3 J Guesthouse, Kamphaeng Phet, Day 1

It's another travelling day, but luckily this one is onle an hour long ride. Our initial plans were to go to Kampaeng Phet and then stop off at Lopburi (town of the stolen passport) and Ayutthaya (town of the bike ride that nearly killed Amy) but we have decided to head straight to Bangkok from Kampaeng Phet, which means only one moving day left!
We get up slowly as the buses are every hour so no need to rush. After a nice breakfast in the hostel, we say goodbye before heading to the bus station. It is only a short walk, and doesn't feel half as bad as the walk to the hostel after the long and hot bus journey we endured on the way here. We are quickly pointed onto a songthaew that is heading to Kampaeng Phet, and after around ten minutes of waiting and sweating, we are on our way.
Something we have noticed lately is the heat seems to be really ramping up. Whether the coolness of Northern Laos has changed our bodies and made us not used to it again, or if it is just getting hotter due to the time of year, we don't know, but it is definitely feeling tough to spend a full day out in the sun. He thought that we only have a week left before English weather keeps us going though.
The songthaew doesn't takes around 90 minutes and we are soon dropped off in the town centre. We haven't booked anywhere as we didn't see many hotels online. We soon realise that is because there are no hotels really. We see no tourists at all, and soon decide to not bother searching, and just to jump into a tuk tuk and head to the only place we can see in our price range on the internet. This place is Three J Guesthouse, and it is a charming place that is run by a lovely family. The rooms are nice enough considering they are rather small and dated, but they do have a tele that is showing the cup final tomorrow, so it's perfect for me!
We drop our bags off before renting a couple of bicycles and heading out to explore. It is soon plain to see why there isn't too many tourists. The historical park, which we are visiting tomorrow, is the only real tourist attraction. That isn't to say it's not a nice town though. It is a very slow, sleepy place, and there seems to be a lovely atmosphere with everyone waving and smiling as we bike past. We go past a few temples, one of which is a huge, lavish Chinese style, before getting some food, followed by a delightful milkshake.
We head back after a couple of hours. On the route home we pass a park in which it looks like a build your own kite competition is taking place. It is busy with people either flying or sticking together kites, and we watch for a bit before heading off.
We have a couple of hours rest and wait for the relentless sun to go away. We have read about a food market here that we want to check out, and it is there we head when it gets dark. We are hungry, and this is the perfect place to be when you are hugry. There are so many stalls and it is great to walk around sampling some of the tasty food. We try shrimp in a kind of coconut pancake ball, these odd crisps things filled with i don't know what, pork wrapped in what tastes like nachos, beef on a stick, and of course cheesy chips. It is crazy, packed full with people and buzzing with excitement. The smells are amazing and we could stay for hours just eating. When we head back we buy some pineapple and apple to appease our guilty consciences after all the fried and fatty food.
It is around 20 minutes to walk home, and some stray dogs obviously realise we are carrying food as they follow us very closely for a while. They soon realise we are tight with our grub though, and leave us to finish the walk home in peace.
Another good day despite not really doing much. With a week the madness of Bangkok to come, we are glad to spend these last few days in somewhere quiet and peaceful. Tomorrow we will head to the historical park, and thankfully this one is more like a forest, so hopefully there will be some shade!Baca selengkapnya