Extremely difficult leaving Koh Chang today – getting the bike packed up and eating the last breakfast was tough….it was such a wonderful place the resort…
We made it easy for ourselves, and hired a taxi to drive us over the hill – given there was no way we would be able to cycle up it on our own, and we had a 100+km day ahead of us…
By the time we were done with the ferry back, and actually on the road cycling again, it was almost 10pm – a late start given we had a lot of distance (>100km) ahead of us and it was going to be a scorcher of a day again (35° forecast).
We had relatively flat day cycling through rubber tree plantations, and where we could keeping off the main roads. We covered a bit of the same path that we cycled 3 years ago when we went from Bangkok to Phnom Penh – recognizing the same bridges, plantations, etc.
We ended up for quite a while on a “scenic” highway along the coast….well, I had difficulties describing it as scenic – lots of run down villages, swampy beaches, and older resorts along the coast. We were on many cycle paths, and ended up on a marked cycling circuit and met up with a coupe of local mountain bikers out for a late afternoon cycle.
But at the end of the long day, we ended up at the Faasai Resort – a place we stayed at 3 years ago and found wonderful then – just so the case this time. Not nearly as modern and luxurious as the place we were at on Ko Chang, but a really small resort with a dozen or so bungalows, pool and good cooking.
We met a dutch gentleman cycling on his won through Thailand (well, he was on his own now – his partner had serious illness/ailment and had to be flown back to Holland under medical supervision).
This “fitness center” was in the middle of nowhere – nothing else around it – weird… I wondered who uses it, who paid for it….
(111 km / 344 m)