I was the first customer of the day at the restaurant up the road. It was a highway stop, and they were setting up. The pork and noodle soup was good but very peppery, a coffee woke me up, and I was off again.
The day’s theme was crops – tea (or some jasmine looking version), tobacco, bananas, sugar cane and even some rubber trees. You’d think the variety would make it interesting, but alas, it was a very flat and uninteresting ride into Kamphaeng Phet, which is a large city.
I eventually found the 3 J’s Guesthouse and settled in. It’s quite a quirky place that has relied on foreigners as their main customers for many years. Covid caused them some big issues, and it’s still a struggle. There were only two rooms taken tonight.The owner is a great guy who has travelled extensively and most recently to Laos. When I mentioned that I was intending riding through there, he wanted to tell me all about it. The big difference is that he had a car.
He said most tourists were Chinese and that the Chinese had put in high speed rail and new freeways. It’ll be interesting to see the changes.
I walked towards town and had a late lunch – chicken burger. Oh boy it was good. I haven’t had something like that since June sometime. When I’m in a slightly touristy town, I’ll often have a meal that’s not strictly Thai food.
I continued to walk along some dusty busy roads until I found the historical part of the city. It was well worth the walk and I spent a fair amount of time wandering around and taking it in.
Food was next, and I found the night markets by the river but tonight they were disappointingly small. I think the vendors were at a different market tonight.
I could have had a foot massage while watching the sunset over the river, but there was a queue, and I could see why. Talk about relaxing. I settled for just watching the sunset.
I found a restaurant and I was their only customer. You can tell when the staff are bored. Every time you flinch someone comes running, and every mouthful of water resulted in more being poured into my glass. Just let me have my dinner !!!!
