13/2/25
It was yet another failed early rising. We couldn’t stop going to sleep at about midnight. Maybe something to do with the jet lag. We finished eating the rest of our delicious tropical fruit and had some coffee. Then the work began. All the panniers were in disarray and needed repacking for the bikes.
It took us about 2 hours to get everything sorted and in their correct(ish) places. We did some minor rearranging as we weren’t going to be needed most of our clothes. It seemed ridiculous that we were still carrying, among other things, -6C sleeping bags, -15C down jackets, -5C jacket/gilet, then all the accessories like gloves and socks for cold weather cycling.
We’d made further contact with Noel, the Irish man travelling to Phuket, and agreed to ask the hotel to keep the bicycle boxes. They gladly obliged without even breaking them down. They stored them in a back room behind reception, hopefully for the next two weeks! We were almost ready and the room was looking quite tidy.
But then we remembered to check the garmin for maps. Jonathan was sure he’d put the data for Thailand on, but no. When it got GPS it only showed a very basic mapping. We quickly grabbed the laptop, installed garmin express, deleted all the Europe maps and started downloading Thailand. 37 mins. That wouldn’t do. We popped the phone on the window sill and enabled 5G. 19 mins. Better. We left it in the room, clock ticking to when we really needed to leave for Rassada harbour.
Everything got lugged downstairs, we loaded up the bikes and were about to leave. But Frankie noticed a rumbling from her front wheel. We dismantled the pannier rack and removed the wheel, and tried turning the hub. It was very stiff to turn. But on the bike it had rotated freely. We didn’t have time to do anything else and quickly reassembled the bike to get on the road.
It was a measly two miles to the harbour. But still it was our first experience of cycling in Thailand. Back on the left hand side of the road and amongst the perfectly friendly scooters. The cars slowed down to anticipate left hand turns, and gave us a wide berth. The only hard thing to get used to was the large digital countdown on the traffic lights that were always preempted such that they started to move with several seconds left.
We passed cheap fruit stalls, only 35 baht a kilo of mangos, and the same for a drinking coconut. We hadn’t come this far out and the prices immediately dropped. We won’t be enjoying that on Ko Phi Phi Don. We also passed a mosque with a golden dome. The population is 12% Muslim.
The harbour was a busy hectic place. Many many cars and scooters driving in. Once in the port building we had to navigate the hordes of tourists heading to all the different islands. We weren’t sure if our destination was a mistake, but apparently the island is really beautiful regardless. We’ll see. Gate 3 was right down the far end and we checked in and paid the extra 100 baht for each bike. A veritable bargain really.
We had to sit around waiting for the ferry to come back and be ready for boarding. We checked online for anything about the dynamo hub and discovered that they are meant to be stiff to turn when off the bike. Great news. So hopefully nothing to worry about. The queue started forming and luckily it got so long we ended up in it. We reflected on the tiny bit of cycling and that it wasn’t that bad with the wind. Until you stop and the sweat starts pouring.
It was probably best we were almost last. The boarding chute was narrow and we had to stand behind the bikes to push them. We positioned the bikes in the place we were told and then just as we began to strap them we were told to move them to the other side. After much deliberation by the crew it was decided that they should go either side.
We sat inside a lot of the journey. There was a small deck with some dedicated sun seekers and a small shaded area. There was a first class and premium cabin. Twice the price for the latter. Comfier seats and priority boarding. The most beautiful views were when we were arriving at the island. Phi Phi Lo is where they filmed The Beach.
As we rounded the corner, and Tonsai harbour came into view, the long tail boats became like mosquitoes. They were everywhere. Their propellers are on long poles at the back and allow them to be manoeuvred easily. However they are immensely noisy and churn out dark smoke. When we had come out on deck we found that they had moved the green Surly to organise the suitcases. A little bit annoying because they should have asked but they had secured it again.
