Author Archive: OTRAdmin
Author: OTRAdmin
April 21, 2014
To commemorate ANZAC day on April 25th eleven riders journeyed to Kanchanaburi to spend a couple of days there. To avoid Thailand’s treacherous highways we took the back roads along the coast and through the salt flats, then across country from Ratchaburi, via Chom Beung to Kanchanaburi. The town was…
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Author: OTRAdmin
March 20, 2014
We’d exhausted our list of things to do on Penang and I’m not one for sitting on the beach, this one had more jetskis and touts than holidaymakers. I can only take a couple of hours lazing round the pool also – it was time to get on the road…
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Author: OTRAdmin
March 14, 2014
It was time to leave the steamy streets of Georgetown and head round the coast to the tourist beach resort of Batu Ferringhi. I found a two bedroom managed apartment on booking.com for about a hundred Ringgit a night that sounded better than the star hotels and all the hassle…
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Author: OTRAdmin
March 9, 2014
A road trip was long overdue. A road trip is always long overdue so this time we decided to avoid the increasing hassle of air travel and take a train to Malaysia. Tickets on the single-class sleeper from Bangsaphan to Butterworth cost 1079 for adults and 875 for kids so…
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Author: OTRAdmin
November 17, 2013
My travel bug was far from full and feet were still itching following the premature end of our Indonesia trip so I decided a little walkabout was needed. It had been around 14 years since I visited Thailand’s northern provinces and with flights being so cheap I jumped on a plane…
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Author: OTRAdmin
October 19, 2013
Since we only had a day remaining the only way to get to Lake Toba was to be a day trip from Berastagi. I’d always wanted to go there so couldn’t miss out being this close. Our driver took us through rustic villages and fertile fields but one disturbing observation…
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Author: OTRAdmin
October 16, 2013
At 1300 meters above sea level Berastagi was cold to say the least, and our reason for venturing up here was a geological one, the two active volcanoes of Sinabung and Sibayak. I’ve always wanted to climb an active volcano and this was the chance. Sinabung was off limits since…
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Author: OTRAdmin
October 15, 2013
It was time to leave the north and head to Medan to work out what to do with our remaining days in Sumatra. Our original itinerary should have taken us to Bukit Lawang next, a jungle retreat on the edge of the Gunung Leuser National Park famed for its Orangutans….
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Author: OTRAdmin
October 12, 2013
Would like to have spent a little more time exploring Banda Aceh but I really came here to get to the idyllic tropical island of Pulau Weh, an hours ferry ride off the northern tip of Sumatra. The main reason for coming to this island, I admit, is a selfish…
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Author: OTRAdmin
October 10, 2013
Banda Aceh airport is primitive to say the least however getting the $25 visa on arrival was a doddle compared to the circus in Vietnam. After two flights and lots of queuing we just wanted to get into town, it had been a long day, so we actually went with…
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Author: OTRAdmin
July 8, 2013
Clear skies greeted us on Independence Day and the ride north looked promising, it was time for some of our own emancipation and a few days on the road – destination Kanchanaburi. We picked up another rider in Cha-am, downed a quick coffee, consulted GPS units and set out, trying…
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Author: OTRAdmin
March 20, 2013
It had been a while, three years to be exact, since I had taken a dedicated dive trip so it was time to head back to the Philippines to see what the sub-aqua scene in Subic Bay was like. Originally a naval base established by the Spaniards in 1885, it…
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Author: OTRAdmin
February 10, 2013
Three intrepid riders met up at Starbucks in downtown Hua Hin early one Saturday morning, the satellite image looked clear and routes were punched into phones, we were riding to Pattaya, some 350 kilometers round the Gulf, for the 2013 Burapa Bike Week. My initial worry was being able to…
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Author: OTRAdmin
December 28, 2012
We decided to seek out some accommodation at the EGAT village at Rajaprabha Dam on the edge of Khao Sok National Park. Glad we did as we got a large 4 bed room overlooking the lake during peak week at 1,300 baht per night. Floating accommodation on the lake is…
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Author: OTRAdmin
December 20, 2012
I’d never heard of Koh Sukorn either. It is not one of those places that is promoted to the tourist hoards which is exactly why I wanted to go there, especially after recently witnessing the cess pool that Phuket has become. Getting there was a long drive, the departure point,…
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