26/2/25
We woke up at half past 5. It felt awful. We just wanted to roll over and go back to sleep. We took 5 more minutes to pluck up the courage to get up, then boiled the kettle for an immediate coffee. We’d got surprisingly used to drinking instant after being Turkish snobs for so long. We’d started bringing our bits together and stashing them back on the bikes.
We had half a papaya and half a pineapple left over to smash back. It felt bad not to be enjoying them but they wouldn’t carry well. We were hoping to leave by just after 6 but it was a pipe dream. When we finally waved goodbye to the hotel owners, and received good luck wishes, it was about 7am. Still it was a positively early start that would hopefully pay off if we could stop riding earlier in the day.
There was a strong easterly wind blowing, enough that there was a weather warning, but we appreciated it. Anything to keep us cool. We were heading north to start with anyhow. The road was undulating, but mostly flat. We weren’t too hot and it was quite a pleasant ride. We watched the locals as they woke up and went about their business. Lots of stalls selling chicken on sticks were popular. The school run was done in the backs of pickups or on the back of a scooter. It felt like we were actually seeing Thai life for the first time.
We reached the edge of Sala Dan, the town at the north western edge of the southern part of Ko Lanta, where we’d arrived. The Siri Lanta bridge crossed the gap to northern Ko Lanta. It was starting to get busier, not only were we on the main road but more people were rising for the day. It was short journey on good road, with one small hill, before we dropped down to the ferry port for the mainland.
Luckily the RORO ferry was waiting. We quickly paid the tourist tax and tried to find a place to stand out of the Sun, alongside the scooters. After a couple more cars arrived we started moving. We could see a car engine running in a closet nearby, we weren’t sure what it was for as it got turned off shortly after we left. It was a beautiful morning and there were large tree covered karsts nearby. We’d managed to cover some good ground and it was still early.
We made a quick pit stop at the toilet on the other side, there were no sinks, and then joined the dual carriageway out of the dock. It was like being in Turkey again. We rolled along in the hard shoulder enjoying the almost complete absence of traffic. Obviously it came in bursts, each time the boat got back to this side. It soon became single carriageway again.
It was an enjoyable experience. There were many people either in their houses or manning stalls along the road, waving and saying hello. Cycling isn’t common practice here, though we did see one Thai guy. When the road turned east we were irritated by the additional effort but simultaneously extremely grateful for the flow of air to keep us cool.
Our route turned off the main road, 4206, onto a minor road. It took us through miles of plantation. We were familiar with the rubber trees now. Initially we assumed it was a niche production market, surely tyres are made of synthetic rubber, they are but also as much as 50% natural rubber. It’s a bit stupid mixing a biodegradable substance with plastic, but they do. And we were riding on them presumably.
The rest of the plantations we saw were probably palm oil. But we’ve never seen them before so how could we be sure? Thailand is the third largest producer and the palms had no visible coconuts or fruits. Some of the trees had had their tops cut off. Clouds frequently blocked the Sun. The first week we’d been in Thailand had given us a clearly unfounded nervousness that it would be wall to wall sunshine everyday. Sure it would definitely be hot, but the Sun is a whole other factor to contend with. Being so close to the equator it has a mighty strength we just aren’t used to.
Our minor road took us up and down several times over some friendly small hills. A perfect warm up. Eventually the blissfully quiet road started coming to an end. Traffic picked up as we approached Khlong Thom. We’d be joining the ‘4’. A major road that would take us north to Krabi. We’d heard from Noel, who had successfully retrieved our boxes by the way, that the road was perfectly rideable.
We stopped to pick a place to stay for the night. It was barely noon but we were sticking to the plan. We’d stop for the day and then resume in the cooler morning. We were able to find a ‘resort’ for 500baht. That’s about £11. A veritable bargain. A resort is what they often call a motel. A simple room.
When we joined the 4 it wasn’t friendly at all. It was several lanes wide. The first lane was invariably occupied by parked vehicles of varying sizes. We kind of had to weave round them with a careful look over our shoulder to check what was happening in the other lanes. Lots of fast moving traffic and the added bonus of mopeds going somewhat carelessly up the hard shoulder. The signpost for Krabi, 38km, didn’t fill us with much joy.
Three kilometres further up was the Phumthada Rommannee Resort. We passed all the restaurants and shops on the way. In hindsight we should have stopped first to get some fruit or something. We were really early for our room. There was someone there to greet us. At the very least we could deposit the bicycles. But thankfully our room was free already. The photos had made it look a bit dingy, we’d almost spent more and backtracked to a nicer place, but it was very clean and comfortable.
The bikes could go outside the door and we indulged in air conditioning and a cold shower. There were no vegan friendly restaurants in the vicinity that we could see. We’d have to go roaming with the vegan passport. After crossing the dual carriageway there was a small place with food. The menu was meat heavy. We tried to ask about tofu and gave them the vegan passport but they didn’t seem able to read. The woman wouldn’t stop talking about chicken, shrimp and beef. We swiftly, but politely, moved on.
The next place further down wasn’t marked on google at all. It looked clean and we were enticed in. There were two women there with a young man. We presented the vegan passport. She acquiesced that it was all good. They gave us the menu, and we saw a couple of familiar dishes but no mention of tofu. We asked about tofu and hurray, she nodded.
We ordered pad thai, papaya salad, morning glory (it’s greens!) and red curry. The latter came out as green beans with tofu and wasn’t remotely red but it all tasted wonderful.
The spice reverberating around our mouths, we paid with a 500, received a mountain of change, and headed to the 7-eleven. It’s a weird shop that’s for sure. It sells mountains of tiny packets of different foods we’ve never seen or even heard of before. More types of noodles than one person could possibly conceive. It took us at least half an hour to find some snacks, including sunflower seeds and preserved ‘makok’, which is a fruit.
The walk back took ages. We were in the Sun on the exposed highway. The locals gave us odd stares. Even they didn’t walk here. A woman stopped and offered us a lift in her sidecar. We thanked her profusely but declined, it was only a few more minutes along the road.
When we got back to the room we relished the fact it was still early. There wasn’t much outside light in the room. We lay on the bed with the air conditioning on. We were really hot and it felt so good. Especially after a cold shower. We snacked. Watched TV. When we glanced outside it had got dark without us noticing. There were some German people watching something on a laptop outside. We set our alarm and went to sleep.
Surly They Won't Make It 