Ban Krut to Ban Saphan

January 8, 2023

Although our bungalow was rustic (didn't even have a sink!) it had some really good points such as: Not a single mosquito inside or outside!, it was incredibly quiet, we didn't need air conditioning as it was a perfect temperature, it did actually have air conditioning which made me think of air conditioning a tent, the bed wasn't bad and there were lots and lots of bird songs, some we had never heard before. Maybe the birds ate all the mosquitoes.

The tiny bungalow was in the middle of a coconut grove quite far back from the beach although we could still hear the waves in the distance. In the middle of the night there were sounds I swore were a certain kind of dinosaur babies hatching from their eggs. I was afraid to open the door in the morning because even upon hatching, that specific species is deady and ravenous. Imagine how hungry they would be after being confined inside an egg!! I mean, they are dinosaurs! They come out of their eggs and are looking for fresh meat and even baby dinosaurs could have demolished our wooden bungalow in no time! My mind was going wild all night. The sounds were completely new to me and coming in the middle of the night I had no idea what they were. Birds generally don't make sounds at night. These sounds were close too!

But, we survived and got going early in the morning. Imagine no sink! It's been hard enough brushing our teeth with bottled water or water we have filtered and never ever letting tap water into our mouths. But doing all of that without a sink was even more difficult. We had to get out of there.

We rode down the long driveway of the Coconut Garden Resort to the beach road where we turned to the south and very soon were in the midst of high priced resorts that most likely had sinks with their rooms. They also raked the beach in front of their resorts every morning. The resorts were not that new or fancy but they were way overpriced and maybe that's why there were no guests. Every place except one seemed completely deserted. The road was mostly all our own and it was a lovely ride, side by side, with the beach on our left side and long vacant land on the right interspersed with overpriced resorts that had sinks.

Nice but overpriced resorts on the right. A very neatly swept beach on the left.

Andrea is stopped waiting for me so we could discuss whether this road was going to be too difficult for us. I think that was one of the only cars we saw the whole time we were on this road. Plus, the road surface was as smooth as silk.

I wonder if the fishing is particularly good straight out from these palms.

Even a bit inland the going was so tough.

The land was not exactly vacant on the right side of us. It was filled with coconut palms and sometimes cows lounging beneath them unaware that at any moment they could be knocked out or killed by a falling coconut. It would be terribly bad luck if that were to happen to a cow although the community would have a spontaneous beef fest and would deprive the Chinese of getting that particular cow.

We didn't see any such event as we rolled slowly along the peaceful road although I was waiting for it to happen. A place with hatching dinosaurs in the middle of the night would certainly have a coconut cow casualty (CCC) once in awhile. We were really enjoying a wind that was less vicious than it has been but still at our backs.. In fact, the waves were the calmest we have seen the whole time we've been in the south of Thailand. Yesterday seems to have been the peak of the winds from the north and it may have been that whatever was blowing through has now blown itself out.

When we rode up, this dog looked like he was the proud owner of this pavilion - his spacious dog house.

This is so often the case with bike lanes.

The road was straight and the beach seemed endless. The road was so close to the water that no houses or resorts were on that side of the road, just Australian pines trying in vain to hold the sand bank together, against a slowly rising sea. Some have lost the battle from eight years ago when we were on this very road and the stumps still clinging to the beach sand were destined to be driftwood as soon as they let go. The waves at high tide were already polishing them. All along the beach on this trip we have seen erosion of the banks and no matter how many seawalls or huge boulders the Thais place to prevent the incursion the sea is slowly expanding its area.

We have seen lots of screens set up horizontally about three feet off the ground. They are for drying small squid but we have not seen a single squid on them. This is no doubt due to the fishing boats not able to go out upon the sea to fish because of the rough seas. Maybe it is always like this during the first part of January and the fisher people just bend with the wind and use the time to mend nets or weave baskets. Judging by the shacks they live in, however, they need all the fishing they can get and every day they are prevented from fishing is another day of no money coming in. Like the deserted resorts, everywhere seemed deserted and dilapidated, crumbling, returning to sand. We were riding through a very poor part of Thailand. The many dogs roaming everywhere sort of bore that belief out too.

This tells it all , what the fishing has been like lately. Normally these screens would be covered with squid drying in the sun.

I love the setting but I wouldn't eat pizza here if you paid me lots of money. Generally, Asians don't know how to make pizza. For one thing cheese is about as foreign a food as any could be for Asians.

