aktarina

We decided to leave Khao Lak for Cha Am on New Years Eve. Ann and Arnold is here this year, just like many years ago. They have rented a new house this year that we were eager to see. We started early in the morning and left Phuket International at 10:05 in the morning. Had been thinking about going by bus on the V.I.P bus which is much cheaper and just get off in Cha Am. Maybe next year if we have some lighter luggage! Last breakfast at Canal Villas. Google helped me with this "places" timeline! We were picked up by Ouddie in Bangkok and all in all it was a smooth journey. Stopped by KFC and a minion toilet. I watched half of Despicable Me 3 on th flight. Minority of vegetables at KFC, they must feel discriminated. Finally reaching Ann and Arnolds house in the afternoon The view from the balcony, in the morning. They live in a giant villa down the end of a road. Neighbours to come, but right now only some cows walking freely. After a ...

Last day in Khao Lak was humid and rainy. So we went on a small trip to the nearby town Takua pa. Mathias had already made the trip by himself so he knew the way. Anyway it was straight on, and not on the big road. No activity at all in Ban Sang where we visited Sunday market last week. So we headed up to the train station. Used the bathroom and thought I'd be infected with just about anything. Crazy dirty. Still 5 bath. We bought some rice and chicken and drinks and headed back, to the other side of the river. Found a real nice restaurant (in our opinion) and had vietnamese sausage. Dumplings, made by ourselves. Lot's of veggies and very tasty. Went back. Had coffee at a nice café and visited a temple in construction. Had luck to find patong skirt at the café so I was dressed correctly. 

Boys needed a haircut so we took a drive along the road south towards Bang Niang. Stopped at Scandinavian Corner to get some info on good barber/hairdresser and if there could be houses for rent anywhere nearby. We got a real nice chat with "Gotland", the owner (AG Broberg). Took a drive around and saw some nice places. Tried to find the one by fresh market and 7-eleven (plastaffärshörnet) but without luck. When we came home I realised we had been very close but taken an early left turn. Look at this sweetie Lunch at Lay's. When boys went swimming, I had a footscrub and pedicure. 500 Bht. Totally worth it. Went back home. Now we are waiting for power to get on. Second outage this evening. A short outage aswell yesterday when we had dinner at the beach. Another not so nice experience was watching a 12-year-old girl "laying a pizza" on the beach. Not sure we will go back there tonight...

One should take internet reviews for what they are, personal reflections and not the truth. So, that's why you shouldn't believe me when I wrote that Coconut beach was fantastic since I had not been there. Instead I was at Pakarang beach. That's where horses came by and they had a volleyball net etc. Today we went there again. I stayed in the shade since I am still sunburnt. Kids and Mathias played along at the beach. Buried in the sand We took a trip by South Arabian Horse Club, to find out that they are only open on requests. Took their phone number. No luck with the horseriding. We had dinner across the street from our hotel. A little tempting to see what this 24hours service really means. Bringing the JB Flip is so nice. Just wanted to say.

Monday started out with us having to get another place to stay. I had been in contact with the owner of Canal Villas Sunday and headed 15 minutes up the road to take a look at the place. It was a two bedroom villa, excl.breakfast 2500baht/night. OK price but not a deal or anything. It is a real cute neighbourhood, just inside the gates from a luxury hotel. It was crazy difficult to find it, no sign by the road or anything. But a real oasis. Only 7 minutes from the Pak Weep-beach and 3 minutes from nearest shop with ATM.  http://www.thecanalvillaskhaolak.com Entrance The yard The villas   Our two-bedroom villa We have our own little pool  The pool Sten and Axel are on their second pair of flip flops Boys bedroom  1st toilet with private lizard in the corner  Kitchen  Clash of Clans

Today we went down to our nearest beach, only five minutes from Canal Villas. A gathering of rocks by the shoreline made it perfectly fit for snorkeling. The latest few days have been cloudy, but today was really sunny and nice. Kids did not take any sunscreen. I did, but missed a few important places. Bum, lower back to mention tonight's most tomatolike areas. Good thing I still carry kylbalsam on all trips. We went home at around 3 pm which was pure luck for my skin. After a short rest we went across the road to find Andaman Viewpoint. "Food and drink", the sign says. Really only a viewpoint, as another Google guide's photos had indicated. We watched the sunset. It was beautiful.Someone had build a house but not completed it and the few houses seemed deserted. First time driving motorbike up- and downhill for me. Mathias complimented me for my professional motorbiking hill-skills. Haha. It was fun, kinda steep and rocky. We went on for dinner at Lay's, a l...

We decided to go to Khao Sok National Park on yet another guided tour. Since the snorkeling trip was windy and not really worth the money, I did not have very high hopes. We left Ayara Villas at 8:20. Guide and one couple was already on the bus, and we went on to a luxury hotel to pick up the last tourists. Starting of with sturdy breakfast and some selfies. Breakfast at Ayara Villa- pancakes, omelette, croissant, toast, coffee, tea, fresh fruits, yoghurt and a nice view overlooking the ocean. Heading back to our room after breakfast. Minibus went on east. First stop was Fresh Market in Takua Pa, where our guide instructed us to by banana and tamarindpast for our later feeding of the elephants we were supposed to meet. Really nice market. It was fun to go with Bee who could explain a few of the questions we had on what we saw. The first couple bought those sweet and tasty fried coconut-halves. Axel got a bag of soyadrink and Sten wanted some sticky rice (Khao Niao) so I b...