132388
04-Mar-2019

We decided to hire a car for the next few days of our journey. Doing that, we figured, would circumvent four minibus rides and associated commutes-to-stations, and allow us to get off the beaten track a little.

Doing your vehicle rental via one of the travel agents in Trang works out quite a lot cheaper than hiring from the airport, and -- unless you're flying in -- is obviously a lot more convenient. We used Andaman Islands Tour & Travel to rent a big white Toyota Vios which Nigel hasn't complained about much at all.

car

Day 1 saw us heading first for.... Kook Ming bakery, Lampura, 14 km north of Trang.

I told you about the Trang cake, right? Well, after we'd tried ours (which was pretty nice), I read about "the original and the best". We need to road-test those, I thought. So we stopped off, bought a pandan cake, and yes, it probably has the edge. All natural ingredients, the salesperson explained in impeccable English.

cakebox

Our second stop was Tham Khao Pina. This is a cave in a large lump of rock behind a temple, and we had this little miracle of petrification and spirituality all to ourselves.

king

cave1

cave2

cavebuddha

view

shrine

There's a heap of sights in this area, which could keep you busy for many days (the tourist office has plenty of maps and brochures). But we headed east, through part of the Khao Pu-Khao Ya National Park, to Thale Noi, a freshwater lake that has been designated a waterfowl reserve.

reservoir
Reservoir in the hills

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Thale Noi boardwalks

Budget accommodation is quite basic here, but the no-frills Chuanchom Resort (though absolutely not a resort...) is very adequate. It's clean; stuff works; and you get served a little breakfast on your front stoop.

Google maps made a complete pig's ear of getting us there, reiterating with total seriousness suggestions to drive down the walkways between stilt houses. Then again, it is sometimes hard to distinguish solid from liquid around here.

The first sight of the lake, a vast expanse of green vegetation and blue water, lifts the heart. And just strolling the boardwalks and climbing the observation tower brings you into contact with an astonishing number of birds. Storks, herons, so many others we couldn't name -- and terns!

Admittedly not Arctic terns (which would be most unlikely to show up in these parts), but at least terns. A member of the family. And my admiration has only grown. They are so acrobatic, so beautiful in flight. Did you know they can actually hover?

gbtern
We're pretty confident this is a gull-billed tern

herons

shadows

Day 2 began a little before 5.30, when a stream of public announcements, loudly and tinnily, began to emerge from speakers that are strategically positioned to be inescapable...

Never mind. We were getting up early anyway...

Because what you do here is take an early morning boat trip. Not difficult. Go to the place where the long-tail boats are lined up. Agree a price (450 baht is the going rate for a trip that takes just less than two hours). And prepare to be blown away...

Dawn-pink water; carpets of waterlilies, opening their faces to the new day (after a few hours, they'll shut again); sunrise creating orange trails; drifts of other tiny pink flowers; water buffalo, munching their way through a pondweed breakfast -- and birds.

So many birds. When the boatman cut his engine, we were surrounded by the gentle peeps and calls of waterfowl. Pukeko in abundance, more of all the characters we'd spotted yesterday, and many others.

dawn

pinklilies

thicklilies

white&pink

littleflowers

goldboatman

goldbuffalo

buffs

We thought our boatman was great, taking us pretty much all round the lake and out under the bridge to the huge next-door lake (Thale Sap), and stopping or slowing down to let us photograph things. We gave him a hefty tip, but in a way, he was just a channel for our appreciation for the lake.

After breakfast, we drove along the elevated roadway, which also affords fine views of birds (and provides bays for people to safely stop).

pukeko

stilt

And the rest of the day followed the watery theme. We drove along Thale Sap (which you actually can't see that well from the road) as far as Wat Khien Bang Kaeo, an Ayutthaya-era temple. The chedi is very fine, as are the Buddha figures. But this temple, set by the Bang Kaeo River, will live on in my memory mostly for its birds. I'm not sure when I last heard such a riot of different bird song.

chedi

gorgeousbuddha

hallbuddha

grounds

There are other good photo stops at Pak Pra, where a bunch of those huge cantilevered fishing nets can be found, and at Phattha Thong beach, where you get a good impression of the extent of this second lake.

nets

beach

The Bang Cham restaurant, right by Pak Pra, makes a good place for lunch. The standout here was gaeng som, a delicious sour and spicy curry with snapper and a host of ingredients I can't identify -- sour berries, a starchy, potato-like thing, and a crunchy, stick-like thing. (Incidentally, there's a wonderful tribute to this dish here.)

gaengsom

Thale Noi has a couple of coffee shops, where you can round out your lunch. Le Noi Berry became our favourite.

lenoiberry

Recaffeinated, you can explore the narrow walkways that run parallel to the lakefront road. Here people dry fish, process "krajud", a type of grass that's dried and woven into all sorts of wares, and live those fascinating over-water lives that seem so normal to them and so very unique to us.

lanes

krajud

art

houses

house

We're pushing on to Phattalung tomorrow, but whatever happens, Thale Noi is going to remain a highlight of the trip.

spirithouse