Travel Blogging Archives - Page 8 of 40

Koh Tao to Donsak on Geoff’s SE Asia adventure

Posted on March 15, 2014

I left Koh Tao on the 9.45 Catamaran to Koh Samui with a brief stop , to disgorge hundreds of folk, at Koh Phangan. Last night was the full moon festival so i was treated to loud bangs from some humungous bangers in the street below. Fascinating how the kids like this island, a bit like bees around a honey pot & yet I can travel hundreds of miles without seeing any Westerners. I’m fascinated by what makes a place popular and others not..

It started raining at the first stop which was unfortunate as I was sat with my bike on the back deck reading my latest John Grisham download The Racketeer (excellent btw). Interestingly I find it as easy to read on the iPhone5 s as on my Kindle paper white and a hell of a lot easier to hold! With my 10Ah battery I can have the screen & GPS on all day long 🙂 although the Lightening connector is once again on its last legs, this time through corrosion on the ‘gold’ contacts.

On arrival at Koh Samui I didn’t take to the place, it has no real island feel, just seems like the mainland , there was no hope of finding Howard from the Grasshoppers tour so, after the major cloudburst finished, I just cycled around the coast to Nathon where I could get the ferry back to the mainland at Donsak, a hell of a lot cheaper than the Lomprayah Cats as well! just 200 Baht for me & the bike!

I stopped at the first motel place of the ferry, Donsak Resort and a snip at 500 Baht per night. The elderly lady cooked me some egg fried rice in her roadside diner with its smart outdoor bamboo shelters with table & seats.

Tomorrow it’s back on the road crossing over to the middle where at Wiang Sa I have to decide whether to go to the West coast at Krabi or the East coast at Ko Kham

Here is my little ride on Koh Samui

and the photos are here

Chumpon Beach to KohTao Island

Posted on March 15, 2014March 15, 2014

The lovely folks at Grasshopper tours let me hitch a 40minute ride with my bike to the ferry terminal at Chumpon. We made it for the 7am Catamaran service to the East coast islands, their group went to the big island Koh Samui. I opted for the first small island Koh Tao thinking I could then catch the afternoon ferry to Koh Samui

The bike went on the very full Cat OK although taking it almost doubles the price from 600 to 1100 baht! 100minutes later we made a brief stop at Ko Hang Tao to drop of a whole group of folks and there fresh fruit & veg supplies. A quick 12 minute spin across the bay and we were at Koh Tao (Turtle Island). Once I disembarked I bumped into a Brazilian guy who is biking from Hong Kong to Singapore, he recommended avoiding Phuket & going via Krabi down the West coast to Singapore. So many choices, .

Once on the island I decided to bike across to Ao Leuk to get some brunch, Wow what a steep hill! On the way back I struggled to push the bike up the hill! However, I had lovely Thai vegetable green soup & rice. Arriving back in the town I went to book my ticket to be told the afternoon ferry was full 🙁 So I’m leaving on the 9.00am today

I ended up, after a fruitless hour searching for the Jom Thong Guesthouse, including falling off the bike in the fine sand 🙁 In the end I decided on the Cafe del Sol Guesthouse in the village centre run by one the many French people on the island. Nice room but the usual dodgy internet connection.

I treated myself to another pedicure, manicure & foot massage, with the lady using a stick for the first time over here. Not the best but OK for £12

The pictures of the day are here

and the Strava for the short hop over the island is on Strava here:

Baan Grood to Chumpon Beach on Geoff’s SE Asia tour

Posted on March 13, 2014September 12, 2016

I managed a really great early start today leaving as the dawn broke just after 6am, the first two hours are bliss, lovely and cool. I stopped for a lovely roadside breakfast in Bang Saphan and then pressed on as today was going to be long due to the distance of 70 miles+, the undulating conditions and most difficult of all THE HEAT!

In Thung Maha I was dying of thirst but, reminding me of Cambodia, there was no where selling cold drinks in the village, so I continued up the hill where I spied a ‘western’ style shop so I pulled in and much to my amazement two English ladies with their Bangkok hire bikes were sat outside! Becky & Julie are doing an independent cycling trip to Phuket, they had also met up with The Grasshoppers previously so we had a good little chat before they set of leaving me to my Sprites 🙂

I bumped into the ladies again at a roadside stall selling water melons, which was handy as one huge melon is too much for me but for 3 is ideal. But my word what an ordeal getting the seller to give me the price! In the end I had to get my notebook (a gift from Sally) out so she could write the price in!

The day got hotter and the hills bigger by the time I reached Pathio I was in danger of overheating! However, a Tesco/Lotus store hoved into view which I dashed into the icy cold AC, cold ice cream & drinks 🙂 when I came out I noticed a Amazon coffee shop so I disappeared into there too for a blueberry smoothies! Delicious and soooo cold.

I bumped into B&J again who were severely overheated! so in my fresh state I kept going. As I was cycling along the beachside in Chumpon beach, trying to find somewhere to stay, who should shout me but The Grasshopper group from yesterday! They had only ridden 60km or so and then travelled in the van. However, they had seen trained monkeys collecting coconuts 🙂 So I joined them at the Chumphon Cabana Resort

Imagine my surprise when at dinner Becky & Julia joined us so 3 customers had garnered 3 leeches 🙂

Tomorrow I’m off to the islands probably ending up in Ko Sameui before continuing the cycling from Don Sak

Here is todays 70 mile Strava

and a few photos here

Biking from Kuiburi to Baan Grood on Geoff’s SE Asia tour

Posted on March 12, 2014June 13, 2015

I left the Kuiburi Hotel & Resort in a bit of a huff & rage at their incompetence, so I never had the breakfast I ordered due to the ‘urgent’ call from reception asking me to attend to the fact I had partaken of a beer & crisps from my room – I couldn’t face going back to the breakfast room as I was convinced any omelette would have come stuffed with ham anyway.

So it was almost 7am before I hit the road 🙁 my back tyre still had a slow puncture so once I arrived in Prachuap Khiri Khan I endeavoured to find a fixer, but I was out of luck so I pumped it up and kept going. A bit later I found a moped garage in the countryside who found the problem was a leak at the base of the valve so impossible to repair with normal patches, but maybe the liquid stuff would have worked? So I had to use one of my precious new inner tubes, we also discovered the back tyre is in dire need of replacing after only 1,600 miles 🙁

Whilst cycling along an unavoidable section of the dreaded Highway 4 I happened upon a small group of slackpackers travelling with Grasshoppers cycling tours during one of their regular breaks. Seen , their leader, guide, translator invited me along with them, so I thoroughly enjoyed my next few hours with Howard, Kevin & Heather as we stopped for lunch and had cold water breaks with their backup van. We arrived at the delightful Baan Grood Arcadia Resort with me cycling just under 65 miles. In the evening we had a glorious spread on the beach tables, where Howard treated me to a beer 🙂 🙂 So a great ending for the day.

The Strava is here:

and the pictures here