During our flight from Bangkok one of the places we shacked up for a few nights was Bang Saphan Yai , mostly to meet up with other refugees like ourselves before heading on to Ranong. Our own car was stranded in Bangkok but luckily our friends had wheels so we were able to get out and about a bit and check out various attractions.
The best value place to stay on our stretch of Beach was the Ladawan Boutique Resort at 800 a night including breakfast. We knew there were cheaper places over the bay but not having wheels of our own ,we couldn't check them out.
As it was, at least the Ladawan was near our friends
The rooms were pretty nice , although not much of a view.
And I must admit , a wardrobe with hangers would have been nice instead of this arty farty substitute .
Lobby area was very nice though , with internet available
Just over the road was the beach and the hotels very nice resteraunt
Not the most beautiful beach in the world but as I never go on them anyway it at least made a nice backdrop for my Leo
Having arrived here by train from Prachuab it was a nice spot to chill out and watch the locals do their fishing thing.
After a nights rest , our friends and ourselves decided to head for a nearby waterfall for Loy Gratong which was a lot better than floating one around our living room back in Bangkok. On the way we visited a temple just outside town with some caves attatched.
The entrance is behind this shrine
Next up was Sai Ku waterfall , about 20 k to the South of town.
Walk this way ...............
There are several levels to these falls. This is at the bottom end by the side of the trail
Halfway up the main fall comes into view. Very pretty indeed.
We set up camp here and our tour guide Rose gave Ms Bangyai the lowdown on the salient points of this beauty spot. A very interesting discourse with a lot of usefull pointing
There are other levels higher up but I couldn't find the trail and didn't fancy scaling these jungle vines to the top. One slip here and its goodnight vienna as there are plenty of jagged rocks to fall on.
Besides , it being Loy Gratong , there were plenty of attractive sights to be seen from our chosen camp spot
And then came along this very cute little girl and while her big sister went off exploring , she made a very photogenic subject indeed , sat all on her own in the shallows.
Just wished I'd taken a full head shot but I was a bit rushed because she was getting ready to move. As it was , I just shaved the top of her hair off which was a pity. But the eyes are pretty captivating.
Shortly after this she got up and toddled off. Had to cross a little ravine 6 inches wide to catch up with her sister but was bold enough to take hold of my hand to make the jump.
Wanted to get a snap of ants departing with our lunch but the little buggers would not pose for the macro shot so it proved a bit tricky. You get the idea though :
On the road to ranong there is another waterfall with a very high drop but the name escapes me and it wasn't well developed so we only stopped for a few minutes
So that was our Loy Gratong. A lot better than we could have hoped for back in Bangyai.
As I'm still having computer problems, replies to comments might be a bit slow so appologies in advance.