Zelma’s Trip

I decided to travel to a less touristy area of Thailand and went on a shared local minibus from the bus station towards Patthalung.  When I got to the ticket booth my Ipod earphone and my earring simultaneously collapsed making me seriously worry about the aura of my ear and its sudden destructive properties.  Maybe the rebellion against the Thai karaoke had finally started!

When I arrived in Patthalung I went to an area  around the "little ocean" which was basically  a kind of  estuary, lake type thing….wow my physical Geography teacher would be so proud.  Anyway, I checked into a lovely guesthouse overlooking the water.  I went for a wander and in the evening ended up walking through a local village.  I got talking to some of the locals, well talking is perhaps somewhat positive here but we were communicating.  I sat with a group of farmers and was invited to drink the local palm wine they had made.  It wasn’t my favourite tipple and I couldn’t decide if the overpowering plant taste was down to the fact it was made out of palm or whether it was as I was drinking it out of a coconut shell.  I finished it though and they were all pleased when I gave it the thumbs up.  I thought better of spitting it out and making a throwing up sound.  No really it wasn’t that bad.  They also offered me some ominous looking food.  I politely declined and then they offered me an egg.  As this was the first thing offered to me that I actually recognised I thought it a safe bet, thanked them and began to peel the shell off.  Unfortunately when I bit into the egg it was an interesting shade of grey.  I toyed with the idea of trying to flick little pieces into my handbag or the like but, partly as they were all looking at me, I ate it with glee.  I think I overcompensated slightly though as I was immediately offered another one!

After eating various unidentifiable seeds and vegetables I left the village and headed back to my guesthouse in preparation for an early start.