Trat Is All That

After all day on buses and a hectic night prior under the heavy burden of my backpack, I was looking forward to laying low in Trat for the day, getting a good night’s sleep and an adequate vegetarian meal. All were accomplished here in Trat, a stop-over for many travelers heading to the set of Islands situated to the South of Trat. My superb accommodations offered an immaculately clean room with a shared hot shower for the bargain price of 100 Baht. Sawaddee Guest House (Sawaddee is the Thai greeting, our “Yo”) was a nice place to call home for the evening. The high-speed internet was a huge plus, as well. I’ll stay here for the evening and then head over to the largest of those Southern islands myself.

In case you are ever in Trat and feel the need for a good vegetarian meal, check out the Sea House. I order friend rice noodles with Chinese broccoli and tofu, Pad Seew Ew but with more-farang friendly name. Ordering a pineapple juice, I was given a delicious tall glass of real pineapple blended with ice. Delicious!

For dessert, I took a walk to the large market stalls to hut down my craving of delicious coconut milk sweet Thai dessert. And with success. I began to crave these bad boys after retelling my food successes at the Bangsai homestay to I woman I met in my travels. She saw my Food Fight bag and, being a San Franciscian and the managing editor of a vegetarian magazine(!), knew them well. She asked me if she could photograph me and my bag for the magazine’s new blog that will launch soon! More vegan press… exciting! We spent a good portion of the ride on the songthauw talking food and, although the opportunity to speak more than a few words of English was exciting in itself, finding a fellow vegan foodie was such a pleasant addition to my hectic commute from Pattaya. I regret not taking her picture but I was so caught up in talking veg. What a small world!

Here is a close up of the famed sweet Thai dessert, Khao Tom Mad. 2 for 10 Baht (less than 33 cents!)

And here is the sexy car detailing of Western-style bearded man. Interestingly, the mudflaps of many trucks here in Thailand have images of American cowboys.