Wanderlust takes over Kanishka Poddar as he pedals through Thailand with a group of friends
The holiday season was around the corner and my itchy feet again brought me back to Thailand with my bicycle. Only this time I wasn't alone but with a bunch of my favourite cycling buddies from Ranchi. Bikepacking with a group of other cyclists has never been my thing but I was definitely up for this adventure with riders I enjoy riding within my city.
If you had gone through my earlier blog post, the original route for my first bikepacking trip in 2016 was from Hua Hin on the east coast of Thailand to Phuket, an island on the west coast of South Thailand. However I never really went on this route for some or other reason. So when we started planning this year-end bikepacking trip, everyone unanimously selected this route for our expedition and I was excited.
It took me close to 2 months to plan this trip, ensuring minute details like riding is not more than 100 km every day. we have ample rest days in between, we stayed on smaller roads and trails for the majority of the ride and avoid highways as much as possible and also ensured that every day is an entirely new experience in a totally new place. Someone who knows me, also knows how much I love mountains and climbs. Therefore I always had one simple underline principle in mind while planning the route - "Follow the mountains".
We flew into Bangkok with two bikes and went straight to Hua Hin wherein we rented 6 other bikes from Hua Hin Bike Tours Co. They have some of the best bikes to rent at reasonable rates if you plan bikepacking Thailand. Once we were sorted with our bikes and a support vehicle which carried the luggage of my friends, we were all set to start our ride to Prachuap Khiri Khan.
Hua Hin to Prachuap Khiri Khan
On the very first day, we had to cover a distance of 125 km and I was quite sceptical about my own ability to do it. I haven't done a long ride in ages and riding in the group only added more anxiety and performance pressure on me. However, we woke up early and rode 8 km off route to the office of the Tourism Authority of Thailand, Hua Hin wherein the DIrector officially flagged off our journey. We were thankful to the Tourism Authority of Thailand for arranging the flag-off in Hua Hin and also ensuring that we get to experience #AmazingThailand at its best during our journey.
By 6 AM, we were back on our planned route and immediately moved away from Route 4 which is a National Highway and started cycling on Route 4020 wherein we were either on a dedicated cycling trail or on much smaller roads with almost no traffic. I was surprisingly pleased by the refreshing feel that went through each one of us while riding on these smaller trails, we felt euphoric, confident and full of energy. The rising sun only added more joy to our ride. One of our friends had a speaker on his bike and music from the 80s and 90s started playing. We sang, chatted and kept riding. It felt magical.
Sometime around 8 AM, we had our first encounter with the ocean and the beach and we couldn't stop ourselves. That smell of salty water and nip in the air will be remembered by each one of us forever. Some went to get photographed, while some just stayed there feeling the sea and its music. We also used this moment to have our packed breakfast from the hotel we stayed at in Hua Hin (The Peri Hotel, Hua Hin).
A few moments later we were back on our saddle heading towards Phraya Nakhon Cave and Sam Roi Yot National Park, our two planned detours for the day. We reached the cave around 10:30 AM only to realise that there is no road ahead and we have to go back a few kms and change our route. However, few of us chose to trek all the way to the cave while others stayed on the beach getting photographed and hydrating themselves with fresh juices and fruits. The trek to the cave wasn't easy and it seemed never-ending. It took us close to 3 hours to reach the cave and get back, but believe me, the entire experience was surreal. I have never seen or experienced a place like this ever and every effort by us was worthy of it.
It was past 1 PM, I was completely exhausted due to the trek and the blazing sun only added to my woes, while we still had 60 Km to ride before we reach our destination. We all pushed ourselves back on the saddle and started riding. I was literally dragging myself and perhaps the next couple of hours was the most unpleasant experience for me. Around 3:30 PM, we had covered close to 40 km and stopped at a restaurant for some food and rest. I immediately hydrated myself with some ice-cold water and decided to take a power nap while others ordered food and rested. We stayed here for over an hour and it was a much-needed break to rejuvenate ourselves with fresh energy to ride further. I felt better and stronger as we started the last leg of our ride. We were back on smaller roads and music was on again. The sun was also setting down and we all felt good. We reached Prachuap Khiri Khan around 6 PM only to realise the hotel we booked had released our rooms for some other guests and we had no place to stay.
However, we managed to find another hotel, checked in, had a shower, rested a bit, had food, discussed today's ride and decided to make certain changes, and called it a day to start again early tomorrow morning.
