Day 66: Sam Roi Yot Beach - Prachuap Kiri Khan - Frankie goes to.....Indochina

March 21, 2018

Day 66: Sam Roi Yot Beach - Prachuap Kiri Khan

Routing: #4020, 4, 1047

Important things first: Happy 85th birthday, Mum! At least 15 more to come....

Not an easy day for me though! Sometimes it is difficult to explain why you can hardly keep the pedals turning but today I can: a monster of an onshore wind; the heat coming from the front feeling like somebody is pointing a giant blowdryer at you and those initial 30 km through the so-called National Park which is realistically a never ending string of shrimp farms. Well it does end just before Kuiburi but mentally the damage was done. I can´t help hating this business and am completely off eating "khung". If they do come in my pad khapao talay or in a soup I leave them on the side.....Back to the ride: Once you leave the Blue Beach Resort there is an immediate right turn up to the #4020 which starts off nicely but very quickly becomes shrimp-country. For about 25 km then there is a short nice section before it is back onto Hway 4 and a decent last 15 km into Prachuap Kiri Khan but I simply didn´t enjoy being on the bike today.

I do realize I am desperate for a decent rest now and was very much looking forward to a couple of nights on a balcony in Maggie´s Seaview Guesthouse only to find it fully booked....As were all other attractive guesthouses along the waterfront. In the end I got myself a room in the probably most unappealing of all PKK accommodations, the Mont Talay Hotel. It´s basically three buildings around a huge car park and only the fan rooms in the most southern complex would offer a decent balcony but I was desperate for an aircon room today and got it for 490 Baht in the annex building on the seaside. Good value for money but nothing that would make you stay for more than one night. Some food, early night, Ban Krut tomorrow...

...and off to the nice start on the 4020

You wouldn´t believe the smell once they let them dry out

Much nicer smell in the pond where I had my drink stop

On the way to Kuiburi it turns more into coconut country

Looking down the PKK waterfront with the green buildings on the right being my hotel

That´s a "real" nightmarket to me: Food-only stalls grouped around tables and chairs in the middle

Today's ride: 70 km (43 miles)
Total: 5,071 km (3,149 miles)

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Andrew FatseasBob and I rode through there two years ago and took some similar photos. I know what you mean about the shrimp farms. A blight.
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6 years ago

Frank RoettgenTo Andrew FatseasI think it´s been my fourth time through there, Andrew, and they seem to get more and bigger. I consider it almost blasphemy to call the whole area National Park. I am afraid we will see several more of them on our way to Nakhon Si Thammarat soon.....
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6 years ago