Koh Koh Koh Merry Christmas!

 

Koh Phangan – Day 6 (23/12/11) 

We arrived to Koh Phangan today after a quick one hour ferry ride from Samui. The weather has been  gorgeous today and our skin is leathery proof of that! 

We had a Survivor episode worthy experience getting to our resort when the taxi boat driver decided to speed boat us through 2 meter waves straight past our vila at Centara and on to a desolate beach further down in order to earn a couple hundred more Baht. His ‘big’ taxi boat couldn’t pull up to the shore so he shouted “out out” and we were forced to vault over the side into waist deep water trying our darndest to keep the luggage dry. That was only the beginning. We were legit dropped off in the middle of the jungle with one obscure path along which we figured was our best option to wander down. A couple locals in the area assured us that our resort was only 5 minutes down the path...it wasn’t long before we made the connection that everything on island time is 5 minutes! So we trudged along with our gigantic packs, weighing a grand total of 75 kgs in the 30 dergree blasting heat wave, along sandy beaches, up over rocky outcrops and through jungle forests in search of Centara. We stumble on a happy little hippy colony called The Sanctuary, which seemed like a totally self sufficient community in the middle of nowheresville, not much unlike a scene from The Beach (Update: We found out today from a couple we met at dinner that the guy who wrote the script of the movie (The Beach) did in fact base his writing on his time in this exact village, when he first came upon it!! No wonder all three of us recognized the parallels between the scene we just saw here and the ones we remembered from the big screen). We kept moving on, so as not to be those innocent travelers who spoil the tranquility of the beach. A half an hour later we crossed a rickety wood planked pathway over the ocean to reach Centara, a precious gem of a resort and the slog was indeed worth it! (Well a cheaper water taxi straight to our beach might have topped the cake but we were just happy to finally reach our very own brilliant villa). After cooling off with a lemonade and a cool rose scented towelette, Jenny, yet to be determined if this is he or she, helped us to settle in to our spacious home on the hill overlooking the sea. We spent the rest of the day unwinding poolside with the waves crashing against the shore just a few meters away. We filled up on dinner at Bamboo Hut which was set way up on the rocks overlooking the beautiful beach below. We are all settled in and waiting for Christmas to come!

Koh Phangan – Day 7 (24/12/11)

Today has been a relaxingly slow kind of day as the sky has been mostly overcast with a few little sprinkles of showers. Still warm enough to lay under our cabana by the pool and sip on bevys all day long as we read some pages. Sabi’s drink was so strong just the fumes burnt her nose hairs #delightful.

We wandered through the jungle trail this morning back to Bamboo Hut on the rocks for a most delectable outdoor brekkie overlooking the ocean and then continued along a winding path into the jungle. What do you suppose we would find but a muay thai boxing ring high atop a cliff with ocean views and a faint sound of techno beats carried in the breeze. We wandered even further following the sound until we reached The Sanctuary. There were much less people around the commune this morning and some locals had mentioned that there was a big dance party still heating up from the night before. So our curiosity kept us following the music further back into the village until we reached Guy’s Bar where everyone was tranced out and dancing, or rather shaking a hip and waving a rubber arm in the air. I guess you loss a bit of umph after 24hrs straight (it was coming on noon!). We decided that although it would have been entertaining to sit and stare, it wasn’t really our scene and hiked back towards the resort. We were almost completely dried off, only a short distance from our destination when a gigantic tidal wave washed up the rickety wooden plank we were on and almost swept us right out to sea. Sopping wet, we said a little prayer for our cameras and then trodded back to the resort where we are now lounged out watching the waves crash against the beach (much preferred to crashing against us).

The fresh fruit smoothies are so yum and just seem to be the perfect accessory to a bikini and tan. Today is Christmas Eve and we are going to get all dressed up this evening for festive feast on the rocks...again! Can you tell it’s our fav foodie spot here?! We wish we had our matching family jams to cozy up in tonight and will be thinking of everyone back home getting festive tonight. Hope you are all enjoying the company of great friends and family on this merry merry Christmas Eve.

Koh Phangan – Day 8 (25/12/11)

Today is Christmas!! It`s not quite the same without our wonderful family surrounding us, but at least we have Briners! The waves are HUGE today and have swallowed the beach whole. All the locals have sand bagged up the shops in prep for a very windy day. The taxi boat isn`t running anymore because of the swell, so Dave spent the morning organizing new arrangements for our exit strategy tomorrow. We will be taking a 4x4 out of here, over the mountain back to the ferry pier. We were told that the only way to the resort is by boat so I`m interested to see how this exit strategy will turn out. But I think it`s more hopeful than by longboat...seeing as the people we watched leave yesterday we bouncing around in the current like a beach ball...with all their luggage in tow and no life jacket!! `We decided to skip out on the full moon party tonight as we would have to face the treacherous sea to get there and decided that worshiping the moon wasn`t worth risking a life. The ocean is angry...maybe it made Santa`s naughty list this year and only received a lump of coal this morning...I bet that`s it. As a result, we can`t get to our fav restaurant because we would have to walk across some rocky outcrops that are now well and truly submerged...but we did luck out on this merry holiday because the restaurant beside us is hosting a free festive buffet, so we are going to hitch our cart to their wagon tonight. 

