Prachaup Khiri khan

After Bangkok, we visited Prachaup Khiri Khan, which was about a 5 hour bus from Bangkok. Bangkok was the busiest, no rest city city I have ever seen and the three days there was enough to get a little taste of it. It's like Toronto, only filled with people. Mai, Chelsea's friend recommended Prachaup Khiri Kahn for a more relaxing time and she was right.

We were dropped of at night in the middle of the city. No clue where we were but we knew we wanted to check out Maggie's Homestay which was recommended in the lonely planet guide. Unfortunately it was full that night, however the lady who greeted us told us to stay at the hotel right up the road and come back tomorrow. We did so and the next day were able to get a huge room at Maggie's. This would be our hub for the next two days. After we left we equated Maggie's to hotel California as it seemed people checked in with the intention of staying the night and 8 months later were still there. Not us though...I made Chelsea promise. At Maggie's we met a drug smuggler who had written a book which I now have, as he stopped by to tell us his poetry. We met George, the Aussie travelling the county by motorbike who helped us a lot over our stay. We met An, Maggie's Australian helper who kinda looked over the place, and Mike (from Miami) and his girlfriend Chang who we shared stories with. All wonderful people who we ate with at the tasty night market.

Our awesome room at Maggie's Homestay

Our room inspector

The city itself lies inside the central bay out of three large bays meaning there were mountain/hills on either side. One side had a airforce base with a beach and the other a mountain/hill with a temple on top controlled by in my opinion a bunch of monkeys.....no really! And this is how we split our time there, one day at the beach, the other at the temple fending off monkey attacks.

The day at the beach was a 4 km walk through Thailand's Air Force base to one of the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen, I'll let you be the judge (pic below). The water was amazingly warm and we saw bunch of crabs scurrying around and diving into their holes when they saw us.

The beautiful Ao Manao beach

The day at the temple... well I had no idea what to expect as we were told to watch out for aggressive monkeys that steal things. I grabbed a large stick and that seem to keep them away. The temple was not as far as the beach, but the amount of steps we had to climb in the heat was a great way to drop a weight class. The view from the temple was surreal and we really felt the beauty that everyone speaks of in Thailand.

Well that kinda sums up Prachaup Khiri Kahn, a quiet city with plenty of great little attractions, but be warned. If you check in you may never leave. Onward!!