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TONY T's 6th THAILAND TRAVELS   
Page 7

THE ROAD JOURNEY TO TRAT


MONDAY 18th APRIL:
Up at 6am and a final packing session. Loaded the pick-up truck and a grand farewell from the in-laws and we were on our way by 7:30am.
Top-up of diesel and off for the 380km road trip, initially to Trat. 20km from Trat was the car ferry terminal to Ko Chang our final destination for a true 7 day holiday.
The trip was largely uneventful but very slow moving traffic through the central mountainous region mainly due to huge HGV’s crawling down the steep roads.
Some interesting things to see en-route to Trat. Driving through some of the mountainous areas we were constantly reminded of the presence of wild elephants. This was indicated by frequent roadside signs warning of elephant crossing points.
At a place called Sa Kaeo, we stopped at an impressive temple called Wat Mae Ya Som. Here there were colossal effigies of Buddhas. The heat here was ferocious so we were glad to get back into our air-conned truck.
One mistake I did make is I set the sat-nav to take us to Trat which it did perfectly. However, this was a mistake as I should have reset it to take us to the terminal which is over 20km out of Trat. So, stupidly we ended up in Trat city centre and got lost temporarily.
Aom was driving at this time so I used the ap on my phone to take us to the ferry terminal. This cost us well over an hour and a half. However, when we finally got to the terminal where two ferry boats were approaching the terminal, so not long to wait.


       

    These signs warning of wild elephant movements are commonplace along the route throgh the mountainous areas.




       

       


Mid way pistop for coffee and a bite to eat. These Amazon coffee shops are dotted all over Thailand, mainly at service stations; the coffee is always excellent.



       

       

       

       

       



The photos above are of the Wat Mae Ya Som temple situated near Sa Kaeo.
Each statue features common physical attributes, poses, and postures that define its purpose and meaning. The hand gestures of the Buddha, called mudras, indicate teaching, meditation, enlightenment, and wisdom.