ToST III - Part 6

Songkhla-bound..

We've been on the road for five days.
From Pak Khlong, we have clocked-in at least 190km.
That's another 56km to go when we hit Songkhla, a port town East of Hat Yai.
Michelle and I had enough rest from the previous night and we made arrangements to leave Sathing Phra at 05:30am.
Trying to take advantage of the cooler weather at the break of dawn.
With the lights mounted, we rode off to route 408 and slowly made our way to the Ban Ngam Muang intersection.
There is a PTT petrol station here with a 7Eleven convenience store. The toilets here too are pretty clean.
I told Roger about this, but he was unsure. 
We did the ride on the reverse route last year and took a break near Ngam Muang before heading off to Sathing Phra and Ranot.
The only difference that I notice was a new Tesco Lotus Express convenience store and the 7Eleven on route 408.

Leaving with pleasant memories at Sathing Pura resort..

Sin, riding his Dahon Speed P8

Nasi kerabu surprise!

After asking around, we learned that there are makan stalls at the Ngam Muang beach area.
So, we rode in and discovered a row of makan places owned by Thai Muslims.
One of them, a man in his mid-50s spoke to me in Malay. 
I responded and he uttered a few words in Broken Malay. Later, he said he had worked in Johor and Singapore.
We watched the activity at the stall and noticed that a lady was serving the Thai version of the nasi kerabu.
So, I wasted no time in ordering a plate and so did Michelle.
The fare was very decent and after a good fill, we proceeded back on the 408 towards Songkhla.

Nasi kerabu

The breakfast crowd

At Ban Ngam Muang

The ferry crossing

We weren't too far from the Songkhla bay ferry crossing from the Ban Ngam Muang intersection.
Slowly, we gained speed and rolled down towards the Tinsulanond bridge junction. It's actually further to travel down the bridge rather than taking the ferry crossing. We save at least 20km as the crossing leads straight into Songkhla town.
So, the group that was ahead waited at the junction and as soon as we regrouped, we rode to the ferry crossing.
This takes place every 15-minutes as commuters with their vehicles make their way across the sea.
For bicycles, there is no charge for using the ferry.
We boarded the ferry and enjoyed the brief ride across the Songkhla bay.
My mission was to locate a place to stay for the night and we are running at a small budget of 450 baht per night.

Entering the Songkhla Bay

On the ferry enroute to Songkhla town

Thumbs up: Nearing the last leg of the tour

Hunt for a cheap stay...

I remember riding past a cheap motel along the road to Queen's Hotel during ToST 1.
But I can't put the place together on my head as it was just pieces of recalled memories.
We made our way towards the edge of Songkhla town and could not locate the place, so, I signaled for U-turn back towards town.
Some 200-meters down the road, there was Thai signboard with the tell-tale 24-hours signage indicating that its a motel with vacancy. We checked it out and it has a large room with working air-conditioning.
Further down the road, we checked out two other places and settled for the first one called TJ resort. It has WiFi connection, air-conditioning but no hot shower. Price for a night is 450 baht.
But before we settled-in, Roger led us to his favourite Siew Yuk rice shop across the Green Hotel.
This place serves a decent roasted pork dish as well as Thailand's famous Khao Kha Moo.

Songkhla's finest: The Siew Yuk rice stall

A hearty treat!

Out and about in Songkhla...

Again, some of the guys wanted Thai Massage. 
And they get it.
We set to meet at 03:30pm to take a ride around Songkhla and the deal was to get to Samila beach.
But there was a Beach Volley Ball tournament, so, no tourists were allowed into the area.
I suggested a ride to the Naga monument near the Songkhla Bay area.
We took a ride downtown and followed the lakeside and this led to a security area and a dead end.
An Army sentry stood guard in the sandbag and just when we were making our exit, one of the guys took out his camera.
I told him not to take any shots as photography in Military installations are prohibited. Maybe he had mixed around too much with a bunch of hippies on bikes who doesn't believe in head protection...
Anyway, we rode back onto the path leading to Samila beach and took an offroad course to the Songkhla Bay. It passes by the Aquarium and there is a proper bicycle lane leading to the area.
When we got there, there was a worship area for the legendary Luang Pu Thuad, a figurehead and a monk from the South.
Some of the guys paid their respects and we took snapshots of the Naga head.

