Duffy Drama: Sawatee Kaa

I've been taking tons of pictures...enough so that Tracy said I'm following in the Peterson legacy and my dad would be proud. However, I'm a little slower at posting them, so you'll have to be patient as I am already a few days behind. I will be the first to admit that my photography skills aren't amazing and my camera is getting a little on the outdated side. So just know that these pictures REALLY don't do this place justice. I think you just need to come here. Everyone. With that being said here goes my jounal of the trip thus far, the pictures are after the talking so feel free to skip ahead....

Day One and Two were really just one long day of traveling! It was a 30 minute car ride to the airport + 1 hour waiting for take off + 14 hour flight to Hong Kong + 2 hour layover + 2.5 hour flight to Bangkok + 1.5 hour layover + 1.5 hour flight to Krabi + 1 hour van ride to the jetty + 1 hour speedboat ride to the hotel= 25 hours of traveling.

Luckily we started the trip with a red eye and the kids slept for a good 8 hours and then watched movies and rested the remainder of the first flight. The seats on the plane were really nice. Its hard to describe, but they till back and then have a separate panel behind your back that glides when you move. The movies were great too. I didn't get a chance to watch any all the way through but I caught part of Twilight (you know you're jealous), High School Musical 3 (I know I'm a nerd), and Four Holidays (which I swear was called 4 Christmases, but the name on the tv said Holidays). The kids watch lots of disney tv shows! They were really excited they had those! The food was suprisingly good too. Nothing I would beg for, but not the typical gag me airplane food. The flight attendants were AWESOME with the kids. They came by every 45 minutes or so to give the kids more snacks (which Austin LOVED). They brought them apples, juice, milk, pretzels, ham and cheese sandwhiches, apple sauce, they even had rice pudding!!! Later I found out I could have gotten ice cream! I will definitely be taking advantage of that on the flight home!

During the layover in Hong Kong we were able to go to a play room for kids, which was great for the kids to get out their wiggles. The next flight we just talked and rested a little more. Then in Bangkok we met up with Tracy and Jeff for the last flight. The kids were absolutely amazing till that point when they started getting a little extra squirmy now that their parents were there. But even then, they were WAY better than I would expect a 6 and 2 year old to be. The van ride went by super fast and it was awesome to be able to look out the window and finally see Thailand! (I have always loved looking out the window in the car and just observing...except now sometimes I get car sick so I have to be careful!) The van took us to a jetty where we got onto a speedboat that took us to the hotel. This was Austin's favorite part. He just kept running up and down the boat the whole time! This was a really neat way to check out the area.

We went past other tiny little islands, saw little fishing boats, a light house, then we turned the corner and saw these beautiful villas lining the water and peeking through the trees and lanterns just starting to flicker on dotting the beach. Then Tracy let me know thats where we would be staying. I was in shock. The boat pulled up to a floating dock that is made out of black plastic containers. It was tricky at first to catch my balance, but once I got the hang of it, it was really fun. Especially at the end when a little wave came along.

A golf cart met us at the dock and shuttled us up to the reception area to check in. We were greeted with a "Sawatee Kaa" and a cool lemon grass scented towel rolled up and tied with a decorative leaf and orchid. Then we were given the most amazing drink. I'm not quite sure what it was but I think Tracy said it was lemon grass juice with mint. Whatever it was, it was VERY refreshing. We loaded back onto the golf cart to go to our room.

When the golf cart stopped we walked down the beautiful path, up a couple stairs through a shaded area with a porch swing and an area to wash sandy feet, continued through a wood gate to the entrance of our villas that are literally ON THE SAND. Not on the beach with little walk way to the beach, but ON THE BEACH!!! This is my dream come true. The rooms are simple and gorgeous. Rich wood floors, bamboo shades, crisp white linen. It is a unique blend of traditional thai and modern styles. When I opened the double doors to the bathroom the first think I saw was the most amazing outdoor shower with high stone walls with vines growing for privacy. You better believe I tested it out the first chance I got!

We unpacked our stuff, went for a swim in the infinity pool, then ate dinner at the Rak Talay Beach Restaurant, which is literally ON THE BEACH. The floor is sand. It was so relaxing to sit and eat an AMAZING meal while digging my toes in the sand. This restaurant is owned by a French chef with a 2 star award (I can't remember the name but there are only 3 possible stars and only a certain number of people can have them at any given time.). So bottom line, the food rocks! I got a spicy steak salad that was amazing. They also have great pasta, sandwiches, pizza, Thai food (of course), any just about anything else you can think of. Taylor and Austin both fell asleep at dinner and were quite hillarious with their sleep talking. Then we carried the kids down the beach to our rooms and went to sleep!