Day 41 – 42

02.08.23 – 03.08.23

I’ve had a good nights sleep, no howling gales to wake me! 

I’ve woken to some sunshine as well!  😎🌞

Breakfast a little earlier seems better but still busy. 

Sorry to say I didn’t have any stir fry for breakfast I just didn’t fancy it! I stuck to my eggs and toast & Marmalade. What was cute was that before I’d even chosen a table one of the servers had run up to me with a Liptons Tea Bag!! 😍 The reason being that they have a huge selection of lovely teas, there must be at least 10, unfortunately none of them are ‘normal’ tea. I know they have it because they leave the tea bags in your room, so I’d asked for one and there was some confusion before this lovely guy, his name is Best, saved the day! He obviously remembered me, which is so sweet. 

I spent a while at breakfast just drinking my tea and writing my blog. 

There is really good wifi in the main restaurant, which I need for uploading my photos. 

After this I opt to go and lie on a sun lounger by the pool. The pool isn’t very busy and there are lots of vacant beds (unlike Tenerife! 😂) I lie there for approximately 15 mins trying to sunbathe and read, but I just can’t settle so as the pool is now virtually empty I jump in and do my Length’s! I’m not exactly sure how many I’ve done because the pool is a completely different size but by my weird way of calculating I believe it’s 20 -22! 

I look sadly at the swim up bar, which is still not serving alcohol! Tomorrow is the day! 🍹🍹🎉😂

After a while longer sunbathing. I go and get changed and head out for a walk. I think there is a quicker way for me to get to the beach rather than go through town, I can see the road from the hotel so I’m going to follow it. 

It does indeed lead straight to the beach. It brings me out at the end of the beach and a fabulous beach bar called ‘The Last Fisherman’ it’s raised just slightly above the beach but feels like a proper beach bar. 

It’s extremely busy but I manage to get a table and order a delicious Banana, mango & coconut milk smoothie. 

The views are stunning and almost surreal as it’s a tiny bit hazy so makes everything look soft focused. 

I get chatting to one of the staff, I think he might be the owner/manager, he’s older and speaks extremely good English with an American accent. 😍 The conversation started when he came to wipe my table of the little bits of tree debris, I said they had come from the squirrel in the tree and he laughed about struggling to pronounce ‘squirrel’ I showed him the spelling on my phone. This led to a further conversation about language and its origins, how weird English can be, his examples were knife & Knights, he was lovely to chat to and made me laugh. I didn’t get his name but hopefully I will next time. 

From here I wandered along the beach front. There are lots of big hotels along this section. Then back through town to the hotel and a nice refreshing dip in the pool. 

I’ve seen a couple of nice looking restaurants which I might give a go tonight. The one I chose looks great. The prices are definitely higher than Chiang Mai, but I knew this would be the case. I order a Chicken Pad Thai. It arrives incredibly quickly, which makes me suspicious. I try it and it is just not great, a very small portion that’s bland and the chicken is a bit hard in places. I’m very disappointed. Now, normally what I’d do is be disappointed but eat it anyway, so as not to waste money it cost 200bht (which is a lot for Pad Thai) or offend anyone. However on this occasion I just can’t, so I ask for my bill and leave. 

I’m still hungry so I go back to the place I visited yesterday and get a delicious, freshly cooked chicken Pad Thai for 60bht! Clearly fancy surroundings are not indication of the quality of food. I think this is most certainly going to be my go to place while I’m at this hotel! ❤️

Another good nights sleep, and wake up to sunshine again! 

Breakfast is good. Fried eggs and marmalade on toast! 

Then it’s some sunbathing by the pool and a good swim, 20 lengths. 

I’m lying on my sun bed reading when the young girl next to me points up at the hotel, I look and there is a monkey! In fact there are several monkeys, climbing all over the hotel. They appear to have come down from the roof, 8 floors up! They are all over the place. They are going into rooms where people have left their balcony doors open, then coming out eating whatever they find! They are so agile & brazen! 

By now they have the attention of everyone around the pool. Then one of them leaps across from a balcony to a tree by the pool, wanders over and steals a big cup full of smoothie 😂 he is shortly joined by the rest of the troop, a few little ones amongst them. It’s so much fun watching them, they are like a little marauding gang of thief’s!  Eventually they head off to raid the next hotel! 

I walk into town and treat myself to a pedicure. Then just have a mooch before finding my self back at ‘The Last Fisherman’ My plan was to have something to eat and I’m starving but unfortunately they are closing early for a Private Wedding Party, so I can only have a drink I order a coke and have another little chat to my friend, whose name I still didn’t get! 🤦‍♀️ He’s telling me that this Bar has been in the beach for 40years, it has had to move numerous times due to the land being sold to developers. Its current situation is not for long as this land has also been sold for the huge sum of £12 million! 😱 it’s such a shame as this little bit of beach still has trees and greenery around it but this will no doubt be cleared for development. I know that development is inevitable but it is sad. I’ve read a couple of blogs about the overdevelopment of the islands in Thailand, especially down here in the South. I’ll add in a picture of Phi Phi Dom as an example. 

It makes me feel very conflicted because clearly I’m part of the problem. I want to travel to different countries and places, I want somewhere to stay, I want air conditioning, running water, cocktails by the pool etc etc! The Thai people need to make a living and being a fishermen or farmer is no longer a sustainable option. For the islands in the South they also had to rebuild after the devastating Boxing Day Tsunami in 2004. 

The blogs I’ve read whilst bemoaning the loss of the beautiful, wild place they visited 25 years ago don’t acknowledge that they are also part of the problem. And it’s all part of Globalisation & rampant Capitalism. 

Ok, rant over. 

I walked back from the beach to the hotel and it’s very sunny! I arrive at just before 4pm and change into my swimsuit head into the pool to cool down and order some French fries and drink a bottle of water. 

I then take a seat at the swim up bar and order my first Alcoholic Drink since I arrived on Monday! 

I have a Pina Colada! It’s delicious. 🍹🎉🍹🎉unfortunately I’m in the pool so no phone, means no pics! I have my second on the BOGOF Cocktails sitting by the bar, this time I choose a Long Island Iced Tea!
The guy behind the bar is working so hard, keeping his stations immaculately clean, sorting out the tunes all whilst being attacked by wasps! It’s impressive! 👍😂

It’s very strange here, one minute there seems to be loads of people around and the next it seems almost empty? Where do they go??  I wonder if people just come for the day? It’s a mystery. 

I head back to the the Cheap place for dinner, I think it’s called One Pad Thai or No One Pad Thai, I’ll check tomorrow and confirm! I have some yummy vegetable rice a bottle of water then it’s home to bed. No Barn Owls this evening. 

Book Read 19

The man who didn’t call. Rosie Walsh. This is the Book Club book for August. It was OK. 

Happy Friday Everyone 

Love & Miss you all. 

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️