Day 2, Friday 15th February - Cha-am

In search of sheep..... On Cha-am beach road there's no shortage of options for something a little less demanding on the pallet to set me up for the day. I've let the whole morning slip by, but I still have the motorbike. I will use that to venture out of the city taking in a lunch on the way. Cha-am doesn't have too many options for sightseeing, most people hardly venturing away from the beach-road during their stay: Understandable as there's everything there that they need. However, there is one new attraction near Cha-am that I noticed on the way in and I head there to check it out. Located just before the intersection for the Cha-am/Hua Hin bypass is the Swiss Sheep Farm. This was never a working farm just a purpose built small enclosure on a piece of land at the foot of Khao Nang, a rocky feature of the Cha-am skyline. It's an idea, I believe, would never catch on in an area sheep would normally be found, but it's the way they do things in Thailand. Anything trendy or gimmicky catches on here. I can't imagine in my country a farmer charging for a bunch of grass to feed his sheep. Yes, there are real sheep here and a few horses and calves. It's run along the lines of a theme park and the area nicely landscaped, including a few authentic features that add to the attraction, here a Landover, there a VW Beetle, a camper van and a mini, objects that would otherwise have passed through the crusher by now. Admission is very reasonable and for once without discrimination to foreigners.
I've no plan to make this a long day sightseeing. That was not my intention but well, you might have guessed. I call at the train station on the way back. It's not out of my way. Arriving after 2.30 pm I'm not expecting any traffic but no sooner than I park up I hear an announcement which invariably means something is coming. A quick glance at the board tells me there is a stop train due about this time. Thankfully it's running a little late. It's another chance to use the video option on my camera. The service is the 262 Ordinary service from Hua Hin and that sorts out my transport for tomorrow. I can use this service to return to Bangkok. I head back to the hotel and for once just laze around the pool till evening.
Third Chim Boo Chak @ Cha-am Festival..... This curious sounding name is basically about fishing for crab. When I arrived in Cha-am, I noticed a road closure to hold a street market. This is unusual. The only time I've witnessed this before was in October during the annual Seafood Festival. As I venture out in the evening the stage is set for something similar. Cha-am has a long beach road but at its junction with Narathip Road, there is a sea view terrace that is normally quiet. Not today! A purpose build stage had been set up and the area, the size of a small football stadium, filled with tables and chairs, enough for a couple of hundred people. Around the perimetre there are food stalls offering all manner of delicacies that we only wonder about back home such as fish, crab, prawns, shellfish and squid cooked Asian style including Thai, Chinese, Japanese and Muslim. It's a replication of the Seafood Festival or so I thought. It's still early, but I'm a bit hungry, so I settle down here for dinner and a beer but before too long the stage erupts in a frenzy of light. The concert is due to begin. It seems a waste if I were to leave now so I take another beer, then another, not helped by the fact that the pretty young hostess keeps returning to fill my glass. The performances are punctuated with announcements and some form of contest. After a while, I work out that contestants present themselves in front of the stage where a large seawater tank is situated. The basic idea is that they 'angle' for crab. I later find out that this festival has been running for three years. It is an initiative by local people to keep a stock of live crabs in the estuary near the fishing port at the north end of the town. Anybody can turn up and obtain crab live straight from the ocean. And why not at the same time make a festival out of it? I need a toilet, but I'm not aware of a toilet block nearby. Well, the organizers have thought of that too! They’ve brought in a converted tour bus with compartments, one at the front for ladies and one at the back for men. And where does all that beer end up you may ask? It gets pumped into a sludge truck parked nearby. This is Thailand at its best! Simply improvising. I drink too much beer which will leave me with a headache by morning. I clearly don't to this often!
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