February 20th: Samut Songkhram to Tha Yang – 65 km
Day 130
We were off the beaten track today. Our circuitous route took us through several fishing villages where we had glimpses of people going about their day, fixing nets, loading bamboo, or dropping their catch off at roadside fish stalls. We did have some stiff briny breezes, but as our path quickly changed direction, we had equal breezes at the head and tail.
As we headed back onto the main highway, storm clouds began to move in, the wind picked up. Although we expected rain at any second it didn’t come, but it did provide some dramatic scenery with leaves blowing into the road and palms trees bowing in the wind.
Getting away from the crowds is always a good thing. There was much less garbage on the roadside. However, I was happy to get back on the main road where we can always find conveniences of civilization. We found a very clean little hotel right next to a Tesco supermarket. Cher suggested we look around for a cheaper place but I was unwilling to leave an easy source of copious calories. Speaking of which, we have noticed that many Thai are quite plump, and we both think it’s the prevalence of grocery stores. You really do get a lot of calories for your baht. Although spending a similar amount at a Local market will leave your belly full, fresh food just doesn’t have the same caloric density of processed food. Which is why we’ve gone as far as to choose hotels because of their proximity to a Tesco.
