50 something on her travels

We discovered a beautiful beach 🏖 today called Ao Manao. We finally managed to hire two old bikes and cycled 3km to visit.  The location of this beach is interesting. It's inside a military base and was a battlefield during World War II.  You arrive at the checkpoint and sign in the register with passports.  You then cycle through the base to the beach further along. No photos are permitted to be taken of the base. However when we got to the beach we were taken aback by how beautiful it is. And photos here are allowed.  It was great as there were hardly any tourists around. I believe it gets busier at weekends with local families.  We will definitely be returning on our final two days to enjoy the sunshine, peace and warm water. 

Today we awoke to a beautiful sunrise.  It felt tropical and reminded me of early mornings in Bali. Without bicycle hire (don't ask, it is frustrating), we walked to Wat Thammikaram Worawihan (aka The Monkey Temple).  It is located at the top of Khao Chong Krajok hill that overlooks the bay of Prachuap Khiri Khan.  Climbing to the top takes 396 steps, and is quite challenging in the morning heat.  The steps are also home to many macaque monkeys who roam freely up and down.   The monkeys are largely unfazed by visitors.  If you ignore them and walk by they don't care.  If you feed them this may result in fights and potential scratching.  Believe me, we don't want another visit to a hospital for a course of Rabies vaccines.  Mind you, there were a couple of tourists feeding them bananas 😩.  You must also remember to have your possessions locked in your bag, otherwise they will nab them.   The locals do arm you with bamboo c...

We spent a low key week at Cha-am Beach.  George had chance to recover from his chest infection.  I had a very busy travel booking week, often working until midnight due to the UK time delay.  It ended up being a good stop to sleep, lay on the beach and catch up on work. Today it was time to move on.  We took the two hour stopping train journey from Cha-am down south to Prachuap Khiri Khan.  Apart from western tourists, the station was pretty much empty for the delayed 11:20 departure. The cost of our journey today in third class was just over £1. I want to explain to you about the "token system" shown in the photo below.  On Thailand’s single-track railway lines , a token system is a traditional safety method used to prevent collisions between trains moving in opposite directions. Each single-track section (between two stations) has a physical token (historically a metal staff or tablet).  Only one train can possess the token at a time . A train ca...

I know in the UK a massage can set you back a few pounds. In Thailand there are many salons in tourist places. Some are good and staff are well trained. Some aren't so good, and if you're a single man you might come out with more than you bargained for.  So always good to check reviews before visiting!  We've been to this one twice in Cha-am. The staff are friendly and it feels like they've had some massage training.  A Thai massage for two people for one hour is £17. I think you'd have to add at least £50 onto that as a minimum in the UK! 

Early every morning, I leave my B&B (top left), to walk around the corner to visit the local Thai stall. The family sells everything - fruit, veg, savoury and sweet snacks.  Our favourite is red sticky rice with Thai custard and coconut. It is extremely sweet! It might not look much but it tastes delicious. All for the price of 25p.

We've seen some very old warning signs on the beach about jellyfish, but not thought much about it.  Just before Christmas, George knelt on a tentacle in the sea and it was like a stinging nettle. No harm done.  When I saw the jellyfish this week, I first thought it was a plastic bag. But no it definitely wasn't. It was dead and washed up on the beach.  So I'm now wearing my sea shoes!