Remember how, a little while back, I was saying how the Westin in Sydney was the nicest place I had stayed and how the resort at the Hamilton Island was paradise? Well, there's a new champion on the block, boys and girls. Her name is Phuket and she's a heavyweight.
We are at a resort compound called the Indigo Pearl. Do yourself a favor and click the link to get a full-on interactive tour that barely scratches the surface of how bad ass this place is. Take the 360 degree virtual tour and realize that this is where I am right now. I'm dead serious, go explore the website. I'll wait right here until you're done. Go ahead.
http://www.indigo-pearl.com/
See?
Right now, as I write this, Lupe is off taking scuba lessons while I rest from a morning of breakfast BLTs and fruity drinks that come in a rainbow of color. Yesterday, we left the bustling metropolis of Neo-Bangkok and it's grime, smells, heat, concrete and dirt, lost-in-translation run amok to fly a mere 50 minutes before landing in paradise. A short cab ride later out of the airport and we made our way down a dirt road to a steel barricade, guarded by a man with a gun, that led into the fortress of Eden.
We were ushered not to the front desk as per most hotels you check in to but to a large bed-like couch where we were instructed to sprawl and relax while someone brought us honey jasmine iced tea and jasmine scented cool towels to freshen up with. A personalized concierge then greeted us, took our information, and gave us a quick-start verbal tour of the resort before leading us to our room.
Our room is cooly air-conditioned, a double twin bed as the center piece of a industrial yet comfortably laid out room. There is an industrial theme to this whole place; a mixture of iron artistry complete with metal rivets holding everything in place, and marble, wood, and the natural surroundings of the Thai forest. Our view overlooks the first of three pools in the compound: complete with a water feature, a waterfall, and full poolside service with ice water, drinks, and even food.
After geeking the f out, we hit Pool #2 for some rest in the hot sun before swimming out to the Pulley Bar, seats and service right there in the warm pool water. A few Blue Hawaiians later and it was time to check out the beach. White sands and the clearest ocean water I have ever swam in met us. I was out far enough to not touch bottom and could still see through the water to the ocean floor and in every direction (good for shark detection). The resort has a private beach club which offers massage, drinks, and towel service. All this relaxing had us hungry for a meal so we headed to the Tin Mine restaurant back inside the resort for lunch: egg noodles and rice with chicken, green onions, bok choi, and peppers for me; linguini with a pesto sauce and veggies for Lupe. More drinks and then it was crash time. We slept for some odd number of hours before deciding it was time for dinner. We walked to the Rivet: a cozy dining hall where we sat in those over-sized chairs from the Mad Hatter's tea party while I ate steak and Lupe had King prawns in bournaisse sauce. Red wine and a chocolate fondant with raspberry gelato for dessert. More sleep.
That was yesterday.
This morning, we had a light breakfast of a BLT and a cafe latte for me; green salad with avocado and buffalo mozzerella and some fresh spring rolls for the girl. Lupe drank something out of a coconut shell that was so damn good, I wanted to take it behind the bleachers and get it pregnant. Then we sat by the first pool, read a book, and went swimming again. Lupe decided she wanted to go diving so she began beginner's courses in dive certification while I opted to not get my head dunked under water with a heavy metal tank strapped to my back and went exploring instead. I managed to get some photos around the resort before retiring to the room for some blogging and some rest before our scheduled attendance at the fire show and BBQ at the beach club tonight.
This is day two of my life in paradise and I want everyone I have ever known and liked to come here and share this. Holy crapsicles, Batman. This place defies any ability to describe it. We are already making plans to come here with friends and rent out one of the private plantation villas for a week, so start saving your pennies kids!
sigh. I'm here for 3 and a half more days. Dear God, I'm so happy right now I'm crapping rainbows... or maybe that's just all the multi-colored drinks I've been sucking down. Who knows.
-d@n
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