Day 11: From Koh Samui to Koh Phi Phi

Once again, the Heckermachers were up at the crack of dawn: this time, to catch an early flight to Phuket.

Sunrise from the Sandalwood Villas lobby.

 This time, they let the hotel staff pack them breakfast. However, it turned out they didn't need it.

Complimentary imitation crab pizza in the Koh Samui airport.

The Koh Samui airport, completely owned and operated by Bangkok Airways, is tiny, posh, and (like Bangkok Airways itself) ridiculous.

Fishtank in the ladies room at the Koh Samui airport.

Departures terminal. 

Trolley to tarmac.

Boarding the world's most adorable airplane.

After a 50-minute flight across the island to Phuket, the Heckermachers were met at the airport by a representative from Zeavola, their resort on Koh Phi Phi. (Actually, they were met first by about forty cabbies squawking "taxi!" like a pack of seagulls, but once that was done they found their ride.)

He whisked them across town to the Royal Phuket Marina, where they waited for an hour in the restaurant of an honest-to-goodness yacht club for their speedboat. Fortunately, the yacht club had coffee. And pastries. And wifi.

Soon, they were zipping across the Andaman Sea.

Speedboats are fast. Hence the name. 

They amused themselves by taking shakey-face pictures in the wind.

At Zeavola, they were greeted on the beach by a staff member bearing cool towels and welcome cocktails. They checked in and proceeded to their room, an indoor-outdoor architectural delight with an elephant towel that put all previous swans to shame.

Elephant towel!

Classy.

After settling in, they had a leisurely lunch at the beachside restaurant, booked a scuba trip for the following day, and lolled about on a pair of beach chairs.

In the early evening, they headed to the spa and treated themselves to side-by-side spa treatments that involved wearing see-through disposable underwear, being covered in greenish goop and mummified in saran wrap like human burritos, and finally given sixty-minute massages so relaxing that Anna fell asleep and woke up to find that her masseuse had braided her hair. 

Blissed out and foggy from their spa-venture, the Heckermachers wandered back down toward the beach, where they discovered a cocktail party for guests in Zeavola's open-air lobby. They sipped mai tais, nibbled hors d'oeuvres, and made small talk until the sun had gone down, at which point they decided to go back to their room and "just take the tinest nap."

They slept clear through to the next morning.