Entering the East Coast Beach Zone

January 14, 2026

Phetchaburi to Cha-Am, Thailand

Phetchaburi to Cha-Am, Thailand

After our second really delicious breakfast provided to us at Sweet Dreams Guest House we said goodbye to the interesting Czech couple and our hosts who were really nice. They were the kind of guest house owners who I'd love to go back to see year after year. They had two adorable little girls who went off to school every morning with a motorbike taxi guy. Everyone rides motorbikes and they are so casual about it. Women sit on the back of motorbikes sidesaddle as if they are on a couch. They are reading on their phones and act like they are anywhere other than on the back of a moving motorbike! I'd be so nervous sending my two girls off with a motorbike taxi guy every morning. In fact I'd never do that.

We were off towards the east after two days on the outskirts of Phetchaburi without ever having gone into the city. I felt a little sad about that. Normally I like to explore a new city and I would have for sure had I not been feeling terrible. We skirted the city and got on a road heading straight at the Gulf of Thailand a few miles away.

The landscape was starting to look different. There were more palm trees. There were palm trees in the middle of rice paddies. And the rice was at the harvest stage. That means that as we have slowly made our way south in Thailand we have seen basically an entire cycle of rice growing. When we started our trip the rice was being harvested in the north and then we saw it being planted as we started going south. We watched as the rice got taller and more advanced until now it is ready to be harvested. That also must mean that they get at least three crops of rice down here. We have just begun to enter what is called southern Thailand. I suspect the next thing we see, a bit further south, will be rice being planted. There are so many aspects to a trip like this. I never would have thought about all the stages of rice we would be seeing.

Our straight road soon struck water. I mean, we finally made it to the shore of the Gulf of Thailand. It is always a momentous feeling because besides seeing more coconut trees, seeing a large body of salt water definitely marks a new stage of the trip. The air had a humid salty smell mixed with a bit of sea creature odor. Being from Minnesota that smell is always exotic to me. It's a moment when I feel we are not in Kansas anymore, or, as was the case when I was a kid and my family drove to Florida for a vacation every winter, we were not in Minnesota anymore. Those trips and the exotic feeling they elicited instilled a desire in me to travel to exotic places. On those trips to Florida when I was a kid I'd count Cadillacs because from a small town in Minnesota, they were as exotic as coconut trees or the salt air. When I returned to Minnesota I'd tell my friends that I saw 467 Cadillacs!

We turned south and held along the coast as much as we could. Rarely were we close enough to see the water however. Instead, salt flats replaced rice fields and they extended almost to the Gulf denying us roads along the beautiful blue water. In that stretch of salt flats we met the Canadian couple Andrea mentioned in yesterday's post. I had seen them briefly through bushes as we ate pad siew gai yesterday. The Brit on the bridge, Kevin, told us he had met them so we were not surprised to be finally meeting them in person. We hit it off with Alison and Andrew right away. A lovely couple who have cycled a whole lot in their lives. We only briefly talked with them but we have the feeling we will be going down the coast at a similar pace and we will meet again when we have more time to talk. I have the feeling we will see them in Prachuap. We will keep you posted. They immediately referred to the four of us as the 'A' Team and reluctantly included me, the 'B' because 'B' couldn't be any closer. Maybe call us the 'A' Team + 'B'.

I'm not sure what the whole process is for harvesting salt from the sea but these little roller vehicles are interesting.

Crematories are built into massive buildings down here.

There are way too many cemented areas in Thailand. This parking lot for this temple could hold about three thousand cars, maybe more. Why?

This temple had the first little moat around it that we've ever seen.

A bit down the road I saw Alison ahead standing by the edge of the road waving us in. We heard some sort of performance happening and if she was calling us in, it must be something to witness. I went in and yes, it was some sort of possible dress rehearsal for something or other. There were about ten men and women all in ancient Thai costumes. There was one guy on drums and another on a ranat ek which is a Thai wooden xylophone with 22 wooden bars suspended by cords over a boat-shaped trough resonator and struck by two mallets. There was one guy leading the ensemble verbally as if he was telling jokes. I have no idea what it was all about but it was very colorful. There were no other spectators other than us.

