2-8 July 2018

Had Chao Samran, Petchaburi, Thailand

We take the ferry from Koh Toa to Chumphon, a town on the eastern coast of Thailand, across the Gulf of Thailand, a bit north of Koh Tao.

The ferry arrives at a super long pier because the water is so shallow. Actually, when we left Koh Tao, it was low tide and we all had to stand at the front of ferry in order for it to back out from the pier.

We are picked up by a van driver arranged by our Thai extended family.  It is about a 4-5 hour drive north to the seaside town of Had Chao Samran, which means “Beach King we hope you enjoy.”  Many of the Kings of Thailand vacationed in the town, which is 2 hours south of Bangkok.  

Brian’s dad’s cousin, Gary, is married to Ying, who is from Petchaburi, Thailand.  Gary and Ying own a guesthouse in Hat Chao Samran in which they have graciously offered to have us stay for 12 days.  Ying is one of 13 children, most of whom live in the area.  

We arrive at the guesthouse, Bansansook.  We are welcomed by Ying’s brother, his wife, and their daughter Nada who is 13 years old and speaks English.

The house is one block from the ocean.

We are welcomed with the huge bowl of fruit, including Eliza’s favorite, dragon fruit, and rambutan, the red hairy fruits.

Here is a view of the kitchen and living room, from the stairs.

We go down the beach to a seafood restaurant for dinner, and are joined by this VERY friendly cat.  Brian is the only one who is willing to have her sit with him.

The beach is one block from the house.

The highlight of the 4th of July is a trip to the local 7-11 for junk food!  Hayden once said that his favorite holiday is 4th of July because he gets to drink a soda(!) at our neighbor in Maine’s annual party.  So I figured we’d celebrate with soda, chips, candy…

A pic from the cash register counter.  Hayden could not believe I was buying all this junk food!

A quick beach photo on the walk back to the house.

Here is a view of the Had Chao Samran beach.  The first 4 days we are there, the town and beach are empty.  We learn that  April and May are the busiest months, because they are the hottest months. Otherwise, Thai tourists come from Bangkok on Saturday and Sunday.  

There is a small resort across the street from our house, on the beach.  We are allowed to swim in their pool during the weekdays (when they have very few guests).

After a couple days of not going out much (Brian was bed bound for 3 days with cellulitis on his leg), I (Katie) decide to do a morning walk to check out the local scene.  This is wat about a mile or two up the beach from town.

This little pavilion was on the beach with the temple across the road.

Here is a boat on the beach which has been patched together, and at this point is just for show.

This woman is scraping through the sand looks for shellfish.

Brian was curious about what shellfish the woman was collecting, so he went back and asked this woman more about what she was doing.

Loading up the daily catch.

Eliza fell down the stairs, which are wooden and very slippery especially when she is carrying a dripping wet bathing suit.  I made her a water bottle cold pack for icing purposes.

Friday night, 6 July, we meet Ying’s family for a seafood feast at the restaurant down the beach.  (Our cat friend is on a leash!).  Nada, on the left, and her mom are wearing yellow polo shirts that say “Happy Father’s Day,” which we learn where sold in celebration of the late King, Rama IX’s birthday.  Yellow is his color because he was born on a Monday and Monday’s color is yellow.  He passed away two years ago.  He was a beloved King and served from age 18 until his death at 82 years old.  Rama X’s birthday will be celebrated on July 28 and many shops are selling yellow shirts, since the new King was also born on a Monday.

Here is another picture from feast.

We learned more about the days and colors.  Monday is yellow (Lydia, Hayden, Brian and Katie were born on Monday), Tuesday is pink, Wednesday is green (this is Eliza’s day; and she is not happy to be different from the rest of the family, but she is happy learn that Wednesday has two buddhas- one for day and one for night!), Thursday is orange, Friday is blue, Saturday is purple and Sunday is red.

Ying’s brother Poong has a baby girl, who is being held by Noi, Ying’s sister.

You can see that this is a serious feast.  There must have been enough food for 50 people!

Here is a pic of all of us.  The orange cake is a special Petchaburi dessert, with the orange made from eggs (duck eggs?). And the beautiful colorful flower bouquet was from Noi.  

