Paden had told us about a beach that was beside the Ao Nang beach. Just follow the path through the jungle he said, so we thought we would do that today as well as checking out Ao Nang beach.

We headed down for breakfast where we found the eating area was built into the side of the mountain. It was really pretty sitting here. Mountains on one side and a small pool on the other. Food selection was not bad either. They had a latte machine which was a bonus as the coffee in Thailand is usually way too strong for me. Plus they had a pot of hot milk which I used to dilute my latte even further.

After breakfast we headed out to find the beach. Walked down the main road to Ao Nang beach and turned left. I have no idea if it was south, west, north or east. It was left for us.

No matter how many times I see these signs I never get used to them. There are numerous ones posted around our resort.

When we got close to the end of Ao Nang Beach we cut across a small wooden bridge and over to the path that would take us up the mountain side and through the jungle.

Look out Doug! Duck!

Paden failed to tell us that the path involved a hundred thousand steps. Steep steps! With only a bamboo railing in places. I’m afraid of heights and with my bad knees it was a nightmare. The number of steps may be a bit of an exaggeration, but it felt like that many to me. We were hoping to see some monkeys on our way, but we didn’t.

Paden’s 10 minute hike took us about 30 minutes. There were many spots with steep stairs. A few spots had sandbags for steps. Also a few spectacular views. I was pretty much too scared to let go to take any pictures though.

For every step we had climbed there was now a step to go down. Once again so steep. It took me a while to get down them, but I made it.

You had to sign in to get onto the beach. Now we had the name of the beach, Pai Plong Beach AoNang.

I think this was the most beautiful beach I have ever seen. It was like being in a movie set. Perfect. Pictures don’t do the place justice. The water was warmer than our pool at home and so clear. We spent quite a bit of time in the water which is very unusual for us as we’re not really beach people anymore.

Then it was time to head back. The thought of all those steps was not appealing.

We made it back and as we were heading along the beach to our resort I saw this sign. I was so tired, hot and thirsty that I couldn’t resist getting a Blue Hawai. Boy was it good! This became my daily treat while here. It was great as you could do ‘take away’ and walk around with your drink.

Once back at the resort we hit up the pool for the afternoon. It was great as we were the only ones in it.

Headed out tonight and decided on pizza. Seems to be a our staple dinner. Another early night for us.