I hired a moped last night so that I could get up early this morning and head off. I had read that the small town called Chaiya was very old and had an interesting museum and it was also near to the beach.

I’d not been on a bike for many a long day and this wee Honda felt quite intimidating when I picked it up around 7pm, mainly because it was getting dark and the traffic was mental. I had less than a kilometre to travel but at night in Thai traffic 😩

At the back of eight this morning I headed north, found the quietest path to the beach. Only problem doing this was that the village roads were as rough as a badgers arse. It’s not only the UK that has big holes to traverse. I was doing a steady 30 kph and every man and their dogs were passing me and so it took a wee while to reach my beach destination for coffee. Leam Pho beach is small but pretty and before I came here I looked at Google Maps and thought that it would be a lot bigger. However after I left this beautiful oasis there was not much left to see apart from farm land and coconut palm groves.

But the coffee was good and the view did not disappoint.

When I finally reached Chaiya the oven I was in was on high so I instead of the museum I hit the shopping centre for air conditioning and food.

On the way back I cranked it up to 50 kph and was back in no time. 70 bhat to fill the tank and back to the hotel for a nap.

When I dropped the bike off they were trying to blame me for a few scratches on the fairing, and you know I can’t believe I never checked it thoroughly last night or that I didn’t take a few snaps. But after a few words we were good to go.

Tomorrow I’m on the bus to Hat Yai. I’ve really enjoyed my stay here. It’s been very different not having all these loud foreigners drinking, chasing bar girls. I wouldn’t know where you can find that scene here and I’m not interested. It’s definitely more of a local feel to the place which is refreshing.

PS, I thought it a bit strange to be on a bike and not be peddling 🚲🤔