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Cha Am: now here's another interesting place. Take the Rama IX Road south west from Bangkok over the Chao Phraya River and carry on vaguely westwards past the salt reclamation flats on the edge of the Gulf of Thailand. Veer south on another long, straight road until you get the the bay of Cha Am. This place is different to the other beach locations because, essentially, it is a Thai holiday destination. In fact, it seems to be a Thai weekend getaway destination. It can be described best as a series of strata. First, the sea. Then a long beach culminating at the north end by a man-made rock breakwater protecting a thriving, if rickety, fishing community. From the sea and the beach, you then have a looong strip of deck chairs covered thoroughly by umbrellas ("tent city" as Mike calls it). Then, a mini-forest strip of trees, mostly pine, that provide additional shade. Then the beach road of which North Beach and South Beach are split between the one main road, Narathip Road, leading away from the beach area some miles to Cha Am town proper. Then a plethora of tiny restaurants that own the deck chairs and provide runners to supply the visiting, multi-generational Thai families grouping in the covered deck chairs with food and drink. Accordingly, there are few multi-storey hotels and none of the recognisable international brand names. Having said all that, there is one obvious exception. The few larger hotels are pretty much dominated by Scandinavian tour companies and so, in contrast to all the Thai families picnicking under all those umbrellas, there is a large, semi-decrepit colony of ancient Norwegians lurching about on the sunnier stretches of beach (Gary: think about the Saga Louts we experienced in Chiang Mai all those years ago). In twenty year's time (Okay, ten) we could end up here too.

We arrived almost precisely at Beer o'Clock so Mike headed off to a fish restaurant at the north end for lunch. Bearing in mind that we'd existed on a diet of ice cream and a shared bowel of chips the previous day, this was a welcome decision. And what a meal it was! Notwithstanding the many bottles of Singha Beer we ordered, the seafood we shared was the best yet: squid in yellow curry and eggs; prawns in pepper sauce; mussels; spicy vegetables; fried rice with crab (which we have learned is called, if only unforgettably phonetically, "cowpat poo"). Not only was it the cheapest food yet but it was fresh because of the local industry. In fact, as a holiday destination for those poor retired farangs on a tight budget, everything is cheap here!

We finally checked into the hotel we'd booked a few days earlier and tried the pool. Pity about the incessant angle grinding noise, which was replaced by a pneumatic drill during the next few days as the owners tried to complete the building of their new, flashier pool (but that's Thailand for you). That drove us out for an early evening exploration to find that, coincidentally, Cha Am was hosting a festival on their one sea-front promenade. Hundreds of tables and chairs facing a stage and speakers for a local pop group surrounded by food and drink vendors. (Mike has an ever-so-slightly demonic picture of me struggling with a 3 litre tower of Singha trying to get it back to our table in front off the speakers that threatened to disrupt the air cavities in our lungs.) Great night!Mike and Carolyn have since headed back to Bangkok while Linda and I continue to emulate life as a pair of Thais on a weekend break. We're getting there . . .