I am absolutely BONKERS for Saladan!!  There is nothing not to love.  If I could spend a week here,I would barely be satisfied.

I moved into a guesthouse here from my little beach hut.  My room is actually a closet with a single bed jammed into it. The beds here are generally pretty hard but I’m almost certain this one is a box spring.  It is still hot.  I tried to take a nap but the power went out and my fan quit.  I woke up mostly dead. I now know what steamed rice feels like!

The Hula Hula House came highly recommended though, and I can see why.  The owners are really great and the place is absolutely spotless!  The location is perfect; along a busy street but the rooms are closets so the noise isnt an issue.  I would be shocked if there was much noise after midnight anyway.

The town is quaint but bustling.  Little vendors everywhere yet still, no one trying to force me to buy anything.  I didn’t consider booking here before because reviews said there is no beach.  Actually, there is, and it’s beautiful!  However, after 2pm, the tide goes out so far you only get beach…haha.  NO SEA FOR YOU!  But I walked over the peninsula to Klong Dao beach and I tell you…HOLY SHIT!!! That is what I imagined Thailand’s beaches to be like.  It had the softest white sand and even at low tide, i could wade forever and not step on rocks or get more than wait deep.  i *did* step on some other things that made me sqeal and after seeing sunblock with “jellyfish protection”, I was convinced one may have gotten me.  I survived….everyone just calm down!  It was similar to Kan Tiang but larger and with more food and accommodation options.  Still…deadsville! The beach is covered in tiny sandballs from the little crabs but that’s about it.  Again, this is almost the “off” season  so less people overall, but these beaches are all so huge, I doubt it makes much difference.

The street in front of the guesthouse began to come come alive around 5pm.  All of the vendors setting up for dinner.  Oh, the delicious smells!  I stubbed my toe like a seasoned professional and limped onward to indulge.  Yes, street food is the way to go.  I dont know if I can say it is better than the restaurant food but it is a quarter of the price!  it’s my first street food meal and it was awesome!  I imagine it only gets better.

I have spent much of my evening plotting my course of action for the next few weeks.  I’ve been trying to decide if I should spend another day in Saladan.  I really do want to but my logical side says to carry on.  I booked a boat to Ao Nang on the mainland tomorrow at 13:30.

So far, this introvert has been successful in finding solace with only one tiny incident of uncomforatble small talk.  I have been against hostels from the beginning because a) Too people-y *shudder* and b) I can afford better so…..yeah.  But after having had my beach hut and now in my little rice-cooker guesthouse, I feel that it is not so important to have a private room.  Unless I am on the beach, there is little need to be in my room except to sleep, so I will save money where I can so I can spend more in Cambodia

where I hope to get another beach hut 🙂  For Ao Nang, I booked a “boxtel”….little stacked cube-beds so it’s private but cheap (not really, but for this area, yes).  This place also gets a lot of reviews for being a terrible place to meet people even though it has a great rooftop living space.  Sounds like it was made for me!!

Oh and I had NO idea  would swell up this much here, plus the humidity, nothing fits,  I bought an old-lady dress in search of comfort.  Normally, i would suffer the discomfort for fear of the dress making me appear too large.  Suddenly, body image issues went out the window.  Ain’t nobody got time for that here!

While I was in the market looking for said dress, I found these beautiful soaps.  They were all intricately sculpted and coloured to resemble their scent.  The girl gleefully handed me each one…the coconut smelled like coconut.  The mango smelled sweet enough to eat.  The pineapple smelled like a real pineapple!  The penis one smelled like……wait……what?  She giggled.  I went on to buy baby powder for my chafing thighs.

Good night, everyone!