Thursday morning

Thursday morning I got an early start and decided to follow the road for a while. I wanted to get to Nai Thon quickly, to leave myself some time to lounge around on the beach before I flew back to Bangkok. I followed this lovely road as far as I could, and then it abruptly ended. I've never seen a road that just ended in the middle of nowhere, with no outlet whatsoever. I had no choice but to take the coast again, which served me right for taking the easy path.

The morning hike was muddy. After days of walking on boulders, I was now trudging through soggy deep sand. I made my way to a small village where there were a bunch of locals having a picnic. There was a large group playing soccer to the rhythmic beat of drums. I didn't get close enough to the village to take a decent picture. I thought about stopping and kicking around, but time was not a luxury this day. Besides, the path to the village was hairy, and I was having a hard enough time with the coast. I made a move toward the gathering, but the mud was too deep, so I kept walking. I do really like the idea of playing soccer to drums. I know the Brazilians employ this tactic, and it seems to work pretty well for them. There also was something primally satisfying in hiking past a small exotic village with an exotic beat. It made me feel like a real adventurer.

After getting through the mud I ventured further down the coast and ended up in a completely different atmosphere. I landed on a gorgeous beach resort with palm trees and beautifully manicured gardens. The people staying here were undoubtedly having a much different vacation experience then your narrator. I was tired of sludging and climbing, so I went through the resort to find the road. While I was sweatty, dirty, and haggard, I thought the resort people would turn their noses up at the sight of me. The staff did nothing of the sort. I felt a little sheepish and intrusive, so I told them I was hiking and just wanted to find the road. A very nice young man offered to take me to the road in his golf cart, and I happily accepted. We talked along the way and I told him I was going to Nai Thon beach. He called his mother, the resort manager, and she met us at the front gate. She refused to let me walk, and called her other son and asked him to give me a ride to Nai Thon. She also gave me the name of a contact in Nai Thon who would take me to the airport on a shuttle bus. This was typical of the accomodation and generosity I received all week from the very nice local folks.

I arrived in Nai Thon just after 11:00, with plenty of time to spare. I had a snack and spent the remainder of my cash on a service to be named later. I relaxed a bit and took a swim in the ocean. I asked the local at the restaurant what the hike was like to the airport, and she said: "It's just around that cove. Maybe 45 minutes walk." I could have bummed around on that beach all day and taken the shuttle, but I opted to take the coast and bum around at the beach by the airport instead. After three days of hiking, what was another 45 minutes? I set out after lunch to tackle the last leg of rocky coast. The rest of the afternoon is a different story in itself, and it deserves its own entry. I should probably warn the feint of heart and worrisome that they may want to skip the next chapter all together.