Fast Food on the Back Roads. And then there’s the Beach…

Route: Lang Suan to Chaiya
Distance: 81km

The roads are lovely to ride on and look at. So smooth and serene…it really is remarkable how few cars, and how pristine the road surface can be. There are few amenities along these coastal roads. Makes it challenging when washrooms are needed, but hey, we won’t talk about that. (Use your imagination!) As we were riding the conversation turned to what food we’d eat if we could just snap our fingers and make it appear. We actually rhymed off quite a list. Then, out of nowhere, along a seemingly empty rural road, a mobile BBQ cart comes rattling past us and stops. the owner-operator stopped on the road because she read Randy’s mind. 20 bhats later ($.079) Randy had two skewers of BBQ chicken in hand. Would that be consider a Drive-Thru? Drive-By? Fast Food? In any case, it was instant, delicious, and timed perfectly. That’s the thing about Thailand. Food everywhere, literally!

We passed some very humble housing  Simple slats of woods on stilts above water at the river’s edge  Through a door opening I noticed floorboards had gaps and you could see daylight through them  Simple shelves and tools for everyday living are suspended outside these structures and you just can’t help but wonder what happens when you drop a bhat and it falls through the cracks? Or you lose a sock? Or a flip flop?

We arrived at our resort with high hopes since it’s on the waterfront, and has as pool. We were quite dismayed to discover that the nearby beach isn’t a beach at all. It’s a sandy, water-edged repository for trash, patrolled by stray dogs. Certainly not a playful, warm swimming beach. In fact, not only was it lined with debris, there are numerous large shipping containers—half-buried, washed up on shore, dotting the shoreline and in various states of rusting decay. We walked a little to take inventory of just what was comprising all that trash. Turns out it’s flip flops (probably not from the humble riverside homes), lots of plastic lids, single use plastic everything. Bottles, straws, coconuts (at least they will decompose), plastic tubing, etc. Not an inviting scene.

Out of nowhere we noticed a few cows heading toward the shore. A farmer was accompanying them down the shoreline to elsewhere. Perhaps that farmer also didn’t think the beach suitable even for cows. They clippity-clopped right along the water’s edge, knee-deep in salt water, appearing to feel quite comfortable walking the beach..

And then there’s Crazy Dog. (I think Randy made friends with him earlier.) Sitting outside our room a dog came by and began doing battle with a potted plant. He pulled and wrangled it to the ground then proceeded to chew the stems. He wasn’t giving up in till the resort owner spotted him and had stern words for Crazy Dog.

Last we saw, Crazy Dog was sleeping outside our door. We’ve brought our shoes in for the night cuz you never know…..