Advertisement
Published: April 30th 2012
Edit Blog Post
After leaving Mike and Kari and Koh Ngai, we were heading north to another small island (this time with roads) called Koh Yao Yai. Our journey there was a bit of a trek for not really being to far away, it was just a bit harder to get to. From Koh Ngai we caught a 9:30am speedboat back to Koh Lanta and had time for lunch at the pier at our usual spot for the best Pad Thai and pineapple fried rice. From here, we got on a larger ferry that was heading to Railay Beach. Of course being on Thai time it didn't leave on time and was almost an hour late leaving so we were a bit worried about catching our connecting boat to Koh Yao. No need to worry though as they seem to know who's going where (I guess the sticker on your chest they make you wear helps), and had called ahead to tell the connecting boat that we were late. So that boat then waits. Nothing like holding up another boat for the 4 of us that was going to Koh Yao. Guess they did get tired of waiting, because all of a sudden this
small boat not much bigger than a long tail boat with a roof pulls up next to our big ferry in the middle of this bay and next thing we know our bags are being passed down and they are telling us to get on. It was a bit of a jump down to the other boat and with the water a bit rough and a bit of a gap between the two boats it was a bit interesting. I was a bit leary but then looked behind me and I don't think the pregnant lady was that stoked about doing it, so I figured if she can, I can! We all made it and started the next leg of journey to Koh Yao Noi then finally Koh Yao Yai. When we arrived we were glad we had prebooked a ride with the hotel as although there are roads and cars and scooters on this island, it still wasn't very busy and we didn't really see any taxis or tuk tuks. Although I am sure if you got off and were looking for a ride it wouldn't be long before someone offered you one.
It was about a 45
minute ride in the back of the truck again to our hotel at the other end of the island. Koh Yao Yai is the smaller and quieter of the 2 Koh Yao islands and is mainly a Muslim island and they rely mostly on rice farming and fishing rather than tourism. We arrived at Elixr Resort around 5pm and checked in and as the manager was showing us to our room, she said to us "Well I have good news and bad news for you", and we were a bit worried since I had booked last minute on some online booking site so didn't know what we were in for, and then she said "The bad news is it's a bit of a walk to your room, and the good news is you have been upgraded and have your own private pool!". We were a little bit like shocked but then even more shocked when she unlocked the door and we walked into our Villa (yes villa!) and had a look at the room and our own private pool on the deck overlooking the whole resort and the most amazing view and sunset! Think we could handle this for a
couple days! We only wished we were staying longer than 3 nights! We couldn't believe it. We booked the cheapest bungalow and now were staying in the most expensive villa. Guess the cheaper bungalows had been overbooked, so we lucked out. I mean really lucked out!
We didn't do a whole lot while we were here, we barely wanted to leave our private pool! We did venture down to the rest of the resort for food and massages but other than that, can't say we left our villa a whole lot. We were soaking it up! The food was a bit more expensive than the other areas we had been to but was also some of the best we had. The green curry was amazing and the Spicy Papaya Salad with chicken and coconut rice was absouletly amazing. So spice but so good! They do run dive and snorkelling tours right from the resort but by they weren't heading where we wanted the days we were there... and really did we want to spend any time away from our pool??
After Koh Yao Yai we caught a ferry back to Phuket and back to Surin Beach and the
Benyada Hotel where we stayed before Christmas. Hard to believe it was 3 weeks ago that we were here. It was so busy now with January being the peak of High Season on this side of Thailand. We had 3 nights back here and were definitely glad it wasn't any longer. It seemed so busy and full on after the couple quiet islands we had been too. The beaches were packed and you were sitting right next to the person next to you who many times is a European man and his rented Thai girlfriend (eww!) and we aren't really into the whole shopping and bar scene so it was bit much. We probably shorten our Phuket stays next time (and we are even in a quieter area), especially if it's in high season. We did manage to go to Birkam yoga again (yes we are nerds, but after 3 weeks without it or much form of activity we were dying for it!) as well some more $9 Thai massages and even a $12 hour long facial and spa treatment for me while Brett got a hair cut.
Then somehow we realised what happened and were our 25 days
in Thailand really over? And do we really have to go back to work??! Least we had our new caravan to go back to and were looking forward to that even if it was only going to be a quick stay before we were heading to the next skatepark destination...
Advertisement
Tot: 0.108s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 15; qc: 31; dbt: 0.0764s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb