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The forecast has improved for today and we opted to take the long way to Hat Yai via Satun.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4585/...e243a283_b.jpgScreen Shot 2017-12-03 at 16.28.09 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4679/...06900415_b.jpgFILE5246 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr There was quite a bit of flooding still in spots. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4595/...6b8061e6_b.jpgFILE5265 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
We were planning to meet Trevor who was riding from Ko Lanta island and Faizal who arrived yesterday from Kuala Lumpur. We have now met Faizal on 4 continents ( at the Porvenier ferry in SA, in Vancouver in NA, in Luxembourg in Europe, and in Hat Yai in Asia). He has been here many times and was able to book us a hotel and treat us to some great food. Interesting that I get the daily Canadian Government travel alert emails (mostly for natural disaster info) and Hat Yai was listed this week as “avoid all travel”. Wonder why?
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4531/...4ee6e71e_b.jpgIMG_1387 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4639/...b5e82512_b.jpgIMG_1389 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4518/...1190f741_b.jpgIMG_1386 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr Trevor also arrived from Ko Lanta about 20 minutes after we did. Today we also met Andy who arrived from the UK to pick up his bike that came by truck from Bangkok today. Lunch was at a local spot with lots of seafood. We had a few too many beers at the Irish pub (every tourist town in the world has one), some food at the night market, and then headed to bed. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4530/...27de6f1e_b.jpgIMG_1390 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4524/...651250de_b.jpgIMG_1391 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4597/...b2f8d961_b.jpgIMG_1393 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
The plan today is breakfast at the Hotel with Trevor, who will stay here another night and then the rest of us will head to the border. It is 60 km down the 4 south to the border zone and we left at 930 (1030 in Malaysia).
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4532/...f878a48d_b.jpg About 4 km from the border you are directed into what looks like the border zone, but this is just for trucks to stop and you must keep going. The road pops back out onto the main drag of town. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4557/...31146d6e_b.jpgFILE5313 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4693/...82174c5c_b.jpgFILE5319 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4521/...3a5f52f0_b.jpgFILE5322 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
When we arrived at the actual Thai border zone we were met by Malaysian biker Nor, who lives nearby and who came to help us thru the steps here since Faizal has never used this border with a carnet. She also knows the routine for the insurance and the International driving permit (IDP). (Agencies will charge 60R to do the IDP, which the police actually do for free).
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4736/...3aa775b6_b.jpgFILE5340 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr We parked to the left and then crossed over to the insurance office across the street. You have to get the insurance here at the border before you cross as the next place to get it is KL 475 km away. They want your passport, bike registration and your Thai TVIP (they use this as it has your VIN and engine number where they know where to find it). The ladies keyed all the info into the computer, but then they needed approval from the Kuala Lumpur office. They initially could not get ahold of them and then it was noon there and they had gone to lunch. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4633/...3b57155a_b.jpgIMG_1396 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4544/...51283541_b.jpgIMG_1397 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4515/...85acd6ed_b.jpgIMG_1399 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4546/...e0a8901b_b.jpgIMG_1400 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr So we rode back into town 2 km to have our own lunch. When we returned the insurance was done and we paid the 90 Ringet ( Thanks Faizal our personal money exchange) or 22 USD for the minimum 1 month. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4766/...397c756e_b.jpgThailand-128 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4702/...bdc1decf_b.jpgThailand-129 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
Next you ride back north and to the left and park to the left just after the car Thai exit gates now on your right and just before the road south/left to the Malaysian side. This is where you would just keep going if you got into Thailand without using your carnet.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4581/...6d64fae4_b.jpgFILE5372 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4537/...09295f74_b.jpgFILE5376 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4575/...abb90d6c_b.jpgFILE5377 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4731/...49ca2418_b.jpgFILE5380 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
From here you walk 400 m west to the building with the green roof and go to the far window beside the new fancy entry gate to Thailand and talk to the customs officer. He had to take us inside to discuss this with his boss, who initially did not seem to keen to give us the stamp. Luckily we had Faizal to discuss this with them. Ultimately they relented and we all walked back with the officer and “said stamp” to see the bikes.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4573/...a5c5efb3_b.jpgFILE5389 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4546/...76caab52_b.jpgFILE5391 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr He did not check the VIN or engine numbers just the plates. He needed a bit of help to fill in the exit piece of the carnet, which we need, but did not seem to want to fill in his section (which we don’t need but he probably did), and he left it in the book. We are done with Thailand in 30 minutes not counting the 2 1/2 hours for insurance. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4756/...3e287db0_b.jpgThailand-130 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4756/...71de9965_b.jpgThailand-131 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4520/...56109ba0_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4737/...984b3d48_b.jpg |
After this you ride 500 m to the Malaysian border zone where Nor was again waiting for us.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4549/...4e0d292d_b.jpgFILE5396 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4568/...18485843_b.jpgFILE5404 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4597/...c3995a30_b.jpgFILE5410 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4692/...bacc8029_b.jpgFILE5414 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4559/...9cae1cbe_b.jpgFILE5424 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4545/...83799e92_b.jpgFILE5431 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