We all enjoyed a little baby time.  We were sure to give Eliza a turn because she was jipped in Sapa when she didn’t get to hike with the baby.

Lydia’s turn.

Notice Hayden throwing the frisbee to himself in the background.  We bought a frisbee at Big C (the supermarket) and he has getting good use out of it.

And n

Hayden too!

And then my turn!  So snuggly, chunky and adorable.

On Saturday, I woke up early to explore the neighborhood.  There were a lot of people out and about at 7 AM.

Down the road from our house, rooster cages on the sidewalk.  The chickens have free range.

An outdoor hut with baby hammock hanging.  Not sure what happens in this hut.

Wat Had Chao Samran.  Notice the poster of the King of Thailand, and his family members, in the yard.  There are posters of the King on every street corner.

Another area of the Wat Had Chao Samran

Designs made on the sand by the under sand beach creatures.

We were picked up by Ying’s sister, Noi, and Noi’s husband, Folk, for a day touring in Petchaburi city.                          

Our first stop in the Palace of Rama IV and Rama V, from the 1800’s.  It is located on top of a mountain overlooking Petchaburi and is now a museum.

We ride the cable car up the mountain.

This is the view from the top.

There are monkeys who might steal our water bottles!

Eliza is wearing shorts, so she has to rent a wrap to cover her legs.

Noi thinks she looks beautiful but Eliza says she is hot!

Notice Eliza’s bag which Noi brought for us, along with the pin from Noi’s village.  We each get a bag with an umbrella for the sun, a bottle of water and maps of shops and restaurants in Noi’s village.  She is a tour guide and proud of Petchaburi.  Noi is also a Thai herbal medicine doctor and makes soaps, and runs a guest house.

After walking through the palace, we head up the stairs to the Kings’ private wat.

Behind Hayden is the chedi (pagoda) which we will visit next.

Here is the Kings’ wat.

The wat has a typical Thai roofline.

The wat is a miniature version of a larger famous wat.

Looking out from the Palace wat toward Myamar.

A pic with Noi and Folk.  Noi speaks English quite well.  Folk also has learned English.  He understands most of what we say, but is shy about speaking.  He is a lawyer in Petchaburi at the law practice started by his father and uncle, which is famous all over Thailand.  Noi tells us that he enjoys joining her to lead tours when he has the chance.

Hayden gets some TLC from Noi who is very energetic and enthusiastic.

This is a view of the palace from the wat.

Next to the wat is an observatory for the Kings to watch to stars.

This is looking toward the second peak with the chedi, the third peak with other temple buildings, and in the background you can see to Had Chao Samran and the ocean.

A view from the observatory deck.  We are making “small hearts” with our fingers.  In China it was V for victory.  In Thailand, it’s small heart for love.

A view of the surrounding city.

We walk down and over to the chedi.

Looking back toward the wat, observatory and palace.

The third stop is a red chedi, and another wat.  The yellow structure has a bell which we can ring for good things -- to let Buddha know you have done something good.

Hayden is ringing in his good deads.

Noi is explaining..

She explains that it is customary for Thai men to become a monk for about 2-3 months when they are 20 years old.  Folk served as a monk for 6 years because he enjoyed meditation and studying Buddhism.  He was a monk in the forest several hours from Petchaburi.  When he met Noi, he decide not to be a monk forever.  They both are interested in Buddhism and religion.  Noi explained that they have that in common and enjoy discussing their ideas.

This is another wat in a Cambodian style.

Monkeys everywhere.

Next we go to lunch in Noi and Folk’s neighborhood.  This restaurant opened 70 years ago and is still run by the same family.  

It serves a soup called Kuay Chab.  The soup includes pork, colon, kidney, liver, heart, lung, and also noodles, tofu and eggs.  The kids, especially Hayden, were awesome about eating it.  He was asking what each part was and trying them.  Brian enjoyed it although said he wouldn’t need to eat it again.  Katie ate the broth, noodles and tofu, and that was a stretch.

Here is a the restaurant “kitchen.”

This sign explains the history of the restaurant.

After lunch, we stopped by this shop which sells frogs, fish and snakes.  We bought a bag for everyone so we could free the creature into the river for good luck.

Eliza first chose a frog but was scared to carry it because the frog jumped, so Lydia offered to take it, and the frog jumped and popped the bag!  So they decided to get fish instead.

