DAY SIX (Alor Setar - Hat Yai 105km (225km!))

Hmmm, I have no idea why the previous post is all in large font... Anyway, I have completed my 6 days of cycling. The mileage has been done and I am now slacking in Hat Yai, Thailand.

Actually, as you probably sensed in the previous day's post, I was already in some sort of slack frame of mind already. Well, last night I watched Jack Neo's "I not stupid 2" which was showing on tv until like 12am, and woke at 7am, and yet again watched some HBO movie called "Ultraviolet" Think it is based on some american comic book series. Yup, so i only moved out from my hotel at 9:20am.

Things were smooth sailing and very straight forward. As usual, my body took a good 30-60mins of pedalling to warm up, after which I was sort of in the zone again, moving along flats at about 31, 34, or even 36kmh at times. It was just a straight road all the way to Bukit Kayu Hitam (the border), and along the way, a slow moving (relatively) tractor started moving past me... Heh, so I enjoyed 20 mins of 40kmh, which was a welcomechange of pace vs the normal 31+kmh. As compared to the first day, I'm actually moving more briskly now by about 2-3kmh, which translates to about 6 mins savings per hour of pedalling.

Nice tractor. This is too far away to draft by the way. Was just to keep a safe distance for some picture taking.

Ok, I shall not divulge too much but i did something insanely stupid, which would explain the bracketed mileage. You could hazard a guess but I don't think you would get it. Anyways, the journey from the checkpoint (Changloon on the Thai side) to Hat Yai was even longer than Alor Setar to Bukit Kayu Hitam. Oh yes, I forgot to mention yesterday about the loose use of names in Malaysia.... It was at first 'Alor Setar', but soon it became 'Alor Star'. The best part came when I saw 'A.star' -_-'' . And also from Butterworth (which is just slightly beyond Penang) to Alor Setar, I had in fact NO RECEPTION on my handphone at all. I didn't realise until I checked my handphone in the hotel while watching tv.... Only recieved the previous night's sms in the morning about 20km from the Malaysian border.

So I crossed the Border at 1045, and pedalled another 56km to Hat Yai, reaching at about 1:30pm... I'm currently staying at this hotel called Hotel Indra (500 Baht). Well, so when am I coming back? Well, there are somehow many travel agencies near my hotel. And one directly next to my hotel actually says: Sing-Thai Travels... So it was super easy buying the ticket back. 800 baht, Monday morning 12pm departing. I have no real idea when I will reach but I guess Tuesday late evening/night would be pretty reasonable?

Yes! =) I was in Thailand on my bike.

Thailand roads were of good quality. Smooth and fast.

Phuket anyone?

Hmm, that boy in the background, how old do you think he is? 13, 14? He should be the one on a bicycle and wearing a helmet...

On the way to Hat Yai.

Hat Yai ouskirts.

This is where you head if you want to find hotels.

My hotel for the first day was in the background.

Ate chicken rice here. You can order in Mandarin here.

Not in Hat Yai....? Refuelling.

This bike could practically fly now...

Hmmmm, kinda tired now. Didn't have the strength to walk far to look for authentic thai food, so simply satisfied my hunger with some KFC and ice cream again, hur hur. Will try and discover more of the place tomorrow.

Oh, they actually give you utensils to eat the chicken here...

A local band was playing on the streets. Nice.

Birds nest and seafood etc. Shrugs.