February 25, 2019
Ao Nang
Yesterday we noticed a number of statues of a strange creature at a number of places around Ao Luek. They are replicas of a creature that appear in cave drawings at Tham Pee Hua To and date from about 3000 years ago.
On leaving the town we passed through a lovely gap in the karst mountains. In South Africa we would call it a "poort" and an older English word that might be appropriate would be "clough".
Once through the gap we joined highway 4 for a kilometer or so. We stopped for some food at a 7-Eleven giving the dreaded tuna pocket sandwiches a wide berth. I opted for a pork steamed bun while Leigh succumbed to her sweeter tooth and had a couple of muffins (called cup cakes here). Then we turned off onto a back road that would lead us through countryside strewn with karst mountains until we reached Ao Nang.
While many of the rural villages we passed through were predominately Muslim, being Thailand Buddhism was never far away and in between the mosques we would encounter the occasional wat, one of which had a large and lovely reclining Buddha.
We were expecting dreadful tourist-type food in Ao Nang but were pleasantly surprised to enjoy a nice plate of reasonably priced Krapao Moo just before we reached our digs. We've upscaled for our stay here so we have a lovely room and a great swimming pool at the Puthawan Resort about three kilometers from the beach. We're going to chill and get a bit of work done.
Ao Nang is very much a tourist trap, probably the last one we will stay at until we reach Lankawi in Malaysia. However, we will spend the next three nights here before carrying on southwards towards Satun.
Today's ride: 49 km (30 miles)
Total: 605 km (376 miles)
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