Ferg & Jude\'s Thailand Adventure 2002

Monday 28th October
Bangkok to Pratchuap Khiri Khan

Checked out of the Manhattan Hotel and headed across the road to catch Bus 511 to the Southern Bus Station. It started to rain and the bus was full so we grabbed a taxi. We negotiated a fare of 200bt, much better than the 500bt the hotel offered us. We arrived just in time for the 8.30am bus to Phetburi. Tickets cost 90bt each for the 2 hour ride.

We picked up a songthaew at the bus station going to Khao Wang Cable Car. We paid 70bt each for the cable car and museum. In hind sight we should have only paid 30bt for the cable car as the museum wasn't worth the money. We saw our first monkeys, they were all over the place. The views from the top of the cable car was quite nice.

Caught another songthaew to Phetburi's southern bus station and straight onto another bus heading for Pratchuap Khiri Khan (100bt each). Fifteen minutes out of Phetburi the bus stopped for 20 minutes to let the local stock up on sweets from a local market. I bought some odd looking jellies for 40bt.

On the road again and finally reached Pratchuap. Well close enough, the bus actually stops on the highway about 2km from the town. We picked up a motorcycle taxi on the highway to take us into town. What a sight, Driver,Ferg, myself and a couple of backpacks all on one bike. It was a hairy ride but lots of fun. He took us to the Thaed Saban bungalows at one end of the beach. We had chosen this place on a recommendation from L.P. What a dive, smelly little boxes. We decided to walk back along the beach to a hotel we had passed on the bike. The Hadthong Hotel had clean, air con rooms for a reasonable price. We took a walk through town in the afternoon and found a fantastic food market selling fresh seafood, exotic fruits and veges. The smells and atmosphere were great. Later that evening we came across a huge night market. I bought a T-shirt for 140bt and we nibbled on a couple of chicken kebabs for 20bt. We eventually ended up having dinner at the hotel which was great value, all up drinks and food cost 370bt. Pratchuap Khiri Khan is an interesting little town and we would have liked to stay longer but we moved onto Ranong in the morning.