"Reading, after a certain age, diverts the mind too much from its creative pursuits...” - Albert Einstein
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| (Deep in thought...) |
Day 02: 19 April 2025 (Saturday)
Route: Hatyai - Tha Sae
Distance: 510 km
Hotel: Tha Sae Jumbo House
Woke up at 5.00 am for subuh prayers. Breakfast with nasi dagang and roti canai at Restoran Khaled.
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| (Two plates of nasi dagang) |
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| (Many varieties of roti) |
By 8.00 am we drove out of Hatyai northbound on Highway 4 towards Chumphom. Many stretches of the highway were under major repair.
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| (The start of major roadworks) |
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| (Road detours were everywhere) |
Stopped at Chulabhorn PTT rest area for comfort break and bought some provisions of bread, fruit juices and other knick knacks. Bought me a sling bag to add to my collections.
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| (A brief stop to stretch our legs) |
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| (Bob Marley Rasta/Reggae shop) |
For lunch, we had nasi lauk at Restoran Pak Ju, a Pattani halal eatery at the PTT rest area in Thung Song.
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| (Our favorite eatery in Thung Song) |
Next stop was at a Bangchak Petrol Station in Surat Thani, for jamak prayers at the surau. This surau is quite popular with the northbound travellers. The rest area is complete with amenities. There is also a restaurant for coffee and light meals. There is another Bangchak Petrol Station after Surat Thani Airport that has surau and other facilities.
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| (Restrooms and showers next to the surau) |
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| (The surau) |
After prayers we drove towards Chumphon and got stuck in a massive traffic jam for almost two hours. The traffic congestion started from Surat Thani to Lang Suan. From three lanes, vehicles were diverted into a single lane for quite a distance.
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| (Traffic at a snail pace) |
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| (Comfort break at the Lang Suan rest area) |
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| (The Kangaroo Republic) |
Traffic became smoother nearing Chumphon town. Today the traffic was extraordinarily heavy and made worst because of the massive roadworks on Route 4 northbound.
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| (One of the white elephants at Khun Sarai) |
It was already dark when we reached Khun Sarai Foodcourt. There were quite a crowd at the Muslim eatery section. Had omelette rice and spicy mixed soup for dinner.
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| (Dinner at Khun Sarai Foodcourt) |
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| (The foodcourt was crowded) |
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| (Rice omelette and spicy soup) |
By 8.00 pm we arrived at the Tha Sae rest area, 20 km from Khun Sarai and checked in the Jumbo House for RM71/night. After a warm shower, it felt so good to lay flat on the bed and straightened our stressed backs.
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| (The Tha Sae Jumbo House) |
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| (Our lodging for the night) |
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