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Published: June 25th 2017
Have Guitar Will Travel
What's missing from this picture - besides Stan of course, who is behind the camera, along with all his gear - is my yoga mat. But it is also on the trip. Along with my guitar. Once we stop moving, both come out to play :)Just hours ago we were in a very touristy area, with a few older travellers, but predominantly a young demographic gathered to learn how to dive and party on after. We spent a good forty five minutes in line with a zillion tourists leaving Koh Tao on the same ferry as us this morning. But when we arrived on the mainland, almost all of them disappeared into a number of waiting buses and continued on to Bangkok, while we chose to stay in the town of Chumphon, to pick up our flight tomorrow morning.
We realized on the half hour ride inland to the city, with only about ten others on the near empty bus, that Chumphon is not a tourist destination. Just a regular city. Clean, nice enough, but not situated on beaches, or near any other obvious tourist attractions. So very few people speak English here. It was a nice change.
Our hotel came and picked us up at the train station, where we were deposited by our last transport. No charge, even though it was a twenty minute drive. They also offered guests one free round trip into town during their stay, which we declined. Our
Train Station in Chumphon
These old railway cars on the street provided a nice tribute to the nearby train station. Notice the picture of the King of Thailand in the background. He has been deceased since last October, but the country will be in an official state of mourning for him for one year. He was deeply loved and revered. His photos remain everywhere, as they have always. room was huge - I think it was larger than my entire little beach cottage back home, if you include the enormous bathroom - and lovely, nicely furnished, overlooking a small but very pretty pool that lit up at night, situated on well manicured grounds. It was less than half the price we have paid everywhere else for comparable accommodation on this trip.
But perhaps the best part was the restaurant - not just the excellent food and the lovely garden view - but the change of music made obviously just for us when we arrived, as we were the only guests in the restaurant at the time. Suddenly we were listening to James Taylor singing "Handy Man" - along with other soft rock hits from the 70's - and I was reminded of exactly the same music being played on a train ride across Thailand my first trip here over a decade ago. It was precious. What a nice welcome gesture.
Our hotel staff spoke very little English. It took a few minutes, a few gestures, and a couple pictures to communicate the correct time for the airport taxi pickup for the next morning, but eventually all
Our Super Sweet Super Deal of a Room
Okay, like really, $37 for this room? Like it is bigger than my entire (little) beach cottage, if you include the enormous bathroom. With free taxi service pick up from town? And another free round trip into town, a twenty minute drive away? Pretty quiet, not a lot of action, but sweet deal nonetheless. was in order and confirmed. My only regret is that I can speak no Thai. I always feel gulty when I cannot express myself at all in the language of the country I am visiting. So, although Thai is a very difficult language to learn - far more so than Indonesian - I am determined to take some lessons next year, as we plan to return. Another adventure. Another challenge. But soon, as in tomorrow, I get to resume my Indonesian language practice. All is good. Excited for the learning curves to come.
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susan.penumbra@icloud.com
non-member comment
Ohhhh I love it!