Halfway up the Isthmus of Kra from Hatyai to Chumphon
Home cafe at Hatyai, literally a cafe in someone’s garden
Route: Hatyai to Chumphon
Distance: 420km
Time: 7hrs+
Thoughts: Monotonous, dusty and quite smelly, with lots of roadworks
I started my day having breakfast at Home Cafe, which literally is a home turned into a cafe. For a country with tight living spaces and whose main mode of transport is motorbikes, seeing someone in a big house, in a fancy neighbourhood, with a Mercedes sports car made me realise the owner must be rich. The decor was very homely and you can tell that alot of attention-to-detail went in there. I am beginning to be acquainted with the down-to-earth friendliness of the Thais.
Today is the first time in my life heading outside of Hatyai and Bangkok. After a hearty breakfast at the Home cafe, I headed out onto Route 4. My anticipation and excitement slowly ebbed to a mediated flow as the day went on. I rode about 400km+ and took around 7hrs or so to get to the southern end of Chumphon. The thing that really hit me about this stretch was the smell. I can’t say that I enjoyed today’s ride at all. It was monotonously dotted with a repetitive landscape and the smell of what seemed like sewage. At least petrol and rest stops were easily available.
Being new at riding on Thai highways, I closely followed the flow of the traffic. With each speed camera warning sign I passed, I looked for the cameras like a hawk but could find none! I wondered if it was like in Malaysia where they have signs without cameras. With the monotony though, my mind started wandering and I questioned if they were anything like Australia, where they deviously hide the speed traps in random rubbish bins and other spots. So I decided that it was best to follow the traffic flow for now, which was to say I literally crawled at a 90km/h pace the whole day! At least now I know that Thais aren’t just down-to-earth and friendly, they are also calm and chilled people.
Overall, I was surprised I survived the trip, given that I was nursing a cold the night before. At the rate I’m going though, I might lose weight from a lack of appetite. But still, for some reason, I simply love being on the move. I feel like when I’m on the move, I’m finally home.
And that is a good feeling…