First stop in Samasaen. Dried fish, boil at home to make fish stock for soups & sauces
Textured islands off the coast
Colorful boats
Wondering the age of those stilts, may no tsunami ever strike
Fish & squid drying out all over town, in parking lots, front porches, and the street
We see dried fish & squid galore in shops, cool to see where it all comes from & how some are dried using basic techniques
Hot day with fresh watermelon & pineapple from vendor on the dock, 10 baht a bagful (about 30 cents)
Pool!
After Samasaen, we had lunch on the sea in Ban Amphoe. a bigger village closer to touristy Pattaya
Renegade Rob ordered the spicy crab dish
We even got a little cold sitting here, very breezy, felt wonderful to have goosebumps without the aid of air conditioning
Sunday morning excursion to some fishing villages. Sleepy Samasaen is a tiny little treasure... charming like Europe with narrow streets, shop & residential doors just cm away from the occasional motor bike or car. The number of smiles perfectly matched the number of people we saw.
We stayed just over an hour. Extremely quiet, no bustling or desire to do so with the heat. I wonder if there is an early morning rush with the fishing boats. I could have easily uncovered that pool table, racked a game, and played away the afternoon while taking breaks to cross street & help the woman bag her dried fish. I would have to convert to beer. No fru-fru drinks in pineapples in this place. Ry especially seems to be struggling with the temps, so we kept our visits short and were home by 3pm for a heated family game of Monopoly in the cool of our home. I hope the girls can better adjust to longer stretches out in this climate. The heat is paralyzing us in ways and we're not spending nearly as much time outdoors as we did back home. But I do love all the family games we're playing again. Venture part of the day, reconvene at home for simple family bonding... here's to living the dream.
