What a great day - again! We left Takua Pa at 7am this morning via a back road, off to a good start. After a few km we would join the national road no 4 again, and did not expect this to be very busy but were not sure... Well, it was not busy at all, not a highway or anything like that, to the contrary, in this region it's a good and calm road, snaking through lush green scenery. For the biggest part of the day, we had national parks within view on our right: still parts of Khao Sok first, then Si Phangnga national park.
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| Marvellous place for a break, Si Phangnga national park |
We made a small detour to Si Phangnga national park; it was just an extra 5km (x2), we hesitated before turning off, but it was totally worth it. When we arrived at the park, our friends the gibbons were singing again, wow! The headquarters area is really marvellous, a nice open grassy area surrounded by jungle. Perfect place for a break with fresh coffee, haha! Then we made a walk to a waterfall in the park, the Tam Nang waterfall, with of course a dip in the cool water. After we got back to our bicycles and were getting ready to leave, we decided to also have lunch at the small restaurant within the park, as it was such a pleasant place. So we spent the whole morning at the park and enjoyed it thoroughly! A much less known park, yet soooooo nice!
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| Arriving at the waterfall after a 1,5km easy hike |
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| The same waterfall, this time with the swimming pool |
Then the beautiful road continued and we had a pleasant ride, with another stop on our way for a cold drink, so that by 4pm we arrived at our destination for the day after 74 wonderful kms. I don't even have any idea what this village is called... it's a fishing village, and the place from where boats to Koh Surin and Koh Phra Thong leave. We didn't realise this beforehand, so once we got here we wondered whether we wanted to take a boat tomorrow to one of these islands. Koh Surin is one of the most idyllic Thai islands, a real "bounty beach" island, with great snorkelling and diving. Koh Phra Thong is just off the coast, very undeveloped still and therefore attractive. But for both it's going to be a bit complicated and as we would not stay long, not worth the efforts. So, we decided to just continue our cycling tomorrow, and that's that...
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| Our village for the night, at dusk |
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| Clearly a fishing village |
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| View from our restaurant, where we had yet another tasty Thai meal |