As we release, we were supposed to say “Good luck and good life!”  Lydia was sad because she dropped her fish in and saw at least one of get eaten within seconds!

Brian is up next.

Hayden did get a frog, and let him out on a ledge.  He got stuck in the bag and then Noi picked up the bag to turn it over.  His leg was caught and pulled the bag into the river.  Hayden called out, “Come to Papa!” and the frog jumped back up on the step.  Finally he leapt back into the river and swam away.

We stopped by a neighborhood wat.  There are canisters of sticks with numbers on them.  You can shake the canister until one stick falls out.  You go to the drawer (on right in this pic) and find the one with your number.  There is a fortune matching with your number.  Eliza’s fortune said she will love someone who won’t love her, but later she will find her true love, and will have a baby girl.  Hayden will win the lottery.  So will Lydia.  Brian is surrounded by good people and has a good partner.  Katie’s said it might be a good idea to move or switch jobs.

Finally we stopped at a museum of history of the village.  The museum had been a school established to teach local girls.

This is the man who dove into the river to find the relics that are on exhibit in the museum.

We had a fun day and were exhausted by the end of it.  We are a little out of shape for touring!

Morning snuggle time, one of the best parts of this trip!

On Sunday, we headed out to visit the Khao Luang Cave.  This cave does not flood - we asked because during this time, 12 Thai boys and their soccer coach were trapped in a cave in Northern Thailand.  After more than two weeks, they were rescued in a very technically difficult diving mission.

This is the entrance down to the cave.

Noi tells us that when something is weighing on her mind, she comes here to meditate.  She sits in the rays of light.

A resting Buddha.

Hayden tries out the resting Buddha position.  He does not look like he will last long like this.

The tree roots are growing down into the cave.

Noi instructs Hayden on meditation.  Hayden is considering returning to Petchaburi in a few years to see Noi and Folk and maybe serve as a monk for a few weeks.  

We walk to the end of the cave where there is an altar. All three kids sit and chant for a few minutes of meditation.

A monkey is sitting on top of the gate as we leave the cave.

A selfie with a monkey, who luckily did not swipe Hayden’s phone!

We stop at this wat so Folk can give a donation to his friend’s son who is starting as a monk today.

Then it is lunch time!  Noi chose a restaurant with Air con, which we really appreciate.  And they have spaghetti carbonara, but to Eliza and Lydia’s delight.  It has roe on top and they eat it happily once Brian describes, “it’s sushi.”

Outside the restaurant, Hayden snaps a pic of his favorite thing - he used to call them “noisy-bycles” when he was learning to talk.

Noi and Ying’s niece, Fah, drives up back home, about 30 minutes so we can rest before the dinner party that Noi has organized for us.

This is a group of Noi’s students.  They are learning about the village and tourism.  She invited them for the dinner party so it would feel like a party for us!

It was a picnic feast, with some local delicacies, including King Rama IV’s favorite snack of cold rice soup with dried fish.  Also a soup with chicken and a small green vegetable.  Rice with squid and a wrapped up packet of Pad Thai.

Noi and Flok invited Noi’s nephew to teach the kids to make shadow puppets.

This is the scene, with the singer performing.  Later, two of the students do some karaoke.

The girls take a break to eat dinner.

Lydia enjoys the sweet drink, with milk, sugar palm and gummy worms.

Folk’s mother joins the party. She leaves soon after this with two bags of plastic water bottles to recycle. Reminds me of Pammy!  Eliza said she looks like a Thai Nan (her late great grandmother).

Next up was dancing!  Some of the dancers were Noi’s English students. She teaches English, too!  The orange sashes signify that the people are from Laos.  Noi’s grandfather was from Laos, too.

The Herricks join in, lead by Hayden, who was the first one to get up and dance.

There were also painting stations.  This are edible (maybe made of corn starch) sculptures that we painted, with food coloring, I think.  Noi has set the bar high for parties when we return home!  The kids said we never have fun parties like this.

These girls are 8, just like Lydia.

Small heart!

Hayden is working diligently, into the dark night, to finish his masterpiece.

Our family’s creations.

Fah is on the left and Folk on the right.  They have been so awesome to drive us back and forth from the beach to town so many times!

What a fun day!