5/3/25
We woke up 15 minutes earlier than usual. 5:15am. We just wanted to get on the road as soon as possible. It even felt a little chilly at first. We were back on the same road and every corner was starting to look identical. Smooth black tarmac, single carriageway, undulating up and down, up and down.
We once again hit the town and a market after just a few minutes. We’d wanted to make it to Kapoe the day before, so we could be closer to a restaurant and shops, but had decided it wasn’t worth it. The market was less hectic this time because you couldn’t drive round it. We parked the bikes and the front to wander round. We bought some more pandan coconut jelly, some yellow cakes like balls, and a pineapple.
We rode on looking for somewhere more peaceful to stop and eat. We arrived at a bus shelter at the same time as a local man did. He was completely quiet and didn’t say anything but he did smile. We shared our cakes and pineapple with him. He almost seemed confused but he continued to smile. Then a woman in a headscarf came over and gave us a bottle of cold water each. She said she had a shop and was taking her children to school soon.
We waved goodbye to our breakfast buddy. It was still pleasant to be cycling. The muslim woman came past us tooting and then stopped in front of Frankie. She had a bag hanging of her handlebars which she passed to us. Four bananas and a couple of cold brown drinks. We said we can pay her but she said refused and something about Ramadan. Unbelievable generosity. It’s hard taking things from people you know have less than you.
Along the road we passed quite a few schools and their communities. It was a nice place to be riding and there was quite a bit of shade. Frankie was keen to get to Ranong and set a good pace. The next ten miles flew by us. We stopped at a temple to use the toilet. It wasn’t the nicest one we’ve seen. There was a large contingent of resident hounds, a lot of which seemed to have fleas. Loads of flies landing on us. One dog appeared to have bitten the skin off its hind quarters.
Half an hour later we stopped at a roadside watermelon stall. There were about 5 women in a bus stop. The typical price is 25baht a kilo. It makes a watermelon about 100baht or £2. It’s actually shocking how cheap they are in the UK. We’d seen Thai people paying the same price. They sliced up half of it for us and put it on a plate. We sat with them, talking using google translate about their community. They were all relatives and lived nearby. They asked us whether we had children, then wished us good things for the rest of our lives. We reciprocated.
We were well hydrated but it was starting to get hot, as always, by about 10am. We stopped and drank one of beverages we’d been gifted. It was a palm sugar drink, basically pure sugar water, which we didn’t mind. We’d kept it cool by burying it in a pannier. The road kept widening occasionally as we got closer to Ranong. They seemed to be widening ever last part they could. Sad times. It makes it a far less enjoyable road to cycle.
Strangely we found a cycle path. There were massive signs on the other side of the road and a green coated path. We switched over. It felt wrong not to take advantage of such things, though it did feel decidedly slower. We saw the famous Phu Khao Ya or ‘grassy hill’. It looked extremely uninviting. Several mounds with no trees.
On the other side of the road was a sign to Ngao waterfall. As we were only 10km from our destination we took a look. The ticket booth wasn’t far and a woman greeted us and asked for 100baht each to go in. We only had a 1000baht note and she apparently had no change. She called someone who kept repeating the same phrase to her. After translating, we found it meant ‘no water’. Now we understood! It was obvious really, the huge exposed rock we could see did look rather dry.
At first the cycle path wasn’t bad just some big jumps and drops when it went over bridges. But then it abruptly stopped. And we were on the wrong side of the road. At first we could use the pavement. Then there were cars blocking it. There was a big central reservation so we couldn’t cross. In the end we went native, and just cycled the wrong way down the road. No one batted an eyelid unsurprisingly.
After a kilometre we could cross and were on a large triple-laned highway with no hard shoulder. It was quite busy. It didn’t last long and we turned off to find our accomodation, Jirasin Hotel. There was no problem being early and we left the bikes under the stairs and went to cool down. The air conditioning blew hard and because the outside unit was in the tiny balcony, which also had a metal kitchen sink, we could feel how hot it was getting. Terrifyingly unsustainable.
We took a walk into town. We were quite far out, and one of the bridges was being reconstructed, so it took a while. We were headed to a vegetarian restaurant about 3 kilometres away. Nobody else seemed to walk here. When we got just outside the market there was a lorry selling mangos. 5kg for 100 baht. We couldn’t carry that much but it was still super cheap. We were stocking up for the next few days when we would visit Ko Phayam, a popular chilled back island.
We walked all the way through the market, looking for the best prices for on the way back. We saw the restaurant, which was dead, but open, and went over the road to buy a bottle of water first. When we came out a woman was pulling some canvas across the door. It wasn’t meant to close for another half an hour!
We used the universal gesture for pleading and she asked us if we were vegetarian to which we vigorously nodded. She allowed us entry. There were a couple of metal dishes with what she described as protein in them. After much back and forth with the chef, she came out too and she dished us up two plastic dishes of rice and protein. They were keen we had takeaway. We also bought a bag containing fried tofu and something that resembled bacon. We paid 150 baht.
On the way back we bought dragonfruit, longan, sapodilla and salacca. We also got peanuts and some coconut milk. The way back was even hotter than the way there. When we got to the non existent bridge a man had just walked through the construction site, the water level being very low. We copied him and looped 20 minutes off the way home. We gratefully had a cold shower and flopped onto the bed beneath the air conditioner to eat our rice and soya protein, reserving some rice for mango sticky rice later.
After a few hours, when it was just getting dark, we went out again. The world was far more alive now. Children playing in the street etc. We went to a soy milk bar. The shortcut made it viable. A young woman there spoke English and knew the concept of veganism. We asked for one each of the 4 vegan dishes. ‘Tofu salad’, sesame paste with ginkgo, soft tofu in ginger tea and something we can only describe as a soy milk salad. The ginkgo and ginger were very strong but we enjoyed sampling them.
When we got home we ate our homemade mango sticky rice, some nuts and banana. We’d ridden for 8 days on the trot and were feeling exhausted, fortunately we had booked 4 nights of rest and wouldn’t need to get up early as the ferry didn’t leave till 10am. Peaceful slumber time.
Surly They Won't Make It 