Chilly At Thandy Beach

February 12-15
Just Sandy at Thandy!!

We've reached our halfway point in our Asia trip. I am glad we planned a bit of a break before heading on to several more countries unaided by any guides. When our trip was just in the planning stage I'd seen this ad for what was once voted one of the world's top ten beaches, so we chose Ngapali Beach as our place for R&R.

Control tower Ngapali 

Airport on the beach

lovely beach front room Thandy Beach Hotel

Nagpali is a lovely beach on the Bay of Bengal. The water is a delightful turquoise and the sand is a lovely soft beige. Unfortunately,  we did not have particularly warm weather. It was so chilly morning and evening that we needed a jacket to stay warm. By noon the sun was just warm enough to walk the beach in a bathing suit for a couple of hours. Sadly,  the ocean was never warm enough to lure me in very far to test the gentle waves. However,  it was still beautiful and staying here gave us three lovely days to unwind. We were glad to stay put where there were no shops, no schedule and no other distractions,  or so we thought!

We walked at least 10k steps a day on the beach and ate fantastic lunch and dinner for about $11 per person a day and never went hungry. The prawns were bbq'd and as big as a small lobster.  The vegetables were perfectly steamed to a crunchy perfection.

I had the best pedicure of my life for $13 from a woman who has certificates in massage, facials and manicures and pedicures.  She is the spa supervisor and at these prices I was amazed at the incredible treatment I got. Annalisa had a 90 minute massage on the beach for about $12.

We never ventured away from the beach and yet shopping found us with beach-side vendors stationed strategically, about 3-4 hundred yards apart. So if course we managed to buy just a few little gifts to bring to friends and relatives back home.

Next stop Yangon for a quick overnight before heading to one of our favorite places, Luong Prabong, Laos.