It was time to move to our second hotel of our holiday. This one was one of my personal favourites, the Ayara Hilltops, Surin Beach. And when I say hilltop, I really mean hills. We even needed a buggy to bring us to and from our room amongst the trees and hills.

We arrived to a beautiful day...

And more drinks on arrival, with extra treats of local flowers that smelled divine.

But soon after we got settled in, the rain came down in our first proper rain storm. It had been relatively dry since we arrived for May here, but the thunder and lightening soon showed us what they could do!

Not wanting to sit inside for much longer, I enjoyed the Thailand rain with a few pictures...

The second the rain stopped, we dived into town for a look about. When we walked outside, I loved the foot bath outside our door as they had filled it with beautiful flowers, and the beautiful smell drifted into our room.

The buggy with the smiley driver came to collect us and took us right to the beach.

 

This is the beach front. It looked quite run down to be honest, but the people were always friendly and the food never disappointed.

When we finally decided to eat, we sat down to tables on the sand. This was the first night I experienced misquito bites, and it wasn't fun!

But anyway, the food was amazing. Not the most thai starters with pulled pork burgers and quesadillas to stare, but I can never resist a menu with pulled pork on the menu.

 

For main, I can't remember what we got but I don't think it got much more Thai. Andrew got ribs with a beautiful potato mash. I got something more Thai, but that is all I can remember of what it was - sorry. 

We headed back to sit by our balcony and read our books into the moonlight. Didn't you hear - relaxing is exhausting!

There is a particularly exciting post coming your way tomorrow, so stay tuned...if you know me personally you will know what its going to be, if not, pop by tomorrow to find out!

Continue reading

I'm not going to lie, it wasn't a day of adventure...unless you count lunch, which you probably don't.

I wanted to soak up the sun, every single ray, so to the pool it was!

We started at the same pool as yesterday, but with two other pools to explore, it was time for a change of scenery.

The other pool was by far my favourite. The beautiful infinity pool looked over the busy street, the hills and people living their daily lives. There were even large circular sofas to laze on, so I was sold!

We decided to get off our lazy back-sides...for like an hour. So we went down into the town for a bite to eat. Andrew got a very American burger and chips, whilst I went for spicy chicken glass noodles. It was great to try some local cuisine, but to be honest, this dish wasn't great. There wasn't much taste to it, and the rice was overdone. So I was justified in buying another rotee to fulfill my taste buds.

 

We lazed by the pool for the rest of the day, in a daze with Rita Ora 'I Will Never Let You Down' and MKTO 'Classic' blasting out, making me dance around on my sofa too...just a little.

Continue reading

I woke up bright and breezy...at 5:30am...not the "Aw let's snooze for a little longer" kinda feeling, the "I'm up and dancing" feeling instead. Jet lag was kicking in full steam ahead, and this lasted for a few days.

By 8am, I was shaking Andrew, pleading to go down for breakfast. When we arrived, I remembered why I love breakfast so much. Tables of pastries, waffles, pancakes, fruits, egg station and most of all...rice and curry! Yeah I know, it was weird to get used to eating rice and yellow curry for breakfast, but it soon became quite normal.

 

The weird thing about being in Thailand in May is that its past peak season, so restaurants, beaches and  poolsides were never filled with people. Sometimes we were the only couple there. I didn't mind, more sunshine for me!

I got my suncream on with glee, so excited to smell the sweet aroma of summer again, and practically jumped on a sunbed.

I started reading a book called 'Dear Thing' by Julie Cohen. Its about a surrogate who is best friends with the couple, and is in love with the guy. I liked it, but didn't love it. It was all a bit too predicable for my liking.

 

We decided to head in to Karon, to see the town and beach. With phone wires hitting our heads, no pathways and no way to cross the road without risking your life, it was an experience! But I fell in love immediately, it is a completely different culture with so much to offer and learn from. 

I fell in love with this little stall in particular. A lovely women, who spoke very little English except for 'rotee' (i.e. pancake). These were by far my favourite food of the whole holiday, getting them every single night. How can I describe them...a thin crepe which is fried with an obscene about of oil and butter, then smothered in chocolate - PERFECTION.

After almost going back for more, we decided to hit the beach. We forgot to bring towels or swimwear to the beach as we didn't expect to spend the whole afternoon there, so we went to the next shop we saw, and bought it all there. We then ran to the sea, and jumped in. 

 

It was a fantastic first day, with the sunshine hitting my face once more. We even went back in that night for dinner somewhere, only to find the power had went off across the whole town. So we sadly walked back to the hotel, and had another amazing meal there...hopefully tomorrow would be more promising for electricity and a truly Thai dish!

Continue reading

Sawadika!!

 

Well guys, SO much has happened over the past 3 weeks and I can't wait to tell you all about it...I just want to shove all the photos on now, but I need to take a breath and take you through my beautiful holiday to Thailand.

If you know me, I was pretty annoying beforehand. I had the countdown on my phone, bikini shopping since March and talked about it NON-STOP for months. I thought I would enjoy Thailand, but not fall in love with it. I expected it to be a nice experience, see something different but I wouldn't ever go back. But I fell head over heels, completely in love with Thailand and everything it had to offer. People are wonderful, the country is so beautiful and different in culture, and the food was unreal!

After our day in London, which I told you about in my last post, we boarded Qatar airlines to take our 20 hour journey to Phuket, Thailand. They fed us well, and there were loads of movies, so I was satisfied for the whole journey. One benefit of a tall boyfriend is his need for extra leg room...I always get it too, so I was loving the journey.

But man, was I tired. I ended up going through 20 minute cycles of tiredness and hyperactivity. This lasted until we reached the hotel just before nightfall by a crazy taxi driver.

This is Mandarava Resort and Spa, on Karon Beach. We were greeted with cold towels and lemongrass tea, and beautifully polite girls to serve us.

We had a tiny nap, and when we woke up it was dark and our bellies were growling.

To the hotel restaurant it was, we couldn't wait much longer.

We had a gorgeous view of the setting sun, and the hills of trees surrounding us.

 

We decided to get stuck into the cuisine and ordered the set Thai menu without even looking at it...I've been so excited for that extra bit of spice in my life!

 

Now, I must warn you, I can't really tell you what we ate, and that goes for all my posts about Thailand. They had weird names, and all looked unfamiliar, but all tasted DELICIOUS!

I think this was chicken satay (way better than home), deep fried banana shrimp thing and other banana leaves filled with spicy goodness.

 

The main was gorgeous steamed rice, with curries, squid and who knows what else!

 

And a dessert of banana in coconut milk, which was extremely sweet but really enjoyable and exactly what I expected of Thailand.

We left satisfied, and hit our beds, wanting to sleep the jet lag off as soon as possible.

 

I know this post doesn't look so special, but there is plenty to come of sun, sand and Thailand experiences along the way. This is the beginning, and it only got better every single day. I can't wait to show you more and more...I want to go back already...

Continue reading