Day 31 - We’ve Become Fish Food

After another good nights sleep we made it to breakfast at 9.30am. Sylvian was on duty & we both chose the continental breakfast option of muesli with yoghurt & french toast. It was very nice.

We asked Sylvian to arrange the rental of a motorbike & a Honda 150cc was delivered to our hotel for us. Sylvian insisted we both wore crash helmets for reasons of safety, not because it was the law. Jackie was not impressed with this & ditched her helmet almost as soon as we were out of sight of our Leeloo resort.

We cruised northbound up the Khanom coast road, then cut in land to Khanom town centre, before continuing north on Highway 4044. Our 1st detour was to Ao Kwang Pao, which had the potential to be a lovely coved beach. There were a lot of Thais tourists taking selfies amongst the litter & flotsam on the beach.

We then followed signs to a pink dolphins viewpoint, which turned out to be some rocks at the end of Ao Tongnod Beach. We gave it 5 minutes of looking out to sea before giving up.

Next stop was Laem Prathap, also known as Pink Dolphins Pier. We arrived around midday & there was hardly a sole around. I tried to converse with the odd old lady, but couldn’t make myself understood. There were a few longboats at the pier, but no drivers, so we weren’t able to enquire as to the cost to rent one for a few hours. We would have to take a gamble & come back early tomorrow.

Our next planned stop, which we found more by luck than judgement, was the Fish Spa. It is a free to visit, natural (I think) river with small pontoons in which to sit down & dip your feet in the cool water. Immediately our feet were descended upon by a shoal of hungry fish who nibbled away at our trotters, tickling us until we just couldn’t stand it any longer, which was literally seconds later. It amazed us that some Thai children were able to swim & play around in the river without distraction. It was a lovely spot & a couple of Thai families were picnicking in the shade.

Moving on we found Thailand’s very own ‘Grand Canyon’ & we ended up at Amphoe Don Sak ferry port, where a ferry to Ko Pha-Ngan departs. We were slightly perturbed to see that they were conducting Covid checks at the departure point.

Next we failed to find Khao Krot Cave, but we did stop at Coral Pagoda before heading back for a much needed drink. We ended up back at CCs for a couple of Leos & a club sandwich & chips to share, before heading back to Leeloo.

After a shower & chill, we popped up to reception & saw Aiye, pronounced ‘Eye’, who is yet another lovely lady on our travels. We discussed our plans for the morning & informed her that we would like to stay a further 2 nights. Aiye gave us a discounted price for booking directly with her & took extra money off because we would be missing breakfast in the morning. Before we left her, we enquired if she could recommend any Thai food restaurants. She showed us on a map where she & Sylvian ate most nights apparently.

After a quick Hong Thong, Jackie & I boarded the scooter & headed out in search of Aiye’s recommended ‘Suchada Villa’. We got ourselves lost & suddenly behind us a voice shouted “Simon, Simon”. It was Aiye & we had overshot the restaurant by about 30 metres.

We took the table next to Aiye & Sylvian & spent a very pleasant evening chatting about life in Thailand during Covid & their struggles over the last 2 years. Sylvian was more relaxed & Aiye was so so lovely. Sylvian suggested Jackie order the shrimp paste rice, which came with an array of other dishes for just 70 baht & I ordered a green Thai chicken curry & rice.

The food was delicious, plentiful & cheap, no wonder they ate here most nights & the waitress was also really really nice. She taught us how to say “good night” in Thai, but I’ve already forgot. No problem, we will be returning here for the next two nights.

Song of the Day: Wide Lovely Eyes by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds.
(I struggled with today’s song).Read more