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Published: November 12th 2009
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Day 13: Chumpon to Lamae
We spent a day resting in Chumpon; the parts of the day not spent lying in bed, depleted, were spent on the streets, eating a smorgasbord of delicious, homemade foods. Looking back on it, I actually don’t know how we managed to eat everything we did in the course of twenty-four hours, while still spending most of that time in bed. We ate dim sum for breakfast: BBQ pork dumplings, shrimp balls, clear green vegetable dumplings, ordering container after bamboo container, for thirty cents a container. Then we did laundry and checked our email. After that, we ate incredible duck soup with a sweet brown broth, honey mustard chicken skewers with peanut sauce, different BBQ pork dumplings. Then we napped. After that we ate pad thai, fried oysters, coconut filled pancakes, sweet ice coffee, yellow custards. With all that eating, and all that relaxing in a luxury hotel, we each spent 330 baht that day. Just over $10 per person. Can’t beat those Thai prices with a stick!
So the next morning, we awoke, well rested and ready to continue biking. After a big dim sum breakfast, of course. Don't run across that stuff
too often around here unfortunately. Early on we passed a pickup truck over turned on the side of the road, soon after we saw a flattened dog, its guts splayed across the road. That dog was hard for us to stomach and we biked more carefully afterwards. All day we rode along the main highway, friendly locals waving constant hellos. Trucks loaded up with rhambutan passed by, bringing the fruit from local farms to different locations where it could be sold. Our favorite fruit, golf ball-sized with a juicy, sweet interior and a pink and neon green spiky exterior, you couldn’t beat the prices down here. 13 baht a kilo, or about 30 cents for 2.2 pounds. We consumed rhambutan copiously and happily, only grumbling about our inability to peel them while biking.
We were trying to reach Surat Thani, a big city, and we watched all day as the km markers descended from a distance of 193 km to 98 km. Alas, we couldn’t make it, and soaked from pouring rain once again, we stopped in Lamae, a town according to our map that boasted hot springs. Yet like that day in Don Hoi Lot, the town with
the unbelievable seafood mirage, we were forced to bike on and on searching for a hotel. When we finally came upon one, we were ten miles from the hot springs, miles out of town, though right by the beach. We were wiped-out and couldn’t imagine biking back ten miles.
This hotel was made up of a few little bungalows, and the one we chose was actually built upon the beach sand, about 100 feet from the sea. 350 baht or $11.50. And this beach was a deserted beach; just these few bungalows, a restaurant nearby, and a few fishing boats docked out in the sea. The bungalow was basic; a squat toilet, no sink, a cold shower and gaps in the bathroom wall that allowed in the mosquitoes. But if we shut the bathroom door, the mosquitoes couldn’t get in to the bedroom. And there was a front deck, right on the beach, where we sat and read at sunset.
J was facing his first injury, though ironically not from biking, but from stretching. Specifically, from me stretching his leg yesterday. I had overextended his knee. Oops! He was in a lot of pain and barely able to walk down the beach to dinner.
The restaurant was surprisingly bustling; people must drive out from town to dine on the beach. There were tables set directly on the sand, lit only by a single candle. Otherwise a charming ambience of starry sky and crashing waves prevailed. We walked in to the main restaurant, a building open on both sides with a roof. What ensued was hysterical.
There was no English menu, and no indication of what kind of food they made, so I figured I’d just go in to the kitchen to see what they had. The staff had no problem with me doing that. They had all kinds of seafood on ice, the usual rice, noodles, fresh vegetables. Half a dozen people were cooking, another half a dozen just hanging out. I pointed out what we wanted, using words when I knew them. I pointed to mussels, eggs, rice and vegetables, saying the words for each except for mussels, the word for which I didn’t know. Then I said one, neung, and held up one finger. Then I pointed to clams, noodles and vegetables, and held up two fingers. They were all like, oh yes, head nodding, smiles all around. I really thought they understood. I returned to our table, where an English teacher who spoke a little English, (I know), had seated herself and was chatting up J.
Ten minutes later, a waitress came over to the table and asked us, through the teacher, what we would like to eat. I was like, hey, remember what we just talked about? In the kitchen? About the food? Yet Thai and Lao people are very eager to please, and will often say yes not because the answer is yes or because they understand, but just because they want to make you happy. Also, I think there are certain foods that are combined with noodles, certain foods with rice and other foods that are served alone. So just because I wanted certain foods combined, it doesn’t mean they would be willing to do it. They might think it was too strange, like if someone came in to your kitchen and told you to cook them peanut butter and jelly combined with spaghetti.
So I tried to explain to our new teacher friend what we would like but it was pretty apparent she didn’t understand most of what I was saying. Her English was limited. But she wouldn’t admit it. She was an English teacher for god sakes! She told the waitress something but I was a bit nervous about what that something was.
So when the teacher departed, I paid another visit to the kitchen, and demonstrated our proposed dishes exactly as I had before. This time, a few minutes later, out came the most delicious dish of clams stir-fried in a red chili sauce with basil. Yes, yes we said!! Then followed a dish of sautéed prawns, in their shells, with their eyeballs, and their antennas. J and I will eat most food, but too many instances of trying to extricate the little meat inside these well-armored creatures had brought us to boycott them. We said no, sorry, we didn't order these, we won’t eat them. I’m not sure if this is what the teacher had ordered for us, even though we had specifically told her not to order the prawns? But anyway, now the waitress was very confused and asked what else we would like. I replied, nothing else, I really think they are already preparing our other dish. I had confidence, after that first dish emerged so well. And then, just as we’d hoped, the other dish came out, fully perfect. Delicious.
Soon, the inebriated owner came over and started force feeding us whiskey from his own glass. He brought over the fish and noodles he was eating, and fed us from his own fork. He asked us what else we wanted to order, and we said no, no, you guys all need to communicate with each other! We already got our food! It was great! His whole family worked together, running this place. There were little boys hanging around, who the owner would yell at to clear the tables every once in awhile. Everyone was really nice and tried so hard to please us, despite all the confusion. We left with fond goodbyes, laughing at the funny scenario and walked back to our bungalow along the beautiful dark beach. That evening we drank whiskey and water on our dark front porch while watching the stars and listening to the waves. It was wonderful.
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