2014 4x4 Thai Adventure: 01 KL - Surat Thani

"Trust yourself. You know more than you think you do..." - Benjamin Spock

(An adventure trip with our 4x4)

Day 1: 5 September 2014 (Friday)

Route: KL - Surat Thani

Distance: 847 km

Early in the morning before 07:00hrs, Rozlan came to Bidara House after his night duty to flag us off. We did last minute packing and went to fetch Hayami and his wife, Siti from their quarters in Hospital Selayang. Hayami and Siti will be accompanying us to Chiang Mai in our 4x4 Ford Ranger. In Chiang Mai we will meet up with four others, Shawal, Shanaz, Rozlan and Hj Din who would be flying direct from KL on Monday.

The bikers planned to rent a bike each and will ride the thousand corners to Pai and Mae Hong Son. Hubby and I will, for the first time, be the support vehicle and drive the same route with our 4x4.

(Clear blue sky early in the morning)

(Dark clouds on the horizon)

By 07:30 we started our journey via Latar highway through Guthrie highway then entered Plus highway north bound. We stopped at Rawang R&R for breakfast then drove to Changlun with one brief stop in between for toilet break in R&R Sg Perak.

(It rained quite heavily along the way)

(The rain cleared when we reached the border)

In Changlun we bought vehicle insurance and filled in arrival/departure cards. We had kambing bakar lunch at one of the stall next to the T Hotel and performed our prayers at Changlun R&R. Border clearance at both Malaysian and Thailand Immigration was smooth.

We drove north towards Surat Thani and stopped for a short break at Amazon Cafe in Patthalung. The weather was fine with intermittent showers here and there along the way.

(A must stop at Cafe' Amazon)

(Driving direct to Surat Thani on Highway 41)

We reached Surat Thani around 20:30hrs and headed straight to Aji Restaurant situated by the Tapi River. Although the restaurant was opened, unfortunately there was no food left. With the assistance of the restaurant owner, he showed us the way to the night market where we bought packed rice and fried chicken from one of the halal stalls.

(A beautiful sunset when we approached town)

(A snap shot by the Tapi River)

Tonight we stayed at the Grand Tara Hotel for b550/night complete with a complimentary breakfast.

(Spacious and clean)

2014 4x4 Adventure: 01 Kanchanaburi, Thailand👉