Show us your Crabs mate! 18/02/2011: Plu Phat beach to Kra Buri

Another most uncomfortable night in the tent but it does mean I’m preserving my ever dwindling budget. Since leaving Krabi I have made 1000baht last me (including today after paying for accomadation).  I tried to pack my camp away as quick as I could but sadly it still took me 2 hours before I was on the move despite being more organized. This morning there was a few motorbikes going back and forth past where i was, one motorbike came right past me and the rider showed me the reason for the  reason for the activity, crabs, they were collecting the crabs from the traps they I had set I presume.

On the move I went by a sign for Bangkok, I had some miles to cover to meet Russell in time, though I did make a slight error in my mathematics by giving myself one less day so in-fact my urge to get the miles done was not so urgent.

Riding in the mornings is my favourite time of the day to cycle in as from 1130 onwards the sun is so fierce, there is very little or no cloud cover and it just drains my energy. Riding along in my own little world I was awaken from it early afternoon when I was going past a hill I could hear lots of gunfire, just at that moment I received a text message, I was half expecting it to say, ‘ Thailand is at war,’ or something along those lines, as it turned out it was just Russell telling me his flight details. The reason for the gunfire was a nearby army barracks which I soon passed, I guess they were on some training exercise.

I was riding after having another poor nights sleep, this combined which the afternoon heat left me with very little in the legs so I was very thankful to be assisted by a tailwind, the bike gods are kind. All along the road and this is something that has got worse in Thailand is the number of stray dogs, to my surprise so far none have given chase but with about 5kms to go to my final destination one dog decided my luck had run out. It came running out in front of me barking and showing the teeth he (or she) was planning to tare me apart with. Having a crafty idea I went hard on the pedals straight at the beast hoping he would back off enough so I could get ahead where some Formula 1 defensive style maneuvers would keep him behind my back wheel. The plan worked, I kept the dog from getting his leg of cyclist but I had pedaled flat out and my legs were on fire.

Getting into Kra Buri I rode around but could track down a hotel or guesthouse anywhere, when I asked I was pointed towards the resorts which I expected to be way over my budget, though as I’d been good the past couple of days I had 400baht for food and accommodation. Not keen to camp tonight as I felt really terrible I decided to check out one of the ‘resorts’ just to see what I would be paying because you never know. On the way down the side road to the resort a car pulled up asking if I needed any assistance, the driver for an out of the way thai town spoke excellent English. He told me he lived alone and said I should stay at his house tonight. There was something about the guy and how hasty he was to invite me to stay I was a bit uncomfortable with, my gut was telling me go check out the resort. I’m sure the guy was just keen for the company and wanted to practice his English but even though my gut has been wrong in Asia a fair bit I still go with it. I managed to convice the guy I would check out the resort first but he said to come back for dinner and that he’d be waiting, not promising I’d be back I cycled off without looking back.

I arrived at the ‘resort’ it looked very pricy indeed but was family run, even though 600 baht was still cheap for what it was I had to haggle to price down, taking pity on me I guess I got it for 300baht. What I got was a beautiful wooden shack with by far to most comfortable bed I have had so far.  I felt guilty about paying so little such was the ‘luxury’ I had just walked into and the sweetness of the people running the place. They gave me loads of little free goodies like steamed buns, heaps of water, milk and a few other little treats. For dinner I bought a huge bottle of pepsi and a delicious plate of rice all brought to my private hut for as little as 40 baht. I even had a kettle so I could make myself endless cups of tea, I was in heaven. Also the surrounding were so peaceful and calm I felt totally relaxed, I was enjoying this night.