TUESDAY 3rd APRIL:
Time to leave the island of Ko Mak.
It's been good and some of the beaches have been OK but I don't think we'll be coming back. We both love snorkelling but the waters around the island are so shallow and sandy you have swim out a heck of a long way and even then we found the water very murkey... poor vis. We've stayed on several Thai islands such as; Ko Kood, Ko Chang, Ko Wai, Ko Tao and with the possible exception of tiny Ko Wai, we'd enjoy revisiting them.
It's going o be a long day:-
Up at 07:00 and breakfast around 08:00.
Taxi to Ao Suan Yai pier to catch the Penan Express boat back to Laem Ngop pier near Trat leaving at 09:00.
Minibus from Laem Ngop pier to Trat.
Minibus #2, Trat to Bangkok by 11-seater minibus; 5 hours
Taxi to Bangkok Bus Terminal
Bus to Pratas, Surin; 6 hours.
Well that was the plan, but it didn't quite turn out that way; explanation below...
Again, thunder, lightning and torrential rain overnight gave way to hot humid sunshine by dawn.
A swift breakfast and we were ready for the taxi to Ao Suan Yai and the Penan Express boat. This left on time and as the seas were calm we made Laem Ngop Pier at 09:45 where we were picked up by a truck to a roadside bar to wait for our transport to Bangkok via Trat at 11:30.
Same pick-up truck picked us up and dropped us off in Trat to await another minibus to Bangkok. This arrived minutes later and we were off on the 320km journey.
Arranged for the driver to drop us off on Rama IX Road so we could get a taxi to Bangkok Bus Terminal. He'd hardly pulled over to park when he had hailed a taxi which took all of 7 seconds. We piled in and the inevitable chat with the driver who asked, where are you going and where is the bus going to take you. Immediately he offered to take us all the way to Surin (420km) for 5000Baht. A bit of haggling brought it down to an agreed 4000Baht and a deal was struck. It could only happen in Thailand.
Arrived in Surin Province at 10pm as opposed to around 4am if we had travelled by bus.
Our little son, Jack was fast asleep when we arrived so it's going to be a bit of a surprise when he wakes up to find mummy and daddy in the bedroom with him in place of his grandmother.
WEDNESDAY 4th:
Up at dawn to a typical hot Surin day. 37ºC by 11:00am.
Took a stroll around the farm until the heat drove me back to the house.
Afternoon saw us in Pratas with Aom's mum, Somjit, to buy some provisions from the street market. Also popped in for a swift beer in the bar at Pratas. This was followed by a trip to the local Tesco-Lotus supermarket to buy bits unavailable in Pratas market.
That was pretty much the day; always very laid back in Phanom Dong Rak, the whole area exudes sleepiness.
Aom cooked up some nice stuff for dinner. The family always look forward to her cooking as she cooks Thai dishes the family have never had before. I always find this strange that people from, say, Isaan area of Thailand have never eaten a Thai Green Curry, a Panang Curry or a Massaman Curry. We also bought some potatoes (not always readily available here) and Aom made, of all things, some English chips, not those pathetic little strips they call French-fries which I personally dislike; give me some proper chunky English chip-shop chips any day.
Anyway, these chips went down a treat with Joe, Aom's brother, little Jack and me.
Also a couple of jacket potatoes chucked on the barbecue here were delicious.
THURSDAY 5th:
Early start and a visit to the village temple was to be done. Usual blessings with water sprinkled over everyone's heads. Back for breakfast around 9am.
Late morning, Aom's cousin Yee came round and I drove the two girls to Chong Chom Market on the border with Cambodia about 35km away.
CHONG CHOM MARKET is located at Ban Dan Phattana, Tambon Dan, in Surin, this market is a trade centre at the border checkpoint for local Thais and Cambodians. The market offers a good selection of things to buy, like cheap clothing, plants, kitchen and garden tools and electrical items, gadgets, second hand bikes and many more things. The prices are reasonable, with the opportunity to haggle them down further.
Here the two girls drifted from stall to stall buying trainers, clothing, some head torches for Aom's dad and fruit and veg; all at very low prices. For my part, I bought nothing and just suffered from the 39º heat in the market.
Job done I drove to Prasat to get bus tickets for our journey back to Bangkok on the 7th. This was followed by ice-coffees and back home.
Evening saw me eating REAL chips again (courtesy my wife) along with barbecued pork and fresh vegetables. Yee stayed for dinner and we were joined by her brother to help imbibe a good few Chang beers.
Photos in and around Chong Chom Market below:-
