Little Gaeng Som, How We Love You!

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We spent Christmas of 1997 on Koh Nangyuan, a small resort of 3 islands connected by sandbars. It was time to return after 9 years. We were astonished to find a dock large enough to support the Lomprayah catamaran from Samui. On our first visit, we took a speedboat to Koh Tao, an intermediate sized boat from there to just outside of Koh Nangyuan, and then a long-tailed boat onto the beach of Koh Nangyuan. J's Grandma was a real trooper through all of the boat transfers on that trip! The rooms are in their own huts dotting the hillsides of the 3 islands; ours had a great view of the sea. Electricity on the island is turned off between 10 AM and 4 PM so those hours are spent out on the beach. During the day, boatloads of people come over from Koh Tao but in the early morning and evening the beach is empty and the mood is serene. There is just one restaurant on the island serving up all types of Thai dishes as well as assorted Western fare such as burgers and fries. The atmosphere is extremely laidback - we loved it. If you're at all interested in going here you've got just a couple of years until the new owner - Sofitel turns it into an expensive, exclusive resort.

Since the last time we were there, they've added a massage hut on the beach which you can bet we took advantage of more than once in the course of 5 days. The employees of the resort all live on the island with their families so there are a few small children running around as well as 3 small dogs. The smallest of the dogs is a toy poodle named Gaeng Som (a type of sour green curry). She is adorable and we enjoyed cuddling with her after dinner each evening. She would sit in the crook of your arm and fall asleep. If anyone came near as if to take her off to bed, she would actually growl at them! We miss our Salty so much, it was nice to have a dog friend to keep us company.

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Photos

Trails
These wooden boardwalks allow you to easily walk around the islands.

One Sprite, One Fanta
The standard drink order.

Massamun Curry
Yellow curry, peanuts, potatoes and beef.

Bungalows
At night this place reminds me of the computer games Myst and Riven.

High Tide
A bit of wading is required to get into breakfast!

Remote Wifi
We could get wifi in the restaurant, although this obviously didn't help us much with getting this post out on time!

Trail to the Summit
You can climb to the top of one of the islands via this 10 minute trail.