From The Ocean To Your Plate

We went to Cha-am fishing village for lunch with our favorite ladies Lisette and Bim.  There is a seafood restaurant at the fishing village where boats come in from all over the Gulf of Thailand to unload their catch and get ready to go out to sea again.    It is unimaginably hard work!

This was so funny!  Vince looked up from where we were sitting to see another man in a hat.  He said, "Look, there is a man with a hat like mine!"    "Oh, it's me!"   We had a great laugh so I made him wave at himself in the mirror from across the room!

 We watched the fishermen hauling the nets up from the hold.  The pile got higher and higher while others were repairing torn holes.

 He probably has been moving from one boat to the next like this for years!

 He was washing off fish slime with pumped wharf water.

 Coming in to get ice for the hold before going back out to the Gulf.

He was pulling the chain to arrange the ice chute for dumping in the hold. 

 The guy on the truck unloading 500 pound blocks of ice and the guys inside were catching it! 

 They manually moved it to the conveyor belt which was not moving. The man would stand on the ice and push it with his legs and feet to the chipper where it would be moved up the pipe and then into the ship.

 Crab pots.

 Rinsing a little bit and getting ready to weigh the next load and put it on the trucks.

 All along the wharf people have their shacks for storing and repairing equipment.  Many even live here as this is their life night and day.

 Squid lights used to shine green light at night to attract phytoplankton so the squid come to the light to eat and then they are netted.

This image is from the internet and show a picture from the International Space Station showing the squid boats in the Gulf of Thailand. 

 Prayers on the front of the boat for safe seas and good harvest.

Phraya Nakhon Cave

The surf was high so the boat that would normally take you around the first mountain was not running.  So we had to climb over the first mountain and then climb the second one to the cave.  It took us an hour and a half on the way there and over 2 hours on the way back.   It was something I will always remember and feel very proud of both of us for having accomplished this extremely difficult and strenuous hike.  It was SO worth it.

We looked at this and thought "Oh My" but found out that this first mountain was the easy one!

A boulder fell on the path so they put a bamboo railing and ladders at each side.  It was fun!

Vince on the other side of the boulder.

First mountain finished and now to start the hike to the cave.

 This was the beginning, nice and flat and easy!

 The zodiac boats they use to go around the first mountain but only if the sea is calm.

 Every time we reached the top of a climb there was another and another and another!

 Limestone.  It has great hand holds!

 Vince taking shots of the pavilion.

 We planned it so the sun would be in just the right spot.  This was the first thing we saw when we entered the cave!  The pavilion was built in 1890 for the visit of King Rama V.  

 There were large stalactites and stalagmites all over and some were even from ceiling to floor.

 Vince looks to little.  This was only one small part of the cave.

 Another part of the cave where the trees reach to the sky. If you look closely you can see Vince in the lower area of the picture in the middle near the lowest green tree. 

Looking down into the first area of the cave I caught this woman taking pictures.  

 I loved this area.  It was covered and went back 30 feet or more and I felt like it would make a very nice cave home!

 This explains what a dry waterfall is.  

 On the way out.  The waves were still too rough for the boat.

 This is the tip of the mountain the boats go around and we hiked over.

 This beach is only accessible by climbing the mountain or by boat.  It is so beautiful!

 Vince resting after our adventure!