The road (more) traveled A day on Luang Poh Chuan Road in Thailand Thailand is a great name-beach destination, with specters of blues as far as the eye could see, but there is much more to Thailand than just golden beaches, a shopping paradise for South Africans, and a scorching hot sun. Yolanda Barnard-Lemmer has spent a day on the famous Luang Poh Chuan Road in Karon Beach in Phuket – the challenge was to reach the Big Buddha, 20 kilometers from the hotel, on foot. She did not reach the Buddha, but bought (yes) a lot of quality, cheap clothes, drank local beer and met strange and wonderful people along the road. She stands in front of a small spirit house, her black hair cascading like a waterfall to her middle. The spirit house or shrine is in the form of a small roofed structure and is mounted on a pillar. Small plates of food – filled with honey, coconut and pieces of fish, stands in the sun, waiting to be eaten. An expensive Cuban cigar also forms part of the display. She turns around. The morning perspiration trickling down her already sunburn face. “Don’t take photos, please,” she asks. Sadness clouds her dark eyes, but crying is discouraged, so as not to worry the spirit of the deceased. It is late morning in Karon, and this mausoleum is only one of many to be found on the Luang Poh Chuan Road. “What is this,” I ask. “This is a temple to my late husband. He died two months ago.” “The food and cigar?’ “It is for him, she replies, he loved his cigars. It is his breakfast – and I am waiting for his soul to come back to consume the food. I am waiting for him. Waiting.” My traveling companions; my mother, sister, a friend, and my husband, felt a bit daunted by this strange belief. We walk on – to the southeast – to the Karon Bazaar and the big Buddha. Twenty kilometers to the Big Buddha, the road sign indicates. It is a road traveled by many a foreigner and local. To the right, the sea and beach littered by sun loungers and holidaymakers, to the left, shops and more shops, restaurants, and massage parlors, tailors, travel agencies, 7-eleven convenience stores. “Are we going to walk to the Big Buddha, I ask, twenty kilometers.” “Yes, we are going to walk, my 66-year-old mom demands. “Don’t act like old ladies.” A restaurant, finally. It is at 10 o clock. The temperature: 37 degrees. The Friendly Restaurant, it is called. It is cool inside. “We not open,” says a Thai woman in broken English. “Something to drink.” I mime the movement. “O, yes, cold Chang (a local beer), ice-cold a bit more.” A frozen beer will cost you 10 baht (around R5) more than a cold beer. We order the ice-cold (frozen), Chang, for about R40. Her name is Leah, the waitress tells us. “I change name,” she says. I come Christian. Sorry, English not good.” (sic) Leah is one of only a few Christians in Thailand that is dominated by Buddhist philosophy. “Can I pray,” she asks. “Only Thai.” Musical tones fill the restaurant, and although we do not understand a word of her prayer, we appreciate the holiness of the moment. Praying over a beer in Thailand has never happened to me before. Five kilometers down the road we stop for a quick fish pedicure. The marketing board in front of the parlor preaches 300 baht (around R150) for a “real Thai massage and only 100 baht (R50) for a Thai fish pedicure. I put my feet -by this time my two poodles remind of elephant stumps – in the water and a school of fish attack them as if they are giant white sharks. The fish is called Garra rufa, a type of toothless carp that nibbles away at dead skin. Fourteen kilometers to the Big Buddha. We stop at the Golden Paradise restaurant for lunch. A ladyboy (a katoey) serves us. A perfect feminine figure and face. (spot the jealousy). I order a Thai curry. It is humid and hot, but when in Thailand, do what a Thai does. Next stop. Ten kilometers from the Big Buddha. Finally, the Karon Market that consists of over 200 stuffy shops, and you must barter to get the best deals. A shopper’s paradise, I tell my husband and sister who, during a quick interlude, made a pit-stop at a Seven-11 where the beer is much cheaper. I buy four dresses, two shirts, pants, and jewelry for only 1500 baht (Around R750). My husband barters his way down to 800 baht (R400) for six fake designer’s T-shirt. “Only elitists would spot the difference,” he argues when I am scolding him for being such a cheapskate. Next stop. Eight kilometers from the Big Buddha. Cocktails on the beach. The sun is setting. On our way back to the hotel, the food left on the plates in the shrine was gone. Nearby a few Indian mynas look satisfied and overweight. And no, we did not reach the Big Buddha. We took a taxi the next day.