{"id":859,"date":"2018-05-22T08:52:20","date_gmt":"2018-05-22T06:52:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cyclefoodfun.com\/?p=859"},"modified":"2018-05-22T08:54:57","modified_gmt":"2018-05-22T06:54:57","slug":"thailand-the-adventure-continues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cyclefoodfun.co.za\/?p=859","title":{"rendered":"Thailand -the adventure continues….."},"content":{"rendered":"

On leaving Chumpon, I decided to take the coastal roads rather than Route 4 that has been my chosen road all the way from Phuket.\u00a0 It was a great decision.\u00a0 What a delight to travel along rural roads through green jungle with shade across the road and minimal traffic.\u00a0 It reminded me of the Natal North coast in the ‘sixties. Thailand has a department of rural roads and those I followed were\u00a0 designated Scenic routes. After a gentle ride I reached Bang Saphan and was faced with a small issue of where to stay for the night.\u00a0 This area has the most beautiful beaches and plenty of resorts but they are very expensive.\u00a0 As I cycled into the town I remembered advice from my friend, Mishally, who said to ask at the Buddhist Temples if I needed accommodation.\u00a0 The monks welcomed me and let me stay in their main hall which was great as it had ablution facilities and I had this whole beautiful hall to myself.\u00a0 It also gave me an opportunity to use my hammock that I’ve been carrying all this way.<\/p>\n

\"Hammock <\/a>
Hammock and Mosquito net <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"My <\/a>
My bedroom <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

From there I continued on the coastal route but midway I decided not to go all the way to Prachuap Khirie Khan but to head to a national park and camp there for the night.\u00a0 This complicated the navigation and I found myself traversing the most rural roads, dirt tracks and even paths through a forest.\u00a0 It felt like I was back in France or Italy on the Via Francigena<\/a>\u00a0, the one difference being that the day was extremely hot and humid, reaching 47deg C at one point (see my post on the page “The Kindness of Strangers”)<\/p>\n

However, eventually I made it and what a delight, it was paradise (well almost – no beer for sale in national parks!)<\/p>\n\n\t\t