If wasn't for Uncle Hans, I would have been ignorant too.
It was a two and a half hour ride from Bangkok to Rayong where one would take a boat ride to Samed. Sandee and I were whisked off in a speedboat to the island and arrived in just under 15 minutes.
I LOVE RIDES IN SPEEDBOATS!
I love bumping around as the boat hits a tough wave. I love the wind messing up my hair. I love watching the white trail of foam behind the boat.
Instead of alighting at the private pier at the Paradee, where we were going to stay, we got off in the middle of the island where the town and a cluster of various resorts were. That allowed us to explore the island a little before checking into Paradee. Unlike the other properties on the island, Paradee sits on the southern tip of the island and is a half hour drive from the shops, bars and other resorts. So it is very serene, and therefore is immensely popular with couples, celebrities and the Thai royals.
We set foot on Na Nai Pier and found Samed Club (image below). Samed Club and Paradee both belong to Samed Resorts, a company that manages four other splendid properties.
Samed Club is the cheapest property under Samed Resort - a garden cottage goes for THB 3,300 (approx S$150) in October or THB 5,400 (approx S$245) in December.
I love the vivid red walls of Samed Club's cottages and how they are cut into the slopes of the hills that look out to the sea. A quaint beach front cafe offering local yummies and booze is merely a stone's throw from the cottages.
We stopped for some food and Tom Yum Martinis. I tell you, James Bond would have been proud of this version. It's nicely spicy and most invigorating. Just a swig of this and he would be able to zap aliens, in addition to nabbing terrorists and spies who are bent on destroying the world.
After poking our noses around Samed Club, we saw a few other resorts, including Le Vimarn Cottages & Spa and Ao Prao Resort. I snapped a couple of pictures but cannot seem to remember which was of Le Vimarn and which was of Ao Prao.
But heck, both properties are real beauties and are enveloped in lush greenery so nevermind my muddled memory.
By 3pm, we finally made our way to Paradee, which almost means "sixth heaven" in Thai. According to the local staff, there are 20 other words between "para" and "dee", and altogether they mean "sixth heaven". I guess it is wise to shorten that to just Paradee because no one with the typical half-utilised human brain would remember!
When I tell you that Paradee is beautiful, you would just have to trust me. No matter how I try my best to take good shots, images hardly tell the complete story.Paradee offers a collection of 40 villas. I don't know how to define the decor theme of the villas, but it seemed very Moroccan with earthy toned interiors, stark white exteriors, arched doorways and detailed lamps in the living space.
Step through the main doors and you would find a beautiful poster bed beyond the arched doorway that separates the living space from the bedroom.
You know how I absolutely love poster beds!
Beyond the bedroom lies a spacious quarter which is where one would shower, poo-poo and brush teeth. A smooth wooden door slides over to close off the "cleaning quarters" from the bedroom and offer some privacy to the person taking a shower.
An outdoor rain shower! I wanna shake hands with the designer.
The "cleaning quarters" is directly accessible to the exterior of the villa, where the private pool sits.
Hah, yes! Each villa come with its own Jacuzzi pool. Yes, it is a pool and not just an oversized Jacuzzi tub that attempts to pass itself off as a pool.
Because Samed island is a nature reserve and the Thai authority prohibits the removal of forested areas to protect Gaia's goodies, I had birds, a variety of butterflies and bugs I've never seen before as house visitors. Most amazing.Uncle Hans said hornbills are residents of the island, but it would require some luck to actually see them.
Oh oh oh, we also had a chance to take a look at the uber luxe Suite Villa (image below). The upper storey is a private spa area where guests with super deep pockets can get a massage while watching the sunset.
Later that evening, we had drinks at the Sunset Bar and dinner with good 'ol Uncle Hans in the restaurant within the hotel. There's something soothing about listening to his voice rolling out stories of everything he could remember to tell.
Just as its name suggests, one could catch the amber rays of a sleepy sun at the Sunset Bar. So we did. Feeling slightly old-time Britishy, we enjoyed some Pimms and soda as the sun set.
The next day, we wasted no time in heading for the sun on the private stretch of beach in Paradee.
The beach is simply something out of a postcard! The sea stretches out shallow for a good distance, granting me the courage to wade out far enough to enjoy the clean bluish-green waters without fear of drowning.
It helps so much that the water was so crystal clear that I could be sure my next step would still be on firm grounds and not down a hidden gaping hole underwater that would cause me to plunge to death. I know I am paranoid of the sea, so sue me.
And there, several metres out in sea, I looked back and took photos of the beach. How enchanting.
***
EDIT:
I was so busy waxing lyrical about the Paradee that I completely forgot to tell you about the Asian porn star who shared the beach with us!
OK, perhaps she's not really a porn star but. But she was striking all sorts of poses in the sand, among the waves, in the sea, on the rocks with her back arched, hands up, legs spread to the sides, boobs squashed between her arms... while her eager beaver husband/lover/pimp snapped shots. And she did all that topless.
I tell you, it was the best adult day time entertainment I could ever ask for, and golly, it was LIVE.
I thought they were Japs, considering how kinky Japs are. But later during dinner, I bumped into them - fully-clothed by then - in the restaurant and discovered that they were speaking Cantonese! Geez... Who would have thought they were Hong Kongers!
***
Yes, yes, more photos. How could we resist?
Oh, and did I mention that the sand was so fine?
When Sandee was nice and toasted, and I over-baked and resembling a cooked lobster, we headed back to soak some more in our pool before heading out to the town centre for lunch.
Le Vimarn has a sweet restaurant that does delightful woodfired pizzas and very fresh everything else. Its Mascarpone pizza was brilliantly done - cheesy with strips of spinach and chopped mushrooms. We did our lunches there two days in a row.
Gosh, I miss the pizzas already.
Since we were in town, we explored the shopping area a little. We were done within minutes. There were two or three convenience stores, including 7-Eleven, a few grotty eateries for the locals, beer bars and souvenir shops that doubled as tattoo parlours.
The island is not (yet) commercially vibrant like Kuta or Pattaya, so there wasn't much to shop. But come on! Do you really want to shop when the beach is calling for you?
Frankly, I wished the island would not be overly developed and lose its raw appeal. Tourists should learn to appreciate the charm of having birds, colourful butterflies and big-ass flying bugs in their midst.
We ended the evening at the Paradee Spa with an Aroma massage. There's nothing like fragrant oils and skillful, loving hands to ease away pains from bloody sun burns. Needless to say, this massage experience was nothing like the nightmare I had in Hanoi.
I later discovered that Paradee Spa won some best spa award from the Tourism Authority of Thailand. They totally deserve the win.
Since we stayed in the serene cradle of the Paradee, we chose not to mingle with the maddening crowd in the town centre. Yes, for once, we chose to go to bed very sober while overseas.
Instead, we picked out complimentary DVDs from the reception to watch in the room. Being sweet happy girls, we chose Mary Poppins and half sang-half hummed along to the movie. :)
Good time flies, and Sunday arrived just too soon. It was time to bade goodbye to Uncle Hans and the beautiful resort.
And as the boat pulled away from the pier with Uncle Hans standing alone on the beach waving his goodbyes, my throat pinched and I wished I had given him a big bear hug or stayed on longer so he could tell me more tales.
I don't know if he is lonely or not, but I just hate the feeling of leaving friends for too long a time. So I promised myself that I will return as often as I can to Samed and listen to all the tales he could tell until he is sick of having me around or retires back to his motherland, whichever comes first.
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