Bottle Beach

After our time in the heat of Malaysia we needed a well earned break to prepare ourselves for the mountains of Laos, China and Nepal so after listening to recommendations of those in the know we headed for Bottle Beach, a beach accesible only by boat on Koh Phangan, an island off the south east coast of Thailand (which was itself a 15 hour van and boat ride from Penang).

Our requirements were fairly simple: a beautiful palm fringed beach ...

Where we could have our own bungalow on the beach (a bonus when it costs only 300 Baht (about NZD$12)) ...

And where there was little else to do but read in the hamock, swim, play a little volleyball and watch your head when going through doorways/showering/walking under palm trees, although arguably one of us had it coming ...

For those not acquainted with Thai toilets, below is a fairly ritzy version of what is here (note that this toilet counts as ritzy as it has a "western" toilet bowl rather than just a polished hole in the floor). The toilet is flushed by tipping water from the bucket into the toilet bowl until you're satisfied with the result and if there are any emergency issues there's always the hose attached to the wall ...
as well as the shower (which was blessedly refreshing) ...