Surin Beach, Thailand 1

Well, after a very rough 24 hours of travelling, including, crossing over 7 time zones, 3 separate flights and over 17  hours of flying time... We were fortunate enough to be given the four middle seats on the plane, so we were able to stretch out and sleep abit during the flight. We flew Korean Air , and boy did they take good care of us! They were continually feeding us and bring drinks and the air hostess were beautiful!!! beautifully dressed, not a hair out of place... I was a wee bit jealous! Lol

 We have arrived in the beautiful, tropical Thailand! We arrived just before midnight, and had already booked a place right by the airport, managed to sleep intermittently ...our bodies are pretty messed up right now! Lol it is ridiculously hot here! Loving it! 30ish degrees at 11 pm !!! 42 c with the humidex!

Currency here is Baht and is just under 30:1 to the Canadian dollar... Makes for a very inexpensive stay..for the most part! So we negotiated ( you need to do a lot of that here!) a taxi to Surin Beach, where we will be for the next few days. Our hotel is old, but charming, with every bit of Thailand flare...bamboo , palm trees, surround the pool area...wicker chairs, fans and tiles...all open concept throughout the lobby to the pool area.. We are about 300 m from the beach , cross the road, a walk through a park and you arrive on a thriving touristy beach front! Was not expecting that! It is beautiful though... The water is turquoise, crystal clear and as warm as bath water! Rock faces on both sides form an enclosure ,but by no means small.

We found ourselves a couple of umbrellas and 2 lounge beds and we were set for the day! :) :) :) in and out of the water, relaxing, reading, people watching... An Asian bride and groom , complete with white silk suit and full wedding dress, balancing on rocks for photos... They were back later on with different outfits and more photos... Priceless. A few older, unfortunate men, that had bought their Thai girlfriend for the week, flouncing around...yucky!!! :( what a shame...

Had cashew nut chicken at a little beach front restaurant and tried lemon pork...hmmm liked the chicken, but not the pork! You order cold drinks, they arrive iced cold and are warm by the time you can finish them..yup, it's that hot. Again swam, watched as all the merchants walk along the beach, selling their wares, everything from Buddhas, carved elephants, to bracelets, and clothing and Rolex watches! Lol

Apart from the spectacular beach and ocean, the creme del a creme....a Thai massage on the beach!!! :) :) :) unbelievable strength those little ladies have, they pulled and prodded, felt like I had had an involuntary yoga class when they were done! They use their elbows, bodies and feet...at one point she was standing on my upper legs, pulling my arms backwards..lol crazy stuff!! 300 baht( 10 dollars) yes, I will be back for more, mark my words! I felt like an new person again!

As the evening drew near, we started to head back, but not before stopping off at The Beach Club for happy hour Mia Tia's ...continued our wonderings along the walkway, past all the beachfront, open air restaurants and on the opposite side the shops, popped in and out , poking about. It overwhelms your senses, the heat, the heady smell of insense burning from the shrines that are scattered everywhere, the bbqing meat, the birds singings, the music, the thai voices, the vibrant colours surrounding you leaves you feeling you are truly in an exotic, third world country...

 Our return route took us through the locals hangout,  and one of the most interesting spots ...decided to try the sidewalk meat , and had the most delicious chicken kebabs and pineapple slushies, made from crushed pineapples... Absolutely Devine! We will be back :) ended the evening with a horrid headache:( went to bed early in the lovely air conditioning! :)  which of course meant we were up at the crack of dawn...no chickens or roosters involved though..lol

So by 6:30 am we were exercising on the beach, long walk, followed by swim in the ocean, came back to the hotel, did some lengths in the pool all before breakfast! And Douglas thinks we are going to keep this up...hehehe...I'm thinking it was a once off thing :) Anyways we have decided to stay another night here. We are contemplating renting a scooter for the afternoon/versus a taxi and taking a trip to Patong for the afternoon/evening. We have found out that the diving and elephant trekking are best done from up north, so we will be doing that next week.