…A Peaceful Oasis In Phang-Nga Town.
So, after returning to dry land following my mini-adventure in Ko Panyee, I drove back into the center of Phang-Nga Town. It’s not a big place. A bit spread out along the Phetkasem Highway, with a few side streets along the way.
Right next to a T-junction in the middle of town is a park. Tourist websites don’t say much, but it seemed like a place worth visiting. So I did. And it was.
This is the entrance…
…and a funny thing happened to me on the way to the entrance.
I’d tried to stand about a meter to the left. I wasn’t on the grass, just a little further into a parking lot. For reasons unknown, because one simply does not ask “Why?” in Thailand, the security guard who had helpfully told me where to park, was running straight at me shouting his head off. I simply stared in amazement. And then showed him the camera so he could see my intentions were honorable. I wasn’t about to rip up his parking lot or break into any cars, but nothing satisfied him. Taking the above photograph was perfectly acceptable. Taking it one meter to the left was a crime that seemed to be punishable by death, or worse. Go figure.
Anyhoo, the park is not huge, but it does have a little bit of everything. Nicely manicured grass and well-kept flower beds, a lake with the obligatory picturesque bridge, cliffs, caves, and no tourists.
It seemed to be the place locals spend their lunchtime, eating on the grass, having a stroll around the lake, chatting and laughing. All very civilized and relaxing.
I wandered and observed…
All very nice, but where were the caves I’d read about?…
…Oh. Over there, to my left. Thank you, very helpful.
So having walked the full length of the park, on the way back I kept close to the rock face. Then I noticed that the well-laid paving stones actually led into the rocks. Ah ha. The caves…
Nothing spooky. No way to get lost. Just follow a pathway through the caves, out the other side, back in another hole in the wall and out again into the sunshine where you started. More or less.
A nice way to walk off my KFC lunch. I know. I’m in Thailand, and I’m eating farang food. But by coincidence I’d parked right outside a KFC restaurant. It was lunchtime. Normally when I’m tootling I survive on snack food, but I was really hungry. I hadn’t eaten since 6am, and the spicy chicken had my name on it. It was actually really good. Sometimes farangs gotta do what farangs gotta do. Such is life.
And so to the next adventure du jour.