When we arrived at the pier the hustle and bustle became even more apparent. This was a busy place. Everyone headed for the exit, but some people were heading across to another boat that had just pulled in next to us. The crew then started passing suitcases over the top of the bikes. We couldn’t help but be unnerved by it. It was fine though. We kept telling ourselves to channel our inner Quinn. It’s amazing how much influence one encounter can have on you.
We’d booked a hotel on Long beach. After so much deliberation we had decided that we had to be on the quieter side of the island. However there is no road or path to get there easily. So when we booked we’d checked they would take us on the taxi boat and apparently it’s been done before. So when we got off and found our person with the sign among what looked like hundreds, they looked bemused but pointed us at a boat called Star Valid. It was on the beach, nose dug in the sand.
We had to wheel the bikes as close as we could, take off all the panniers and take them over separately, then carry the bikes and load them in the front of the boat. Obviously avoiding any salt water going near them. Frankie ended up sitting in the front, basically squatting the whole ride, trying to stop them falling into the sea. A couple of other passengers kindly helped stabilise them. Jonathan was left to enter the boat at the back, almost waist deep and climb in sans ladder.
It was a quick journey really, but very tiring for Frankie. Her legs were shaking when we got off! Once we got to Long beach we had to do the whole process in reverse, except the staff at the hotel kindly carried our bags for us. We were greeted by extremely icy pineapple juice. It seemed ridiculous how much like paradise it was. Turquoise water, huge limestone cliffs and now tropical fruit juice.
We checked in and we were led to our room, bags in a dolly. Our bikes came too and there were no more stairs. Result. It was about 5pm so we immediately donned our swimsuits and headed into the water. Unfortunately it was not as idyllic. The tide was out, which we hadn’t realised, and the bottom was covered in rocks and coral. A couple of scratches and cuts later we retreated. Lesson learned. Sitting on the beach was pleasure enough.
After a quick shower in our room, only a minute from the beach, we headed out to town. We tried to go via the hotel we had booked for the subsequent night. Consecutive nights were not an option at such late notice. Not with our budget. At first it was viable to wheel the bikes but then we came across gaps in the path where beach trudging was necessary. A puzzle.
We turned around and walked back to follow the path to town. It led off the beach up a steep root covered track and then hit concrete before becoming a stepping stone path. The bikes definitely weren’t going this way. We were glad the long tail boat worked out. As we passed through the many resorts on the way, the lights and sounds got brighter and louder as darkness fell. It was pretty but clearly an extremely over touristed place. And we were part of it.
The town itself was heaving. Lots of clubs and restaurants and bars and shops. The smell of cannabis wafted around, no wonder the locals hate legalisation here. It wasn’t great to have the smell everywhere. We went to a restaurant called Dow. It had a meat eating venue on one side of the street, and vegan/vegetarian on the other side. We think we were even asked vegan or vegetarian as we arrived.
After we’d ordered we were presented with Connect4 to play while we waited. A fun little game to occupy the time. The food was delicious. We had tried not to order too much fried food this time. After dinner we tried in vain to find some fruit. In a 7/11 we managed to buy some sweet jackfruit and some ‘golden pears’. The servers seemed very unhappy. We felt a bit guilt contributing to their misery. We had tried a smoothie place but they would only sell us whole dragonfruit at a marked up price.
As we walked back home we saw a fruit cart from which we bought what was called ‘Guava – with plum’. It was bright green. The walk back was mostly easy, there were lights on the way. We passed a few tents which we guessed were party goers escape pods. Though one tent was on a platform by a swing, which we sat in briefly. We think the owner must of been a taxi boat driver.
When we got back, the head torch coming in handy for the last bit, we ate our fruit on the beach. It was beautiful evening with a full moon. Though we had a nice room to occupy, it wasn’t that appealing when it was so nice outside. We tried to get to bed earlier, and managed to be nodding off by 11pm. But only with the air conditioning whirring away. Without it we were sweating.
Surly They Won't Make It 