Koh Ngai and beyond….

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.

the Mayalay Spa…..if anyone needs me, you will find me here.

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.

the awesome elephant towels 🙂

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.

Bangkok to Trang

Arriving in Trang, we wound up in the middle of these colourful and noisy celebrations for returning of soldiers of war. The colours that the Thai people use to celebrate are just breathtaking, and the noises made by these eight or so elderly ladies in the back of utility was just surreal. Now that’s a welcome, even if it wasn’t for two brightly and well-dressed gents from Melbourne.

So we finally found our way into a minivan and away from the welcome home celebrations and headed for our hotel. Note; when booking a hotel, ensure that when the hotel is in the shape of the ship, it must carry a 4 star rating.

Yes, a ship I hear you say? Well the front reception/convention section of the hotel is a ship’s bow, and thankfully that was anchored down into the earth and not the sea.

The Rua Rasada Hotel – Trang

The Rua Rasada Hotel oozed class, elegance and touch of old world charm without loosing reality (hard to believe, knowing we are in a ship shaped hotel). The staff, well there was literally a cast of staff that were there for our every need, all knowledgeable and willing to assist with our requests.

The hotel’s ship design is a hint of the former glory of this area, and after years of being on the scrap heap, it was renovated and redesigned over a year ago to bring us a delicate and superb hotel with all of the trimmings.

The outlook from our room was very rural, with a slight glimpse of the pool deck; it was a nice change to experience the serenity that Trang had to offer.

The foyer of the Rua Rasada Hotel

Trang is a prominent fishing town and the first rubber trees in Thailand were planted here in 1899, so there is plenty of rich history and local attractions. Unfortunately, we were here for the one night and leaving early the next day to head to our Island destination.

I did manage to check out one of the spa treatments on offer at the hotel’s spa. I booked in for a 1/2-hour bath, a one-hour body scrub followed by a one hour deep tissue massage, which took me from brilliant to astonishing and all for the minimal sum of 1000bht or $30au. I did for the first time on this trip feel relaxed, clean and now ready for what lay ahead.

The pool deck.

One thing that stood out was the people walking their cows/bulls like we do our dogs. It was hysterical, as no matter where we would go, the Tuk Tuk/taxi would give way to these awesome animals and their owners.

taking the dog for a walk…..

Trang is an area of Thailand that is real, honest and trusting. I would love to return to Trang and spend some more time here discovering what is on offer. I am also sure with coming years, Trang will once again relive what was once a thriving tourism hub of Thailand.

The next day we left luxury and ventured towards the relaxing and very petite island of Ko Ngai, a 45-minute boat ride from Pak Meng Pier. This is sure to be seven days of pure bliss.

Thailand for the first time

Planning the annual migration to warmer weather is always a challenging task, answering the age old questions, what do I want from this holiday?

I started with warmer weather, because as we all know, the weather in Melbourne has been horribly cold. Then it was shopping, because deep deep down we all love to shop. It must have culture, strong beliefs and an experience I can talk to my children about later in life.

Thailand seemed an obvious choice, but the little I knew about Thailand had to do with the un-necessary things I hear from my work mates. But what the heck, this is a holiday that had shopping, sandy white beaches, amazing food and did I mention shopping.

Departing a cold and blistery Melbourne was not a hard thing to do that afternoon, and leaving the jackets in the car was more exciting than it sounds, but I knew we would be expecting an average of 32c each day.

I have heard and read a fair bit about the madness and congestion of Bangkok, and also the lack of ability to breath which I knew would be a challenge, but arriving in a warm and humid Bangkok at 9pm was the real shock. My head ached from the humidity, the body trembled from the noise and the mind went into overdrive from the pure energy of the amount of people.

After reaching a taxi with the bags in tow, I knew there would be no stopping until I reached the sandy beaches of Ko Ngai, which was still 2 days away.

Our first night was spent in a little hotel just moments from the airport but hours away from relaxation. The Floral Shire Resort was a small, old but cheap hotel in a back lane-way in what seemed to be the only hotel in the area. We settled quickly and headed out on foot to firstly find some food, and quench the thirst with a cold authentic Thailand beer.

A little close to the airport…..

We found this cute bar only moments walk from the resort and scoffed the first beer like I hadn’t tasted beer in years. It was cold, I mean cold, so I guess it could have been anything really, as long as it was cold! The food was good, I mean it wasn’t great, but it was all we needed on our first night in town.

Our little hotel Floralshire Resort….

After a restless night, we headed back to Suvarnabhumi Airport for an early flight to Trang, the most southern province in Thailand.

Bangkok is the largest city I have been to in my travels to date, and although I relish what I am about to explore, experience and discover, I am amazed by the little things; How does the traffic in Bangkok really work? I mean there are cars, trucks, cows, people and millions of motorbikes taking up each and every inch on the rough and bumpy roads. Surely if this was here in Melbourne, the fatality rates would be through the roof.  Well done Bangkok I am totally amazed right now!