Appropiate Ending...

Having some downtime in downtown Chumphon meant that there was time to get some laundry done and explore a little. Not a big place but it was fun getting to know it a little. Roaming around the markets, spending baht locally and eating huge ice creams before enjoying a nice relaxing pummelling again before heading down to the station for the early evening train north.

The busy, slow train tonight only rattled in to the tiny station of Bang Saphan Yai towards 21:00. We got off with only a handful of locals. It was a dead town and it was getting late so the nearest hotel would have to do. The following morning at first light we left the hard slab bed of the Cockroach Inn... definitely the worst nightly accommodation choice to date!

In the cool of the morning we headed out on the 4045 before dropping on to the very quiet lane that ran adjacent to the coast. Now in the south east, the Gulf of Thailand was our sea shore and with only lizards for company, we rode north with the sun now blaring down on us.

A stop for a remote morning dip then another for coffee put us on until we reached Ban Krut. 

Here, by a quiet stretch of beach by the surfy sea, with a few bespoke bars, Thai kitchens and a 7eleven we found a lovely clean modern bungalow, one of only 5 in a private Thai residence....so it's the end of the road for a few days of luxury at Baan Kieng Lay...

Today's track from a Uk indie band, The Electric Soft Parade from the album 'No need to be downhearted' circa 2007.

Big Decision...

We had a ticket for the 999 long tail off the island and we were the first on the 08:30 directly off the beach. The Andaman sea was choppy today, blowin' a sou'westerley, but with only a quick stop at the pier on Ko Muk it wasn't long before we were powering up the estuary of the Kuan Tung Yu and disembarking at the little pier.

Less than 30km to do on the bikes today, getting passed by monkeys on mopeds and cows in pickups, we stopped for noodles and liquid then it was a right turn off the 4008 down to the river on the opposite bank from Kantang. A 4baht ticket got us across as the ferry was ready and waiting to go. On the other side at Kantang we found the small 'end of the line' railway station and got on the waiting 12:40 to Trang for 5baht and tied the bikes up with string in the cargo carriage at the end.

At Trang Railway Station at 13.15 it was decision time....it was also very hot too!

We decided to head back up north but the next train to Hua Hin was at 17.30?

Or we go up as far as Chumphon...leaving in 10 minutes!

Actually, it was the same train we had just got off!

Buying a new ticket, and booking in the bikes back on board took 5 minutes then it was off to tie them up with the same bit of string in the same spot in the cargo hold, much to the bemusement of the guard that had helped to offload them earlier.

We were now going to arrive at Chumphon around 20:30, time to sit back out of the sun and watch the countryside go slowly by.

The trains here are pretty cool. They are very cheap, always run on time and all manner of food and cold drinks get hawked up and down all day long. Or, at each flowery station you could treat yourself to fried chicken through the window.

 A great way to travel as the old carriages with doors and windows wide open allowing certain decapitation, briskly rattle along the dusty tracks, briefly stopping at all the little funny-named stations along the way.

Passing palm, rubber, papaya and coconut trees, simple rural life goes on with the odd cow and an impressive Wat thrown in, on the very edge of a dense jungle.

Title track by Damien Jurado off his album 'On my way to absence'.

Crawled out of the Sea...

So many perfect beaches and so little time, so today we tried to do them justice and successfully managed all three...

After breakfast a small jungle path took us to Ao Nieng beach, amusing ourselves with hermit crab racing and snorkelling off the reef, it was like swimming in an aquarium. 

A walk around to the main beach for lunch and a well earned snooze in the shady hammocks then over the hill for a last dip at the empty Sunset beach on the west.

As we were in and out of the sea others seem to be content turning themselves into KFC (Kentucky Farang Chicken) by welding themselves to plastic chairs in the 37 degree heat.

Tomorrow we leave the relaxed beaches behind and head back to the mainland it's back on the Ha Thips....even the Internet is slow here...!

Track by Laura Marling and a double whammy cos the album is called 'Alas I cannot swim'!

The Captain...

Captain King came good. 

The smiling, moped sidecar taxi girl arrived in full hijab promptly at 07:00 and with a couple of bungees the bikes were strapped on. With the awkward ballast distributed fairly we careered off, comically, up the bumpy island road to the port at Ban Ma Phrao.

Captain King had probably been up all night, checking bearings on sea charts, depth of fathoms, weather conditions and wind speeds and had probably plotted a compass course due true north across the Andaman sea.....but he needn't have bothered. 

Nautical sea conditions were , as far as I could see, 'as flat as a fluke'! and odds of us getting there were 'favourable'...probably about 3-1 on.

His proud vessel, a sleek 30ft hand crafted wooden long tail with a performance Porsche engine strapped on the back driving a massive propeller was idling sweetly as we loaded the manifest on to the poop deck below the busy pier.

