Page 10
KOH KOOD (continued)
FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF SHANTAA RESORT:
Panoramic from the veranda on our 'villa-suite'.
|  |
|  |
|  |
TOP: A couple of posing photos taken from the veranda.
SECOND LEFT: The villa-suite nestling under the palms.
SECOND RIGHT: The bedroom. Small but clean and snug.
THIRD: The al-fresco bathroom area. Left, the bath & basin; right, the 2 showers & wc.
BOTTOM: Our view from the bed. The two "blobs" outside are the comfy relaxing-sofas.
THURSDAY 19th:
Up and about at 07:30 and down on the beach and into the sea at 08:00. Like a warm bath in the clear sea. Back to the room for a shower then off to breakfast.
Breakfasts are served here (I'd rather have a self-serve) but you can order as much as you wish. Again, no hint of the farang bacon, eggs & sausage fry-ups, however, excellent omelettes are made for you as well as a large number of Thai dishes. The coffee is excellent.
After letting breakfast subside, we were off to a rocky area of beach and a session of snorkeling in and amongst the gullies. Quite a number of fish about and a scattering of large coral-heads.
Back on shore, beach-showered, dried out a bit then off for an exploratory walk down the coast. Couldn't walk very far as we came to a large inlet with Mangrove trees around the perimeter. There was a rickety wooden bridge but it appeared to be private property beyond, so it was a stroll back to Shantaa.
Shantaa is OK. Spotlessly clean, well laid out, rooms not large but beautifully clean and well house-kept (even the towels are scented) and it's incredibly quiet and peaceful. The only noise comes from the nearby jetty where boats tie up, the worst being one of the ferry boats which keeps its engine running in the mornings before buggering off somewhere.
But we find the Shantaa a bit too quiet at times; everything is so hushed-up; great place to unwind after a nervous breakdown. This is not a criticism because that's what Shantaa says-on-the-tin, as it were. It's advertised as being mega quiet.
No, if I had a small moan it'd be a couple of small things. For instance, there's no kettle for tea or coffee making in the room and there's need for a small fridge to keep water (and beer) in.
Outside, this is meant to be a 5* resort, but there's no actual sandy beach; that's a walk (albeit a short one) beyond the dilapidated pier where there's an endless stretch of beautiful silver-white sand fringed by tall palms. Then there's the pier or jetty itself. It's a horrible, ugly crumbling concrete edifice which is in full view of much of the resort. There's also quite a lot of traffic up and down it to service the ferry and commercial boats that use it.
Other than that, Shantaa's truly lovely; a little piece of paradise, but I think I'd look to a different resort if I came again.S
| 
Baby mangrove trees. |
|  |
|  |
Above are some photos from the short walk along the coast to the inlet mentioned above.
THURSDAY (continued):
Lunch was a papaya salad for madam and an iced cappuccino for me.
Keeping out of the midday sun was the thing for a chunk of the day. Spent an hour or so relaxing in the lounge area then feeling a bit cooked decided on a swim. Problem is the sea is over 30º so there's little or no cooling effect. After a decent swim I was as hot and sweaty as I was before the swim, but it's truly lovely in the clear water.
In the early evening, we had a few beers in a different bar on the resort; a little better than the one near to our villa/bungalow but still a little too quiet and characterless.
In fact the bars here are so characterless that we walked along the beach to an adjacent resort which sported a far more beachy-type of bar with a grass roof, some reasonable music at reasonable volume. Staff also were more fun. We'll definitely come to this bar again.... cheaper too.
Photos above: The "alternative" beach-bar in a nearby resort... more fun.
FRIDAY 20th:
Out of bed just after dawn at around 06:00. Aom so kindly fetched some coffees from the restaurant room (coffee & tea available 24/7).
Down to the beach for a nice long swim before breakfast at 07:30.
Decided on taking a walk the opposite direction along the coast. Wall-to-wall silver sandy beaches stretching as far as we could see and I counted 1, yes 1, other person within sight.
Walked beyond the adjacent resort and onto a section of beach that was wild; in that it had been left to nature. Fallen coconuts were everywhere, many had germinated and baby coconut palms were springing up all over.
It's actually potentially hazardous and even lethal to walk along parts of the beach, and certainly within the coconut groves. This simply because the coconuts can drop at any time as can be seen in the photos... they're everywhere. Many of the palms are up to 30-metres high; a long way to drop a 2 or 3 kilo nut on your head ! There are warning signs dotted about and in the resort, I noticed the staff had a trained monkey on a long lead cutting off coconuts for safety reasons.
