PicsFromTrips

After adventuring around Northern Thailand we were much in need of relaxing on the beach After our motorbike adventure through Northern Thailand we were ready for a retreat. Also, the weather was surprisingly cool up North so we were ready to get back into the heat. We hopped on a morning flight to Phuket where we got a Taxi to drive us the hour up the coast to our next destination, the Khao Lak coast and the Similana resort. Khao Lak is an area that was hard hit by the 2004 Tsunami and just 2 years (and 3 months) later, the evidence was still visible. There was all sorts of reconstruction efforts going on, as well as signposts marking spots of destruction, dismay, or communal efforts at rebuilding. We arrived at our resort and checked in to our "Tree House" accommodations. We had booked a great ocean-view bungalow up on stilts which provided a really unique experience at the beach. We spent the next several days just chilling at the beach, swimming, walking along the beach, eating great food - especially the beach-side bbqs of fresh fish, and just relaxing. One day we had a bit of an adventure in a snorkeling trip where we had an amazing experience in crystal clear waters checking out a few different spots teeming with a huge variety of fish and coral. Our guide and fellow guests provided plenty of entertainment when we weren't in the water. A couple of sights that were particularly memorable were the variety of small crabs along the beach and the boatyard just down the beach which was rebuilding fishing boats that were lost during the Tsunami. During our stay they were working on some large ships that would be sailed around the world visiting the many places that donated funds to make the boatyard possible (and fishing boats, as the boats were all donated through international fund raising).