Day 22 of The Big Adventure, according to Sarah. 

We had a nice lie in and decided to read our books in bed for a while after we woke up. We had bought some cereal and milk at the supermarket the day before, so we both tucked into a hearty bowl of cereal for breakfast, which was rather comforting. 

We decided we should really do something with our day, but didn’t really know what do as everything was so far away. We decided we’d try and go to the beach which was nearer to our guesthouse and we’d take the push bikes. 

We went downstairs and were greeted by the extra smiley receptionist who, again, asked ‘Where you go?’.

We told her we’d try the nearer beach and asked if we could borrow the bikes. She said of course and directed us to the beach. 

We decided at that point, we would refer to her as mum as she always asked where we were going and how we would get there. It seemed we were the only ones staying at the guesthouse so we were literally staying in her house. 

After a short bike ride we arrived at the beach and lent our bikes up against a tree while we lay out towels down to sunbathe. 

   
This seemed to be the beach where the locals came and there appeared to be a large group of Thai school children nearby. They were splashing around in the water and being unnecessarily loud. We lay in the sun for a little and went to cool off in the water every now and again. This beach was far emptier than yesterday’s beach and there were no shops or restaurants lining the back of the beach, just a small wooded area which made it much nicer. We decided that the beach was quiet enough that it was probably safe to leave our bags on the beach while we both go in the water together. So we went to cool off in the water and noticed a bit of a raucous nearby. An American tourist was attempting to play Simon Says with the group o school children… And failing miserably. But both the old man and the school children seemed to be enjoying themselves so it didn’t really matter. 

The school children were then instructed to get out of the water as it was time to leave, at which point many high fives were exchanged with the American man and they all left. 

He then waded over to us and decided to start a conversation, and I use the term ‘conversation’ lightly. He came over and spoke at us. He told us he was 60 and looked great for his age – we didn’t comment. He then aired his opinions on the entire royal family, conspiracy theories re: Diana and JFK, ISIS, his hatred of Russians, refugees, the big five personality traits, our boyfriends (or lack of, in my case), world wars one AND two and the ins and outs of his job as a crane operator. By the time he’d finished talking at us, the tide had completely gone out; at the beginning of this ‘conversation’ we’d been enjoyable up to our necks in the crystal waters, by the end we were sat on dry land. We made our excuses about needing suncream and attempted to extricate ourselves from this situation. He continued to try to talk to us as we walked over to our towels and then asked for a picture with us. A recurring theme it would seem.

We obliged him praying that he’d leave us alone after that. He continued papping us as we walked away. 

We got on our bikes and cycled back to the guesthouse to shower and read a bit more. We decided we’d head back to the main stretch of beach where all the restaurants had been for dinner. We went downstairs and Mum said she’d call a taxi for us to go into town. And sure enough, a few minutes later a pick up truck with seating on the back pulled up and we jumped in. 

We walked along and found a cozy spot, virtually on the beach and sat at a table. The waiter came straight over and took our order (2 sprites and a vegetable Penang curry). The sprites arrived almost instantly. After half an hour, and much fretting on Lauren’s part, our dinner had still not arrived. It seemed whenever we try to dine by the beach we get forgotten about. We asked the waiter where it was and he apologised profusely and said it would be another 5 minutes and then dashed over to tell the chef our order. At which point, the restaurant manager came over and said ‘excuse me, sorry’. He clearly spoke very little English but we appreciated the effort. 

Our dinner finally arrived and it was very tasty! A little spicy for my tastes, but very flavoursome. 

We ordered every flavour of ice cream they had for dessert – to try to cool our tastebuds down. 

We walked back to the shop-lined road and had a nosy in some of the shops. We managed to hail a shared minibus that would take us back to our guesthouse and headed to bed.