November 4th - Sam's Birthday treat!

I was excited about today as we were moving on to Phi Phi Island Village resort for a little bit of luxury. Toms' birthday present to me! The start of the day wasn't great though - our bags may have been carried for us on the way to the Tropical Bungalows, however leaving was a different story and we had to carry them ourselves. No pain, no gain I suppose! We packed up and said good bye to our small hut, then struggled down the even smaller stairs to begin our walk to the Pier. We virtually melted in the heat and with sore shoulders from the day before, were feeling rather sorry for ourselves! Ouch! Thankfully at the Pier we were met by resort staff who carried our load for us! The journey to the resort was by Longboat. It was a leisurely ride, about 30 minutes of wonderful views!! When the Longboat got to our destination a strange vehicle with massive wheels drove into the sea for us to get on to so we didn't have to get our feet wet - not that we would have minded. Waiting for us on the beach was a cold face towel (did we look dirty?), must have come straight from the freezer it was so cold! Just a few steps further we were given the most delicious fresh Coconut ice drink and had forgotten all about the struggle we had earlier and felt entirely refreshed and relaxed. Unfortunately when we were taken to our bungalow it was still being cleaned, so we had to wait an hour...and I don't think this was the first time the same had happened as we were given a token entitled 'delayed check-in complimentary drink' - non alcoholic too!!! We sat with our drinks and looked out at the view of Paradise - crystal clear waters, palm trees and practically deserted beach. All set againts a lush green backdrop which Tom thought looked like Jurassic Park!

Once we were in our bungalow, we had a quick look around, slipped a little on the ever so shiney floor (what is it about posh places and slippery floors?!?) and then headed for the pool to cool off! It was awesome, the edge of the pool looked as though it was flowing into the sea. We swam for a while, then dried off on sun loungers looking out to sea - being so relaxed it was hard to stay awake and I must admit I dozed off a few times. The highlight of our day, however, has to be the bird that came and sat on the table by our sun loungers...just as I was trying to take a picture, it threw up on Toms' sunglasses, then flew off! I was in stitches whilst Tom was in disgust - it looked like a tiny poop! Before heading back to shower for dinner we had a stroll out into the sea. It was shallow so far out as the tide was out. We wished for a whole week on this resort! Another place we'll have to come back to eh?! As we wandered down to the beach we had to stop for a comical picture under the sign 'Beware falling coconuts!' and as we wandered on the sand Tom just couldn't help himself from attempting to annoy the crabs living in the holes in the sand - I think they saw him coming though as none of them were disturbed!

Dinner time - we freshened up and headed to 'Marlin' restaurant for a buffet consisting of the best of Asian cusine (Thai, Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese, Indonesian, Malaysian - the lot!) It was a buffet where the chefs are set up to cook the food in front of you. Our first stop was seafood, prawns, calimari and other bits we couldn't identify - they tasted good and we didn't die so I guess they were OK! After this dish we tried bits and pieces from the other countires (note to self, get Tom to try sauces first so you don't end up with a mouth on fire - SPICEY indeed!) and finished with dessert and coffee. The dessert wasn't all nice, some of the traditional Thai bits were ghastly and tasted like SOAP but apart from that, the meal was a veritable feast!

We finished our evening at the Coconut Bar, just along from the restaurant we ate in. There was a local group singing various old and new english and local songs. The group was quite a mix of people; there was a lady main singer with three guys, one younger than the others and one particularly funny looking! We had cocktails - mine was the best as it came in a whole coconut and was Pina Colada! The bar was filled with painted coconuts and a young Aus couple were painting one when we got there. I wanted to paint one but we got there a bit late so didn't have time. There was a very relaxed atmosphere at this bar and we both really enjoyed sitting back and listening to the songs. Unfortunately our stay was short lived, as the next morning we were leaving for Phuket.