Prachuap Khiri Khan to Bang Saphan
We woke up early to the noise of gushing wind only to realise that there was a heavy storm brewing up in the region. The wind speed was something I had never experienced before and in plain simple words, it felt scary. We chose to get ready and leave before the storm gets worsened. We were back on our saddle by 5:20 AM and started riding through the smaller trails to our next destination Bang Saphan, approximately 105 kms away. We didn't take any detours but stayed on smaller trails and avoided highways for the majority of the journey.
It was still dark when we had our first encounter with the dogs of Thailand. We were cycling through the farms when a dozen of dogs started chasing us, they were furious and loud. It was scary. We slowed down till the dogs moved away and then decided to ride slowly till the sun rises. Every farm would have 5-6 dogs to guard their farm and they would instantly charge up on every passerby. We eventually had this encounter with dogs for the next couple of days which was always a scary moment for all of us.
However, the sun was up and we were riding through one of my favourite stretches with coconut plantations on both sides of the road, lots of strong tailwinds to push us through and a cloudy sky which kept the blazing sun at bay. The storm actually works in our favour with good weather and tailwinds. If you look through the road map of southern Thailand you will notice a train line which moves parallel to the coast and we basically rode all through on both sides of the railway track. Every time we would ride on the left side of the track, we would have the coast on our left and the coconut plantation on our right, and if we were on the right side of the track, we would ride through smaller villages and farmlands.
We stopped for breakfast near one of the farms where we had boiled eggs, bananas and croissants. The lady working on the farm also gave us some salt for the eggs. It was such a beautiful happy moment for all of us, we sat on the ground, cherishing our breakfast, in the middle of nowhere. The music of the sea and coastal breeze only added more joy to the moment. Post breakfast we rode for another 35-40 km to reach Bang Krood where we had our lunch on the beach and later rode on a highway for a bit to reach our destination.
The ride felt great today and we were happy to be at our destination by 1 PM. We took shower, rested a bit, got a Thai massage done to relax our muscles, bonded a lot over stories and conversation, and slept early to start early the next day. The place where we stayed (Apple Bungalows) was recommended by another cyclist and we were equally delighted with our experience. We also met a french couple who have been cycling through Thailand for several years and stay in this very place every year. The vegetarians in the group also had their moment as they had a feast of banana pancakes and rotis.
Bang Saphan to Chumphon
Following the routine, we woke up early, started the ride at around 5 AM, and stayed slow till sunrise to avoid dogs. Our destination for the day - Thung Wua Laen Beach, Chumphon was approximately 100 km away from where we started and the route today took us through rubber and palm plantation which was a sheer delight to see. We stayed away from the ocean today for most of our ride and were welcomed by plenty of wavy roads. You would go steep up, come down, go steep up again, come down and repeat.
It definitely wasn't an easy ride but the terrains, views and plantation kept us mesmerized. We stopped around 11 AM at a roadside village cafe for breakfast and were quite happy today as besides bananas, croissants, eggs and salt, we also had fresh-cut tomatoes and onion with freshly brewed coffee for breakfast. The ride ahead was through a designated scenic route with a blue ocean on one side and national parks and temples on the other. We were enjoying the ride but the climbs and the blazing sun had started draining us down.
We were just 15 km away from our destination when we stopped at Wat Thung Laem Yang, a beautiful temple with one of the biggest sleeping buddha statues I had ever seen. I am not sure if we stopped here for the temple or because we were tired, but it was definitely a much-needed break. The temple was indeed gorgeous and the huge sleeping buddha with Khao Dinsor (mountain) on the backdrop was mesmerizing.
A few moments later, we started cycling the last stretch of our ride today. We were reenergized after the break at the temple and were able to complete the ride as planned. For the last couple of Kms, we were riding parallel to Thung Wua Laen Beach, with a white sand beach on one side and cute little cafes and restaurants on the other side. The town has a beautiful hippy vibe and I instantly knew that I will come back here to spend some more time in future.
We were staying at Chumphon Cabana Resort and Diving centre, which is at the end of the beach. The place was beautiful with its own private beach and the moment we entered, we had instantly forgotten our tiredness and started clicking thousands of photos with each other, our bikes and more. I was already in love with the vibe of this place. We rested for the remaining part of the day, hopped some cafes and settled at a cute little Italian cafe (Maliblues Bed & Dinner) for some food and drinks to end our day.
The author is, Bicycle Mayor of Ranchi Jharkhand, India
