Palatial Bungalows

I go weak at the knees over a good tofu panang curry. Mango sticky rice and I are bff. Tom yum makes me sweat like I'm making love in a sauna, and I love it. I'll kill your first born for a nice Thai iced tea on a hot day. Ok, not really, but you get what I mean. Thus, I expected the highlights of my trip to be focused mostly around the food I ate. And while I did have lots of exquisite meals, my breathtaking bungalows trumped the gastronomic adventures. I imagined I'd be roughin' it through Thailand, but instead I found myself feeling like royalty.

In Pai I stayed at Belle Villa. It's beautiful, but it's a 20 minute walk out of town and they are trying to be an upscale resort, but their service is not quite there. I had a handful of issues with them, the first one being that they lost my reservation. That was just fine with me though, since it resulted in getting bumped up to a deluxe cottage. I had my own little house, with a bathroom that was larger than the bedroom! The porch area was really nice with a table, chairs, a couch, and a bed type thing with those Thai pyramid pillows on it. Very luxurious!

I enjoyed the quiet out there, but after a couple of days I decided to move closer to the action and found myself at Rim Pai Cottage. The garden at this place was like out of a Jim Henson movie--it felt magical, filled with butterflies that fluttered in the breeze, explosions of color, twisting pathways, funny creatures, and unidentifiable but gorgeous flora. My bungalow was super romantic, mostly because it was overlooking the river, and had a big cozy bed with the mosquito net draped around it giving it a princess chambers feel.

My next beautiful bungalow was at The Sanctuary. I arrived late in the day, but was lucky enough to snatch the last house, Finn House, also known as the Elfin House. The first floor had an open air kitchen and a chill area with a hammock. Upstairs (steep stairs) was a front room with a futon and a hammock, and shelves with books left by previous guests. There was a sitting room with a TV and DVD player, both of which I'm sure very few people ever use. The bedroom was the smallest and darkest room, but seemed to keep the mosquitoes out nicely. And then... there was the outdoor bathroom. It's rare to be outside, surrounded by jungle foliage, and brushing my teeth or nude, rinsing the shampoo out of my hair, but I dug it.
My last two nights on Koh Phangan I stayed at the Padma House at the Sanctuary. It's deep in the jungle far off from all the other bungalows, but I loved it. It was spacious, open, perfect.
And it had a great view.

I would be happy living in any of these places for extended periods of time. I'm already thinking about going back.