We should have left our resort in the mangroves and gone out on the boats this morning, to experience the fisherman's way of life and look for white shells. But the days of persistent rain had made it too dangerous and the sandbank island on which we would have spent the morning and eaten our picnic lunch had no shelter to offer.
We took to the road instead.
One of the major trunk roads down Southern Thailand, it was dual carriage way most of the way. A few noticeable differences to the UK though. Firstly service stations were pretty regular, and all large complexes. We stopped at three before lunch to satisfy the travelers' needs - real coffee, toilet and fuel. Lunch had the option of chains like McDonald's and Amazon Coffee but also family run food outlets where a bowl of rice and two toppings cost little more than a pound. I chose one dish wisely and the other almost blew my mouth apart, apparently southern food is hotter than the north, and certainly very different to the Thai we have at home. Fortunately they also bring a plate of raw green beans, water chestnut leaves and cucumber to calm the taste buds.
As well as service stations you can also find householders along the route selling local produce at roadside shacks, mainly fruit and vegetables but also on occasion statues and souvenirs.
The second difference was how the land bordering the dual carriageway was used. Between the two carriageways is a grass ditch, often with trees to provide shelter. It isn't uncommon to see the occasional loan cow, or mother with calf, eating the grass, tethered by rope through the nose. The ditch was crisscrossed by well worn tracks, created it seems by moped riders taking short cuts. These same mopeds seem to have unregulated use of the hard shoulder, riding with or against the traffic at their convenience. We are told that helmets are compulsory but they are few and far between in reality. The moped really is the family transport, four up is not an uncommon occurrence - I even saw a baby in the front basket bringing the count on one bike to five. And the legal minimum age limit almost certainly isn't adhered to.
Our first stop after lunch should have been to a drum making family, but the father was taken ill so our itinerary was changed again. After picking up two matching black land-rovers from the local government research project we were given an FBI style escort to a Reed Weaving establishment. The mats and bags contained stunning patterns created by the women of the village when they are not busy in the fields. The children learning this craft showed incredible constraint and patience when they tried to give us a hands-on experience.
Our next stop was to a family making Fish Puff Sweets, we were expecting something akin to prawn crackers, but what we found was quite different. Think the look of a mini Cornish pasty, pastry reminiscent of a sausage roll, stuffed with sweet tuna and then deep fried in syrup. An acquired taste, that was reminiscent of a traditional sardine snack according to the Scilian amongst us.
Finally on to the hotel. A proper hotel with WiFi and, to our delight, elephant towels. Not that there was much time to enjoy the little luxuries as we were invited to dine at a local street food restaurant. A selection of dishes were brought to our hastily erected tables on the pavement outside the shop. Everything from very spicy minced pork, to syrupy fried sausage. This is the usual way to eat in Thailand, a bowl of rice each and shared communal toppings.
We returned to the hotel (via the 7-eleven for Chardonnay which appears to be the only available wine in Thailand) with music thumping and disco lights blazing in the VIP minibus. Fortunately for the inhabitants of this sleepy regional capital we were home just after 9pm.
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