After driving in on a dusty road with road side stalls we turn on to a bumpy unpaved road drive about 100 meters and park, right past a school and a building that doesn't look like much of a hotel. When we were trying to book online it seemed everything was full. 'No room at the inn' at Christmas time was getting personal instead of biblical. So we booked Chanthavinh Resort, rated #11 on tripadvisor.com. It was a bit more posh or pricey than we planned, but they had a room and we would search around for the last two nights. We didn't know what we were getting into, we barely knew where we were going. People who had been here just kept saying it was wonderful and we'd love it. Encouraging, but not explaining a whole lot (or so we thought).
So we halt at this non-descrip place, start thinking 'internet scam' and the driver says, 'you take boat now'. 'Hostage', we think, 'at least we have each other'. Down these many many stairs to the pier, the poor driver carrying my extremely heavy bag and Deb's merely heavy bag. This luggage description is a good metaphor for how I feel like an 'amazon' in a land of 5 foot 3 inch standard height. As our mutual friend Paris Deb said 'they see me coming' is an understatement, not just in size.
Off we go to Shangri La, which is considered what Nepal is, but the term definitely describes here.
When we arrive at the other side after a boat ride that is at the perfect part of the late day, peaceful, quiet, birds chirping, lush green fields full of salad vegetables. We walk up as many steps as we walked down, the poor boatman carrying the luggage, think "The Piano", we arrive at the resort. The grounds are gorgeous, the view is beautiful and the food is terrific. The staff is kind, thoughtful and considerate, meeting our needs with quiet enthusiasm. There are some design glitches in the room, bad lighting and the shower head attachment about knee height (not my knees, kiwi Deb's, she is 5'3"),
We have really enjoyed waking up there in the morning and going home by boat at the end of the day. There was a large group our first day, but the rest of our stay we fantasized it was 'our estate', for we were it's only guests. We were told there was a group arriving the afternoon after we left. They aren't busy enough, but apparently no one is, the economy is taking it's toll on vacations. What went on with booking before, who knows? Now we have moved into town for our last 2 nights. More posts on what we did (or didn't do) to come. The weather (for all you folks back home) chilly misty mornings mid 60s then sun breaking through after 11 and going to about 80, then cooling down at night. Paradise it is. Home feels very far away, but will come rushing back soon enough. Only 4 days left before I return. Gosh!
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