We wake to a breezy slightly cloudy morning, breakfasting on local fresh Pineapple that's delicious. After yesterday's beach day we decide to drive down motorway 4 to Prachuap Khiri Khan, which is described as a quaint small fishing village. The road is busy and further complicated by lane closures and repairs, plus the obligatory car crash delay. So 1 hour 20 minutes later we arrive at our destination. Which now is a medium sized commercial Town. Somehow in trying to get to the coast Leo manages to get us stuck in the middle of the local market so a crawler pace and several near misses before we escape and reach the coast road. Our first impression is that there is a Tsunami occurring - the Sea appears to be higher than the land and waves are ... read more

Friday 10th Feb Pineapple Surprise When we read about this region it said Pran Buri was the major producer of Pineapples. Bearing in mind we think Cyprus also grows them we realise we haven't actually ever seen them growing, what the heck do Pineapple bearing plants/trees look like? Therefore, after our usual slow start perusing the News and lots of tea and toast ( with a generous spread of our own homemade Cyprus Orange and Ginger Marmalade that we brought with us, (sad people that we are), decide to check out their cultivation enroute to the Mangrove National Forest Park at Pran Buri, 20 minutes easy drive away.Pineapples are a proper fruit and grow from spiky leafed plants something like Aloe Vera. Once we knew what to look for we saw acres and acres of them.Curiosity ... read more

Wednesday 8th Feb Day starts well. Paula prepares Thai Brunch of stir fried noodles in soy sauce, topped with perfectly poached eggs. We both declared very nice, tasty and healthy too. Lots of Tetley tea . Then pack beach bags to try to find the local's favourite beach resort of Ho Sai Noi. Can't see it on any of our maps, so set off with a general direction and lots of optimism . Following Google we make several wrong turns but enjoy the journey through marsh land and masses of fields of Pineapples, although living in Cyprus We cannot remember seeing them before and certainly in such quantities , parked up near a famous Buddha, that Google says overlooks our destination , Paula gets out to check if we are where we want to be when ... read more

Monday 6th Feb Woke early, lots of barking dogs last night, competing with the night-song of the forest birds which disturbed our sleep. Breakfasted and out by 10.15am, the plan for today is to visit our nearest National Park, Sam Roi, which contains the Phraya Nakhon cave,housing the famous temple dedicated to King Rhama V. The trip revisited our earlier route with stunning Coastal and Mountain views, and flatlands, fen-style, freshwater lakes, fish farms and plentiful coconut trees plus pineapple groves. We arrive easily, along quiet roads. Paula is enjoying driving, so Leo enjoys the scenery. Half an hour of easy driving brings us to the Park. Bought our tickets at 200baht pp, (£4.50) plus 20baht to park (45p), Paula as usual having researched the area advises purchasing the round trip, long tail boat rather than ... read more

Saturday 4th February Beautiful morning. We have an agenda today. 1. Collect hire car2. Locate Hua Hin Fishing Park, Hue Hin3. Find Tesco Lotus superstore for basic shopping. Managed all three, only one wrong turn, blaming Google maps for that one slip. Fishing day booked for Tuesday, Leo opting for the Carp and Catfish lake, the other containing huge varieties! Too big to handle. Arriving at Tesco Lotus at 2pm we realise we are hungry, so after grabbing a trolley, we head firstly to The Pizza Company as there is a food mall at the entrance. Enjoying a delicious pizza, fries and refreshing lime and lemon drinks, served beautifully on a wooden platter in those trendy jam jar glasses, with lime cordial on the side in tiny jugs, delicious. Bill came to £20 and we would ... read more