We were up and breakfasted by 7am. As the sun rises at about 5am and sets at 7pm, the day tends to naturally start earlier. We said our goodbyes to Terry who had to leave to open up that day and while Kris helped Sheana get Ty ready for school I went for a wander around the complex. By 8am it was time to leave. We still didn't know where the bus to Trat left from but things always have a way of working themselves out and we wandered over to the helpful Moto drivers who had helped with my address the day before. A bit of head scratching, a lot of strange words, confirmation of our destination. TRAT! Yep they knew, and for £1.00 they would take us there. We climbed onto the bikes and headed off. I'm so glad we asked as we would never have found it by ourselves. Deposited safely on the pavement one of the drivers stayed with us until the bus arrived, luckily stopping us from getting onto the first two that turned up. I'm sure we would have figured it out but his help was most appreciated and given freely, a rare thing these days.
We arrived at Rangon about 11.30 after a pleasant scenic-ish trip. The next bus to Trat left at 1pm so Kris took me shopping – to TESCO's!!!
We actually wanted to change some more money and Tesco's not only contained the usual food and sundries but also the bank, post office, arcade mall, book shop, a mini street style market and food mall complete with KFC's!! I was really doing the Thai experience!
Back on the bus Kris slept away the 2 hour journey while I watched the changing scenery. All bus depots have their hotel touts and Trat was no exception. The bus stop is about 2km from town and once we had sorted out what time the bus went to the border in the morning, we were happy to be directed onto one of the transport trucks for the journey into town via the hotel of his choice. When you have no real place of destination these guys can usually see you OK and if you don't like the place they take you too, well, you just go somewhere else!
Pop house was run by a lovely lady who had various 'rooms' scattered around the surrounding lanes. We opted for a nice twin with hot shower and fan for 250 Bart (there are 50 to the pound) which meant £5.00 for the both of us. Reception had given us a photocopy of a hand drawn map marking a few places of interest. A Thai temple, a Chinese Temple, the night market, cyber cafe to name a few.
Food and drinks were our first priority (once we had showered) and the cyber cafe was just the place. On the street corner we sat and watched the world go by. Kris checked the mail, we slowly watched our ice melt and as the sun lost its intensity we wandered out into the town.
With the aid of our map we found the various temples and the night market. The one we had visited in Pattaya had been an eye opener but this one was even better. Rows upon rows upon rows of stalls, set up like the Bazaars of Morocco, each section dedicated to a product, fish, meat, fruit, spices, T-shirts, socks, hair products, shoes, the list is endless and two hours passed in the space of a blink.
We returned to the bar next to the Cyber cafe where we had eaten as it had a big screen TV showing films – I am sure you are beginning to see a pattern emerging here over the Cultural tastes of my son!! We settled with our beers and watched Inspector Gadget followed by The Scorpion King. About half way through the second film there was a bang like a firework going off. Kris looked to the open side of the bar to see the remains of a motor bike lying on the floor. We got up but stayed within the area of the bar when we saw what had happened. Three bikes and a car had been involved. One man lay dead on the side walk 20 foot away, another lay in the road not moving. People started running everywhere, calling, shouting, helping best they could. An injured man leaned against the car as we all awaited the police and ambulances. One girl we couldn't see had lost her foot as she had been dragged along the floor and a child had been involved but we couldn't understand what had happened to him. The emergency vehicles arrived within minutes and spinal boards were unloaded as people in uniform saw to the injured and dead. We watched as a passing truck was stopped and a person strapped to a spinal board was loaded onto its flat back for the journey I presume to the hospital. As the injured were ferried away the clean up began. Photos were taken, we were asked if we had seen the accident happen which we hadn't, distances were measured and the various vehicles involved were removed or pushed to the side.
It had been a stark reminder on the fragility of life and the dangers of motorbikes and flip flops. It was still only 9.30 and everyone was shaken by the events of the last hour. We got talking to an American girl called Maggie who was quite upset. We chatted for a hour or two, had some more drinks and while Kris entertained her and her friend with stories from Asia I retired to our room and got ready for the border crossing in the morning. Oh the air temperature as I went to sleep that night was 29 degrees! We had the fan on all night!!
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