Goodbye Nai Yang, Hello Khao Lak Day 3

The last day started with the warm sunshine and a nice morning swim in the resort pool. It was pleasing but still never made up for missing out on getting in the clear blue sea.

Sea View From Nai Yang

Checkout was quick and a short walk for breakfast at a place called. The was nobody there except a young boy sweeping the decking. He quickly said “I get Mamma”, I guess they were not expecting anybody. We had a western style breakfast freshly cooked that would make any hotel envious. This with a great view of the beach too.

Thai Taxi

Heading over to the tourist booth for our transport  the call of “Taxi Sir” was head and instinct was to shake my head indication “No”. Somehow I turned around and asked how much, he nicely came back with 200THB which was 50 less than our quote last night and 100 less than the hotel. Naturally we took his offer. The road back to the highway revealed that we missed lost of  places to explore and eat if we had more time here. Arriving at night kept us in the dark about this. Next time maybe.
The short ride too us to the bust station or more likely it was merely  a bus stop.  Good fortune set in again with a coach about to pull out and our taxi driver getting us on board. No idea how long we would have waited for the next one.

Bridge To Phuket

 The bridge connection to the mainland reminded us that Phuket is and Island. The coach nearly empty it seemed not many people were going on this trip. It was comfortable and took  around an hour with a break for the drivers, there were three of them. Price was 150THB for each of us.

Khao Lak McDonalds

Khao Lak appeared and we were deposited on the side of the road with the bus driving off we were left to gather our directions. Somebody spotted a familiar logo and grabbing a map from a tourist box we headed to McDonalds. Sadly I admit we had fries.

Suwan Palm Resort Khao LAk

We soon figured out where we were and where we wanted to go. The Suwan Palm Resort was on the beach but the town was inland so we had a short walk this time in daylight and remember placed we might go back too.
The resort was one of a few down at the beach but here again everything was quiet. Not an island but it seemed quite deserted with not many tourists or locals around.

Suwan Palm Beach View

The hotel is not quite on the beach, a few meters back with the trees keeping the building hidden. Although we did have a sea view and a balcony to sit out on.

Suwan Palm Beach Side

Unpacked what little we brought and  it was outside and just a few steps to have a look at the beach. Unfortunately the monsoons were bringing clouds and the skies were beginning to look grey. The beach was empty, looking up and down we never seen anybody.
The grey skies never kept out of the water. It felt like a warm bath which was still refreshing from the heat in the air. The added addition of great waves made us act 20 years younger.
It was still early and up the beach we went for a walk. It felt like the beach would go on forever. Deceiving  with lots of curved bays and just as you reach a headland another bay appears.
We must have walked a good few kilometers with mostly nobody to be seen and nearly nothing human made jutting on to the beach.  Just as we were about to turn back we came upon a few bamboo huts. Need a massage or some food then this was the right spot.  We shared a bottle of Chang and sat on the beach while watching the waves.
Suddenly the trees started to scream! The wind had picked up and there was a chance of a downpour. If it was dark and alone then even I would have been scared of that noise. It passed quickly and better safe than sorry we headed back down the beach to the resort.

Sunset Khao Lak

The sun was setting and although a bit of sunset was showing the skies were clouded. I guess life can’t be perfect all of the time, we can settle for it being brilliant.
A walk around town in the evening. Khao Lak settles itself on a wide road with everything on either side. The obligatory Tailor shops were here. What I seemed to need most was “getting a new pair of glasses”. It felt like opticians had overtaken the Tailors in looking for trade.

Ga Restaruant Khao Lak

We passed a few restaurants some empty some a bit more full. Our general guideline here is we see a lot of western people eating then we move on to the next place. We are looking for Genuine Thai Food to eat and while it’s not perfect it has worked well for us.
We came up on a place called “Ga” and we did strike it lucky here. The host was extremely friendly and the food was second to none. There seemed to be a bit extra service that made it and extremely pleasurable place to eat.
The first day in Khao Lak was over and while some people may like a bit more excitement and tourist trips, the atmosphere of a place is the pleasure for us. Exploring along with long walks on a deserted beach with the waves lapping at your feet is hard to better.
Khao Lak does have 7-11 so naturally we stocked up the way back to the resort.