December 29, 2025
Day 118 — Ao Bo Mao Bay to Chumphon
Marilee here.
Any day that starts off, like this one did, with an iced coffee and a fresh croissant is probably going to be pretty good. And this one lived up to its auspicious beginning — although nothing particularly notable happened, it was a pleasant, easy day of riding with some fun social interaction.
To be honest, I had hoped to start the day with a swim (to be followed by the coffee and pastries) but the tide was out and the water was no more than knee high for what looked like a hundred metres or more. So I contented myself with a little amble on the beach before breakfast instead.
Then, just as we were pushing the bikes out of our bungalow resort, we bumped into a British cyclist stopping in at the coffee shop. He had already ridden from Chumphon, our destination for the day (!). Well, we know we’re not the earliest of risers, and today was not going to be a big mileage day — but geez, running into someone who has already done your full day’s ride (in reverse) before you’re even out the door — that’s a bit embarrassing. But we had a chat about our various adventures — he had just finished a month cycling in India and was on his way to Laos.
This was a day for meeting other cyclists, as it turned out. Later that morning we spotted two cyclists coming towards us on the other side of the highway. They stopped, we stopped, and we bellowed across the traffic at each other for a few minutes until there was a break in the flow and we ran across the road to have a proper chat. They were a young Italian couple on a round the world trip, currently making their way north from Singapore. They were interested in our trip and asked (politely) if we minded telling how old we were — and then seemed mildly blown away by our extreme age, “the same as our parents!”.
While on the one hand this made us feel rather chuffed at how brave and adventurous we are (compared to their parents, at least), on the other hand it reminded us how different our current tour is from the experiences of some of the young people we’ve met who are travelling on shoestring budgets. This couple were rough camping on beaches in Thailand and had stories about being menaced by monkeys trying to steal their belongings and I thought “nope, not for me thanks!”. A shower at the end of these hot days on the road is more or less non-negotiable, plus a fan or air-conditioning. So we are showing our age, I guess.
Shortly after leaving the Italian couple we passed a large wat complex, and thinking of the rather spectacular one we’d visited the other day, we stopped in to see what this one had to offer. And maybe someday it will reach the elaborate heights of Wat Kaew Prasert, but for now it seemed still under construction, with a huge reclining Buddha waiting for his golden gilding.
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We rode into the beach resort town of Thung Wua Laen around noon, which seemed like a great reason to stop for a long break at a beachside restaurant— first for icy cold pineapple smoothies, and then for a proper lunch. We watched kiteboarders skimming over the waves and I debated about going for a swim — but the wind was kicking up the surf and we’d passed a warning sign about rip currents on the way into town, so eventually I gave up on the idea.
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From there it was only another hour or so into the city of Chumphon — the first real town of any size we’ve been to since Hua Hin. Our hotel, another collection of bungalows, was located on the edge of town along the river, with a covered deck cantilevered out over the water — perfect for late afternoon bird watching and beer drinking.
That evening we walked into town to check out the night market — several blocks of food stalls buzzing with pedestrians and scooters cruising up and down the many dinner and snack options. We watched a woman making “Thai pancakes” - tiny crispy crepes with a sweet marshmallowy filling and toasted coconut. She was spreading thimblefuls of batter on a griddle with maniacal intensity and machine-like speed and precision, while a lineup of customers gathered. Then we moved along to observe another artist at work, this one a man in charge of a giant wok where we was deep frying a kind of big pancake full of mussels and finished with bean sprouts. Again, we admired the skill, but didn’t buy — the lineup was long and competitive.
We settled on pad thai, followed by the pancakes and for second dessert (of course there was second dessert!), little coconut puddings which turned out to have sweet corn in their centres. We wandered home full and sleepy to our riverside bungalow, ready for another day.
Today's ride: 40 km (25 miles)
Total: 5,274 km (3,275 miles)
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