Berk’s Blog

Nell and I have finally arrived at the “honeymoon” part of our honeymoon holiday at Sayong Beach Resort on Koh Lanta.  Both the resort and the island are similar to those in the Caribbean, but the resorts are more modest here, and the locals seem to live a bit better, no doubt from the budding tourism in the past five years.  As a result, travelling around the island outside the resort is also much safer than doing so in many Caribbean countries, or at least we thought so.

 Our lodging is a nice little bungalow with a (remote) ocean view from our small but not tiny front porch.  The room has a nice poster bed that is decorated in Thai orchids each morning by the cleaning staff.  The bathroom is one of the nicer ones we’ve had on the trip – an open shower with sea rocks embedded halfway up the concrete walls, with imprints from large sea plant leaves on the upper half.  While certainly rustic, the bungalow is also, comfortable, clean, and quiet.  The perfect surroundings after nearly two weeks of air, land, and sea trekking around Southeast Asia.

So far, we’ve mostly been relaxing with walks on the beach or sitting and reading wherever we can find some shade.  We did, however, do a few excursions so far as well. Yesterday morning, we did an hour-long elephant ride through the mid-island jungle, the middle of which featured a steep uphill ascent (pretty hairy when on top of an elephant) that culminated in a very nice view of the surrounding valley.  Following that, we did a two-hour long jungle hike and cave exploration expedition.  Koh Lanta National Park features a cave that consists of a number of underground passages of all sizes, some the size of old bank lobbies, and some that you really had to squeeze to get through.  Luckily, we managed to fit through the smallest of passages presented, so the diet appears to be going well. 

Tonight we are taking a Thai cooking class where we will prepare, then eat, our own Thai meal featuring green curry and fresh spring rolls, along with a few other treats.  Then tomorrow, our last full day here before returning to Patong Beach in Phuket, we are planning to do some kayaking through jungle streams to the sea.

That’s all for now… we hope your 2008 is off to a great start!