Thursday (1/13) – Seaside Cottages (Phuket):

Ashlee’s diligent travel research really paid off – she found a very special place here at the Seaside Cottages on Phuket. Opened in 2008 and run by a quiet but witty British expat (Malcolm) and his Thai wife, the place is a collection of tents, huts, and small cabins all situated around – what else? – a kitchen/bar and outdoor patio. The whole place is just a minute walk from a gorgeous – and pretty isolated – stretch of beach.


We originally planned to stay here two nights, but within an hour of our arrival we knew we had to squeeze in a third night. The place is just so homey and laid-back. One of my favorite things about it is that Malcolm has three dogs and the sweetest orange cat scampering around the grounds. There is no schedule here, no set meal times (the kitchen is open from 8am to 9pm), and no one asking you about your plans for the day.


Our room the first two nights was one of the eight huts lining the periphery of the camp. Set on stilts, it must have been about 50 square feet in size – literally just big enough for a double-sized mattress on the ground and a swivel fan set on the wall. There was a nice set of bathrooms with showers just down the walkway from our place. Hey, what more do you want for $20 a night? Actually, we didn’t need much more than that – other than sleeping we spent the rest of our time outside.


With that said, however, when we extended our stay the only space available was one of the “deluxe cabins” – oh darn! Triple the price of the huts ($60), the cabins come nicely furnished with a bed, a wardrobe, a table with chairs, a vanity w/ water boilers and teacups, and an attached bathroom w/ shower. Having this upgrade was really nice earlier this afternoon when we wanted to escape the sun for a bit.


After that brief rainstorm on Tuesday, we have enjoyed near perfect weather the past couple of days. We have really taken advantage of it, too. We haven’t worn more than our swimsuits and we have spent pretty much all of our time in three places: (1) sitting in loungers on the beach with our books; (2) in the water; and (3) on the patio stuffing our faces. I guess after today, I can add a fourth place: in the pool of the neighboring resort.



I can’t tell you how amazing these past few days on the beach have been! Quiet, peaceful, relaxing, soothing, meditative even. The place is a gorgeous sandy beach with lots of leafy shade-providing trees. The water is all shades of blue and pleasantly warm. I don’t think we have once taken a towel down to the water with us – we simply sit in our chairs and let the sun dry us.

Continuing with the food theme, we have been eating quite well here at the Seaside Cottages. The kitchen offers a bevy of Thai dishes as well as a few European imports. My favorites so far are the fiery red curry and the spicy seafood salad. I think our favorite meal of the day, however, is breakfast. As a British expat, Malcolm has made sure the breakfast menu includes such Brit classics as a traditional English breakfast (fried egg, fried tomato, sausage, toast, and beans), bacon rolls, and beans on toast – ah, it takes us back to our days in Edinburgh! Also from the kitchen we have enjoyed our fair share of Thai iced teas, iced coffees, and delightful fruit shakes – including the most wonderful watermelon shake that I have vowed to recreate when we get back to America.


In a truly American spirit, however, even with all this food at hand, we still aren’t completely satisfied. Yesterday we were sitting there on the beach enjoying the sun and we both got intense cravings for Mexican food, specifically chips and guacamole (and a couple of ice-cold Coronas!). I went to ask Malcolm if he knew of any places nearby with some decent Mexican dishes and he looked at me and asked, “What the hell do you want Mexican food for when you’re in bloody Thailand?” I then had to explain about our time (exile?) in Mongolia and the dearth of food options there. I should have just said, “Hmmpf, what do you know about food? You’re bloody English!”

So yeah, we’ve been having an amazing time here – just the sort of thing we had in mind when we set out to take this vacation. Everything is just the polar opposite of Mongolia – the heat, the humidity, the ocean, and the food. Everyday we both sort of shake our heads when we think or talk about Mongolia. We are careful for the most part, however, because as a Buddhist country karma is pretty big here. Just yesterday we were playing around in the water and Ashlee said something like “Man, I’m glad I’m not back in Olgii right now!” The very next second a large wave washed into her face and gave her a mouthful of seawater.

Surprisingly enough, we have found a couple things that actually make us prefer our life in Olgii: (1) hungry insects and (2) uninvited house guests. The past few days we have been practically eaten alive by some sort of mosquito no matter how much insect repellent we use. Our arms and legs are covered with small red bites. Having had enough, tonight Ashlee is sleeping in a pair of pajama pants tucked into her socks.

About the uninvited house guests, last night after dinner I was the first to enter our hut where I discovered a 5-inch grasshopper on the wall above our bed. I attempted to escort it out with a magazine (even Ashlee didn’t want me to kill it), but when I got near it flew right at me and landed on my crotch, which sent me running into the bushes outside. Thinking the drama was over for the night, we both headed to the bathrooms. As Ashlee was shutting the door to her stall, I heard a scream and then saw her run outside. I asked her what was wrong and she yelled, “A frog!” I peeked in a saw a pretty cool-looking frog just chilling behind the door. Then later as were brushing our teeth we had to do battle with a couple of extra annoying flies. Mother Nature must have sensed our distress, however, because when one of the flies buzzed near the wall a gecko pounced on it out of nowhere and promptly ate it. Ashlee likes geckos now.

Anyways, tomorrow our time on Mai Khao Beach comes to an end. While our say has been wonderful – and we can certainly understand why Malcolm abandoned jolly old England for it – we know it’s time to move on. The things that make it a paradise (the heat, the isolation, the lack of things to do) would make it more of a prison on a long-term basis. Besides, I really don’t think we could tolerate many more bug bites!

Tomorrow we will enjoy one last British breakfast here (bacon rolls and fruit shakes!) before heading back to Phuket Town where we will catch an afternoon ferry to our next destination: Ko Phi Phi, a small island between Phuket and the mainland. Let’s hope that this leg of our journey won’t be as adventurous as the one from Bangkok.