Bike riding in Chumphon

I left Prachuap on a local train, the journey was 3 hours and cost roughly 80p. I was sat next to a couple of elderly women, with bright red teeth stained with betel nut. They each had a handbag with a plastic bag liner and were spitting their red as saliva into it every few minutes between napping!

Upon arriving, I walked to Salsa hostel where I had a large dorm room all to myself! I ate at the night market in town and had some bitesize Thai desserts.

The following day I hired a bike and headed to some beaches to the north of Chumphon through villages and back roads. The ride was long, but the beach was beautiful and well worth it.

Down at the beach I got chatting to a group of Malaysian tourists diving just off the coast, this was a quick glimpse of the Malaysian friendliness and proficiency in English.

After a quick swim, a coffee and a beach massage, I headed back through the beautiful villages.

When I got back to the hostel I had new room mates and so we ate together and had a few drinks in the hostel’s bar.

Chumphon was a quiet and non-touristy town, despite being one of the main ports for transport to Koh Tao. However, unlike the other towns I had visited so far, there wasn’t much to do, so I headed away the following morning.