Last report from Thailand

Dinner at Mooban Talay, Thailand

The big surprise for us at Mooban Talay was that the resort was catering to hundreds of Chinese tourists each day.   They came off tour boats starting as early as 8am and boats continued to visit Mooban Talay until well after 3pm.   The idea was for the early visitors to stay only in the cafe area and take a drink but that was not what actually happened.   Groups spread out to explore the resort and if not for sentries posted they would have taken the parasols, hammocks and crowded into the pool as well as the roped off area of the sea.   

Mooban Talay Resort, Thailand

The great chef and his fixed fish menu was the big draw at lunchtime and the dining pavilion was overflowing each day for several seatings.  The mounds of food looked delicious and the waiters were literally running to serve the tables.   After the first day when we were quite early, we could not find a seat for lunch.

Seeing what was about, I asked at reception where the residents of the hotel were meant to eat and the man in charge said quite matter of factly that the best would be to order room service.  And that was what we finally did.    

I know Americans are loud compared to the French but the Chinese take the prize.  There seemed a huge need for the visitors to fill each minute with volume:  shouting at each other in the water, on the beach and at table. 

   It was irritating and entertaining at the same time. After a walk along the main road, Dave and I lounged, splashed and read by the pool while I enjoyed the spectacle of the "selfie" taking tourists.  

And what a show that was.

It seems that the objective of the female Chinese was to be photographed in matching costumes, playing with scarfs wafting overhead, walking in the sea in long gowns or gamboling in sand full of sand fleas.    The men and boys were charged with taking the photos and the women were there to change their costumes and act as models.  There were not just young women, but also women in their fifties.

A trio of women dressed to impress, taking one of a dozen photos with these outfits,  Thailand

Later I learned that the aggressive behavior of these tourists is a noted complaint throughout the islands of Thailand. The truth remains however that the Thais need the income from tourism, and the Chinese need to get away and enjoy themselves like everyone else.  

By evening we were back to eating dinner on the sandy beach and in love with the chef once more.   I tried the famous green mango salad which is a popular specialty.  The unripe mango tasted a bit like Jicama. ...not really very interesting, but the sauce was good.  The fish dishes were all excellently prepared.

Mary and her Kamakazee drink,  Mooban Talay, Thailand

Dinner,  Mooban Talay, Thailand

Baked scallops in Cheese, Mooban Talay, Thailand

 Dave at Mooban Talay, Thailand

Let me say that we are pleased with Tell Tale Travel and their teams in Bangkok and England giving us just the right combination of natural beauty and culture.    We felt we had had a varied look at Thailand from top to bottom while making friendly connections along the way.    I wrote this all down in these posts to cement it in my mind and share my photos with Dave, but for those of you who have followed, thanks...it's always gratifying. 

6am departure for Bankok from Ko Samed pier, Thailand

Juliet's Coffee Cafe

Mooban Talay,  7h30 in the morning,  December, 2020

The next day we were to find out how this resort really worked.   In the morning we tried the big pavilion for breakfast and found that our coveted chef was not in residence.  

The big pavilion was a vast open restaurant which could not rival the cozy atmosphere of the fairy lights we had eaten under the night before.   And although the Thais try to please with their sausage, bacon and egg breakfasts, they do much better with fish than they do with pork.  Perhaps we should have ordered Thai breakfast for when we found out that the offered coffee was instant, we knew how spoiled we had become. We vowed then to find our own breakfast the following day. 

And we did find it ...a few minutes away on the main road was Juliette's Cafe.  It was cozy and intimate and had good coffee, eggs and even coconut waffles if you were up for it.  There was also a strange menu of "toasts", some with the popular condensed milk dessert as a topping.    Juliette was charming, shy and without English...which always gave us a fun chance to interact with pointing and gestures.

   It was from her that I bought my banana dress and a few other clothing items for less than a dollar each. On a shelf inside she was running a second hand clothing store .... all of the good quality items mysteriously in petite sizes. 

Juliette's Coffee cafe, Ko Samed, Thailand

Juliette in her cozy cafe, Ko Samed, Thailand

Last report from Ko Samed and Mooban Talay tomorrow.

