Continuing my series, below are some motorcycle rides I generally do within Bangkok. These are when I only have a few hours, but still need to fulfil my wanderlust. What better way than to explore the city I have been living in for more than 3 years, but have hardly explored?
This is probably my favourite ride (Till now). I cross the Asok intersection to Ratchadaphisek Road and take the flyovers to Rama 3 road. I take the scenic section next to the river past Terminal 21. Past it, I cross the river on the Krungthep bridge, parallel to Rama III bridge, turn north and then back east crossing the river for the second time over the much bigger King Taksin the great bridge. Then cross Sathorn, Lumpini Park and back home.
This is a slightly longer ride I do when I want to grab a coffee and also do a ride. I take new Phetchaburi Road, then turn on to Srinagarindra Road where I follow the Yellow Line Monorail, till I reach Bang na-Trat road and turn left.
Meteor 350 on Srinagarindra Road
I generally go to this Starbucks on the highway, have a coffee and make a loop around the airport and come back via a different route.
Continuing my series, this is my latest road trip, to some scenic places in Nakhon Nayok province. The province of Nakhon Nayok is dotted with beautiful places, with more than 10 waterfalls. Covering all of them will take multiple trips, so I decided to do 2 places in this first trip:
This time, I used the lessons learnt from my previous road trip and did not have to stop many times.
It had rained the entire day and night before my trip, so I was a bit apprehensive about getting stuck in rain. Once again, I stated my journey on rain-soaked streets with BBC World Service in my ears.
Unlike Pattaya, heading out of Bangkok was a breeze. There was hardly any traffic and within 30 minutes, I was on the 6-lane highway 305 to Nakhon Nayok.
Highway 305 to Nakhon Nayok
Unlike the motorway to Pattaya, highway 305 is much more biker friendly and much less scary. In fact, after 50kms or so, it turns into a 4-line winding road running parallel to a Khlong. The entire route smelled of rain-soaked vegetation which I loved. Reminded me of early morning bicycle rides in Durgapur.
Highway 305 to Nakhon Nayok Adjacent to a Khlong
There are quaint little bridges all over the Khlong for people to cross.
On a bridge over Baan Khlong Malong
My motorcycle is on its second phase of running in, so I rode at a base speed of 70kmph with bursts up to 80kmph.
Wang Ta Krai National Park
First stop was Wang Ta Krai National park with a waterfall of the same name. You can ride your motorcycle a bit into the park.
Premises of Wang Ta Krai national park
I was surprised to see that cars, on the other hand, could go all the way in. Perhaps it is because of the horrible noise that Thai scooters make.
The waterfall is not very impressive; is a series of small falls over a long distance. Next to the gentle stream, you can see people picnicking.
Stream in Wang Ta Krai national ParkWang Ta Krai national parkStream in Wang Ta Krai national ParkPeople wading in the waters of Wang Ta Krai waterfallWang Ta Krai national Park
I spent an hour there and then moved on to my next stop.
Khun Dan Prakarn Chon Dam
The dam is only a short distance away and the last few kms are winding hilly roads which I loved to navigate. The dam itself is quite imposing.
Khun Dan Prakarn Chon Dam
I was happy to see some fauna there.
A pet dog at Khun Dan Prakarn Chon DamSoi dogs at Khun Dan Prakarn Chon Dam
After the dam, I went for a coffee to Nong Coffee, a modern cafe nearby.
Iced Espresso at Nong CafeNong Cafe
The trip back was as fun; I stopped only once for a bio-break. Also, unlike the last trip (where I couldn’t wait to get back, this time I was a bit sad as the distance to home wound down to zero.
As you can see from my last post, I bought a new motorcycle. Since then, I had been bitten by the wanderlust bug. My hands had been continuously itching to take the motorcycle on the highway. So, the soonest I could, I decided to drive from Bangkok to Pattaya Beach.
I have done this trip before, but that motorcycle was not suitable for highway riding and I wanted to do it again, the right way.
Bangkok to Pattaya
On the morning of the ride, I woke up to find the city soaked in rain overnight, so I left with caution. The way out of the city was painful with morning traffic, but outside, I opened up the throttle a bit.
Since the motorcycle is new, I had to follow running-in restrictions. I drove at a steady 60kmph with occasional 10-20 second bursts up to 70kmph. At this speed, I could not keep up with traffic on the motorway, so had to drive on the frontage road.
Frontage road at Bang Phli
The motorway from Bangkok to Pattaya is highly developed, with 22 lanes (8 lanes on the upper level, 8 lanes in the lower level and 6 lanes frontage) in most places. There are restrictions on where motorcycles can be driven, so need to pay close attention to Google Maps, which is mostly correct as long as you select the motorcycle option.
On a bridge over Khlong near Bang PakongNear a lake at Bang PakongAt a PTT station
Stopped to take breaks many times to give the engine a break (and also sneak in some photos). Was quite impressed with the low-end performance of the engine. Gear shifts were mostly not required, as the bike can thump its way up in 5th gear from as low as 35kmph.
In Si Racha district, the view is quite nice as the road passes in between various hills.
Near a hill at Si Racha
Pattaya Beach
Because I stopped so many times, it almost took me 3 hours to get there. Once there, I spent some time chilling at Pattaya beach.
At Pattaya beachIn front of Pattaya BeachAt Pattaya Beach
After getting my feet wet, I went to a cafe to drink some coffee and have a snack. It was typical below-average tourist fare.
Coffee at a cafe at Pattaya beachBruschetta at a cafe at Pattaya beachView of Pattaya beach from a cafe
Pattaya to Bangkok
On the way back, I focused on making good time and only stopped at one place to take the below photo of the Bang Pakong river.
At a bridge over Bang Pakong river
On the way back, it only took me 2 hours to get back home.
Tripper
The Tripper proved its worth, as it provided very clear directions and I didn’t have to stop and look at my phone (which was nested safely away in my saddle bag) even once. On the 3 hour ride to Pattaya, my phone lost 23% charge, with tripper navigation as well as audio streaming (And the occasional photo).
Also, found a weird bug in that the tripper’s display and my polarised sunglasses seem to have the same polarisation plane when I am seated normally, which completely blanks out the tripper. If I move my head 10 degrees to the left or right or rotate my head 10 degrees clockwise or counter-clockwise, the display comes back.
This happens only with polarised glasses, regular sunglasses work fine.
Lessons Learnt
Learnt the below lessons which I plan to apply to my next trip(s).
Need to buy thick handlebar grips, as the factory default is too thin and cramps up my hands.
Always wear AirPods even if I don’t want to listen to anything. Active (and worst case Passive) Noise Cancellation is worth it to protect ears from traffic and wind noise.
Always wear sunglasses during the day time, even if it is not too bright, to protect eyes from the wind (I cannot, for the life of me, see through any helmet visor And keep it lifted up).
The USB charger is quite slow. So rather than wait for battery to drain and then charge the phone (Phone gained only 11% on the 3 hour trip back on charge, with navigation and audio), it is better to keep it connected from the beginning.
This trip also pushed my motorcycle over the first stage of running in, next trip should be faster.
