April 25, 2018
Day 84: Hat Yai - Kangar (into MALAYSIA)
A last day in Thailand to be remembered! Probably under the headline "Bob´s Bush Biking"....
Andrew was hoping until the last minute he would be able to ride down into Malaysia with us but he is still in pretty poor condition and will stay in the hotel for a few more days and then follow to Penang by bus. Speedy recovery my friend! In case all the money for medicine and public transport killed your fundings, you might see whether you can get your band over for a busking session on Penang. The Sydney Good Friday crowd certainly enjoyed it!
So just the four of us took off after a last bowl of joc moo and Bob accepted to take over the navigation. After a moderate start along the #4040 and 4035 he took us onto one of his beloved offroad rides. And man, was that offroad. I thoroughly enjoyed it though as I would never ever go anywhere like that by myself. My only concern was the forecasted heavy rain would start while we were still out in the forests. Luck had it we were just out of the bush approaching the#1027 to the border when the skies opened. Big time! I never confirmed with the others but I guess we were stuck in that plantation shelter for at least an hour and a half, if not two.
I was just about to give up belief we would be able to continue at all when the rain eased off just after 3 pm with one more hour to be lost by moving into Malaysia. The agreement between Coleen/Chris and me was to go separate, as I was the only one who had a hotel booking in Kangar and they were still considering staying right behind the border. Bob was going to stay in Padang Besar and Thailand anyway but kindly accompanied me all the way to the immigration building to see me off. Hope we will catch up in October, Bob!
Usually the exit stamp out of Thailand takes a minute if there is no queue but another surprise was waiting for me. When I presented my passport I was escorted to the supervisors office who declared: You overstayed 25 days! - What, you´ve got to be joking??? I quickly calmed down again as the mistake was clearly made by the immigration officer back in Trang and my passport proved I was entitled to stay until April 30. The supervisor was very helpful and my real concern was this "overstay notification" would remain in their system. He promised he would clarify the case though and off I was to the Malaysian checkpoint. As usual they have an extra lane for motorbikes and bicycles and this time it took just one minute indeed. No visa formalities like entry/departure cards - just a stamp and I was allowed in for up to 3 months. Why do all the other SEA countries have to make it so difficult and expensive?
More good news once on the Hway 79: Good shoulder, wind from behind and the rain had entirely stopped. I had a real flyer into Kangar, despite several turns onto minor roads. I can´t really tell you which ones I took as I was following google maps but I definitely got off the #79 after approx. 7 km for the R 122.
The History Hotel is well located in Kangar´s town center but apart from that it is ok´ísh but no more. I am stuffed now! Further details on money and sim card will have to wait until tomorrow.
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Today's ride: 100 km (62 miles)
Total: 6,209 km (3,856 miles)
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