We often visit the coast of the Andaman Sea but not very often get out in it. Snorkeling isn’t interesting this close to the mainland, there are no waves this time of year on the west side of the peninsula and mostly we’ve had “years” of beach time. So it was a very different kind of weekend bicycle camping trip for the Club this past Sunday.

We rode, paddled and soaked over the two days for a total change of pace.  Pak Meng which is only 25 miles from Trang has a wide variety of beach opportunities and this time we rented two-person sea kayaks and paddled out to the karst islands and poked our boats in and out of the limestone structures.

It should be pointed out that this was a catered camping trip, with one of the club members bringing all his restaurant pots and dishes, not to mention his cooking skills to provide snacks, meals and refreshment every step of the way.  As Mike Taylor often chides me for, we did eat early and often on this trip, just never set foot in any restaurant or kiosk.

Whether it was tailgate fruit bowls, beach front buffet, 5-course truck-bed entrees or the morning fried eggs, ham, sausage and toast with butter and marmalade, he never ceased to amaze us with the fare.

Our overnight stop was at the Kantang Hot Springs, and believe it or not we just rolled our bikes and gear thru the front gate and set up our tents on the lawn right next to the hot springs or in the pavilion.

These “wells” as the locals call them are all thru a 20-acre park and vary in temperature from one pool so hot that the sign says “Don’t boil eggs” to 105° temps we like for our hot tubs. They even have several private tubs with showers and “mix-your-own” temp faucets.

We took pre-tub soaks and private tub soaks before dinner, and after dinner soaks.  

And of course since ours was a leisurely breakfast buffet on the pavilion tiled floor we took before and after breakfast soaks.

It’s a good thing these rides are always over 100 km because we sure need to work off all the food we consume.