From the squiggly lines resort to Chanthaburi

Deafening Cicadas, Crabs, and binge-eating at the Night Market in Chanthaburi

The most challenging part of today’s 65km ride was the narrow shoulder we had, primarily due to construction. If there’s one thing that’s been reinforced, it’s to ride in a straight line, don’t weave or veer, keep both hands firmly gripped to the handlebars and don’t flinch when trucks pass. They pass close. They pass fast. There’s a lot of them. Enough said….

Once the construction ended (more than 25k) we were blessed with a wider shoulder and we could relax a little. We passed through quaint little villages where fruit stands abound, mountains could be seen to the left and the right, and there were the Cicadas. First you hear the mild buzzing, then it grows, and grows, the sound explodes exponentially until it’s so deafening we can’t converse. There were a few time when we imagined the villagers would need to use ear protection from the constant strum. Then it would fade into silence. A few kilometres down the road it repeats itself. At the loudest point, with the tallest trees above us we both imagined sprinkles of moisture fell on us…we won’t begin to speculate on that. Best not to think on it too long.

We rolled into Chanthaburi with enough time to go to a restaurant that Trip Advisor guided us to named Chanthorn Prochana. We ordered up the recommended dish that included some “crispy crab” and Chanthaburi noodles. It was as tasty as the reviews claimed, but we were faced with a small dilemma. The crabs were itty bitty guys, and they had all their crispy bodies intact. Do we eat them whole? We can’t possibly crack them open. There’s too many and they are too small. We can’t really ask anyone. We deduced that the intention was to eat ‘em whole. Crunch crunch. When in Rome….(as they say).

The Night Market! it seems as though most cities have one (as well as day markets, and markets of every sort). We sampled BBQ’d crab legs, BBQ wieners, deep fried wonton wrapped sausage, some sort of an egg-crepe with sweetened condensed milk drizzled on it, and fresh pineapple. There were food carts and street vendors lining both sides of the street. Motorcycles, scooters, cars and pedestrians all share the road space along with pop-up tables and chairs for people to dine.

Interestingly enough there were almost zero dogs roaming the streets. (Happy people we are!) Instead, we noticed that cats seem to rule these parts. The Siamese cats and their cousins blend in harmoniously with the environment and people around them. Nice & docile!