Onlookers waved, and the lady that drove the moped taxi smiled sweetly as we set sail and ripped out of the harbour with the enormous engine bellowing smoke, out north to sea on the crest of a wave with the compass set for Koh Kradan, about an hour away!

On arrival into the clear turquoise waters, Captain King deftly rammed the prow of the boat up on the white sandy beach and we had officially landed on the next island. 

Paradise Lost was the next stop for the accommodation and it didn't disappoint. A generator powered collection of bamboo houses in the jungle with a room for 700baht and a private beach to die for only 5minutes walk away up a little jungle track.

All in all ....a pretty cool place!

Photos will have to be tomorrow as they have been censored due to excessive nudity and limited wifi... 

This will have to do for the next couple of days, I'm afraid!

Scottish rockers Biffy Clyro provide this lovely raucous track from the album 'Only Revolutions'

The tide that left and never came back...

It was only few paces for a morning wee and a swim in the warm Andaman sea as the day broke before 7am.

Following the now obligatory breakfast bowl of noodle soup it was off on a scooter, borrowed for the day from one of the waitresses. For 100 baht and the proviso that we would put some juice in it we went for a nosey around the 34 square kilometres of the island. The sea was well out today for some reason? 

Maybe something to do with the earthquake in Indonesia last night?

The purpose built Dugong watching tower, over the rickety pier by the small stilted Muslim fishing village, provided no sign for us of the strange elusive creatures.

Smaller dusty tracks only led past the rubber trees, probably used for making condoms, deeper into the jungle where the macaques were happily swinging about noisily in the coconut trees.

Back up at the pier in the north, much to everyone's hilarity, a young bull was arriving 

by boat and being persuaded along to its new home, later to be found wrapped around a tree!

A transaction was then woven over an iced green tea that involved a 'Captain King', a 7am pickup from the south and a seaworthy long tail boat off to Koh Kradan for tomorrow. Many hands were shook, backed up with smiles and nods of approval seemed to seal the deal....watch this space!

Playing footie with the kids was fun but it's now far too hot....hammock and cold Beer Chang anyone?

Now on the south west it was an ideal place to watch the sunset.

Track by another indie band, the 'Veils' and a track off their debut album that questions

todays sea quite nicely.

Got a Keep Movin'...

Trang is incredibly HOT....it's a baking 35 degrees!

A fellow train traveller on a bike kindly showed us to a nice guesthouse in a quiet part of the town and saved us the time and effort of looking for somewhere ourselves.

There was no way you could ride in this heat without ending up with third degree burns so getting to the ferry port will need to be done early tomorrow morning when it's a lot cooler. This gave time to pig out down the quite wonderful night market on spicy catfish and a local speciality 'Moo Yang'.

Leaving Trang at 6am gave a better temperature to ride the 50k along the 4008 to the port of Hat Yai. The markets were already in full swing and the lines of monks were out on their daily morning pilgrimage to collect the free stuff and give out blessings.

This was a nice easy ride and we had soon done 32k before a coffee stop. Continuing on down the rural traffic free road we were bombarded with 'Hello's' from the quizzical locals as we passed by. As we arrived at a deserted Hat Yai beach around 10am it was time for the first dip in the Andaman sea....and it was well worth it!

The long tail ferry boat was ready and waiting for us, so once we had paid the 70 baht fee we then had to manhandle on the bikes along with a moped and a load of melons. 30 minutes later we were arriving at the little pier on the first island, Koh Libong....home of the infamous and elusive dugongs!

On arrival we opted to head down to the quieter south of the island and here we first rejected a plush resort with rooms starting at 6000 baht for a nice little beach bungalow for 800 baht and ideal for a spot of snorkelling.

A track from American singer songwriter Willie Mason and the title track off his first album 'Where the Humans Eat'.

Blame it on the trains...

Our last day in Prachuap Kiri Khan. 

It was time to say goodbye to the beach and the langurs, the  seafood, the temples and the smiley faces and the Honda...

It was time to head further south...

Arriving at the station around 22:30 with a ticket for the midnight train, all that was left to do was to get a luggage ticket for the bicycles....unfortunately, the station master had other ideas as there wouldn't be room for the bicycles tonight but they would probably go on one of the next trains and maybe arrive in a couple of days time!

 A few minutes of contemplation ensued then another plan developed. 

As it always does in Asia...Same Same but different...as they say around here.

We now had tickets for the earlier 23:16 to Thung Song Junction. A sleeper train that would get us in at 08:15 with room in cargo for the bikes so we could get a connection on arrival to Trang in the morning. This is exactly what happened and after a nights slumber we had made our way further south during the early hours.

The 08:55 left Thung Song on time the next morning and arrived at Trang one and a half hours later but we paid the price...the ticket cost a whopping 15 baht!

We were once again the only 'Falangs' in town.

(farang=westerners: but Thais can't pronounce an 'r' )

It was greener here.

The jungle was closer.

This track comes from Art Brut off the aptly named album 'It's a bit complicated'.