"Milton Keynes" - The Home Of Our Dreams

Saturday 16 September

Blue skies and brilliant sunshine awakened us this morning, and the water in the pool was so warm I managed forty lengths – really showing off now. After breakfast, we sat around the pool – Colin regularly changing sun beds to find some shade under the umbrellas (the sun kept moving!!!!).

Around midday Juz and Dave texted to say they had hired a jeep and were going for a ride around the island – did we want to go too? - of course we did. They picked us up, up the road from Smile (should have been at Smile, but Colin was too impatient to wait and insisted we started walking to the Bandara – the road being part of a one-way system going the wrong way to bump into them coming to us!!!). This is where the fun started – the jeep is a four seater if you count the back parcel shelf as two seats! Or the truck area behind the cab, which has no cushioning – just a bare corrugated metal base. Juz and I opted for the air conditioned cab – she climbed in behind Dave the Driver (DtD now instead of DtB?) and managed to contort herself into a sitting position with her legs wrapped around her! I climbed in and managed a similar position behind the front passenger seat. Colin manoevred himself into the front passenger seat – his legs having to bend awkwardly to fit into the space below the glove box – and he just about managed to close the door! It was at least very friendly as we set off the find some petrol – as always when hiring a vehicle, the tank was on empty! We chugged slowly along the main road, cruising wherever possible to save what little fuel we had. Fancy Tescos not selling fuel here – anyway almost into Chaweng we found the garage we had used last year, fairly close to the Imperial Hotel. 400 bahts buys about 4 ½ gallons, so about 1.50 GBP per gallon! From here we continued round the island, passing Lamai Beach, Rocky’s Beach and Buddha’s Footprint on the way. The main road then cuts inland, but as we were still on the lookout for any bargains in beachside land, we strayed on to a side road. This was far more rutted than the main road and we bounced and banged around in the back (and I think it was almost a bad in the front!) – there was no room to move sideways, just up and down. Juz and I by this time had managed to sort out our legs – we both sat across the vehicle, with her legs over mine – getting out was going to be amusing.

There are lots of adverts for land with beach fronts along the way, but not in the setting we were looking for. We stopped at a couple of smart looking developments, but there was no one home in the sales offices – although the adverts say they are open seven days a week – so we took web details for Juz to check up on when she returned to the hotel. We drove straight up on a hillside track looking for another set of villas, advertised on the road, which definitely tested the capabilities of the small four wheel drive jeep and our own padding!

We bounced along until we finally came across Big John’s Seafood Restaurant – another haunt from last year – which is part of a beachside resort on a large sandy bay that really is “paradise”. We decided that we were more than ready for lunch and a couple of beers. We were shown to a table right on the edge of the sand and ordered scrumptious appetizers of chicken, pork, prawns, spring rolls and Singha beers. I paddled my legs in the sea while waiting for the food – which was warmer than our pool. A very idyllic setting indeed to while away an hour or so on a very hot afternoon.

Getting back in the car – another amusing exercise in contortionism – we decided to visit “Milton Keynes”, on the other side of Bophut, to see if they were “ordinary” as described by the Trolley Dolly, or more the deluxe houses we remembered. The roadside sales office was again empty, so we wandered up the hill to the development, which had expanded hugely, since we were last here. We were met very effusively by the same lady who showed us around last year – like a meeting of old friends. The last couple of houses overlooking Big Buddha Bay were still shells, under construction, as were the tall apartment blocks on the opposite side which overlooked Bophut Bay – and we can see from our breakfast table. Only one of the houses had not been sold, which was set back from the cliff edge, giving a large space for garden and pool when completed, compared with some of the other properties, and getting the sun until late afternoon. We were able to look round the house next door which was of the same style and then at the show house – now available for rent - which we had fell in love with last year. They were still as wonderful, if not even better than we remembered and definitely superior to the property Trolley Dolly had shown us for 1.5US$. All the pools now had jacuzzis attached – an addition from last year – and one even had a slide and stepping stones arrangement to get from one to the other. There is a choice of dark wood flooring or pale marble tiles – we saw both options (I would have chosen the tiles as they gave a lighter effect and there would be no worries about scratching or marking, but the dark wood staircase was very impressive) – and the master bedroom on the first floor was of ‘palace’ proportions – with his and her everything in the huge bathrooms with two showers, two loos, two washbasins and a large double bath with Jacuzzi – just in case you couldn’t make it down to poolside first thing in the morning. We were again entranced and all agreed these were the “best” – we just needed to win the lottery to make a purchase as the last house is on offer for 450,000 GBP non negotiable – even to Dave (well they would do a deal on the period of interest free credit but the principal sum would not change). A house of our dreams definitely.

By this time we were all dripping both with hankering and from the heat of the day – one of the hottest since we arrived. So we drove back to Smile for beers on the balcony and a game of cards, while awaiting the arrival of the “Oileys”. Several beers later, as darkness fell, Jean and Ray arrived – minus their luggage. They had had to run from the International side of Bangkok Airport to the Domestic Check In, as their flight from London had been late by nearly an hour. They had just made it, their cases hadn’t – but should be delivered to Smile a couple of hours later. I had never realized before how often cases and passengers become separated – perhaps naïve of me – but we have certainly heard of a few “cases” on our travels this time.

Following lots of hugs and kisses, it was time for more drinks and to catch up on the latest news - EO’s wedding of course a prime interest. When immediate news had been exchanged, we wandered to the Beatles Bar for a couple of rounds of cocktails, and were entertained tonight by four ex-pats (including the manager) strumming on guitars and singing their hearts out. Tummies were rumbling by this time, telling us it was time for food – and it had to be Starfish and Coffee. We chose a wide variety of dishes which we devoured heartily, all washed down with a few carafes of red wine. Dave and Juz left us here and wandered back to the Bandara, leaving the jeep with us – drinking and driving is just as dangerous out here as back home, if not more. We finished with teas and coffees and then wandered back to Smile, where Jean and Ray’s luggage awaited them on their balcony. The system had worked again. After a couple of nightcaps, it was time to crash – Jean and Ray had been on the go for more than twenty four hours and it was almost 01.00 – very late for us.