Changwat Samut Sakhon: Sunday, 13 May 2012

I have used the motorcycle on a few occasions over the last month to go shopping or visiting. On one occasion I was caught in the rain so decided to take my ER6 for a wash and wax. This was done at the usual Cafe 66 and, given such a nice day, I decided to ride to the seaside.

It was quite hot and I was not wearing a jacket, so I now have sun-burnt arms! The ride was, however, well worth the sunburn!....

Wonderful "smelly" shrimps drying in the sun!

I also dropped by the local Kawasaki dealer, Motoaholic, and registered for the next track riding course at Bira Circuit near Pattaya (9-10 June) - hopefully I will learn how to ride around corners!

Mileage on return to Bangkok was 8,799 kilometers.

1st Birthday: 7 April 2012

My ER6 will be 1 year old on 7 April 2012.

Treatment received to date:

Date	Description of Service	Mileage
28/05/2011	1,000 km service (oil & filter)	1,000
23/07/2011	Intermediate oil & filter change	2,850
17/09/2011	Intermediate oil & filter change	4,705
13/12/2011	6,000 km service (oil & filter)	6,158
13/12/2011	Replace front & rear tires (Pirelli touring)	6,158
01/04/2012	Intermediate oil & filter change	8,566

Pattaya: Weekend 31 March - 1 April 2012

Decided my route to Pattaya would include breakfast at Dean & Deluca followed by a visit to the Dirt Bike Shop in On Nut 76. I also decided I would use the Garmin GPS for the journey, not because I do not know the way, but rather to record the route and statistics for later uploading to the Garmin Connect web site.

Set off at about 8:00am after packing my 20 litre and 30 litre Kriega motorcycle luggage - neither were full but I thought it would make a change to use both bags. I also decided to wear my new Rev-It jacket.

Breakfast of potato omelet, almond croissant and cappuccino (non-fat milk) was excellent. My only worry was that rain had been forecast and I had forgotten to bring my rain suit. After a couple of minutes pontificating about whether to return home to get a rain suit it not, I decided would just get wet if it rained as my Rev-It jacket is advertised as being water proof!

The route to On Nut and the Dirt BikeShop was no problem and I was pleased I made the trip. The shop is full of interesting motorcycle accessories and I was able to ask for prices and delivery times for some parts for my BMW R1150R.

From the Dirt Bike Shop I took 3443 to Sukhumvit Route 3 and then followed the usual route 7 into Pattaya. Traffic was very heavy along parts of the journey and the weather very, very hot and humid. Not the most comfortable, but nevertheless a good ride, and I arrived safely at my hotel at about 1:00pm (mileage at hotel was 8,394 kilometers)

Sat on the hotel balcony in the afternoon was equally hot and humid. The sky was overcast and there was considerable thunder and lightening - no rain though!

My medical check-up the next day was good and I was able to set-off for Bangkok by about 12 noon. It was considerably cooler than the previous day and the ride pleasant and uneventful. Upon reaching Bangkok I took the motorcycle for a service (8,566 kilometers and an intermediate oil and filter change). After the service I enjoyed grilled fish and a glass of red wine at the local Italian Restaurant.

A thoroughly enjoyable biking weekend!

Changwat Samut Sakhon: Sunday, 25 March 2012

A lazy weekend so thought short ride to the seaside would be a pleasant way to try-out my new Rev-It touring jacket. The jacket was super and very comfortable.

I headed to the a mangrove re-plantation facility at Changwat Samut Sakhon and was pleasantly surprised the see a Thammasat University group planting mangrove seedlings - rather them than me wade through the muddy shoreline!


A great little ride which was finished-up with a motorcycle wash and wax at my usual Cafe 66. Mileage upon return a symmetrical 8,228 kilometers.

Ayutthaya: Wednesday, 7 March 2012

A Public holiday in Thailand and decided to ride to Ayutthaya. This would be one of my first times to ride north out of Bangkok. I set the GPS coordinates to Latitude : 14° 21' N Longitude : 100° 35' E as Wikipedia suggested these were the Ayutthaya Historical Park coordinates in the center of Ayutthaya. The temperature was 28°C and relative humidity at 92%.

The Garmin GPS calculated a "scenic" route rather than follow the main highway. It suggested about 90 kilometers and a 2 hour trip. The route was through the center of Bangkok by way of Victory Monument and north along Phahonyolthin to the Don Muang expressway. Then turned north-west to join country road 3469 into Phra Nakon Si Ayutthaya. This part of the journey was quite lovely as the road was quiet and followed the river into Ayutthaya.

When in Ayutthaya I made my way firstly to the railway station and secondly to the historical park.

The following is from Wikipedia:

The Ayutthaya historical park covers the ruins of the old city of Ayutthaya, Thailand, which was founded by KingRamathibodi I in 1350 and was the capital of the country until its destruction by the Burmese army in 1767.

In 1969 the Fine Arts Department began with renovations of the ruins, which became more serious after it was declared a historical park in 1976. The park was declared a UNESCO World heritage site in 1991. According to "Tourism Asia,"[1]thirty-three monarchs including King Rama IV governed from Ayutthaya.

Quite a lovely day. I stopped at a motorcycle accessory shop on the return to Bangkok and bought a new jacket (now my 6th motorcycle jacket). This one for the Philippines. Mileage on return 7,950 kilometers.

Pattaya: Saturday, 25 February 2012

I packed an overnight bag and set-off for a trip to Pattaya. My reason for travelling to Pattaya was to try to resolve with the previous hotel I stayed at, what appeared to be double-billing on my Visa card. It was not really necessary to travel to the hotel for this (I could have called) but it gave me a purpose for a motorcycle trip. 

Mileage was 7,370 kilometres, the time was 08.40am, and the temperature was 29°C with relative humidity at 83%.

I took the now familiar route of Talat river ferry crossing, route 3 (Sukhumvut Road) south through Samut Prakan, Bang Pakong and the Chon Buri by-pass, to route 7 and on into Pattaya. After visiting the hotel and getting the double billing addressed I had a lunch of “Bangers n’ Mash” with soda water at an English Pub. The hotel did not have rooms available so I decided to return to Bangkok. 

Upon return to Bangkok the motorcycle was duly washed and waxed at my regular Car Wash (“66” at Suksuwat Rd 66). Mileage was 7,680 kilometres giving a round trip journey of 360 pleasant kilometres. 

Wildlife Tour: Saturday 18 February 2012

An astonishing morning's bike ride.

I was awake early due, I believe, to late night coffee drinking. Since I was unable to get back to sleep, I decided to ride my motorcycle. I left shortly after 5:30am and proceeded along Rama III and Rama II towards Samut Sakon. Shortly before Samut Sakon I turned into Ekkachai Road and travelled through Mahachai to join the rural roads leading back to Soi Suksuwat and Bangkok. While riding parallel to the coast along 4008 I had a surprise!

 

Somewhere in the picture is a HUGE monitor lizard. While travelling east along 4008 I saw, what I thought was a fallen tree, across the road. I slowed and as I got near it moved!! It was a huge monitor lizard gradually making its way towardds the edge of the road! I stopped and fumbled for my iPhone camera but by the time I got sorted he was in the swamp ! Huff!!

After the monitor lizard I stopped to send an email of the rather miserable picture (I'll have to get an iPhone 4s with its shortcut picture taking!!!).

While I was waiting for the email to send, an enormous python plonked in front if me in the fish pond I was stopped next to. He was only six feet away and his head was at least twice as big as my fist!! I was paralysed for a few seconds and didn't know what to do!! Thank goodness he was swimming away and not towards me!!!