20th to 29th Jan, 2016

I feel you should get a feel for what it is like being on holiday with John and Val. Hopefully you have already appreciated the touring regime from the posts on India (0800 breakfast, 0900 depart hotel, visit site, endless photos, drive to next site, more photos, etc), but what happens when we get a chance to ‘relax’?

Well, first up Val is not really the lounge-by-the-pool type, so she likes nothing more than to head to the gym first thing, while I get a few minutes extra sleep. Breakfast is included in the cost of the hotel so that is next and then back for an hour or so R & R before we set off for some yoga. Then back for a swim, maybe, followed by some table tennis (we brought our own bats and balls!) and then another swim. Rest up, then supper and a few games of Yahtzee before sleep.

A few details….

YOGA

We have been doing yoga almost every day and I have to admit that it is excellent, though some parts of me are obviously not meant to go in certain directions, but every day is a small improvement on the previous one. Val is excellent and it definitely helps her Parkinson’s. Enjoy the pics – I think the camera has rather shortened my legs!! Post-yoga is a walk to the nearby beach and the Easy Bar for Val’s first coconut and my soda water of the day, followed by a dip in the sea – yes, that is a hat I am wearing. You can’t be too careful!

SWIMMING

I have decided to challenge myself to do an extra 2 lengths of the pool every day (200 metres) and, at time of writing have managed 18 lengths or 1800 metres. This has been great as I am fitter and am actually losing weight. The downside is that it makes the yoga pretty tough, especially my downward facing dog!

TABLE TENNIS

You will not be surprised to know that this is a competitively contested activity. Val is winning by some margin (to be honest I lost count (honest) as it was hard to remember the score of the games and the score of the number of games). Just to keep the record straight – the winner is Val if she reaches 11 points or me if I reach 21 points before she reaches 11. And if she reaches 11 before I do that counts as two points in games. I think she may be about 42 games to my 25 or something like that. I will keep you posted – and check out the Yahtzee score below!!

MASSAGES

Well, you cannot come to Thailand and not indulge in a massage. We have found a really nice one aptly called Serenity. 90 minutes of pure bliss – followed by a cup of tea and some fruit on their veranda overlooking the sea. They can certainly find those muscles and joints that need attention. So far I have managed not to scream, but I suspect it is only a matter of time!

 

 

FOOD & CHILEANS

The island itself is pretty much full of tourists, but is not the party scene like Phukett is. After India it is unnervingly calm and well ordered, though we have been surprised by the relatively poor level of English. The Thais are genuinely lovely people and so friendly, always smiling and greeting you with ‘shawadi karp’ (spelling?).

The island is quite long, with effectively one main road, loads of restaurants and lovely beaches. We have had some great food at some great restaurants (thank you Tripadvisor) and are now better at not over-ordering, though the photos do look as though they tell another story! And we met the nicest Chilean family it is possible to meet, going by the unusually English names of Susana (grandma), Pamela (mum) and Natalia (daughter). Great company, great stories (Susana should write hers down – now!) and we are looking forward to visiting Chile in Sept, 2018!

We did have one unfortunate moment. we were coming back from yoga and turning left from a small junction to join the main road. I looked right and all was well so started to pull out at which point a young lad (14 or 15 years old I would think) on a motorbike was coming at some considerable speed down the wrong side of the road towards us and managed to clip the front of the car doing a surprising amount of damage.

What was even more surprising was that he managed to stay on the bike. 6 inches to the right and he would have been dead by my reckoning. The ensuing discussion was made rather more problematic by the lack of each other’s languages, but a really nice man from a local travel agents helped out as did the hotel who called the hire car company and, eventually, the insurance man came down from Krabi (3.5 hours away) to have a look. All was sorted out (including police report) – though it did take about 8 hours. Val was a bit shaken up by the whole incident, but is better now – and the important thing is that no one was hurt!

Stand by for scenery and sunsets in the next post!