Thap Sakae

Thap Sakae was my first destination. It's a small town near the most narrow point in Thailand which is 10km wide. It rained a lot which isn't so bad except for when you're on a motor bike. So I bought a raincoat for 20 baht that kept me mostly dry. We were on the bikes a lot traveling around in their territory. I didn't get to go up into the mountains though. Another time.

There were two things I really enjoyed. First, the couple I stayed with are really teriffic. We had some really great conversations. They're people I can really be myself around. And they're so kind and good. So I feel like I can learn from them too. Th'ey had some others (3 Koreans, 1 Japanese and 1 Thai) from the cong over one night and we played 'Uno'. I have fond memories from childhood playing Uno with my family. My favorite was when my grandpa, whose eyes weren't so good, would play a green card thinking it was blue or the opposite. We'd have to correct him a lot. It became part of the game. This time the most amusing player was one of the Koreans who has really good manners. She would apologize each time she played a bigger card (skip, draw 2, etc). I usually play those cards with an evil laugh. We had a great time.

Second, we went to a deaf school in the next town to the south. The school was literally right next to the beach, great setting! We got there in the afternoon at about 2:30 so some of the kids were already finished with their classes. We talked with them for a bit, they were surprised to see us there and were full of questions. Little by little the few kids became a crowd. Then teachers were coming out. It was overwhelming but fun too. The sister who went with me is wanting to learn sign language. I think they'll be happy to help her out at that school. I loved meeting all of them. They're so excited to talk to new people, especially foreigners. We stayed for about 45 minutes and could've stayed longer but had to get back. I'd love to go down there again.

Here are some photos of the territory.