I managed to get on my "new" bike (actually the mens mountain bike here at the villa, which we only got unlocked yesterday) at 9 and thankfully the beach road was remarkably quiet ... ish.
I rode down the the south end and took a couple of pics around the south end as I headed north.
It was pretty much like this all along the beach road other than in central Cha Am.
My definition of quiet is now when I see any empty cars space on the foreshore.
Our timing wasn't as good as it could have been and we had lunch late, which meant that we missed the Songkran Festival parade 😞
We decided to go for a long walk to make up for it.
This walk is about 4.5km, and ~500m further than we would normally go.
A round trip of 9 kms, on wet sand, makes my conscience feel OK.
From near the end of Narathip Road looking south
From near the end of Narathip Road looking west.
Beach umbrellas so close together that they form a huge ongoing canopy
The 3 pics above are for my friend Baz.
He just bought a 40hp motor, similar to what powers this type of water borne death trap, for his yacht, which I estimate would be 6 to 10 times bigger!
These units are held together with chewing gum, bits of old fishing line, ropes from old buoys and floats, a bit of spit and anything else they can muster up for free.
And there are lots of them all over the beach
They are generally used to pull these "banana boats" at speeds that are frightening.
The whole set up look guaranteed to end up in tears but I haven't heard of any accidents, yet.
There are a few really nice proper jet skis as well.
This is where I took the following two pics
Looking south
Looking north
This where I took the following four pics.
It is on the beach outside the Cha Am Grand Condotel, which as the name implies is a hotel full of condominiums. It doesn't look anywhere near as flash in real life as it does on any of the various websites that have their condos for sale or rent.
Run down, as in poorly maintained, steps down to the beach from the condotel
Looking north
Looking south
Looking up.
You can see how unkept it is a ground level.
The Grand Pacific Sovereign from afar, south side.
With that palatial looking structure on its roof.
As you get closer to the centre of Cha Am the umbrellas creep off the foreshore and onto the beach.
I'd wager a dollar, or 22.25 baht, that it not exactly legal and that someone in authority is making a few, or many, baht from this practice.
Welcome to Thailand!
A view from under the canopy of umbrellas. I think you can rent a stretcher
for 5 hours at a cost of 30 baht (~AUD 1.30ish)
Here we are on the way home heading up Narathip Road and we have had quite a few bucket of water poured on us by kids and their parents already.
To have them do this is an honour as it is a sign of friendship and good wishes.
BUT, some of the older kids and their mischievous friends and family sometimes have ice water!
Like the crew with the guy you see the left.
Well, today ice water was just fine. Other than the little surprise at the beginning it was very welcome, because it was damn hot.
Here we are, finally at home and wringing wet!
Tonight the girls stayed up and watched the 2017 version of "Papillon" and I hit the sack early.
Tomorrow is Sunday. A day of rest and one I'm looking forward to.
I hope wherever you are your smiles outnumber your frowns.
Until tomorrow, stay well.