Last stop: Ko Samed

Ko Samed is a national park, an island amongst many to choose from at the tip of Thailand in the Rayong province.  Our driver, Billy drove us five hours to get to the last destination of our trip : Mooban Talay Resort on the island of Ko Samed.  We had the island stay added on to the end of our trip by Tell Tale Travel to have a relaxing bit at the end of our adventure. 

After three or four hours in Billy's luxury van, we stopped for our driver to have lunch at his favorite little rustic highway cafe and then continued on to wait at the pier for a private boat to speed us over.

Arriving at Ko Samed in December,

From the speed boat the place looked inviting and serene. Indeed we liked our room with its platform beds, huge shower room and a fridge full of bottled water and treats.   We were well placed just behind the pool, the sea and the massage pavilion.

Pool at Mooban Talay Resort, Ko Samed , Thailand

Beds on a platform at Mooban Tallay, Ko Samed, Thailand

We explored a bit, settled in and by the close of day we had discovered the best thing about this resort: an excellent chef.  

Dave had never tried soft shelled crabs and this cook made a good job of them with an accompanying sauce that was sweet and spicy.  We started the meal with a basket of these and for me a drink called a Kamikaze with blue curaçao, lime juice and vodka.   

 We feasted under fairy lights on the sand outside the restaurant.  There were about 7 other tables taken for dinner, mostly western guests staying at the resort.  

Restaurant tables in evening, Mooban Talay, Thailand

Dave before sundown and dinner, Mooban Talay, Restaurant on the sand,  Thailand

We were not to know however, that the morrow would bring an invasion of boisterous tourists to our quiet, sandy hide away.

Khao Yai National Park

Macaque.

So in the tradition of modern life or shall I say my life,  I have been side tracked into necessities and other avenues instead of finishing my recording of our visit to Thailand.    

In my art class I am working on surrealist collages giving me intriquing brain twists which has me throwing my creative urges in that direction instead of writing. 

And finally after a few months delay we have the tree guys here today taking down a pepper tree which has turned itself into a beautiful monster, one eroding the quality of a hundred year old tile roof.

  I had the roof fellow out yesterday and he did not like what he saw.   We are possibly looking at reconstructing the slope of the roof over the kitchen which apparently was done incorrectly in the first place.  And the endless berries and leaves falling from the pepper tree have not helped the condition of the roof either. 

As to my computer, this brave old machine...it is now so old that I cannot download the new software, Catalina.   But, of course, all the shipments of Apple products from China have been interrupted because of the Corona Virus.   So I will see what happens with that before trying to order a new one.  

 Throw in my husband's cataract surgery and you have the rest of the excuses for my change of direction.

But back to the story.  After leaving the North of Thailand, Dave and I were driven by our faithful driver, Billy, from the airport towards The Khao Yai National Park area in the south .   We were to stay a few nights  at Lilawalai,  an unusual garden resort named for the Frangipani flower.  

 There must have been over 300 trees of that species there on the serene and charming grounds.  It would be a real event to be present when all of the trees are blooming.   Gardeners were everywhere sweeping and tending the organic gardens.  

 This area was very isolated and we were reliant on a driver if we wanted to go out into the town.  English was not spoken in the hotel but we did well with a few key words....like "massage", "dinner", "wine" etc. 

   We did go out for one meal to an unusual restaurant called "EAT  at Khao Yai".  I found it just now on Trip Advisor and recognize a photo of the excellent "spare ribs" that I ordered.  There was also a duo singing and playing a soft Thai form of jazz, not unpleasant.

One of our guides for the few days, Pu ( pronounced Boo)  came to meet us the first evening to take us to witness the bats exiting their caves for the night.  It was an astonishing event which went on for more than the 20 minutes that we stayed.  

No one knows where the caves are as it is forbidden to climb the hills to search for the them.  Along with the swarm of bats were groups of raptors hoping to score a meal off the unsuspecting prey. 

  I do have a video but alas it wouldn't download so I will just show you a few pics of our next day in the park where we saw a gibbon family high up in the trees crossing the highway, two kinds of great hornbills ( huge) and a host of other birds and many lazy deer begging by the restaurant area.  And of course there were the savvy little Macaques hoping for handouts at the side of the main road. 

Macaque monkey in Khao Yai National Park

Dave with our guides Jay and Pu ( the pretty one) sitting by a stream to enjoy the birdlife near by.