We enjoyed Trang’s restaurants and night market, but it was time to move on to Krabi, where we have upgraded accommodations and some of the finest food we will eat on our trip. The towns are not far apart, so it makes sense to stop a few places along the way and support the local tourism economy. But first, a breakfast of dim sum, Trang style. Continue reading »
Who won the election? Apparently it was a subject that engendered great passions: as we drove from Khuraburi through the heavily impacted Khao Lak area, we saw a person stomping on one of the candidates’ signs on the side of the road. He flashed us a big grin when he noticed us watching. We were in Khao Lak with the idea to distribute some additional contributions, but there was not an organized place to do so, except in temporary housing centers which were much too large for the amount of cash we were carrying. But let’s get back in sequence. Continue reading »
We had a late breakfast of fried rice noodles on Koh Poda and boarded our longtails for Krabi around 10:15. An hour later (and a bit wetter), we were on shore and headed into Krabi town for some shopping and Internet access before lunch. (Exciting description of checking e-mail omitted.) Continue reading »
We checked out of our hotel in Trang and headed up the road for dim sum. The first spot, which apparently is the best place in town, did not have enough available tables for our party of 14, so we headed to a second. Our plates included a delicious roasted pork, as much fat and crispy skin as meat; steamed fish with ginger; siu mai pork dumplings (I’ve had better in California); fish cakes; fried bread (Chinese doughnuts); sticky rice steamed or grilled in some kind of leaves; sticky rice stuffed with pork; crab claws in a pork meatball in bitter melon; crab claws in a mixture of crab and shrimp meat; black mushrooms in a brown sauce; steamed pork buns; and, last but perhaps best, steamed buns filled with a bean paste-coconut custard blend. And, for once, all the tea I could drink. We were extremely full but we stopped just up the road at Kook Ming, the bakery that originated Trang cakes. After mulling the many choices in the gift shop, people settled on various favorites, and we sampled the “three flavor” cake. It wasn’t my favorite: it was more of a three-color-not-that-much-flavor cake to me, but I was still scheming a way to get a dozen of those bean paste buns for the island. Continue reading »