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We got up around 9am shattered but adamant to make the most of the stay. We jumped on our scooter and headed down the coast in search of Laem Yai which is a circular stretch of beach that sticks out on the west side of the island.
As we drove along we realised the "to scale map" was deceiving and we'd gone too far, so having noticed signs to a waterfall we decided to investigate. The drive to the unnamed falls along the Wat Khonsu route was beautiful - all jungle like and so unspoilt. When we pulled up we decided to walk in the falls as they were so shallow and we got great pics but it was riddled with Mosquitos - undeterred Matt jumped in for a swim in the shallow end.
We then looked at our map and noticed another set of falls which supposedly have an elephant trek nearby. We drove for only 8 mins or so finding Hin Lad waterfalls with ease, these were more popular with tourists and had a lovely bridge walk and temples. We asked the locals about the elephant trekking only to discover it had closed despite still being on the map, we looked again discovering another waterfall with an elephant safari park nearby. Back on the road, we sped off for Wanorn Falls. Driving through an Eco village we saw little sign of the safari park, the Thai people don't tend to hide activities - general advertising is quite well signposted, it appeared to be moved also and the island no longer accommodated such parks. Upon reaching Wanorn we found a 700 metre trail uphill and walked to the view point which was stunning. Jacq was out of breath - useless - and with encouragement and some pushing she ploughed on to the falls only to discover it was dried out, yep you can imagine her face. The walk itself though was lovely all jungle like but there were some pretty strange noises - Jacq was sure were rattle snakes nearby Matt appeased her, slightly, and we walked back to the scooter - sweating!
We then looked for a drink stop and went for a couple of cocktails and lunch at Big Johns on the Tong Yang stretch. Matt had chicken noodles and a Jacq had chill chicken rice accompanied of course by Mai tai and Heat Wave cocktails, the bill was 560 bhat and it was well worth itl! We decided to follow the 4169 back to our original destination at Laem Yai and finally came across the stunning beachy island - it literally snick up on us like some sort of hidden paradise. The beach was empty and we felt like no one else knew about it - pure bliss.
With a spectacular view of the sun setting over the beach we stumbled upon what would later be fondly remembered as a hidden gem of a place - PJs sunset bar. It was equipped with a rusty old guitar, a hammock, pool table and the loveliest family who ran it. We sat and had a couple of Singha beers, Jacq swinging on the hammock and Matt on the guitar but once the owner Dam discovered Matts' skills and voice he commandeered him to teach him to play guitar for him. He went as far as to try to buy him for the night for his regulars, for the price of a meal for us both. Matt persevered, loving it really, taught Dam a few tunes and was fed in beer and curry much to his dismay.
We then headed off, Dam wanted Matt to play all night but we promised to come back tomorrow and set off home, Matts fingers were killing from that rusty old guitar. We had a few drinks at the bar at Kings Busch and met the dogs who patrol our porch - friendly things and as much as we'd like to shut them up at night there is some sense of assurance with them on guard.
Once again it was a damn late night - noisy road, bloody c*** crowing and noisy staff!! Grrr
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