March 16th: Bus from Krabi Town to Satun
Day 154
Having only 2 days of visa left and not wanting to do a third visa run, we decided to take a bus to Satun and catch a ferry into Malaysia. We would cut 260 km off our trip, but since we’ve already cycled 4,384 km, a distance 80 km shy of crossing the US from New York City to Los Angeles, we decided to give ourselves a break. Well at least Chopper did, I really don’t need an excuse.
We had a leisurely morning, knowing there would be 3 buses from Krabi Town to Satun and the bus station is only 10km away. If we missed the first one which leaves at 11am, there are still 2 buses that leave at 1pm and 3pm.
We arrived at the bus terminal at 9:30am, and found out that the 11am bus was full. That left us plenty time to unload, fold up the trikes, and play several games of Chinese checkers. Our folded trikes fit easily into the luggage compartment of the double-decker bus, even though they only have a small luggage compartment at shoulder height. We guessed that the limited space was the reason for the extra bike fee. This “bike fee” is arbitrarily made up by the bus driver, and originally we were quoted at 300 Baht for each trike. However, just as the bargaining rule applies to any merchandise in Asia, we settled the deal at 400 baht for 2 trikes.
We arrived in Satun at 7 pm, after a 5 hour bus ride, and since it was getting dark, I persuaded Chopper to stay at the fancy looking hotel right next to where we got dropped off. But much to my dismay it was not only expensive, but also inhabitable even by Chopper’s low hygienic standard. We saddled up once again in search for a hotel. Luckily not far down the road, we found a perfect little hotel right next to a hopping night market. After a last meal of phad thai, we were ready to say goodbye to Thailand.
