Haad Chao Samran

Going to the beach during the rainy season is a big risk. A risk we were willing to take. We woke up Saturday, grabbed some Dunkin' Donuts for the road, and headed to Haad Chao Samran in the rain. It took us about 2 1/2 hours to navigate our way there and we checked in to The Fisherman's Resort.

A fishing boat tied up during low tide. 

 At first we were both skeptical. It's a small place in a small town. The beach was white, filled with shells, had less garbage than Jomtien (see previous blog entry), and it was not raining. The hotel did not have chairs out, but with only a small amount of people out (some from the resort and some local people looking for crabs) we had our pick of sand. It really felt like a private beach. The water was warm and calm. We stayed out for a little while and then headed into town on foot to grab some Coca-Cola for our rum and bottles of water. We didn't make it back in time and our umbrellas put forth a good, yet  failed, effort to keep away all the rain.      

It rained hard and long on Saturday night. We brought along some of our favorite games and made the most of the downpour outside by staying inside. We did venture out again in our car for dinner and stopped at a small place with GREAT food and cheap beer. Greg claims to have ate the best cashew chicken he's ever had and I enjoyed a chicken curry dish. We wish we had gone their again on Sunday night instead of just eating at the hotel which was a disappointment. Now we know for next time.

Sunday was another beautiful day. We arose to sun, ate a lovely breakfast, and walked along the beach collecting sea shells. I took my second attempt at driving here and successfully took us down the coast to the next beach, Puk Tien. Here we discovered giant statues in the water (click here for some background or here for better pictures), ate an amazing lunch of shrimp salad and fresh fish with chili sauce and enjoyed the cool sea breezes. We ventured down to Cha-Am Beach as well, but discovered it was a lot like Pattaya. Covered with umbrellas and packed with people. We started to realize how nice our quiet, mostly deserted beach was compared to the others.

There was a giant turtle as well.

Greg standing by the giant lady.

We had a great few days on the beach and now we even have the rest of the day today to get some errands done, start the laundry, and maybe find some sushi for dinner. Since Greg has been working long hours, including last Saturday, he is even home today without using vacation. We've begun talk about what to do for New Years. Anyone want to meet in Hong Kong or somewhere else?

You can see the beach behind us, this is how busy it usually was.