two nights in patthalung

The original plan was to spend one night in Narathiwat, one in Patthalung and two nights at Pak Bara. The route would be KL-Buketa-Narathiwat-Patthalung-Pak Bara-Wang Klian-KL. But, somehow or rather, this time around the designated organizers (most times its Rik & Idrus) made changes.

Day01: 1Feb2024, Thursday (Hari Wilayah - Public Holiday in KL)

440km from BhP Tol Gombak to The Tanyong Hotel, Naratthiwat.

More often than not, ✌I was the last to arrive at our meeting point, BhP after Gombak Toll. The agreed time was 8:00am, but I got there about ten minutes later. Still good timing for us to meet up with Ahjai in Raub (Kampung Jeruas) whom started from Kuantan.

Five riders started from KL - Rik, Idrus, Bung Sharif & Suhaimi. The agreed RV time with Ahjai was around 9.30 - and we got there well before the time. But Ahjai was already there since around 9:00am!

The roadside stall along the main road where we had breakfast

The main attraction - nasi lemak with ikan tongkol.

Day01 - about 440km ride from BhP Gombak to destination

Finishing breakfast at around 10:00am, we headed to our next pitstop in Gua Musang at around noon - filling up the immigration form as well as fueling up our bikes.

About an hour later, we were already at the Malaysia/Thai border in Bukit Bunga/Buketa. The crossing was smooth as silk for us, except for a small hiccup with Rik whom rode his newly bought GSA1250 (secondhand from his friend, of which Rik was denying buying and kept telling us it was only a loaner 😁) whose ownership transfer has yet being done. So, point to note for those crossing Thai border in Kelantan (Buketa, Rantau Panjang or Pengkalan Kubor); all vehicles need the original geran (registration card) and if its a loaner, you will need a consent letter duly certified either at a police station or by a notary/JP and such.

At the Thai immigration - photo by Suhaimi.

While Rik had the original geran and owner's consent letter, it wasn't enough. Luckily (or not), this happen quite often at this border. The Thai immigration staff was able to direct us to obtain the verification/certification/sign-off on the consent letter at a specific location/place on the Malaysia side, just before the immigration complex. I believe it was a RM5 affair to get the letter certified by a notary.

And while Rik was getting that sorted out, the rest of us stopped at the roadside warung/stall for lunch. It was already past 2:00pm (Malaysia time when we finally lunched). And, Rik joined us abaout half an hour later after finally got his bike's documentation sorted at the immigration.

After lunch, it was another hour and half or so for the final leg of our ride to reach our destination, The Tanyong Hotel in Narathiwat.

about 80km will take 1.5hours with Thai's road condition...

Entering Narathiwat... (8km away from the hotel)

In Narathiwat Town.. 3km before reaching hotel.

Day02: 2Feb2024, Friday

Narathiwat Central Mosque

It was a beautiful day! We checked out at around 7:00am and 400m from the hotel we found a makan place that served roti canai. Grand! Could not recall now the name of this restaurant, but its easily noticeable.

the seating layout are quite comfortable

We spent about half an hour at breakfast, then it tayar golek time. Our route today would be towards Patthalung, with a solat Jumaat stopover in the plan.

Though the google route indicated a two hour ride before we made our first pit stop at Café Amazon ปตท.ตุยง Tuyong, Nong Chik District, Pattani, it took us nearly three hours to cover the 96km - mostly contributed by the heavy traffic as we got into the Tuyong town.

Cafe Amazon break after fueling up at the PTT

The masjid (Darul Aman Mosque Krong Itam that we set for Friday Prayer was about 40km north of this Cafe with about 40 minutes of travel.

Prayer time was at 12:30nn or so, but we did arrive earlier as when we left the Cafe Amazon, it was around 11:00am. That gave us some time for another good leg stretch and a breather from the very hot day that second day of ride.