Day 3: Had Sam Roi Yod - Prachuap Kiri Khan - Frankie goes to.....the Gulf of Thailand (2022)

January 9, 2022

Day 3: Had Sam Roi Yod - Prachuap Kiri Khan

Anther perfect day for cycling. Blue skies without a single cloud, ideal morning temperatures in the low 20s C and the mild breeze still coming from the Northeast. Even the infamous shrimp farms all along the National Park couldn´t spoil my mood. Mind you the few kilometers along the breeding ponds offer three nice sidekick options too. Two attractive temples and the Sam Phraya Beach. There will be a booth at the entrance to the beach and some official may ask you to pay the normal 200 B National Park fee. The beach is certainly not worth it but any time I have been there "Just one photo please" made them wave me through.

What you can`t avoid a bit later on is a short stint on Hway 4. Two options here: Off to the left after 10 km onto the #1047 which I have done the last two times or another 5 km on the Phetchkasem and then onto the #1034 - my choice today. Lovely ride that is and make sure you do a U-ey immediately after crossing the brand new railway bridge. This side road will take you right down to the northern end of PKK beach where another separate cycling track will take you into town.

Two surprises when I got into the town center: They were setting up huge barriers all along the waterfront road. Preparations for 5 days of the Prachuap Grand Prix which is coming up next week as I learnt later .

The 2nd surprise seems rather be related to the two years of Covid restrictions. There were always several small and attractive guesthouses and other tourism-related shops along the waterfront but now plenty of establishments seem to have locked up. Sad! Hopefully not for good.

As my first choice, Maggie´s Guesthouse, seems to have vanished too I quickly checked my options on Agoda and the "advantage" of that crisis is that the hotels are desperate for customers and I got a grand 5th floor seaview room at the Prachuap Beach Hotel for 648 Baht.

Once the sun goes down over PKK the city is still as attractive to me as ever. That´s all about food options though. My first stop has always been the nightmarket right next to the Provincial Police HQ, the 2nd course was some grilled squid at one of the stalls along the Sam Ao waterfront walking street.