9. Ranong - Hua Hin Prachuap Khiri Khan, Thailand

425 km

A day of riding under an overcast sky with intermittent light rain. Nice are the very pleasant temperatures, ranging from the upper 70s in the countryside to mid 80s, whenever I cross through a bigger urban agglomeration. It is the divided highway Number 4 which I am familiar with from my way down to the South.

The rubber farmers gave up their protest near the city of Chumphon which is on my route, however the southbound lanes are still blocked. They cut down hundreds of tall trees which had lined the highway and let them topple onto the asphalt, blocking the lanes. The police diverts the traffic from the blocked lanes southbound to the lanes which lead north. Where that happens you are suddenly confronted with oncoming traffic in what otherwise would be one-directional lanes; this gets your attention, you need to stay alert.

As usual, every hundred kilometers or so traffic has to go through a military checkpoint, manned by the Thai Army, additionally, every other bigger town has a control post operated by police. None of this is a concern to me, I was never asked to pull over at those checkpoints.

Not quiet as slowly as this morning's snail, I reached my day's destination Hua Hin. It is still raining slightly.