It always rains in Trat!
Trip Start
Apr 25, 2008
1
5
24
Trip End
Jun 07, 2008
Trat,
Trat,
Thailand
Friday, May 2, 2008
We also assumed he meant the wharf 75m down the beach, so Debbie said 'no worries', we'll walk. He said 'No, it's too far. They have to drive us''. So we figure there must be a different wharf elsewhere on the island. Our bags are tossed into the back of the ute, and we said we would also ride in the back (for the fun of it). We get settled in - he goes out the drive, 50m up the road, and down another drive. We end up at the wharf that we said we could walk to!! Oh well.... We enjoyed the ride while it lasted.
We caught the speed boat for the 1.5 hour journey. We started out in slightly overcast weather so Debbie and I thought it would be nice to ride in the open, front of the boat. We stopped at another few islands and picked up a few more people. As we went around the corner of a big island (Koh Chang) the weather started to turn. There were spits of rain but nothing too serious as they evaporated as soon as they hit us. So it was quite pleasant.. warm light drops of rain, the wind blowing in our hair, fresh air, etc. Then the skies opened and it pelted. At the same time the boat went faster. By this time we had picked up so many other people there were now no seats in the back for us. We found that by sitting low we could hide behind the bow of the boat and have most of the rain pass over us. Except for the drops that hit our face. And with the boat speeding along full throttle those drops turned into little pellets being shot out of the sky. It really started to hurt - and we had no where to go. So we grabbed some life jackets and hid behind them for protection.
As we arrived in Trat, it was hosing down - just like when we got off the bus. Sigh......
We grabbed a taxi to Trat township. I should mention these taxis are open-air vehicles where you sit on benches in the back. Fortunately they had pulled down curtains down the sides to help keep us dry.
I wasn't expecting much from Trat as it's really just a provincial town that tourists don't generally stay in, or if they do, it's a transit base for a night (as it was for us). But we were pleasantly surprised.
Debbie had booked us into a guest house the the people at Koh Mak had recommended, but we had subsequently heard that it wasn't so nice. The Thai people that recommended it to us told us it was nice, and next to a canal. An American guy working at Koh Mak told us it wasn't so nce, and that the canal was actually an open sewer. So we decided not to show up, and instead gambled on a place recommended in one of our travel books. Fortunately, this place was fine. It looked boring and basic on the outside - but it was very clean on the inside. That was good enough for us!!
We spend a couple of hours wandering around, had a bite to eat, then went for a massage. We had both planned on full body massage, but I warned the lady that my foot was quite sore from where I twisted it a few weeks ago. So she ended up giving me a one hour foot massage, and worked on my sore ankle with a vengeance. But she seemed to know what she was doing... and by the end, it actually felt a bit looser, and quite good. All this for $6 or so!! I could get t\use to this treatment!
