It’s been nice to stop for a few days at Kamala Beach in Phuket. Kamala is a quiet beach north of Patong and south of Laguna; where Thai locals prefer to stay when holidaying at Phuket. This has given me the time to get a few things organised for the next week of riding.

Some highlights:

• washed my riding gear: the last week of riding in 34-38 degree heat has been extraordinarily sweat-inducing so this is a good chance to reset.
• changed tyres: the rear stock tyre is supposed to have a 6-8000km life, so this was a chance to refresh with a different set of 60/40 tyres; TKC70 (front) and TKC70 Rocks (rear). I wasn’t really thinking when I preordered the tyres a few weeks ago, but it would have made more sense to get a more road oriented set of tyres, and save the switch to more aggressive tread when I am in Xi’an. Alas! These should still perform fine, but may not be as stable at higher speeds.
• replaced missing bolts on my aux light / gps holder
• tried Thai durian (x1)

I also have the official service from Ducati Phuket scheduled for tomorrow - so it will be helpful to have a proper checkup of everything before China.

Old vs New Tyres

Shrine inside the motorbike shop

I’ll be tweaking my route from Phuket to Chiang Mai on the advice of my friend, and travelling along Thailand’s western border. There are quite a few nice national parks, mountainous roads, and small villages to visit along the way - which seems a lot more fun than straight highways and the bustle of Bangkok!

Along the way, I plan to visit:

• Erawan, which houses the Thai-Burma railway constructed by POWs during WWII
• Thong Pha National Park (nice camping ground!)
• Sangkhla Buri, a town wedged between two mountain ranges (the westernmost of which acts as the Thai-Myanmar border)
• Mae Sot, the border town with Myanmar

New route

Old route

I’m particularly excited for the change in scenery; mountain roads, much quieter and remote than what I’ve been riding to date. And also will be doing this section solo.

Disclaimer: all of this is subject to weather. If it’s too wet I’ll go the boring (and faster) route as curves are no fun in the rain.

Tomorrow: Ranong!

Stats:

• 1 durian consumed (4 total this trip)
• No fuel added
• 45g coffee consumed
• 2 unique interactions

Some photos:

Thai durian…only 60 baht per kg!

My GPS is not as waterproof as advertised

Hi-so mango sticky rice

Must visit in Phuket: Go Benz Porridge

Getting my daily 15gs

Nice coffee bar (The Copperwood) with the DF64V grinder.

Above the nice coffee bar; they grow cannabis for medical use