Island paradise

Sunday, January 08, 2023

Ko Yao Yai, Phang-nga, Thailand

Sun. Sand. Beach. Pool. Food. Beer. Rinse. Repeat.

It's been an absolutely lovely, idyllic day at our luxury island paradise here. I have to apologize for what will surely make for a rather boring blog entry today, because we did a lot of rest, relaxation, and glorious nothing today. But from my point of view, it was pretty much perfect.

Beach time

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We started our day waking up to this stunning view, and then went for breakfast at the poolside restaurant where we'd had dinner last night. The resort put out an absolutely enormous breakfast buffet, with a huge range of both western and asian dishes, an omelette bar, a custom cappuccino bar, and even a smoothie station. We both went back for seconds.

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Then, we hopped on the little shuttle to head down to the beach area, found a beach bed under an umbrella, and settled in for a bit of beach time before the sun got too hot. My limit for beach time is usually about an hour. I lasted close to two here, which is possibly some kind of record for me. I sat under the umbrella shade and read my book, while Ryan had a special treat: A beachfront massage. His first massage in over 3 years, since pre-COVID. The massage area was all open air, and the massage therapists were all masked, so he felt safe enough to finally indulge.

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An hour later, he came back looking extremely relaxed and happy. We took turns going for a quick dip in the ocean, and then went for a bit of a stroll along the beachfront. There's another small resort and a couple of local restaurants a bit further down the beach, none of which looked anywhere near as nice as where we're staying. We hung out a little longer, enough time to have a fresh coconut, which the resort served with a little umbrella in it, of course. Beach, sun, sand, and drinks with little umbrellas in them. Check, check, check. I think we've officially satisfied all the criteria of a honeymoon now.

Pool time

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Close to noon, it was getting far too hot to sit out by the beach. So we gathered our things, caught the shuttle back up the hill, and swapped the beach for the infinity pool. It was lunchtime, so we staked out a spot at one of the bed-tables (yes, actual tables that are beach beds) and each went for a swim. We ordered some light lunch of tom kha gai soup and some spring rolls. Quite tasty.

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The infinity pool was much quieter than the main waterfall pool near the beach, and had a few shady spots. It also had the far better panoramic view of the water and the surrounding islands. It was a sunny day today, hot but with a sea breeze. After lunch, we both went for another short refreshing dip in the pool because why not eh?

Veg time

As the temperature even by the pool went from hot to unbearable, we headed back to the room to shower and cool off in the air conditioning. We poured ourselves a beer and just vegged for most of the afternoon. Like I said, this won't be the most exciting blog entry. But it was high quality veg time.

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Today was sunnier than yesterday, which unfortunately meant that despite my best efforts with sunscreen, I got a little bit burnt on my shoulders. Whoops. That'll be fun with the backpack tomorrow. On the bright side, it did make for a particularly stunning sunset tonight, which we watched once again from our private balcony. If I could hit the freeze button and just capture these moments forever, I would. I settled instead for taking a gazillion more photos.

Dinnertime

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As the sun got lower, we headed back up to the poolside restaurant for dinner. The sunset was particularly stunning over the infinity pool, and as dusk hit, the whole sky turned lovely shades of red and purple. I've shared a few photos in this blog post, but believe me when I tell you it was even better in person.

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Tonight, we decided to order Thai food rather than western, since it's nearly the last night of our trip. Ryan had a pad thai with shrimp, and I ordered the pad krapow (spicy holy basil) with chicken. They were both pretty tasty. I'm going to really miss all this terrific food when we're back home.

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For dessert, we couldn't decide between the mango sticky rice and the chocolate cake. Ryan asked, por que no los dos? So we did. After all, calories don't count on vacation, right? They were both delicious, and the sticky rice was served in a little shape of a heart. Kitchy but cute.

So that's a wrap on our day in island paradise. If you're still reading at this point and you're not totally jealous of us, firstly, thanks, and secondly, why aren't you? 'Cause you totally should be.