13th - 18th Jan: Naga Hill Retreat

Naga Hill Retreat is only 15 minutes away from the centre of Chiang Rai but it is situated right next to a large, beautiful lake with a University and park perched at the other side of the lake. When we arrived at Naga hill we were stunned - it was so peaceful, and all the bungalows were far enough from one another that it felt like you were staying there on your own. We were greeted by Tri, who is such a smiley, welcoming Thai lady with a little 2 month old daughter and lovely husband. She showed us around the main grounds (salt water pool that was 25 m long and faced the hills, amazing! and chilled restaurant bar area) before showing us to our bungalow. It had a large double bed, fan, and out door bathroom and bath tub, which looked extremely inviting. To top it all off, there was a hammock outside our front door for lazing about.... we were in heaven. Having not been in a pool since Malaysia, Leon and I quickly dashed off and made it to the pool side in about 20 seconds after dumping our stuff. I kid you not when I say it was probably 2 degrees centigrade in that pool, but after a while you get used to it! And so it began, our routine of swimming, reading, sunbathing, eating and making new friends. We ventured out during our stay there to the hot springs (not worth the trek, just a number of big bath tubs in the middle of nowhere) and attempted to go fishing in the lake. Fishing was hilarious in hindsight, and we had to go to some local fisher men to help us untangle our line! No fish were caught and we barely got the line in the water... if someone can give some tips on casting off, then please share!! We were woken up every morning by the darn roosters (around 5 am) and many mosquitos were cursed and killed, but overall it was such a relaxing 5 days.... We made friends with Kaew who is a 29 year old Thai guy who works there and is hilarious... he wants to set up his own resort by the sea someday and we'll definitely go and visit him once it is done. Tonight, now we are back in Chiang Rai, we'll be meeting up with Nicolas and Paul, 2 lovely Austrian men who are there on business and pleasure and told many tales about their 'Journeys to the end of the world'. So far we are having a wonderful time, but of course are missing all our friends and family at the same time.