for mopeds, ridden mostly by tourists... we headed straight to Chaweng Beach, which is located opposite side of the island (East)... it took us almost 30 minutes to reach Centara Bay Hotel @ Chaweng Beach from the harbour...

In the evening at Chaweng Beach, it is not a great spot to watch sunset as the beach is on the east side of the island.. I noticed during the evening, there are many locals having picnics at Chaweng Beach... it is a good opportunity to meet the locals and ask for hints where to have meals at local restaurants at good prices...

On the next day, i spent most of the time at the Chaweng beach... trying hard to get sun tan as much as possible.. hehe

During the afternoon, i decided to explore the island more... hence, i took a ride to the View Point (highest peak of a cliff which oversees Chaweng Beach)...

snapped couple of photos and headed to Hin Ta Hin Yai (Grandfather stone and grandmother stone)... it is a popular tourist attraction of Koh Samui... basically, the two rocks look like genitals and they are located only just few meters away from each other...

After dinner, i decided to explore the Chaweng Pub Street...

At the end of the street, there's a joint called Reggae Bar... after 11 pm, the club gets crowded mostly with beautiful tourists... ;-P

On the next day, i moved to a different hotel, Chaweng Palace... while the rest, Doc Holiday, Piee & Bard have left to Phuket for Phuket Bike Week... hence, i was at Koh Samui by myself for the next 3 days... hehehe..  Oowieeee!!!

Total journey from Kuala Lumpur to Koh Samui is approximately 900 km via Nakhon Si Thammarat and it took us almost 6.5 hours to reach Don Sak (including lunch break) and additional of 1.5 hours to reach Koh Samui via ferry...



HooRahh!!!