North of Sichon to Taling Ngam: Turn right at the pink dolphin - The third step ... The rising sun upon our backs - CycleBlaze

August 14, 2017

North of Sichon to Taling Ngam: Turn right at the pink dolphin

We got away from the 24 hour motel at sunrise and made good time to the ferry port to Koh Samui, stopping only for a bit of breakfast. This turned out to be some crappy pasteries from the first 7-11 we found. We had been hoping for satays and sticky rice but none of the stalls we passed along the way were open yet. As luck would have it, a kilometer past the 7-11 we were assailed by the most delicious aroma of pork satays being grilled on an open fire.

We started off on the 401, not as busy as yesterday, and turned right at the pink dolphin (see Bill Weir's Off the Beaten Track journal from 2013) onto the 4014 from which point it was lovely quiet country roads for the rest of the day.

We arrived at the ferry port only to discover we had reached the port for the Raja Ferry Company. We had planned to catch the SeatTran Ferry Company's boat because it docks at Nathon, the main town on Koh Samui but it left from a location a few kilometers away. The Raja ferry docks about seven kilometers south of Nathon but, after a quick caucus, we decided to catch the Raja ferry and make a plan once we arrived on Koh Samui. During the hour and a half voyage we decided we would do an anti-clockwise circumnavigation of Koh Samui over two or three days before deciding what to do next.

The view back to the mainland from the ferry port to Koh Samui is quite picturesque.
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Once we had docked on Koh Samui we found a restaurant, bought a cold drink and abused their internet connection to look for a place to stay on the south western side of the island. The Easy Time looked good and was in our price range (we know everything on Koh Samui is going to be at least double what we would normally pay) and we tackled the twelve kilometers or so to the resort. After booking in and completing the laundry chores, we had a beer and swim before heading out to find some lunch. This was at a nice bar cum restaurant on the beach about five hundred meters or so from Easy Time. We had couple of beers and some unfortunately falang-friendly Khao Pad Moo and Massalman Curry for lunch. A request for some nam phla prik (chilli in fish sauce) gave the lunch some flavour. The staff had the temerity to check if the food wasn't too spicy. I told them I need Thai spicy.

Today's ride: 56 km (35 miles)
Total: 4,287 km (2,662 miles)

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