Thai Hostages Still Missing a Year After Hamas Attack

[RusticCharm]

The 1st Asia Ducati week coincided with this year's Sepang MotoGP so I decided to ride down again. Ducati Thailand organised a ride from Hat Yai to KL but as I had most of October off work I was able to make the trip, fortunately not solo this time as I was joined by Reimund (HyperRai) and his wife on their Hypermotard. His GPS came in handy...

We met up at Hua Hin and on the first leg to Surat Thani, the rain caught up and we ducked under a roadside shelter until it passed.

After uneventful stops in Surat and Hat Yai, we headed on to the ferry to Georgetown.

I like Penang's old word charm and reminds me of the days in the late '80's when i was doing regular visa runs here. It hasn't changed much at all.

We arrived in KL to find the city center decked out in welcoming Ducati red.

The Concorde Hotel was the base for the Ducati week events. Some beautiful bikes from Singapore and Malaysia were already there.

The hotel's lobby bar was altered accordingly ...

...but the beer was rather pricey so we headed to the Hard Rock Cafe next door for slightly less of a rip-off. I've been spoiled by the prices in Thailand and especially Pattaya. 55 baht for San Miguel, 80 baht for B52's is getting the norm there now.

I rode to the track on Saturday for the qualifying. The number of spectators was drastically up on 2008 as I recall. On Sunday, there was a police-led convoy from the hotel to Sepang. I love riding through the outskirts of KL on the elevated expressways. Especially with the 'filth' moving cars out of the fast lane for us.

Some lucky punters were given a ride around Sepang on the Desmosedici. Notice how the stoppies catch the photographer unawares.

Stoner crashed out on the 1st lap and Hayden was dropping so fast down the field, I though he was Mika Kalio in disguise.

Fortunately Rossi put on a show and completely stole the limelight from J-Lo. The Malaysians are huge Rossi fans and Lorenzo received a fair amount of abuse from the crowd as apparently they perceived him to be at fault for (as they figure) pushing Rossi out of Yamaha. Their loss, Ducati's gain!

A sign at a Petrol Station near KL. 97 Ron? :jap: Excellent!

We left KL on the Monday and after uneventful stops in Penang, Hat Yai and Koh Samui (which was completely dead, the alcohol ban didn't help), we headed to Phuket. Patong has obviously changed a lot in the 22 years since my last visit. Wow!

I watched the Phillip Island MotoGP at the excellent Nicky's Handlebar in Patong.

Before we left for Hua Hin, we dropped in on Ducat Phuket to get a leaky clutch slave seen to.

Their 'garage workshop' is a little... er...rustic.

Leaving Phuket for Hua Hin and what looked like decent weather, we were ambushed by torrential rain around Phang-na and took refuge at a temple.

As Malaysia was completely dry, Thailand was mainly wet. We went through the annoying wet/dry/wet/dry rountine quite a few times on the way to Hua Hin. The roadside restaurant was a life saver.

All-in-all, a great ride. Some stunning scenery and great memories. The weather in Thailand could have been better though the lower temperatures were some consolation.

Hotels-

Hua Hin, Pueng Pen, 980 Bht

Surat Thani, Wieng Tai , 600 Bht (I think)

Hat Yai, Sakura Grand View, 800 Bht

Penang, Cititel, 180 Ringgit

KL, Concorde, 270++ Ringgit

Koh Samui, Lamai Inn 99, 1300Thb

Phuket, Tropica, 1200 Thb

Photos- iPhone 3GS

Cheers.

Edited October 27, 2010 by RusticCharm

[soihok]

Nice post mate , thanks.

Great to have these trips out, sadly I don't now....kids....work.

Cheers

[ArNaSu]

Good stuff mate, posts like this make me want to go touring.

[JonnyF]

Looks like a good trip, it always seems to pour down when I ride anywhere near the Phuket/Trang area as well - even if I try to time it right.

Nice to see Ducati making an effort in the region as well. Those 848's are lovely bikes.