Khao Lak and The Sarojin Resort 27-28/04

27/04

We left Phuket via mini bus transfer and headed to Khao Lak to check in to The Sarojin for our 'splurge' end of the honeymoon. The mini bus driver took us to the wrong resort and wanted us to go in and have a look. They get commisions or gifts for bringing in business, like the tuk tuk drivers in Bangkok. We had to tell him several times that we already had accommodation. When we arrived at The Sarojin we were given cool towels, drinks and a bunch of flowers. It was about 35-38 degrees, and beautiful and sunny and not too humid (Bangkok and Phuket had been overcast and very humid most of our trip). The resort has some amazing ponds with lillies that greet you when you walk in, so it already seemed like the perfect day. We got shown to our room which was so awesome. It's got a semi outdoor bathroom with a rain shower and some ferns. Huge cushy king size bed and a pillow menu. I picked a contoured memory foam pillow like my one at home :P

We headed into Khao Lak town to hire a scooter for a few days so we weren't relying on the shuttle bus to get places. I would never get on any kind of motor bike in Australia without leathers etc but somehow it seems ok to be cruising around in shorts and thongs on a bike here. Its been fun cruising around in this weather on a bike.

At around 6.30 we headed to the beach. It is an amazing beach here, the best we've seen since being in Thailand. We watched the sun set pink and orange, totally the perfect evening. Was one of those balmy tropical evenings at the beach. We had a mai thai cocktail at the beach front restaurant after the sun set and headed back to our room for a relaxing evening of doing not much at all.

28/04

Steve's birthday! His last one as a youth in the eyes of the Australian goverment :P Buzzed around on the scooter a bit and picked up our washing before heading back to the resort in the evening for free cocktails with the resort owners and staff. Met some other Aussies and had a chat for a while before we headed to the beach for dinner. My present to Steve was a private dinner on the beach, we had out own chef and waiter and it was just the 4 on us alone on the beach at night. You could hear the waves lapping, and the weather was perfect - still shorts and singlet weather. They set up a ring of lanterns so it was fairly dark. The waiter then showed us the bowls of all the food before it was mixed and cooked. The setting was amazing, the chef had a hot coal fire barbie going and here's what we ate (soooooooo full at the end!)

for starters:
stuffed sweet peppers with deap fried minced pork
roasted fresh chilli dip served with garden vegetables and crispy pork
local fish soup with roasted thai herbs
red curry chicken with betel nut leaf and forest vegetables
steamed jasmine rice and cooked sticky rice

for mains:
satay chicken, beef, pork
marinated fillet of beef, chicken and pork
phuket lobster 500gram (first time we've had lobster and it was so good!)
prawns (best prawns ever)
whole fish in banana leaf
vegetable kebabs
squids

for dessert:
steamed banana wrapped with sticky rice and coconut
thai pastries and truffles

we had a bottle of kiwi sav blanc and a bottle of champas too. Then they gave us these massive paper lanterns which they lit and then we launched them. The hot air made them fly and we watched them for ages until the first one burned out, they were tiny, the size of stars by the time that happened. It was so amazing, one of the best experiences I've ever had.

Perfect end to another perfect day...