Another Day Of Adventure,

having driven as far as we could yesterday,

 

 

 about 28 kilometres until the road petered out in to beaches and then back again, we decided to drive down the other side of the island,

 

 so after breakfast we were off,

 the bad news was that the day was overcast,

 the good news was that there was hardly a car, truck, lorry or bike on the road,

 we followed the coast for some time,

 until we saw this sign,

 so we thought we would stop to have a look,

 the side road led to a small clearing with a house and car park,

 

and entrance to the waterfall,

 

 the waterfall was free to look at, but the car park charge was 20 baht,

 so we made our way through the grounds,

 passing a small shrine on the way,

 we were of course downstream of the waterfall,

 but we crossed over the stream from it early on in our walk,

 every so often it pooled so we looked at a few small fish in the pools,

 we continued upwards,

 it was quiet nice walking through I suppose you would say open jungle,

 we then crossed back across the stream on another bridge,

 again a few small fish but not much else to see,

 I guess in the rainy season this would be a raging torrent,

 this small tree caught my eye, I am guessing in a few hundred years or so it will be a giant,

 the reason I say this is because it is already putting out buttresses that some big trees always seem to have out here, in the distance we could hear some water,

 and here it was,

 

 the waterfall,

 

 we were tempted to cross to get closers to it, but the thought of slipping and twisting an ankle put me off the idea,

 so a final look  from our vantage point downstream,

 and a look downstream, we made a move back to the bike,

 

 on our way out we noticed this lady,

 

 she was cutting into the bark of the trees,

 we had not realised it but on the way in to the area we had driven through a rubber plantation,

 we continued along the coast road,

 following this truck until he turned off,

 on a whim we turned into this abandoned resort,

 there were also a couple of wooden buildings on the plot,

 the beach that it led to was quite small,

 but it seem that this is the case on this side of the island, very little sand,

 but lots of mangroves leading in to the sea,

 looking towards the other end of the beach, again not much sand,

 

 in the distance another grove of mangroves,

 back on the bike and off we went,

 this was a nice touch, seats all along the beach, to overlook the bay,

 at the end of this part of the beach,

 we found The Coffee Home,

 so we parked up,

 and entered,

 the well stocked coffee shop,

 

 after ordering we made our way to overlook the bay,

 

 this was our table,

 

 in the shade but with a nice view,

 whilst waiting for our coffee,

 

 I took a walk to the back of the resort next door,

 The Koh Chang Tara Resort,

 

 of which the coffee shop was part of,

 the coffee shop was separated from the resort by a small stream,

and waterfall,

 by the time I returned,

 

 our coffee and banana cake which was delicious had arrived,

 saying goodbye to The Coffee Home,

 we were again on our way,

 a single bike in the distance,

 

 if that,

 for mile after mile,

 we then chanced upon this place,

 although I can not be sure,

 looking at it's proximately to the sea,

 and the paddle aerators I would say it was a prawn farm,

 then directions,

 we were looking for a mangrove conservation area,

 but driving into town,

 we found this nice temple complex,

 

 with a smaller shrine,

 back to the main temple,

 there were so many figures on each corner,

 we made our way over some more bridges,

 and towards the fishing village,

 

 which was on stilts over the water,

 we continued following the dirt track till it fizzled out,

 

 the road that led to no where!

 so we back tracked up till we reached the concrete road,

 

 and past a boat that nearly made it home, or died in it's sleep!

 on we went,

 past the lighthouse,

 

 until we ran out of road again,

 the end of the line,

 it was as far as we could go,

 a seafood restaurant,

 that offered accommodation,

 along with boats, for fishing and sight seeing trips,

 the restaurant was huge,

 and the seafood could not have been fresher!

also you could buy tickets here to fire a few guns, we went past the range a couple of times but with so many ex SAS, Green Berets and SEALS, etc, 'if I told you my name/occupation I would have to kill you', Walter Mitty's in Pattaya that might arrive here, we did not want to stop, those stray bullets do not care who they hit!

 but some body here really has spent a lot of money on the place,

 we then made our way past on of the many fishing villages where boats were being repaired,

 until we reached the mangrove swamps that we had come to look at,

 walking along the jetty,

 we came across the place that hires kayaks,

 but that was not for us,

 

 the thought of paddling under the tropical sun with my already sun burnt head did not appeal, but this was more like it,

 a boat with a decorated prow cruising through the mangroves,

 but it was not to be, it was a kayak or nothing,

 the Thai boats in the pictures it appears have not been used in  years,

 so a last look at the mangroves,

 

 and we were on our way back past the seating looking out to sea,

 

 and past the ferry,

 

 as like us just a few days ago,

 tourists made their way across from the mainland,

 then we were back,

 to the up,

 and down road,

 

 past some one admiring the view,

 

 to town, we were by now a bit hungry, so a stop at the Sea Bar,

 we walked through the restaurant,

 to the beach,

 it was high tide,

 not that we were worried as we wanted to sit inside, more sun I did not need!

fried tempura chicken and prawns were enough for us then we were on our way,

 

 we arrived back at Paddy's Palms after a shower we went for a swim in the pool, it was so cold! so to warm up we had a drink in the bar, 'Cheers!', and how far did we drive? about 90 kilometres, but like yesterday it seemed a lot further,

 missing Indian food so much we just had to have a walk to the India Hut,

 for a Indian meal,

 as luck would have it the restaurant was just 300 hundred metres or so from our hotel,
 

 if you are in town this is the sign to look for,

 a view of the restaurant from the street,

 Diana ordered a lassi,

a red wine for me, after some poppadoms we ordered a plate of onion bahjees, which we both agreed were the most, using a term from Mr. Tony, most flavoursome, and they were the best ever and that is saying something,

 our main course arrived,

 chicken tikka masala, aloo gobi with onion and colleranda rice, we both agreed the the flavours were excellent, a Indian meal we will remember for a long time,

 as it was still early so we decided to take a walk along the beach,

 

 past some of the restaurants we had walk past in the last few days,

 then through one of them that led to the main street,

 we decided to walk home rather than take a taxi, past some of the market stalls,

 and shops,

till we arrived at Paddy's Palms, a quick nightcap and then we were off to bed.