Van, Boat, Bike and Foot

Tranquil beaches await in Cha Am

The morning of our departure for Cha Am, Teddy was holding a sign that said “Primo” when the Monkey Man exited Wendy House looking for our ride. It took him a minute to realize that “Primo” really meant “Monkey Man.”

Modest wear for the whole family

The van was parked around the corner. 36/2 Soi Kasemsan 1, Rama 1 Road, Palumwan, was much too narrow for traffic to go around the behemoth vehicle. We made our quick hellos to Teddy and all loaded in for the ride to Cha Am. Teddy had been in Bangkok for business the night before, so it was perfect that he could pick us up. Right off the bat, he described his long-standing friendship to the board of the Cambodia Academy and especially Hans, it’s founder who died about a year ago. He knew that Monkey Man was new on the board and he radiated a concern of a parent that he personally needed to meet anyone who was associated to his old friend Hans.

Hans Eide

We left Bangkok via its Port by taking Big Road 4, toward Singapore. Cha Am lies within the State of Phetchaburi, not to be confused with the city of Phetchaburi. The city is our half-way point and a stop where you have Amazon coffee, fill up with natural gas and pee. Teddy’s van runs on natural gas, as do many, many of the large vehicles Thailand. The ride had been smooth sailing and Teddy was able to make good time in spite of the flooding. Teddy also forgot to tell us about the flooding when we began this morning.

Downtown Phetchaburi - Jeep contains Safety Officers

Thailand had been hit by the remnants of Typhoon Damrey, early in November. In response to the high-water table at the The Kaeng Krachan Dam in Phetchaburi, those in charge opened the flood gates-so to speak. Big Road 4: 6 lanes winding thru the city of Phetchaburi thru the lowest lying sections of town. This road is the main artery from Indonesia to Thailand and beyond. There was a swift current of water running over 4 like a babbling brook. Homes and businesses where mostly underwater, though we saw a few that were sandbagged. Teddy estimated that depth of the water to be between 3-4 feet. Teddy wasn’t as concerned as we, as he indicated that this happened every time they open the floodgates and that usually happened a couple of times a year.

Our arrival at PJ Park – the subdivision where Prima and Primo reside- brought out all the neighbors to see who had arrived. The park is a bright, inviting Soi, 2 blocks from the beach. Each condo is identical, yet all are painted in a riot of color. It’s an old enough of a community, where throughout the years, owners have placed their own unique flairs to personal property. Each has a carport and upstairs balcony porch (where lots of laundry is done). The condo is 2BR/2BA. Ours has air. Yay!

All 4 bikes on the carport at PJ Park

First order of business: Lunchy!  Then onward to the beach to rent bikes for Monkey Man and myself. Primo and Prima have no car/motorcycle – it’s beach bikes everywhere. For the next 3 days’, we will bike all over town, like a native. The rental process was not cut and dry as each bike had to be tested and retested before a decision was to be made. Is it better to have brakes or tread on the tires? Somewhere in a perfect world, there should be both, but this is Thailand.

All types of bikes for rent at Cha Am Beach

Cha Am Part 1- Getting There

Porn is a legit name in Thailand

Have I mentioned that to fly anywhere in SE Asia, you had to go thru Bangkok?

Did I happen to mention that there were no good massages in Laos?

Wat Arun at dusk from the Chayo Pria River

Given that information, is it any wonder that Monkey Man and I planned for a 2 -layover in Bangkok, for the express purpose of having more massages after we left Luang Prabang? We even stayed at the notorious Wendy Hotel again; with its windowless rooms and steep staircase, due to its location across the Soi from the most excellent Spa we were familiar with.

I want to eat here always!

Arriving late, we needed to nourish ourselves before having an 8pm, one-hour long, foot/leg massage. Not more than 2 blocks away from the Wendy, is a large shopping center - MBK, with a copious amount food-vendor stalls underneath. It’s just like street food, but with brighter lights and louder music. Almost all the shopping centers have 3 food courts: a fancy one, a reasonable one and the “street vendor” one. We had a choice of any kind of seafood, meat, veg and fruit there, Hallal stalls too! Shrimp Pad Thai with a shared beer; all for less than $6 bucks for the both of us.

Our plan for the next day, which we planned during the massage, was a visit to Chinatown. The flower market is located there and though we visited our last time around, it was obvious that there was more to explore of this corner of town in the labyrinths of alleyways and sidewalks.

The Chinese need gates.

Monkey Man had heard tale of a “hardware” section of Chinatown and I was game. We studied the street maps and choose a route, which ended at the Golden Mount Temple running parallel to a Klong (canal), where we could catch a water bus at the Saphan Phanfa Pier, which then would stop at the Jim Thompson House on the Soi next to ours.

There goes the 3pm bus

Given that the morning work traffic was over, we hired a taxi to take us to Chinatown and proceeded to wander. If it seemed we should go right, we definitely took a left. It was that kind of stroll. The smaller the alleyway, the more attractive it was to us. We never specifically found the “hardware” section, but we found the machinist area, the motorcycle repair/parts area and the woodworking area – all were fascinating and a delight!

Add a motor to anything with wheels - tractors, jeeps and tuktuks

Bar aluminum

 As you know, we were not on a normal tourist route; thus we were a novelty to the workers in the area. Several helpful citizens tried to set us straight and direct us, in their broken English, to the locations of “purses” and “Budda’s”. Obviously, we were lost to anyone with a lick of sense and exactly where we wanted to be.

Ticket Taker on the Klong

With the exception of a couple of checks with Google Maps, we found our way organically and randomly to the Water Bus. Unforeseeable as things were going so well, we got off the water bus one stop too early. In this manner, our adventure continued and the only plan is there is no plan.

In spite of the early stop, we made it for our 2 o’clock massages (90 minutes each!).

Probably my next FB profile picture

Tomorrow, we take a Taxi 2 hours south to Cha Am, to meet back up with Primo and Prima. But not just any Taxi, oh no! Famous Teddy will pick us up and drive us personally in his large van, equipped with massage seats. Teddy is the go-to guy in Thailand to get you a distance taxi ride and always "knows a guy" to drive you, no matter how far reaching your location or how absurd a time. Legend has it that Primo once took a picture of his location in Bangkok (he and Prima were at the "mall" watching a movie, then wanted to go directly back to Cha Am - they forgot the name of the mall also) and one of Teddy's guys, picked them up on the street, 10 minutes after the movie ended. 

I can't wait.