Rayong to Koh Chang

Had a good Valentines weekend with a road trip to Koh Chang. Its about 200 kilometers east of Rayong.  Getting there is quite easy. Good dual carriageway most of the way and excellent coffee stops.  One had a beautiful pond full of Koi fish. I did think it would not last long in UK. All those beautiful fish would very quickly find their way into someones fish tank...

Anyway off we went early Saturday morning. Stopping several times for breakfast, coffee and well... just to stop. Then there is the ferry across to Koh Chang.

Takes about 30 minutes but add in the waiting before it arrives etc a good hour passes while you sit around mainly "people" watching. Which I do enjoy.
This was a good weekend for it as well. Plenty of other motor bikes. One group of about 20 were down for the weekend. They had with them a combi type van fully decked out with all the bits and pieces required for a long road trip.

Apart from that I would say Koh Chang was noticeably short on visitors. Big surprise as when booking a room on the internet  I kept being told all full up. However on arrival a very different story. We ended up in a reasonable place. In fact it was the first hotel we stopped at to ask about rooms. Big double room with on suite bathroom etc. Easy parking and safe. All for 1,000 Baht. That's about 20 GBP. No complaints on that front.  It did have one strange aspect. A resident pig. Yes a sort of wild boar without teeth which just slept around minding its own business. I had to take a double look first time.

Took some photos and of course it did the honours and had a wee while we watched. 

We staying only on the west side of Koh Chang. The side with the beaches and hotels/restaurants etc. But as I said nearly all seemed deserted. It could have something to do with the weather as well. We had journeyed down passing through several rain showers so this might have put people off walking around. But we enjoyed it. Got down as far as Bang Bao, what was a small fishing village. Now a tourist honey pot with lots of diving shops, coffee and restaurants and souvenirs.

Spotted a few monkeys at on of the view points.  Seemed very used to people around and total uninhibited when it came to running round us. 

Stopped off in Chantaburi on the way back. Looked at the town and also the min feature which is a status of Taskin the first King of the current Chakri Dynasty.

Rubber Trees

Out and about the other day and I stopped next to a small forest. It was actually a rubber plantation. No one about.  All very quiet and somewhat deserted. Took a few photos of the trees and the rubber dripping from them. Nothing special here just something

a bit different to the normal things you see while driving along ! I need to get  some movies of when they do the shaving of the trees to collect the rubber. Looks simple but also I'm sure requires a good technique.

Hua Hin Rayong return

Hua Hin and back                  

We (that’s, Rene, O, Wanna and myself) had been planning a trip to Hua Hin for some time. Really we have been planning a bike trip but every trip needs and purpose. Going to Hua Hin at this time had a good purpose as it was to visit Ryan, a chap who had recently set up an aquaponics system. He had recently decided to set up an aquaponics system on a small commercial scale with lots of room for expansion. While doing tis he has made some very informative videos on the subject all posted on Utube. It was through the utube that I got in contact in the first place. Small world as he also knew some mutual acquaintances/growers in Thailand so some synergy there as well. Ponic Wars

Anyway suffice to say we had good reason to head off to Hua Hin. Hua Hin is famous in Thailand as being where the King has a Palace. It is a beach city with all the amenities to be expected. So off we went. It’s about 350 kilometers from Rayong. Rayong Hua Hin rtn

Route takes you up into Bangkok then across the main Chao Phraya River and down the west side of the gulf of Thailand. Being on motorbikes we are not allowed to use the toll roads which in this case did not make so much difference. The frontage and main dual carriageways are more than adequate for us. And a beautiful bridge over the river. All in all a good trip. Stopping off for coffee breaks and giving our backsides a break !!!! Long ride on a hard seat and I did find most of the potholes.

Only thing we did not could on was rain. Yes I know every day beautiful sunshine and then entering Bangkok we hit the tail end of a storm. I think we missed most of the rain but drover through plenty of water. Chao Phraya 

So Saturday morning saw us leaving early about 06.30am. First coffee stop.

Beginning of the trip

Rene and O on the move

Reason being we planned to get an early arrival in Hua Hin and then plenty of time with Ryan.  We left on time and met up with Ryan about 1.30pm. Then round to his farm and a spent a good few hours discussing the ins and outs of aquaponics farming. Most of the time was spend on looking at his system and discussing with Ryan his approach. And it was impressive stuff. Early days and he will only get better at it for sure. Rene could not wait to get back home and play with his set up and me, my brain cells were worring around as well. Well I was in my mind already designing my next system… So yes a very useful visit.

We have dinner in Hua Hin. Nothing special. However the most noticeable thing to me about Hua Hin was the number of old retired European tourists around. Loads of them. A sort of Pattaya 40 years older !! If you’ve been to Pattaya you will know exactly what I am talking about. If not forget I mentioned it.

Coming back on the Sunday was easy. Unfortunately it was the same route in reverse, However we did make one small diversion to stop off at Wat Hua Hin a famous local temple. 

Then back home. I could add a lot of photos of us on the road but honestly most dual carriageways look very similar. Next trip will probably be to Koh Chang, or down the bottom eastern most part of Thailand. Why ? Cause it’s there that’s why