At the TJ resort in Songkhla

At the bike lane in Songkhla

The Naga monument

At Samila Beach

Fried rice dinner

Chilling out with some cool ale..

Calling it a night.. 

We rode back to the downtown area after hanging out at the Songkhla Bay.
Light was fading fast as we switched on our lights and rode towards the town area.
We found a stall serving Pad Thai and Pad Khao (fried rice) and settled for a meal there.
After a good fill, we rode back to the motel and bought some beers to celebrate the fifth night of the tour.
Hat Yai is next and we were looking forward to get there..

ToST III - Part 5

The slow ride to Sathing Phra..

We've been plagued with faulty air-conditioning units for the last three nights.
As we moved further away from Thale Noi and Ranot, our luck hasn't changed much.
It was 06:00am and we gathered to roll out towards Sathing Phra, some 40-odd km away from Ranot.
On the first tour, we bypassed this town and headed straight for Ranot from Songkhla, making it more than 100km in terms of distance.
Since the pace is much more relaxed this time, we staged more night stops to see whatever we want to see around the Pak Khlong - Hat Yai loop.
Again, Roger was worried about food, but we didn't have any issues with this as there are ample stalls that are opened on our day of departure.
We found a porridge stall by the roadside, just opposite where the guys had their massage the day before.
And the fare was pretty decent.. We took our fill and proceeded towards route 408 towards Sathing Phra.

Leaving our motel in Ranot

At a temple compound Wat Phra Chedi Ngam

The gang at Wat Nang Lao

Roger, handing over our food ration to an elderly at Wat Nang Lao

Chatting with a teacher from Nakhon Si Thammarat

Mid-way into the ride, we took a break at a temple. Its called Wat Phra Chedi Ngam. There was a market at the Wat's compound and Patric bought some mangoes and served it to the rest of us. 
While we were taking a break, a man came up to Roger and spoke to him. He identified himself as a teacher who came from Nakhon Si Thammarat. We told him that we had been to his hometown and he was quite happy about it. I guess he haven't seen many people riding a folding bike along the route.
Further down the road, I found a nice temple compound and gestured to the rest of the gang to get our pictures taken there.
While I was setting up my gear, an elderly woman came up to us.
She was using a cane and wore no shoes. 
I told Pat to remove the food ration and gave it to her as a good gesture. She was hesitant, but a monk from Wat Nang Lao came up and urged her to receive our token. 
It was a random act of kindness and since we don't need to cook, it was also a blessing in disguise for us.

Hunkering down...

Compared to Ranot, Sathing Phra has at least six resorts facing the sea.
We checked out two and it was fully occupied.
Pat used his DTac Tourist Data and Voice plan to ring up Sathing Pura resort and was told that they have rooms available. 
This lifted our morale and we decided to take a short break near the town's Wind Generator.
There were some stalls nearby as we patronised the outlets for a simple meal and a few bottles of Coca-Cola.
Later, we rode out towards the resort and were shown to our 400 baht rooms.
Again, the Air-con issue plagued us. The only room with a working air-conditioner was Rogers.
From the resort, we rode back into town to get some supplies and beers.
We found a decent shop selling Khao Kha Moo (pork shoulder rice) and ate there.

Arrival at Sathing Phra

A panoramic shot of the Sathing Phra beachfront

Green energy: The wind generator

Pat, feeding live updates with his smartphone

Khao Kha Moo

Chilling out near the wind generator

Master Urban Rider Sin nibbling on a raw chilli pepper

Massage, massage, massage.. 

Prior to our ride out to town, the guys made an arrangement with the resort owner to engage two masseuse.
They came after lunch and got to work.
My wife had her session while I sat at the porch of the resort, sipping a cold can of beer.
Some went to sleep while a few got their rub-down.
While I was waiting for my wife's session to end, the resort owner came and struck a conversation with me.
She told me that her daughter was in Kuala Lumpur on a visit and that she had graduated in Computer Science.
"Do you need a fresh graduate to work with your company?," she asked.
The shy daughter shrugged off her mother's idea and I was told that both mother and daughter will be in Hat Yai to observe a Thai All Soul's Day.
Later in the evening, we rode back to the beach area for some food.
Spare the below-average accommodation, the food in Sathing Phra is just so-so.
We ate at a local restaurant with huts and ordered a few dishes. 
After a good chow-down, we rode back to the resort through the offroad path along the beach. This was really exciting as we made full use of our headlights.

