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Hi all,
Well paradise is not exact enough for the place I have stayed for the last 2 days...
On the 20th I caught a ferry back to Langkawi and a taxi to Datai Bay in the far North West part of the island to meet Michelle. She had won a holiday there with a huge bunch of others from her work and I was meeting her to crash in her room - illegally of course - for a couple of days.
I felt really intimidated when I arrived, staff were scurrying around me offfering to take my luggage (my very inconspicuous backpack!) and give me drinks whilst I waited in the lobby for the 'rest of my group' from Dial-a-flight. I had to pretend to be Michelle for a little while. I waited nervoiusly for Michelle, whose plane had arrived later than expected.
"Would you like to check in Madame?" "No, no I'll wait until the rest of the group arrive, I'm not sure how my bosses want us to play it!" I say, voice for some reason sounding much posher than usual. The group finally started arriving, and as they entered the hotel the staff gave them flower necklaces and banged drums very loudly - that was enough for me and I ran and hid in the toilet! I was worried that the bosses may arrive first and be taken to where I was sitting, which would have meant blank faces all round! And to make matters worse, there was no reception on my mobile to phone Michelle!
2 girls came into the toilet and I asked whether they knew Michelle. Luckily one of them, Pousti, was Michelle's (and now mine) roommate, so I felt a little safer. I met Michelle soon after and had to dodge the lady handing out room keys before going to the room, which was beautiful with a bath and a shower!
The view from the room was of the bay, which is secluded from any other resort. The resort is massive too. It has several restaurants including a Japanese restaurant and a pool side restaurant.
The first night with Peachy (that's Michelle) was lovely and quite relaxed, though Michelle wasn't feeling her best having had very little sleep since the holiday began, and because she had spent the previous night/early morning on a guided tour (Tour Flip-flop!) of Hoi Chi Min City in her dressing gown, flip-flops and hat selling fruit and running away from security men!!!
Very kindly she ditched the work event to catch up with me in the bar. Then after we headed to meet her work mates and drink with them, which we did until about 3.30am. This didn't prove too expensive though, as we weren't charged for a round and drinks were bought for us.
We had a really long sleep, though this was disturbed by the doorbell ringing - yes each room has a doorbell - when staff wanted to check the minibar was stocked, clean the room etc. Michelle sent them packing, but each time I was woken with a start and had to hide behind the tv, which was next to where I was sleeping on the sofa!
The next day we headed to the poolbar and had a lovely lunch - I had fishcakes, with glass noodle salad and sweet chilli sauce. Michelle had been given vouchers to spend by her company and the lunch voucher covered both our meals...what a result. After sunning ourselves on the beach, we had a dip in the magnificent pool.....it's not just a pool! It has lots of sections that branch off and circle round plants and trees. In a part of the pool, in the middle of a deep section there is a ledge to sit on, where jets massage you, and in another deeper section nearer the beach there is a slide, which I went down approximately 5 times, before Michelle actually got a picture of me, not just splashing water!
The staff are extremely attentative and friendly and made me feel very welcome, though obviously I was not!
In the evening Michelle had a work ball to go to, so after her and Pousti had left (though this took poor Pousti a while, as not only did she quite severly burn herself on her hair straightners, she cut her finger, which bled rather badly too! Oh and she had dived in the pool the day before and cut her face badly too - she was bleeding from head to toe by all accounts. Not her lucky week...yet!) I spent the evening pampering myself in the room. I had room service, I had a bath (other than in Bangkok I don't think I have seen a bath!), I wrote my Mum a letter on the posh paper, I did my nails and I watched films until the wee early hours of the morning...heavenly.
I was awoken at 6.30am from a very piddled Pousti, who had come back to get changed out of her ball dress into her bikini, to head down to the beach. It seemed her luck had changed - she won a 'dance-off', by completing the hard breakdance step known as the caterpillar (whilst in balldress!) and her prize!?! An all expences paid holiday for her and 3 friends to Mauritias (I think!) worth a total of 14,000 pounds. Not bad!
Michelle made it back at about 8.40, just before I was getting up to leave. She fell asleep on the sofa, as I was getting packed, and woke up for a dozy cuddle goodbye.
At 9.30 I caught the terribly expensive taxi from the Andaman to the ferry jetty 'a day trip to meet my friend that lives on the island' - I still had to pretend to be Michelle, as I had to leave the room number! - which was the start of my long trip to the Cameroon Highlands.
Love to you all
Lynds x x
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