Pleasure Costs a Pretty Penny

We've done enough bragging about the extravagant luxuries of our accommodations. Not all things are perfect as we are slowly finding. How could paradise be imperfect, you ask? Well, all good things come with a cost and here is what we've found:

Add-on Costs > "Free of Charge" Services: The facade that this was a "free" trip has quickly faded as we burn through our budget daily. With this fancy resort comes Western-style costs. We budgeted for a cheaper version of Thailand and are quickly realizing our mistake. Last night it cost us 1700 Baht (~US$56) for a round trip taxi ride into Ao Nang, the nearest town worth visiting. Once there, we realized what real Thailand prices should be. Taxi to/from Phuket Airport should be 2500 baht (~US$83). Our hotel charged us 7900 baht (~US$263). In Ao Nang, we had dinner at this seafood restaurant on the beach for a measly 600 baht (~US$20). Our dinners at the resort have been costing us about 3000 baht (~US$100). Our 2+ hour spa treatment yesterday cost us 8000 baht (~US$266) when 1 hour massages in Ao Nang cost a mere 250 baht (~US$9).

Now we know the catch of Phulay Bay. Once you're here, its difficult to leave and the Ritz Carlton sure makes a profit on that. So despite the 'free' accommodations, we are paying a pretty penny to stay here. Thankfully this should be the only destination where our money drains so quickly. At least we hope so.

Bugs in One Size Only... Extra Large: I've come to the conclusion that while I enjoy tropical locations, I could never live in one. The reason simply being the size and volume of critters that enjoy residing in these areas. I have never seen ants the size of spiders or flying insects that can be considered small birds. Thankfully I have only suffered one bug bite (so far) and have successfully avoided having them feast on my skin. This is due to my next point...

Bug Spray and Furniture Varnish Do Not Get Along: Before we exit our Villa, Jeng and I lather ourselves in two things -- 1) sunscreen and 2) bug spray. The first time I sprayed myself with the bug spray, my eyes watered from the fumes. We quickly learned to spray ourselves in the shower to avoid getting excess spray all over the room. Today at breakfast, I noticed that my arms were sticking to the wood on my chair. As I type this, my legs are doing the same. The bug spray leaves a sticky residue on the wood varnish and I'm half expecting the varnish to transfer to my skin. The toxicity of my bug-fighting efforts worries me. It's a good thing we are only here 3 weeks, otherwise I can only imagine what chemical poisoning I might accumulate.

Thai Language Lessons Aren't Easy: We successfully learned two important phrases -- 1) Sawadee Ka (or Sawadee Krup for Jeng) which is the standard greeting and 2) Kup Kum Ka (or Kup Kum Krup for Jeng) which is Thank You. (I'm totally butchering the spelling, but you get the idea.) I am now trying to learn how to say "No Spicy" in Thai because seriously, everything has got major chili action. Yesterday, Jeng ate red curry that made him sweat more than the hottest day so far. (And on a side note, I got a cut on my finger from a renegade crab claw I was eating at the same meal.)

All in all, the pros still definitely outweigh the cons on this trip but we wanted to let our readers know that its not all rainbows and unicorns in paradise.