After a morning walk along the streets of Trang, we jumped into our private van and headed for the little town of Pak Meng, here we would grab a long tail boat set for Koh Ngai.
Pak Meng relies heavily on the tourist market, and from here you can do some island hopping, explore the reefs snorkeling/diving or take a day tour and get to see some of the amazing islands and reefs and discover some of the history of the Andaman Sea.
Knowing this is my first time in a long boat, I envisaged a quiet and relaxing trip to the island. Boy was I wrong. Once aboard the boat, the engine started, and I swear this engine was from a ford escort or the like. It was loud, rough and smokey, much like how I get to work but without the smoke, so I pulled out the iPod and kicked back for the journey.
We slowly made our way through the small misty islands and through movie set after movie set. It was like at any moment I would see the Black Pearl with Jack Sparrow at the helm just emerge from this steeling mist.
When the island of Koh Ngai appeared from the darkness, I was some how relieved, but more excited to be getting my rear of these wooden seats on the boat and onto something a little more comfortable, like with a margarita in my hands.
Our arrival wasn’t the greatest. We had to firstly jump off the boat into a foot of water, then get our bag off the boat, but also crunch along this sandy white stretch of beach until we stumbled upon Mayalay Resort, what will now be referred to as ‘home’ for the next seven days.
Finally someone come to our rescue and relocated us to a soft seat, then removed our bags to our hut. First impressions mean a lot to me, and there is going to be some hard work to get me back on side.
Sand, sand and just a touch more sand – this would also be my nemesis for the next days. With my slight ocd, having sand anywhere it doesn’t belong will take some getting used to.
The hut/room/home was small, light but very authentic. It had this charm about it that I will describe later in this blog, but for now it was a roof over our head. The shower, however, was outside with some clear panels placed overhead recently, it was just like showering outside but without the elements.
After unpacking a couple of things, a drink, one deck chair and a good book would be the order for what’s left of this amazing day.
The drinks menu was quickly placed at our chairs, we must have looked like we needed a drink because this young gentleman rushed our drink order and before we knew it, I had a pineapple cocktail made from Jim Beam in my hands.
If this is what the next few days are about, well I’m in.
ramblingrelish 