Songkhla (Friday, February 3, 2006)
We hit the BP Samila’s Tonson buffet for a final breakfast, and the rice porridge with various mix-ins was fine. But there had been several snafus with laundry the evening before (not affecting me) which delayed our departure. Service seemed to be falling down in general: they forgot to bring my bags down from the hallway. Eventually we were underway to the South end of the town to visit a small fishing village and view boats painted in the style of the Southernmost provinces. The boats seemed rather worn out, and the garbage that washed up on this part of the beach did not provide an attractive background. Life here looked difficult; whether it was always thus, or was related to recent problems (drenching rains and flooding) we couldn’t tell. But it was time to move on. Continue reading »