Tag Archives: off-road

Khanom: The Hidden Beach…

…That’s Still Hidden.

So, there I was, nosing around on Google Earth – which is a good way to find new places to go – and I noticed two beaches very close to here, that I hadn’t visited.

You might remember I found one beach by driving through an Electricity Generating Station. It’s okay. It’s allowed. I didn’t get arrested, or electrocuted…

Thailand, Khanom, Beaches

That beach is at the top of this Google Earth image, north of the river…

Thailand, Khanom, Beaches

Then you can see another beach just the other side of the of the river. This one, I’m pretty sure, you can’t reach by road – and I don’t have a boat. But the next one down has what looks like a road going somewhere near…

Thailand, Khanom, Beaches

Yesterday morning I set out to find it.

I think the look on the faces of people on motorcycles should have warned me. “Is that stupid farang really going down there?” Well, yes he was, and he did. The road went from reasonable gravel to narrow gravel to a dead end with only a muddy pathway…

Thailand, Khanom, Beaches

…as if the road hadn’t been muddy enough. Along the way there were definitely thoughts of “Maybe those nice people on motorbikes will help push me out – after they’re done laughing.” But Bert and I made it to the end of the road. We’re the blue dot…

Thailand, Khanom, Beaches

And luckily the road ended in an open area, so turning was easy. Reversing would have been a major challenge.

Right. So now what? Get out and walk, of course.

Well; that pathway is decidedly muddy and narrow…

Thailand, Khanom, Beaches

…and as it became narrower, it became denser, and I had no clear idea of which direction the mystery beach might be. Then I thought “Those footprints in the mud don’t look like human footprints” which is when I started to imagine tomorrow’s headline…

Wild Boar Eats Wild Bore

…and I backtracked. Rapidly. Or as rapidly as the mud would allow.

At least the scenery was nice…

Thailand, Khanom, Beaches

The beach is somewhere in that gap at the bottom of the hill.

Anyhoo, I admit I usually have a lot of luck in finding new and interesting places. So I figured I’d better document any of the epic failures along with the good finds. At least Bert had fun, and guess what I’ll be doing later today…

Thailand, Khanom, Beaches

wwi…and that was before we’d squelched our way back out of there.