88 km

Today’s ride was easy and flat, though hot and sticky. Along the way we’d planned to ride off the highway to check out Khong Nakha Wildlife Sanctuary. Maybe we could see some wild(ish) animals!

We started seeing signs to the sanctuary & national park several kilometers ahead. When we got to the turn we hoped it wouldn’t be too far off the road, as they never really gave that info and the map can never be trusted.

We rolled through a lovely manicured forest for maybe a couple of kilometers before seeing the entrance. There was no one at the entrance so we rolled on by. There were several neat buildings to the left and to the right, all signed in Thai, but no one was around any of them. Then we saw a building marked in English as well, “Tour Center”. But it, too, was empty–both of people and anything else. Huh. We slowed and looked all around, only seeing one guy at a table under the shade of a maintenance shack or something. He didn’t offer any help, didn’t even look up from whatever he was doing. So we did as anyone else would do in our situation: stop and eat. It makes everything better. After lunch we decided to just ride a bit further, see if we could find the nature trail mentioned on one of the signs on the main road. But at the end of the road there was only a trail that looked like we might need a machete to whack our way through the jungle. There were a couple of bungalows there, probably for people working there. We heard a TV and saw three scooters parked outside, but even with our confused wandering and talking, no one came out to help us. So we left.

We knew to head past Kapoe to Hat Bang Ben near Laem Son National Park this afternoon because of the Dutch woman we met a couple of days ago on the road. She had heard of it because lots of Dutch people stay there, especially cyclists, and it’s run by a Dutch/Thai couple. This is another bit of heaven for cyclists, or anyone, who enjoys nice bungalows in a very friendly environment. It’s quiet here, even though it is high tourist season. This beach is still not “on the map” yet and I guess most people just pass it by. There are only two guest houses here.

After unloading our gear, we cycled out to the jetty. This was one of the areas hit hard by the 2004 Tsunami, and we kept seeing signs warning us that we’re in a Tsunami Hazard Zone, and other signs showing the way to the Tsunami Evacuation Route. Wow. We kept looking at this beautiful place and wondering what it must have been like.

Hat Bang Ben, from the road to the jetty.

We rode back and ate dinner at the resort, a delicious vegetable and seafood curry and an Indonesian vegetarian dish. Later, we looked through the photo album showing the devastating effects and the rebuilding process that our guest house owner had in the restaurant. Evidently, the native trees protected by the near by national park kept this entire village from being completely wiped out.

We started thinking about taking a rest day here tomorrow.