At 8:30 in the morning we set out for our final destination in Thailand. The distance to that destination, the Yamaha Square Hadyai is 187 kilometers and it will be the final goal of our PAN-ASEAN TOURING - THAILAND event with the Yamaha Spark 135. From our morning start, we made steady progress, passing through the town of Hua Sai at 9:30 a.m. and came out on the coast road along the Gulf of Siam. The minute our riders saw the sea, they were taken with the view. But, since the road itself was a monotonous straight line of pavement, they were soon struggling again with their morning drowsiness. Still, we pushed on 30 minutes longer than usual before our first rest stop.
Back on the road again after our rest, we pushed on for another hour until we reached a large bridge that took us across to the island of Kor Yor. There, we stopped for lunch at the Sirata restaurant, famous as one of the best in this area. On a deck built out over the water, we enjoyed a meal of southern Thai cuisine and seafood. At this point we were just 30 km from our final destination, Hadyai. With plenty of time in our schedule, we took a longer than usual rest after lunch. After napping in the air-conditioned bus for about an hour, our ASEAN riders were now wide awake and ready for the last leg of our long journey through Thailand.
Heading out, we were joined by riders of the "Yamaha Square Hadyai Club." Parading with them through the streets of Hadyai, we finally reached the Yamaha Square at 2:20 in the afternoon. After stopping their engines, the riders greeted each other with jubilant high-fives and bear-hugs. Congratulations went all around for a job well done. "But this isn't the end for us," said Hardi. Because he and his fellow Indonesian rider, Roy, are going on all the way to the Philippines through all six countries of the PAN-ASEAN TOURING. "We were often sleepy and the going was hard much of the time, but now it's over, I feel a bit of a let-down," said Aristeo.
At the welcoming ceremony everyone enjoyed performances of three different Thai dances, and the riders happily joined right in with the dancers. After the ceremony, they enjoyed what would be their last shopping at a Yamaha Square in Thailand. Zandro bought a pile of Team Yamaha pit shirts. When the commemorative photos had been taken, we got in the bus and headed for the hotel. That evening a farewell party was held. Each of the riders was given a certificate of recognition for completing the course, and on them were pictures of the riders that had been taken before the start at Chiang Rai. After the party ended, the riders stayed on, singing and dancing with the band, as if reluctant to say their final goodbyes. |
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