Gung and I moved to new accommodation at Kap's Mountain in Rayong Province (approximately 175 km southeast of Bangkok; 100 km west of the Cambodian border) on 21st November. Words cannot really describe just how beautiful it is; a mixture of Headland Hotel, Trelowarren, Robinsoe Crusoe and "The Beach" all rolled into one! We were welcomed by a wild monkey the evening we arrived and she has been back to visit a couple of times since. We have also spotted red squirrels; I have seen grey squirrels before, even at View Talay, but never a red.
Apartment No. 11 is part of a sloping "condotel" type building but unlike many, instead of standing out "like a sore thumb", nestles within tropical woodland on the side of a hill facing a small wooded peninsular which juts out into the Gulf of Thailand. The whole area is in fact part of a well maintained tropical garden; there is an entrance fee (for non-residents!) of 10 Baht and comes complete with overnight resort style accommodation and picnic areas.
The "penthouse" at the top of the condo is just visible from the nearby beach, peering above the tree line like a kind of watchful giant. Although not quite as far up as the penthouse, number eleven is still at a decent elevation; exactly ninety steps from the gate and parking area and about 300 feet above sea level. The apartment commands a good view of the sea to the front and coastline to the east. Koh Samet (Samet Island) is not far away; I last visited the island at least twelve years ago and am interested to see how it may have changed.
The entrance leads to a spiral staircase passing an en-suite bedroom on the right hand side. The staircase in turn leads up to the main living area, kitchenette, second bathroom / laundry area and out onto the balcony (this alone is nearly as big as my previous apartment at Jomtien Beach!). The balcony is south facing,catching the harsh morning sun but extremely pleasant with a glass of red in the evening!
The rent is slightly less than I was paying at Jomtien (8000 Baht per month which equates to a little over £150 based on the currant rate of exchange). Even though it is a modern, well appointed and comfortable apartment set in spectacular surroundings it is probably rather remote for many people, perhaps a tad on the quiet side with a daunting climb up the steps to the front door! However, there are more than enough restaurants along the coast, good shopping facilities at the nearest town of "Ban Phe" (pronounced "Ban Pay") and even a Tescos (albeit a little one) about the same distance as it is from Coverack to Helston!
The coastline, for the most part, comprises clean sandy beaches punctuated by rock outcrops and headlands. Yesterday evening included a fishing expedition along the coast towards Ban Phe; today we had three small, but rather tasty, Pla Het Korn for lunch! [According to Wikipedea the fish is a species of Trumpeter Whiting, in Thai it translates as “Mushroom Fish”]. Had quite a busy few days - carrying everything up the steps was an experience in itself! Today's project (24th Nov) is to install a TV antenna - will try and remember what Uncle Peter told me about "co-axial" cables!). I have taken a few photographs which may be found in a Picasa Album.
As a postscript, on Saturday 29th November we were up bright and early (just after six). On strolling out onto the balcony I spotted "Miss Monkey" looking down on me from two floors up. She is nervous about the camera but I did manage to get a couple of shots as she leapt over to the adjacent apartment. The strangest thing, though, happened later in the afternoon; we had both popped downstairs and, although having been warned, had neglected to pull the sliding doors closed (and locked!). On returning upstairs Gung asked me where the rest of the chocolate had gone (I had treated myself to a little after lunch and had left half a bar on the sofa) and why I had not waited for some ice in my (full) glass of orange juice.
There was only one explanation; Miss Monkey had popped in for a visit! The crumpled wrapper was out on the balcony and the nearly empty glass of juice was back on the table (there were a few telltale drips on the floor). Nothing else had been touched. I can picture her sitting there with the glass held carefully in her little hands! A wonderful creature but we will not get over friendly in case she attracts too much attention from other people who might try to scare her away (or worse).
On perusing the various "gadgets" available to spice up the blog, I decided to add one giving various quotations by the late Sir Winston Churchill. There are various reasons for this, one of which is that I consider him to have been a brilliant statesman and secondly that my stepfather kept a bust of him which still has pride of place in Mum's study at home. However, with relevance to this blog, once we had been at Kap's Mountain for a few days we decided to have a look around the area and found "Joy's Restaurant" at the eastern end of Ban Phe beach. Ordering an excellent "Full English" breakfast I happened to glance above the bar and noticed a wooden carving of a well fed gentleman. On closer inspection, it turned out to be Mr Churchill! What was even stranger was that the effigy had been decorated with gold leaf. This ritual is usually reserved for likenesses of the Buddha, but nobody seemed to mind!
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