I did a little video of them and I was pleased that during that minute or two of filming a woman from the sidelines brought over a large tray of kanom (sweets), which were coconut batter fried little sweets. They were on several plates and the tray and plates got passed around while they were performing. Everyone seemed very excited to be getting kanom treats. In no time the empty tray was being passed back. It made me happy to have caught that in the video because it was classically Thai behavior. Thais love their kanom.

This could be an advertisement for the troupe of unknown purposes.

After a few more salt flats the road swung tantalizingly close to the beach but only briefly before it swung back inland. But out of nowhere a bike lane emerged so we didn't have to ride along the busy highway. It was welcome but a rather strange bike lane with rest areas and even once boasting a "viewpoint". We still don't know what anyone would be viewing from that vantage point. We didn't see anything of interest out there.

This was a pretty big dashed dream of a hotel complex. In the end a lot of it has been turned into swift houses. Providing housing for swifts is big business since the Chinese will spend lots of money for bird's nest soup. The swifts make their nests from their saliva - a delicacy for Chinese in particular.

We'll be in the fish drying area of Thailand from here on out.

Even better looking at them from this direction.

The bike lane, which had been a normal width for bikes, suddenly got much larger.

Maybe, like the image suggests, there is something way out there that is interesting to see.

Finally the road swung back to the beach and we had obviously made it to Cha-Am Beach. It was lovely too. I mean, it was very peaceful and beautiful. Everything suddenly changed to beach territory. We had made it to the beginnings of southern Thailand and their great beach culture. We had never been to Cha-Am but I was immediately mesmerized by it. It is just north of Hua Hin where all the old foreigners seem to hang out but I have no idea why since Cha-Am is infinitely more beautiful. The main difference is that in Hua Hin the tall hotels seem to own the beachfront property so there are only a few places where you can actually access the beach. In Cha-Am there is a small road in front of all the highrise hotels as well as a promenade. Everyone can easily access the beach at any point. It's lovely. I couldn't believe I had never known about Cha-Am or had never been there. I love it there.

Across this bridge was the beginnings of Cha-Am. But Cha-Am seems to go for many miles along the Gulf of Thailand.

I love simple little restaurants such as this one.

The cooks are almost always older women who look as though they have worked a lot in their lives. They are always very good cooks and they are always nice.

I was taking photos of this runaway umbrella that the little girl was retrieving.

The man was walking up as I shot several photos of the girl dealing with the umbrella in the wind.

And then the man held up a shirt. I actually thought he was protecting his face from the sun but when I looked at the photo hours later and zoomed in, his shirt says, PEACE.

We went to the southern end of the long beach where it was even more relaxed and peaceful with fewer tourists, foreign or Thai. The hotel we had chosen gave us a deal we couldn't pass up; a room on the second floor with a view directly onto the beach and with breakfast included - $24. And the room was really nice. The entire wall towards the beach was glass and we had a nice balcony too. We immediately knew we'd be there for two nights. I still needed to recover a little bit and try to get rid of the nasty cough that always lingers for days or even weeks after a sore throat/cold. Our room was the perfect place. Cha-Am was the perfect place. So, starts our beach hopping adventure and what a great way to start it off.

lovebruce

The view from our room. Cha-Am, Thailand

Tables and benches made entirely from old teak ox carts. At our hotel in the dining area.

Cha-Am nearby high-rises and Hua Hin's in the farthest distance.

Today's ride: 39 miles (63 km)
Total: 1,110 miles (1,786 km)

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Jen RahnHi!

I haven't checked in for a while and am sorry to hear you've had a cough.

Hope you're on the mend now!
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1 week ago

Bruce LellmanTo Jen RahnI took what turned out to be a miracle pill. I had a Tylenol with Codeine that had to be at least 30 years old. I know it's been on at least 14 trips to Asia. I knew that codeine was the only thing to help the nasty coughs I get but I couldn't believe that taking that one pill would end the cough completely. I woke up with no cough and I felt the whole thing was in the past and so far it has not reared its ugly head again. Amazing! I thought old drugs should be thrown out.
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6 days ago

Jen RahnTo Bruce LellmanThat's a great story!!

I'll remember to keep the old meds now.
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2 days ago