- Left – 8.30am
- 29th March 2015
- Miles rode – 286 (459km)
What a great days riding, after 60km riding South I turned right and headed towards the west coast for the first time. For the following 400km I found myself riding along constant winding roads following the rippling contours of the dense jungle. It was the first time I had used the edges of the tyres and I felt confidant with the Heidenau’s.
As I rode down the west coast I turned off the main road to the beach on occasions and realised it was one of the areas devastated by the tsunami in 2004 where 230,000 people were killed in 14 countries. Many areas have been redeveloped but I found one remote beach that seemed to have been left. A few concrete houses stood alone on the edge of the beach without windows or a roof, there were massive trees which had been uprooted laying around. On one side of the road was the beautiful sea and the other on the edge of the jungle was a silent reminder of the tsunami from over 10 years ago. Further on I saw a massive new memorial building.
I arrived in Bang Niang, a small beach town mid afternoon, not really my sort of place as its 99% two week tourists in smart resorts. Nevertheless I found a cheap hotel and relaxed. Before finding a couple of drinking partners I wandered around and having not been in a ‘couples tourist resort town’ in years I was shocked at the silence. It was the silence of the couples as they sat, ate and drank. Why do they come on holiday together if they have nothing to say to each other? I hope they’re happy, they didn’t seem to be!
Travellers be they backpackers or bikers, whether they are solo or with friends constantly engage and talk, I love independent travel.
