Beach week in Thailand

This is going to be a short post as the week was spent on the beach, eating, drinking, sleeping, going to meditation and just generally relaxing but there are some pictures of the bit of paradise I chose to spend my week in.

Reached Koh Phangan by ferry and Patrick, the owner of Thad Sadet Seaview was there to meet me. It was as remote as I was expecting and the view from my balcony was to die for but there is always a problem in paradise and for me there were two!

On the boat to Kho Phagnan

 The view from my balcony

The first one was that the walk down to the beach was a lot longer than the five minutes mentioned on the internet and it was slippery and steep. That was solved after the first day by Patrick dropping me there on his way to go shopping.

Walk to the beach

The second problem was little more difficult to fix - the visitors at Seaview consisted of nine German couples and me! They were all very nice and friendly but I felt extremely alone. So after three nights which I did enjoy as I was able to just relax, eat good food, swim and walk up the steep hill improving my leg muscles, I moved on.

Night Sky

Fire on the terrace at night

Nature boy gaathering coconuts

At the beach

Seaview Bungalows Than Sadet

Reception at Seaview

I caught the sea ferry to The Sanctuary at Haad Thian. I had intended coming here in the first place but there was no pre-booking of the cheaper huts and I was worried I might not get anywhere to stay but on arrival I was able to get a very nice hut overlooking a little stream which I think was kept running by people's shower water. It was a lot more expensive that Seaview but that would not have been difficult as Seaview was only £7 per night and this place was a huge £16 per night but did have a fan which ran all night!

The Sanctuary is a health resort with yoga, pilates and meditation so I was able to contemplate my navel, go to some workshops and am very proud of the leather bound notebook that I made. I was encouraged to sketch my thoughts and feelings in it - that probably is not going to happen but it is a nice idea. I really enjoyed the Pilates classes and the meditation chanting session was wonderful. I also enjoyed the active meditation which was really unusual as you constantly moved for 45 minutes.  I never thought I would keep it up but went into a semi trance and managed it effortlessly.  I could easily stay here for a month and am planning a return trip one day. It is all very low key and you can just do as little or as much as you want or your budget can take.

One morning I got early with the view of seeing the sunrise although it was a little cloudy and I was a little late but I had a good walk along the beach and the boardwalk as far I could go. On my return, I stopped at the Bamboo Hut for breakfast and just looked at the beautiful view. One evening I sat with a group of people and watched a movie called Mr Nice who was apparently the biggest smuggler of marujana in Britain - can't say that I had ever heard of him.

Bamboo Hut Restaurant

The beach under the Bamboo Hut

Walking along the boardwalk

Walking along the boardwalk

View from the Bamboo Hut

Early morning sky at the Bamboo Hut

This place has been perfect for me as there is always someone you can join and chat to if you want some company or it is perfectly acceptable to just be alone.

In front of the Sanctuary

The Sanctuary

Leaving the Sanctuary is not that easy as I had to meet the others at 1.00 p.m. which meant I had to leave the day before to get the 7.00 a.m. ferry.  While I was staying at Seaview I had met a Scottish/Australian girl and bumped into her again at the Sanctuary so on my last day we met up for breakfast which extended on as Rob and Kristy, an English brother and sister who I was getting a longtail boat with to HadRin, were held up waiting for some money.  Leslie and I talked the morning away and seemed to have so much in common.  It is a shame when people waft in and out of your life like that but maybe we will meet again one day.

On reaching HadRin I waited and waited for a taxi to take me to Thong Sala, the ferry port, and then decided I would stay in HadRin and get an organised early morning taxi.  That all worked out fine, the room was comfortable and cheap, dinner was good and I was in bed by 8.00 p.m.  Spent all night worrying about alarm not going off so was up at 4.15 and sitting waiting for taxi at 5.30 - it was going at 6.00.  It was good to see my fellow Calypsoites and catch up with all the gossip.

So we are now off to the jungle for a couple of days before Malaysia.  Time is running out but I am excited about getting to Australia now and meeting my daughter's new chocolate labrador puppy which
she has just been given for her 30th birthday.