Day 47: Checheng to Fonggang

Yeeeehah! Kids playing at Kending Elementary School

December 8^th, 2009:

It was a lovely sunny day, about 29 C, but very windy. I set off earlyish, and grabbed some breakfast at a shop with rather surly service. Then I got a bus out to where I needed to start, in Checheng.

Sunlight on a somewhat fancier than average small town house

I got off the bus, and found my way to the ocean, going through small streets that people lived in, not simply on. I walked through living vignettes of simple, small-town life: children playing, people chatting with merchants and neighbors.

Through the graveyard to the sea

I hit the beach, and started walking. I soon left settlement behind, and enjoyed the unexpected wildness of this beach. There were no fishermen and almost no garbage. There were flocks of tiny shorebirds everywhere. The wind was kicking up spray off the waves, and whipping sand down the beach.



Old pillbox

Beach views



After about an hour of walking, I came to a big hotel, where the beach came back to the road at a small harbor. Next to this hotel there was a small beach with ATV’s for rent.



Then, back to walking the road, with frequent trips down to the shoreline, which was a bit rocky for easy passage.





Pond for a seaside farm




Open-water fish farm frames

Groovy gas station

The beauty of betel nut


Modern-looking resort



Lovely green colored house

Eventually I came to another beach which I walked, then got to where Highway 9 split off from 1 to become the Southern Cross Island Highway. From there, I got a bus back to Kending.

Back to Smokey Joes! Two-for-one Long Island Ice Tea’s sounded like a good idea at the time, but got me pretty tipsy. Fortunately, the staff at Joe’s were extremely friendly, and we had a nice chat.