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Published: February 5th 2017
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Friday 3rd February
Woke early today to find the weather breezy and overcast, but still very warm, over 30deg c. Maybe not a bad thing as Leo coloured quite too much yesterday and could do with a day for skin to calm down. We enjoy very leisurely breakfast on our terrace, doing what we usually do back at home. A run-through of the national press, a debate on the state of the world, and how we'd fix all ills etc, feeling very settled and 'at home' which is how we intended our impromptu trip to be. We eventually saddled up and cycled towards the main town of Pak Nam Pran, hoping to find a branch of Bangkok Bank as we need to withdraw 18,000baht for our 23 day car hire. (£410). There are numerous ATM machines nearer to our house, but Thai machines cost £5.03 for every transaction, regardless of cash amount requests, so best avoided if possible. Easily found, Paula minds the bikes while Leo pops in, then he pops out again as he can't tell the cashier where he lives, but easily sorted and away we go with the cash, no extra fees! Deciding to explore further we
ride to the end of town, the working end, where fishing is the industry providing most employment in this area. Gaily painted boats bob at the jetties and bamboo racks are filled with drying squid, thousands of them. Maybe we'll try a squid lunch one day (maybe not). We watch in fascination as a local fisherman walks through the surf casting his weighted circular net for surface swimming fish but in the choppy sea don't rate his chances Back at home, we lunched on local ready meals of pork with spicy rice, and char-grilled chicken with sticky rice and plum sauce. These tasty meals cost a whole £1 each, so we really are looking after our cash. However, all that economy flies out of the window when we decide to walk to Mr Sing's bar/restaurant, a 5 minute stroll away, having read good reviews about this establishment. Mr Sing is a bit of a character. He tells us he ran his business for 25 years, around the corner, on the beach, until a 5-star Sheraton Hotel was built and he was asked to relocate. His is a humble thatched affair and would not sit well beside such grandeur. However, he has recreated his beach theme with sand floor, and you can still see the sea (just). We whiled away some hours, deciding to return to eat there at a later date. We were intending to stroll home, but Mr Sing is adamant that we take advantage of his free taxi service, so we do. He has a converted Ford Ranger truck, bearing his name and nightly cruises up and down each road, enticing would-be diners with an offer of free transportation to/from their hotels. Very enterprising we think. Paula cheekily tells him we had intended to go home via the 7/11, no sooner mentioned than we change direction to the shop, Sing waits at our leisure and returns us to our house, groceries in hand. Rooftop sundowners, early night.N.B. Some very strange goings-on next door at the yellow house. Apparently owned and occupied by an English couple. Things we cannot discuss on an open blog..........
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