troopytracks

After dropping Tom and Ben at Phuket airport, we retraced our steps back towards Krabi. The landscape is spectacular.

We actually stayed in the same place on the next beach along from Ao Nang, this time in the camper rather than a bungalow. It cost a very reasonable 100 Baht for the night including Wifi and showers.

In the morning we headed off towards Trang. On the way we stopped at Chai Mai Beach National Park for lunch and decided that it was too nice to leave straight away. We hired a canoe and explored the rocky coast.

Initially we had parked backing on to the beach but the monkeys drove us away. As soon as the doors were opened they prepared to storm the car. We retreated to the space next to the National Park office as the monkeys did not venture that far.

In this national park we did not have to pay extra for camping as they decided that camping only meant tents. The only charge was to enter the park. This was 200 Baht per adult.

In the morning we drove on towards Phatthalung. There are lots of rubber plantations on the way and so we stopped to watch the rubber being transferred from jerry cans filled with diluted sap, into big drums for transfer into tankers and then on to the processors. It is a very distinctive, and not that pleasant a smell.

We decided to take a bit of a detour to Songkhla and arrived there mid afternoon. There are hardly any farang (foreigners) here, and the place is geared towards local tourists. Quite refreshing after Patong, where Thai tourists are in the minority.

Stayed near to Patong to see the busy side of Thailand’s beaches. Not our normal choice, but interesting for a couple of days. Also was handy for Tom and Ben’s flight back to Bangkok.

Everyone was fascinated by the lady boys.

Enough of bars ….

On the road to the beaches there are several elephant camps. Watch where you drive!

The beaches are busy, but away from Patong still very pleasant and the water is a beautiful clear blue.

More volleyball in the sea. It’s so warm that there is no rush to get out.

Final bit of relaxation before the long flight home ……

Graham Marjool Tom and Ben would like to wish everyone a merry Christmas and a happy new year!!

Tom and Ben went to Hong Island on a boat trip while Graham and Marjool walked up the beach to a National Park beach. The plan was to meet in the afternoon to open a few presents and go out for a meal. Probably not rice or turkey!

Unusually crowded beach at Phi Phi Leh, as it was the one where “The Beach” was filmed. Speedboats come in from Phuket and Krabi.

On 26thDecember 2004 at 11.12, the tsunami ripped through this low lying mangrove area. The National park buildings were all destroyed. When they were rebuilt, they kept the clock as a reminder.

We drove from Erawan almost straight down to Bang Poo. We thought that this might be a nice little seaside resort to spend a day, before heading to the airport, but, like its name, it’s not that appealing …. maybe if you get to know it?

Struggling to find a place to park (there is no beach, just mangrove swamp and a long pier with a restaurant at the end), we found another temple and made it our home for the night.

After the cool silent nights in the National Park it was hard to sleep at near 30 degrees C and with a massive pack of dogs howling through the night. We think that a night in a hotel by the airport is in order for tomorrow!

Next two weeks

We’ve decided to have a little break from daily posts for a couple of weeks while the boys are here. Two reasons, firstly that we think the content is getting a bit boring now that we are visiting the more accessible places, and secondly we need a rest from it. That is not to say that we will not post some pictures or highlights from the next two weeks, just that it will not be done for every day.

We will resume the daily account once we head down to the Malaysian border and on to Kuala Lumpur and Port Klang for shipping.

Night time temperatures here are great. Only 14 deg C last night … positively chilly! We’ll enjoy it while we can as we know that when we get back to Bangkok to pick the boys up at the airport it will be 32 during the day and 24 or 25 at night. Even on this busier site, there are only about two other tents and us now the weekend is over. We have a nice place to stay with lots of space.

Walking back up to the falls, we could not help smiling at the signs on the litter bins. Great that they have all the categories listed, but in any case it goes into one bin! Why anyone would bring hazardous waste on a picnic is a mystery to me though.

As we got closer to the 2nd tier fall we saw a monitor lizard head to the water. A brave dog tried to nip its tail as it swam into the main pool. It was a fast swimmer and we watched it chase the fish.

It then swam into the main pool and this meant that we could take a picture without the swimmers in it.

When we got back to our camping spot a big monitor lizard (more than a metre long) was walking past the camper. This time we had the zoom lens and a better background, and so could catch it with its tongue out!

Tomorrow we head towards Bangkok, ready to pick Tom and Ben up, it will be great to see them!