Here you park on the left and get in line on foot (or pillion on a scooter like Dan) with all the people in line on their scooters. You get your fingerprints done and a passport entry stamp and exit sticker.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4639/...5f30e166_b.jpgIMG_1409 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr Next you walk 150 m to the left to the new building and have your carnet entry stamped. They also needed help on how to fill this in and in fact spoiled a page of Andy’s carnet as they put their entry stamp on the very top section, which remains in the book when you return it instead of on the bottom, which is the entry section that they keep. Luckily he has extra pages. They did all 3 in less than 15 minutes. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4593/...b49c0895_b.jpgFILE5440 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr Then we went with Nor to the traffic police office. This is back past the bikes and then 150 m to the right to the not so new building, which is next to the old collapsing customs building. Here the very friendly police completed our International Driving Permit. They also wanted stickers from WWR. Now back to the bikes and we hit the road after 3pm. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4548/...26360c59_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4580/...c760b5f3_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4551/...34deefed_b.jpgFILE5451 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4685/...ca41ed45_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4562/...ed9fb434_b.jpgFILE5493 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
We made it about 15 km when it started to pour and we pulled in for shelter and gas, which is half the price here it is in Thailand. We said goodbye to Nor about 10 km later and headed south.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4747/...f1a178fb_b.jpgMalaysia-3 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4614/...0083d41e_b.jpgMalaysia by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4560/...9f5cafdf_b.jpg The idea was to book it on the highway and we have a hotel booked in Perak Tengah by a friend of Faizal’s. We still had 150 km to go at 6pm, but we had to have a break and a coffee. We had only an hour of driving in the dark and managed to get to the hotel at 830 pm after a day of 372 km and a border. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4693/...1c1379f831.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4731/...252b0abe_b.jpgIMG_1414 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4520/...f2cd1805_b.jpgIMG_1413 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
At the toll stations they have these paved detour paths for the motorcycles!
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4647/...19aaaa97_b.jpgFILE5512 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4559/...c1edd619_b.jpgFILE5532 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr It is very hot and humid and we stink. So it was a quick shower and out to the pub for some beer, snack, and darts! We dragged ourselves to bed after midnight. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4723/...c60dc2f2_b.jpgMalaysia-4 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4650/...5467ed6f_b.jpgMalaysia-5 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
This morning we rode a few km from the hotel for an Indian breakfast and then north east to Ringlet thru the Cameron Highlands. It is a lovely 18 degrees up here!
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4735/...faf9782b_b.jpgIMG_1420 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4737/...ebdf0520_b.jpgScreen Shot 2017-12-09 at 19.52.30 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4566/...8bcd360b_b.jpgFILE5543 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4600/...c8e6336d_b.jpgFILE5566 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4582/...b25068c1_b.jpgFILE5571 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
This is mountain riding and thru the Malaysian tea region. We did visit one tea plantation ( BOH Sungai Palais Tea Center) that is accessed by this very narrow winding road with 2 way traffic. This meant some pulling way over and squeezing by. It was packed with school holiday families and so we snapped a few picks and left.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4738/...e1a47193_b.jpgScreen Shot 2017-12-09 at 19.52.56 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4554/...497ab98b_b.jpgFILE5584 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4689/...e1ebe707_b.jpgFILE5623 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4533/...afb3cf61_b.jpgIMG_1443 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4655/...03690f4a_b.jpgMalaysia-7 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4766/...b866cb56_b.jpgMalaysia-8 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4627/...b585db3d_b.jpgMalaysia-9 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
We rode out again and then to the nearby town for some tea of course. Here we ran into some fellow riders from Singapore that have been all over SE and mid Asia on they bikes. They were in Iran and the Stans this summer as well.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4520/...385d8ff5_b.jpgIMG_1282 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4550/...4ea1495f_b.jpgFILE5705 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4547/...7f338123_b.jpgIMG_1444 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4590/...2144e06f_b.jpgIMG_E1426 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4522/...5e739e78_b.jpgIMG_E1425 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
We continued over the mountains again to stop at a very famous local spot for lunch at 3 pm. On weekends it is mobbed with bikers. They serve fire grilled chicken, curry, and sticky rice cooked in bamboo!
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4750/...b0ce863d_b.jpgMalaysia-6 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4591/...0e7f743d_b.jpgFILE5765 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4587/...5581ea82_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4617/...85f8a2c4_b.jpgMalaysia-11 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4747/...3b4d26df_b.jpgMalaysia-10 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4644/...c8c41761_b.jpgIMG_E1437 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4727/...ca0bcf09_b.jpgIMG_1429 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4587/...35540ff4_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4581/...a999683d_b.jpgIMG_1432 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
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