Off to isla numero uno… Ko Ngai, an island on the western side of the Thai peninsula. This involved a bus ride before boating to the island. Nothing could go wrong with a vehicle engine bolted to an ancient wooden vessel, right? Propelled by a long, rusted tiny propeller that the operator of the craft almost took off a few tourist’s heads with. And a boat. And a dock. Safe… nothing to worry about. Just stay in the wooden death trap. Until it sinks, then we’re all just screwed. Oh geez, I hope it actually floats.
Shocking to all of us, we made it safely and no tourists were decapitated in the writing of this story. Nor did we drown jumping from the dinghy to the crumbling dock.
Ko Ngai was home to the Ko Ngai Resort (original, I know), and the location was gorgeous, but the dilapidated “resort” left A LOT to be desired. Our particular room was 90+ degrees inside with the non-functioning AC blasting, consisted of a ramshackle collection of 70s fixtures or lighting (some working, most not), the waste water emptied into the dirt underneath the structure, the gaps around the doors allowed for all creatures big and small to join us in bed, the walls were quite literally duct taped together, the closet consisted of a metal bar too close to the wall to be functional, and the roof was falling off. At least it had a beautiful beach and awe inspiring sunsets?? Frustrating us further, the staff was aware of the issues with the accommodation, but assigned us to it anyway. Fortunately for us, such lush lodging does not often fill up, and after a few chats with the front desk, we were moved to a room with the ability to turn into a freezer. A tiny bit of redemption, hotel (I refuse to ever call it a resort).
Ko Ngai had a private beach with a pool nestled up to it. The pool was filled with questionable water (I assume it was water, but the chemicals it contained could have altered that). My sterling silver rings immediately turned a brownish version of tarnished in an instant. We should probably have stuck with the beach. On the bright side, I did not grow a tail or turn into a newt after swimming in it (and if I did, I got better).
Nightly dinners with our new tour mates became a thing. Unlike everywhere else we’d been in Thailand, the adult beverages were similar in pricing to the United States (aka. expensive). Island life, I suppose. One evening I ordered a papaya salad, but the staff seemed to have forgotten about my meal as I hungrily stared at everyone else munching away. Finally realizing the oversight, my meal was prepared in a rush. Now, while eating your way through Thailand, you must remember that they like their food HOT. You quite literally have to order your dish as “Thai spicy” or “Tourist spicy” in some places. While Hubs likes everything ghost pepper spicy, I am not on that level. Not only did the chef forget my meal, but he then forgot to make it tourist spicy. Mouth on fire, sweating and possibly dying, I stole Hubs’ beer to cut the spice. I imagine it would have been good if I could have tasted it.
Included in the tour were a couple of snorkeling excursions. We reboarded the death trap boat and puttered out into the Andaman Sea. We traversed the Phi Phi Archipelago before stopping at Loh Samah Bay to snorkel through a hidden cave that suddenly revealed an enclosed beach inside vertical walls climbing dramatically towards the clear, blue skies above. The beach was packed with other travelers. After spending a short time snapping photos, wandering around the sand and swimming the cove, we escaped the cave before the tide came in and trapped us inside Morakot Cove.
The other snorkeling spot was far less enjoyable. After jumping from the boat and into the water, we were immediately attacked by jelly fish. The little bastards were everywhere. That was the shortest snorkel in history. Back to the boat!
Our energies depleted, we headed to the lively Phi Phi Beach for lunch overlooking turquoise waters from beach front cafes. Hubs and I ate with two Canadians in our tour group. Once sufficiently satiated, and with a beer as a reward for our troubles, we wandered down the beach until we came upon a swing over the water. Enter videos of ungraceful dismounts from said swing into the sea.
An extra little snippet of a travel woe during our exploration of Southeast Asia involved me showing off some of my ditzy characteristics and forgetfulness…
I thought I’d lost my change purse one night enroute to dinner via a tuk tuk. It contained money, my driver’s license and a single credit card. Thankfully, I simply left it on the bed in the hotel room, and since it had so few personal effects inside, it was only a minor panic. However, one afternoon while traversing from one location to the next, I began digging through my backpack in search of my Kindle to read on the two hour bus ride. After jamming items I’d removed back in the bag, I came to the unsettling conclusion that I was missing my wallet. Meaning my passport was MIA, along with ALL my credit cards, forms of identification, necessary departure ticket for Thailand, COVID vaccination card, and a dozen other non-replaceable documents. The real heart attack commences. The guide to the rescue! As turning around was not an option without the express permission of the driver (which he was not going to give), our guide contacted a taxi driver at the border to drive to the rest stop where I believed I had left it hanging on the door of a toilet stall. An arrangement was made to taxi me back to the 7-Eleven to retrieve said wallet. The freak out continued as the miles between me and my passport increased. Then Hubs moved his backpack, which he had rudely put on my extra seat, revealing my clutch beneath it. Crisis averted! After profusely apologizing to my van mates, the guide informed me it was a $15 oopsie, as the afflicted taxi driver desired to charge the foolish American for his five minute drive to the convenience store. Highway robbery! But still better than the problems that would have arisen had I lost everything.
While the accommodation left a lot to be desired, I cannot argue with the setting. And just like that we were off to Ko Lanta.
April 2023
It’s so beautiful, but that hotel is ropey!! I can’t believe it’s literally duct taped together. Tourist spicy made me laugh – every time we’re in Thailand they look at us and go “but you’re white and this is spicy, you sure?” and we both nod. We love the flavour in their food 🙂
The hotel left so much to be desired, we were really disappointed. We travel with G Adventures a decent amount, and the only problem with them is that they generally try to use local or family operated hotels which are often a bit dingy. I understand why they do it to support the locals, but eek sometimes!
That’s exactly what they said to my husband. I like some spice, but not his level. We’ve challenged restaurants on trips to make him sweat!
Reading about how you thought you’d lost your purse had me in a panic. Glad all was well in the end, but such stress!
I’m usually insanely good about not misplacing things on trips, but for some reason SE Asia messed with my head!