McGregor Musings: Our Khao Lak

After a long day we arrived at Mai Khao Lak resort and flopped into bed – for us it was 3am - but we did adjust to the 4 hour time difference quite quickly.

Some highlights from our first 4 days:

A long beautiful expanse of beach in either direction with water that glistens emerald green when the sun shines. We’ve loved three long walks and two morning jogs (Shaun) broken up with multiple dips to cool off. 37 000 steps today left Shaun a little sore-legged. Great fun body-surfing together in the small waves.

Wonderful shells and hermit carbs, plus we were fascinated by the way these tiny crabs eat:

We enquired at the resort about fishing trips and were discretely advised to talk to the locals down the beach. At Mr Bao’s restaurant, we were introduced to Mr Bao himself, who offered to take Elijah on a private charter – well, Mr Bao and his friend in his small long boat. Mum and dad were a bit nervous but were excited for Elijah.

Elijah coped well when we turned up early the next morning and were told the swell was too big to go out. We were confused because the sea looked flat to us. Thankfully we were down there in the afternoon and were told tomorrow would be fine. It wasn’t that the swell was too big, but that the tide hadn’t been big enough to release Mr Bao’s boat from the blocked-off lagoon. So the next day Elijah sailed excitedly off to the reef; there wasn’t much English being spoken and the fish they caught weren’t as big as Elijah had hoped, but he definitely enjoyed it.

Unlike in Fiji and Vanuatu, the guests are mainly from Scandinavia, and the activities team are mostly from there too. Apparently Tui Blu is one of the two big vacation companies there and their teams come to work for 6 months during the northern hemisphere winter; the hotel gets their activities sorted and a ready supply of Northern European guests who like the familiar brand and staff who speak their languages.

Sports: Aquafit and beach yoga for Danielle, Beach Volleyball and Football for the boys.

The Food! Probably the most abundant and varied buffet breakfast and dinners we have ever had, with plenty of unusual vegetable dishes to delight Danielle.