Our Vacation Style
Have I ever told you about our vacation style? Let me. We don’t like to join any tours if we can help it. At this point in our lives, vacation to us means doing the things we like and going places in our own sweet time. We don’t like rush. We don’t stress when we cannot get to all the places in our list. Our vacation style is all about enjoying ourselves and being together. One of the major pluses travelling with Shane is his understanding that I need more time when we hike and restful day in between activities. Yesterday, I pampered myself at the spa after our trip to Wat Tham Suea (Tiger Cave Temple). While waiting for me, Shane walked over to the Monkey Trail nearby.
Monkey Trail, Ao Nang
Our hotel is very close to the Monkey Trail at Ao Nang Beach. From Ao Nang Beach, take a walk down south towards the end. You will walk across all the massages and spas, bars and chalets. At the end of the road is a wooden fence with entrance to The Last Fisherman Bar. Go through the area and you will see a shrine. This is the start to the entrance of the Monkey Trail. Monkeys are everywhere! I always keep a distance from them but Shane loves monkeys.
We walked to the Monkey Trail today. It was easy to navigate even when wearing a pair of slippers. I wasn’t having any fear of heights moments despite walking on the rickety wooden steps. Some have gaps in between but it was fairly safe since there was a handrail. We went there just as the tide was coming in and crashed onto the rocks below splattering us with salt water. The hike took us around 15 minutes with a lot of stopovers for photo taking. Below are some photos we took along the way.
Pai Plong Beach
The Monkey Trail leads us to a secluded beach called Pai Plong Beach. There is a guard station at the end of the trail. Yesterday a guard stationed there made sure everyone signed a log book upon entering the beach. Today, there was no guard around. Further along the beach is the private Centara Grand Villas. There are two ways to get there. Guests of the hotel use a boat while the staffs and hikers like us use the Monkey Trail from Ao Nang Beach. The beach is public and everyone can stay in the area. It is a very beautiful, sandy beach surrounded three sides by tall limestones karsts. Ao Nang Tower stands prominently further away as a marker for this beach.