There are lots of little naturally occurring waterways such as this one, very near to the sea. Eventually they go out to sea at inlets. They are perfect for small fishing boats to use.

The inland waterways lead to little moorages such as this one where the fishing boats can be safely kept.

Another roadside shrine area. I have no idea how or why these spirit houses get so tipped over and demolished. Do demons come and do it at night? This would not naturally occur. Someone did it, but why?

Australian pines drop a lot of material onto bike lanes but it's sort of soft to ride on.

In the 1970's I remember lots of dogs that no one owned and they generally looked horrible with diseases and open sores all over their bodies. Lots of them had no fur left and were hard to look at. I felt so sorry for them and wondered why they were not rounded up and put to sleep, out of their misery. But this is a Buddhist country and they would never take a life no matter how pitiful that life was. It didn't make sense to me but what's new when it comes to religion?

Then affluence occurred in most parts of Thailand and people started to take care of the dogs. They even started to have dogs as pets which they hardly ever did before. But down here in some of the poorest parts of Thailand it is a throw-back 50 years in terms of the number and condition of dogs. We rode through packs of dogs lying around too sick, hungry and tired to notice us very much. About 90% of them are in such bad condition that I think they should be put out of their misery. Now I know that will never happen but I wonder if affluence will ever happen down here either which I know is one of the only things that would help the dogs.

As I was thinking about the poor dogs on a long straightaway we met a lone cycle tourer coming in the opposite direction. That's two in two days! When we rode in the north we didn't see another cycle tourer for weeks on end. We stopped in the middle of the road and had a really nice conversation with Marcus, an Italian with a German accent. He is from a tiny section of the Italian Alps wedged up near Switzerland and what used to be Austria which means that he spoke both German and Italian. He was a very nice guy and we enjoyed talking with him. He was riding on his very first cycle tour ever. He was going from Phuket to Bangkok, initially, but after that the route was up for discussion. We gave him some options to think about as well as a recommendation for a place to stay in Bangkok with an amazing buffet breakfast; the hotel we have come to love for its convenient location as much as the breakfast. The front desk people are also great. The Krungkasem Srikrung just a hop and a skp from Hua Lamphong Train Station.

Meet Marcus, Italian with a German accent. He's from the tight little area in the Italian Alps squished in next to Switzerland and maybe Germany is there too and France not far away. I believe it was part of Austria before the war.

We had decided to not ride very far today, only 15 miles, which meant we could really enjoy looking at the sea, taking photos and talking with a fellow cyclist. But, even going at a slow pace we arrived at the area and hotel where we had chosen from looking at Google Maps for something affordable well before the check-in time. This has never been a problem on our trip, however. We have regularly arrived at a hotel well before noon and they don't bat an eye at giving us a room that we can move into immediately. I think it says something about how few tourists there are, at least in the places we've been traveling. We chose Ladawan Boutique Hotel mostly because it was affordable for us.

But wait, just before the hotel (right next to the hotel) was a large restaurant with a lot of people eating there - always a good sign. We were hungry so we stopped to eat there. It was called rather strangely, Licorice Kitchen. It was mostly a seafood place but had an enormous menu in English but I sure didn't see licorice on it. We enjoyed some nice seafood and then decided to check out the Ladawan Boutique Hotel. It looked fine, nothing special and certainly nothing "boutique" about it. It may have once been sort of boutique but now is a shabby hotel, nothing more. It was fine for us and we moved in for 550 Baht (less than $16).

At sunset we took a walk on the beach. It was more the beach of a backwater bay and not a swimming beach, but still nice to walk along watching the colors fade into the sea. No waves really. Then we went back to Licorice Kitchen again for a long leisurely dinner while watching large groups of Thais having special Sunday dinners there. The restaurant must be sort of known in the area. I don't think the groups had come from far away. I love how the Thais really enjoy the big group special dinners they do. They pull out all the stops and order lots of food and sometimes beer as well. They especially like seafood restaurants to have these special occasion dinners.

Ban Saphan beach area. Not particularly known for swimming.

Just another very relaxing day in southern Thailand on bikes. What could be better? And there's a sink in our bathroom!

lovebruce

Today's ride: 15 miles (24 km)
Total: 929 miles (1,495 km)

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Brent HirakI feel a tinge of meloncholy...
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1 year ago

Jen RahnAny chance you recorded that sound of baby dinosaurs hatching?

I'm very interested in hearing it!!
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1 year ago