Until then I am heading out for a massage by the sea. What better way to unwind on Christmas then to bliss out at the spa.

Merry Christmas to you all from our villa to yours!

Xo Tegs

Save a horse, ride an elephant!

Koh Samui – Day 5 (22/12/11)

We woke up early this morning for a date with Molly. She is a beautiful soul, stunningly gorgeous, and the same age as Dave & I. She has grey hair and skin that feels like sand paper but we love her for all of her. We met her this morning at the Elephant Trek center in Phuket where we got to hop on board her back and go for a peaceful ride through the jungle. Sabi followed behind on her own elephant with her trainer, Wow Wow, who was lazier than the guy who invented the Japanese flag. He didn’t bother to hop on so she got to take his spot in the driver’s seat right atop of her elephant’s head.

She didn’t hesitate to sit right up there above the ears because we were told a few days back that the elephant will run away if no one is sitting on the head, and she wasn’t going to take her chances. Dave and I got to take the reins and guide Molly for a bit. When lunch time rolled around for the baby elephant, Sabi & I fed him bananas and milk and got some extra wet kisses (right in the dimple!) for the treats. It was another amazing Thailand experience that won’t soon be forgotten.

The rest of the afternoon was another one in transit, as we jetted from Phuket on a short hour island hop to Koh Samui. We arrived to our hostel, the Boardroom, owned by a friendly Aussie guy. It’s a big spacious bungalow that we have all to ourselves and we have been enjoying this new found space. We lucked out big time with a banana pancake stand parked right out the front. You know the scooters i mentioned in the last post, well just forget bringing that crazy uncle in the side cart and strap on a pancake grill instead and you are open for business. Sabi ordered a banana and chocolate parcel of goodness and Dave picked a banana, peanut butter and nutella bundle and they were what dreams are made of... honestly Dave had a dream about one last night! We are only staying here one night to break up the travel to Koh Phangan, where we are heading tomorrow morning and will settle in for Christmas, although it couldn’t really feel less like the holidays if you ask us! Not in a bad way, just in a long hot summer holiday kind of way.

 Xo Tegs

The Beach - Koh Phi Phi Island

Phuket – Day 4 (21/12/11)

Today has been beyond amazZzing!! We had our morning coffee cruising onboard a glorious catamaran with the sun shining down on us, surrounded by crystal clear turquoise water on route to Koh Phi Phi Island. This is what we’ve come to Thailand for and we all feel like we are right where we need to be. It seems almost impossible to have any cares in the world when you are surrounded by white sandy beaches and salty sea air.

 

By noon the ocean was calling us in! We snorkelled in Maya Bay where The Beach was filmed. We had the same grains of sand stuck between our toes as Leonardo, which practically makes us celebrities once removed. Well it felt that way for a day. After feeding the colourful fish some watermelon we hopped back on board and headed to lunch at Koh Phi Phi. It has been the highlight of our adventure so far and we are still loving every minute!

Xo Tegs

Oh Phuket!

Phuket – Day 3 (20/12/11)

We spent the morning in transit, jetting a quick 2 hours from Singapore to Phuket, Thailand. Upon landing we hopped a shuttle bus for a long and frantic expedition to our hostel. The wild ride lasted about an hour as we swerved in and out of traffic with an endless number of locals defying death and whizzing by on their little scooter-mobiles...and they aren’t alone on those little bikes. They are carrying their girlfriend, little sister and granny on the back, little baby in front and sometimes the crazy uncle in the side cart. Im tellin ya, the amount of knees that are taken off in this country must be outrageous! Throw a couple tourists in the mix and you have road conditions worse than Alberta’s QEII highway in the middle of a blizzard. Dave decided he liked the way traffic “flowed” in this country but I’m sticking to a seat on the bus (even though seatbelts are not included) and will save the scooter experience for another time. Thankfully the driver took us right on past the ‘eccentric’ party scene of Patong beach to Kata Karon Beach. 

We are staying at Jinta Andaman, a super nice little hostel in a cute and quite area of the island. We stopped for a quick thai lunch before hitting the beach for the afternoon to get some well deserved R & R.

All in all, we are loving all the new cultural experiences we are getting here and are finishing the day off with a perfectly relaxing avro on the beach in prep for a big day tomorrow.

Xo Tegs

Downtown Singapore Chinatown

Singapore – Day 2 (19/12/11)

Today was a drizzly kind of day but a little rain...ok, maybe a lot of rain, wasn’t going to stop us from exploring new adventures in Singapore today. We hit up the trendy Clark Quay and took our time wandering through the street markets in Chinatown. 

 

 

We indulged in a bit of a foodie tour as we moseyed from stall to stall, but no one has been brave enough to sample the local chicken’s feet yet. Dave has discovered the steamed bun and can’t get enough. We stopped to browse a fav camera store of mine called Lamography, in which we were treated to a mini store opening party with complimentary chocolate cake and caramel popcorn. We came across a gorgeous Buddhist Temple in the middle of the city and Sabi has been converted. We lit incense and said a prayer before entering the spiritual temple and then stayed here and soaked up some holiness that the monks were generously spreading. 

  

 

 

After another long day on our feet, over 10,000 steps again today, we packed up and got ready for the flight to Phuket that was awaiting us the following morning.

Xo Tegs