Our room in Sathing Pura resort

The guys, negotiating a rub-down deal

The "Blood Moon" on the beach

We made our way to Pat's room to discuss about the ride to Songkhla which is about some 50km away.
Beers were on Roger this time as we made a recap on the day's ride. 
From this point onwards, we didn't worry too much as there are ample accommodation facilities in Songkhla town.
All we need, was a good rest.

ToST III - Part 1

Touring in Southern Thailand...

We did our first Tour of Southern Thailand from Hat Yai to Patthalung back in August 2013 and continued with the second tour sometime in October the same year.
It took me a few months to plan the third tour, this time, covering a reverse route from Patthalung to Hat Yai.
There was a request to check out the Thale Noi waterfowl sanctuary and we did just that by having a slightly longer stay in this birding paradise.
Then, it dawned on us that the timing fell on the Songkran (Thai New Year) festival.
Roger Teoh, who co-organized the ride had allayed his fear that there will be a possible shutdown on all food and beverage outlets during the festival which is celebrated over a course of a few days all throughout Thailand.

Contingency plans

I suggested to the ToST team members to bring their meal kits.
In addition, I will pack my backpacker's stove and some cooking pots to prepare meals.
The plan was to purchase some supplies in Hat Yai and we kept ourselves updated through our emails.
Initially, there were supposed to be nine people in the group.
Two declined and another had dropped out citing health reasons.
There were suggestions on adding replacements, but I was adamant that the group is already large enough and that we don't need to drag on inexperienced cyclists for this trip.
My colleague Eddie played a key role by securing the KTM Ekspres Langkawi tickets from KL - Hat Yai.
During Songkran, we don't leave anything to chances. So, the tickets were procured way in advance before the trip.
I handed them out to the respective people and gave them the landmark to meet up at the day of departure.

Saying good bye to our pooch

We'll be on the road for a week..

The list

We had Roger Teoh who had toured with us for the third time, Patric Yee, a first-timer, Sin Tai Lim (Happy Happy Cyclist & Blogger) who joined us on his second tour and Andrew Ng who rode with us at the first tour.
At least three of them are experienced and we got along very well.
Roger left a day earlier to scout for accommodation in Thale Noi while Pat took the bus and met up with us in Hat Yai.
We boarded the KTM train which was packed to the brim and headed off Hat Yai. Roger will meet us in Pak Khlong in Patthalung. He managed to book five rooms at the Thale Noi resort where we stayed for two days.

Michelle and our usual seat in coach L7 of the Express Langkawi

The slow and tiring ride to Hat Yai

It takes at least 14 hours to get to Southern Thailand's largest city from Kuala Lumpur. 
We stopped at major train stations along the way.
While waiting to board, I saw an old friend, Tuan Jamal, a national trainer with the Scouting movement. 
We chat a bit and I found out that he was traveling to Nibong Tebal.
He actually took the bunk next to our team members during this trip.
Late in to the night, Jamal melted away and we were prepared to disembark in Padang Besar to get our travel documents stamped by the Thai immigration..

Tuan Jamal at his bunck onboard the coach L8

At Padang Besar, Perlis

Arrival in Hat Yai on the eve of the Songkran festival

Rendezvous with the rest of the team...

We kept in touch via Facebook messenger.
I carried two phones, a primary (HTC One X+) that I use for my official stuff and a secondary (Motorola Moto G) for travel.
We arrived in Hat Yai without a hitch and made arrangements to meet up with Pat who came in on a bus.
After moving the bikes and panniers to a secure spot, I collected 100 baht each from the guys to purchase food rations in case if the shops and eateries are closed.
The guys also requested for a Thai data SIM Card which is sold at the 7-Eleven outlets at 299 baht and upon activation, we get 7 days of data coverage up to 1.5GB.
By the time we got down to the downtown area, the Songkran party was already in full swing. A section of the road was closed for the water festival.

New Year revelers having a go with their water guns during the Songkran fest in Hat Yai

Way I see it, it was more a Malaysian tourist affair in Hat Yai rather than the locals themselves who were really having fun.
The Thai business community took advantage of this to sell waterguns.
After securing the foodstuff and the Thai SIM Cards, we moved back to the station and our guys were already having a small party by themselves there..