Day #10 (29/6/2020)
Distance travelled: 151.7 km
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Chalung Town in Satun Province
On Mondays we wear yellow… In Thailand, to mark the late and current Kings’ days of birth, many Thais wear yellow as a sign of respect.
Ohh we had some curious visitors overnight, who were bold enough to come very close to our tent. Crunch… crunch… sniff… sniff… pause, my ears were practically twitching like a cat’s! Dimi had to brave it outside at one point, to put the tent cover over, but encountered no creatures…
As we arrived late last night and it was far too dark (and scary) for us to see our surroundings, this morning we had the pleasure of being surprised by the cave that towered over us. There were some jackfruit trees around with many large fruits encased in wicker sacks. There were a few locals dotted about and they were all covered in layers from top to bottom, they looked like manual labourers, possibly to do with the trees. The mozzies were quick to re-attack us, not giving us a moment’s peace. So we packed away our stuff and headed straight for a coffee in the town.
We found a great place called Garden Café – halal, which was like a hidden jungle, just off the motorway. We were lucky enough to grab a table outside as most were occupied with big parties having a feast and more people arriving after us. The extensive menu was not in English, so we used Google Translate’s AR feature to see what was what. Then Dimi, in his best Thai script, wrote down our order of coffee and cake. Two hours into our stay, a crazy-ass storm unexpectedly erupted over us, meaning we quickly darted inside to take shelter. I and some locals kept shitting ourselves each time the thunder sounded… The noise was ear-piercing. I’ve never experienced a storm like this before, it was great! We ended up having lunch there as well, which was tasty and plentiful. We then moved slowly towards the car for Dimi to drive us to our next place.
Camping by Sadao Lake (Reservoir)
We were now making our way over to the eastern side of Thailand to continue our journey south. But we’d first make an overnight stop halfway at Sadao Reservoir to split the long drive up. When we arrived, there was a gate prohibiting cars from entering. So we parked the car and started on foot. It felt nice to stretch our legs and feel the fresh, cool air as we walked along the path, looking at the dam. We passed many runners, teenage couples leaning against their scooters, families and young boys messing about on their bikes; they all seemed excited to see us.
Daylight was fading fast, so we drove the car up a short dirt track to a large kiosk overlooking the dam. It was a perfect spot to camp; the kiosk provided shelter and level ground, and the dawn light over the lake would be lovely to see tomorrow. The crowds of people down below soon began to disperse and all was quiet. Fireflies (which are in fact, beetles!) danced around us while Dimi tucked into his 7/11 tea and I checked e-mails regarding our refund.
All of a sudden, out of the shadows, appeared a guy. “Hello,” said Dimi. I screamed! The guy bent over as though holding his stomach from laughing, yet he remained utterly silent. He sat down opposite us and propped his colourful unicorn balloon up against the pillar. We turn on our torches and I recognised him as one of the people we crossed paths before. I remember noticing his tattered clothes and bare feet. I could go without tonight’s tea, I thought, so I gave him my bag of crisps and he opened straight away. I and Dimi both agreed we should rather not stay here overnight. So we waved goodbye at him and made for the car. Once there, I made Dimi go back out and give him a bottle of water and a chocolate bar. I wanted to give him more… even the damn car keys. By the time Dimi returned, I was balling my eyes out like a baby. I just hope he was glad of our exit rather than seeking our company. More importantly, I hoped he was happy.
Our drive was a short but bumpy one as we took it down a narrow, muddy track. We passed a few houses brimming with people, drinking and eating outside. We pulled up to the lake’s edge and had a little mooch about to see where would be most suitable to set up camp, minding our steps to not land on those tiny frogs frolicking all over the place. We came to settle by a line of planted trees and bid each other goodnight! I was praying not to wake up in the morning and find the unicorn balloon floating by our tent (damn IT, the film).
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