Thailand Honeymoon Recap Part IV: Paradise on the Beach, Days 1-2

So, when I last left us we had just landed on the island of Koh Pha Ngan. After this, the days started to sort of blur together in a beautiful haze of sunshine, curry, and reading by the pool, so apologies if I skip or gloss over everything.

Before I put up a bajillion photos of the amazing villa we stayed in, I should explain how we were able to swing such an awesome deal. Last May when we were in India, we discovered Small Luxury Hotels of the World. Basically, SLH is a club that is totally free to join but gives you amazing rates on fantastic hotels, plus complimentary continental breakfast and free upgrades upon availability. And did I mention it's FREE to join?

Anyways, the point of all of this is, for less than half of what we should have paid, we landed our own villa with a private pool and view of the sea (courtesy of a free upgrade). We stayed at Santhiya Resort and Spa, which I would highly recommend. Koh Pha Ngan is known for its Full Moon Parties that take place every month, but those are held on the southwest beach, and Santhiya is in the northeast. Since the island isn't very big you can definitely get to the parties if you want to, but you can also have peace and quiet on the beach, so it was exactly what we wanted for a relaxing getaway.

Villa from the outside

We spent most of our time lounging in these chairs and reading

Ocean View

Living Room

Hallway into the bedroom

But I think my favorite thing about the room was the open air bathroom. I felt like I was at a spa every time I took a shower!

I was in love with all of the little details in their decor - even the soap dishes added to the whole feel of the resort

For dinner, we ventured away from the hotel and grabbed dinner on the next beach. Right over the rocks we found a great place right on the beach that had a BBQ every night where you could pick your own meat and tell them exactly how much you wanted. They had tons of amazing, fresh seafood to choose from, but I couldn't resist getting the King Prawn.

Prawn - actual size

...and a great view of the ocean

night falls and the candles come out...

We started the next day off right - with coffee overlooking the ocean :)

Ben's candid camera prowess strikes again!

I think I forgot to mention that while we were in Bangkok, Ben was sick for a couple of days (a cold, nothing to do with anything we ate). As tends to happen when two people who just got married are traveling together, it took almost no time for me to catch up to him and by the end of our second island day I pretty much felt like death. We stayed at the resort for lunch and even ordered room service that night (chicken soup!) instead of going out for dinner.

My illness was made even more hilarious by the fact that Ben had a potential work-related Skype call that night and there was basically no place in the Villa where I wouldn't have to stumble past the computer to get to the bathroom. Luckily, the call was pushed back! I'm not sure my husband's future employers would have appreciated seeing me repeatedly lurch through the background like a zombie.

But no illness could curb my excitement for our special bathroom visitor! One side-effect of an open air bathroom is that there is no mechanism to keep little guests from finding their way in there:

I had never seen a mantis in person before so I basically freaked out with excitement and took multiple pictures before my body finally rebelled against me and I went back to bed.

That's it for now - stay tuned for more island adventures!

Honeymoon Recap Part III

Honeymoon Recap Part II

Honeymoon Recap Part I