Koh Ngai,Thailand ……chillin’ on the island

November 5th, 2018

Breakfast decent but not great, windy , sunny and about 26C…….went for a walk to the end of the beach…checking out the sight and sounds ……pretty quiet but nice…there is nothing here of historical significance so R&R is going to be the order of the day. We are only publishing this post as there is a limited menu of items to see and report on…

Lunch at Coco was quite pleasant …then panicked screams from the waitresses and sure enough a greenish-yellow snake had dropped in for lunch and was slithering towards our table……a staff member yelled don’t worry, not poisonous (yeah, we believed him, I bet he says that to all the girls) and with about as much grace as possible vacated our seats. In any event he/she was uncatchable and left the premises…sorry to say no pics.

After that drama some siesta time and then yours truly was in the water for the next 2 hours trying to catch some fish…..you can never get enough of fishing, if you are truly addicted. On this trip I took the bare essentials: 4 piece rod, my trusted PENN Spinfisher, a mini tackle box and a couple of spoons and baggies of soft baits….and of course my Florida killer Sebille plug >>> decisions, decisions….what you take is what you have, resupply is rather unlikely !!

The shoreline is shallow for several hundred meters, then a reef so wading & casting was not the best, nor were the results > 1 mini fish, haha, but fun nevertheless, lots of multi colored fish swirling around my legs ! The good news was that my knee which has been bothering me felt a bit better after the water/fishing therapy…

This was our nature day as we saw these dudes (monitor lizards)  in the slough in front of our cottage:

Dinner at Coco was very good > we are sticking to our diet of Thai food and to date have had no red meat ! The dining room is quite pleasant and the servers try really hard to please.

 

November 6th, 2018

Still windy…decided to do the jungle walk to Paradise Beach, up over the hills and down to the bay on the other side of the island…..30 minutes from Coco along the beach, to the start of the trail. Then 30 minutes more….humid  with lots of skeeters but we were well lubricated with DEET, so not even 1 bite …. a few fixed ropes as the trail is steep and of clay like consistency, so it can be slippery…

…through a coconut farm and we are there. There is one resort here coincidentally called Paradise Beach Resort, while ordering waters we asked how many guests were staying and learned there was only one….hopefully they will do better, as it is a beautiful although rather isolated location. The plan was to spend several hours here, but shortly after we took these snaps, the rain thundered down and the prospect of beaching and trying some fishing looked a lot less appealing…..I guess the rainy season has not completely given up.

So nothing left to do but make a strategic retreat…..no pics, as we do not look so pretty all wet !! By the time we got to the other side, the sun had come out and all was good >>> a pretty decent al fresco lunch was at Koh Hai Seafood…

While the island is quite photogenic, the prices are somewhat higher than the mainland for most items, partially an issue of competition but also the cost of transporting everything by boat and hand (although comparatively speaking it is still a very good deal for Canadians)….

After lunch a leisurely stroll back to the Coco Cottage taking in the water views along the way…

Yours truly on the yak ….bigger water but with the same modest results…

As the day wore on the horizon started to look grim although it did not deter this group from enjoying the water….and then it came down pretty well washing out the balance of the day…

 

November 8th, 2018

Last day on the island and happily it looks like a good one, regular breakfast with the added bonus that today they offered rice soup with chicken > my new favourite, along with fruits, omelets etc. After a morning walk to the end of the beach we are determined to be slack and enjoy the views, read & relax (the fishing guy has hung up his pole for the time being)…

A light lunch at Coco as we anticipated a walk down to the end of the beach in the late afternoon for an early supper..

There is a very low tide tonite and we can walk on the beach all the way to our dinner destination Koh Ngai Camping > a family run beachside resto > very tasty meal of coconut curry and garlic/pepper squid washed down with several beers, all with a gorgeous view of Koh Ma as the sun descended ….happy, happy walk back in the fading light …back at the cottage as darkness enveloped us.

For our friends who are of Polish extraction Koh Ngai seems to be a curious destination as we are bumping into Polish speakers virtually at every turn. I spoke to several and it is a puzzle to them as well……mostly, young professional couples who are in Thailand for several weeks and chose this destination as a place to decompress after visiting some of the more hectic destinations. After dinner I was supposed to complete this post but instead enjoyed a very pleasant conversation (as usual I did too much talking > and my Polish was rusty but I guess comprehensible) with a couple from Warsaw who even took note of the blog address !!

Time to pack …tomorrow the next step of our journey awaits!