Swim

Swimming at Bonsai Villa Homestay

Swim

We were staying at Bonsai Villa Homestay for 5 nights and we swam a lot, (as per usual :). The pool was a decent size but it was pretty cold. But it was perfect for a cool-off after a long day in town. Bonsai was on Cam Nam Island, a 10 minute walk to the old town, staying on Cam Nam was nice because the center of Hoi An was sooo busy. Bonsai had two very cute dogs named Lala and Lulu, Lulu was the grandmother of Lala. Lala was so cute 🐕!! In conclusion I would rate the pool at Bonsai an 8 out of 10.

Swimming at Central Boutique Angkor Hotel

Swim

The pools at Central Boutique Angkor Hotel were awesome! They were the perfect depth and were very pleasant to swim in. I liked the infinity element of them. Central Boutique Angkor Hotel was the only Boutique Hotel in Siem Reap with two swimming pools.

This was the first pool, it was shallower than the other pool. Unfortunately I only swam twice because I got a really bad cut on my knee and it hurt to put it in chlorine. It was the perfect depth for handstands. I loved pool No. 1. I would rate it an 8 out of 10.

Pool 2 was very fun to swim in. It had a platform at the end of it that was good for dives. It was pretty deep but I still loved it. I would also rate pool 2 an 8 out of 10.

Swimming at Glur Hostel

Swim

We are now in Ao Nang and are staying at Glur Hostel, I really like it. Glur Hostel has a nice pool that is the perfect temperature. Lately, me and Denise have been practically living in the pool. The pool is about 9m long and 130 cm deep. It is perfect for flips, dives, and handstands. Denise says in emphasis “It is awesome”. I would rate the Glur pool an 8 out of 10. 

Floating Bungalows on Lake Cheow Lan

Nature, Sleep, Swim

3 days ago, we flew from Luang Prabang, Laos (via Bangkok) to Phuket in southern Thailand. We took a van from Phuket to Khao Sok National Park which holds 5% of animal species in the world. We are staying at Khao Sok Riverfront Resort. Yesterday, in the middle of our stay, we took a boat to floating bungalows which you can see in picture 5, on Lake Cheow Lan, which is 45 metres deep!!! We were going to stay there for two days and one night. We swam so much in the lake. On the first day we hiked to Nam Talu Cave. We had to wear life jackets because the cave had water that was pretty deep. Our guide was named Kiki. He spotted so so many spiders in the cave. I got a little freaked out at times. One time that I was freaked out was when we had to climb down a waterfall in the cave, because it was so narrow that it could only fit a single file line. When we finally came out of the cave I was exhausted. We took the boat back to the bungalows and swam some more. That night, we had a delicious dinner of fish and noodles. Then we were rocked to bed by the waves. The next morning we woke up at 6:30am to go on an early morning boat safari. We saw monkeys, gibbons, and giant hornbills (a species similar to the toucan). Can you spot the langur monkey in picture 7? Gibbons have a lifespan of 25 years in the wild, and are monogamous mammals that form lifelong bonds. Gibbons are members of the ape family but are faster then most primates and can travel as far as 10 metres in one jump and can swing through the trees at speeds as fast as 56km/hr. After the safari ended, we returned for breakfast and swam, again. Next we took the boat to a cave called Pra Kay Petch Cave. We walked through the cave while learning about the species in the cave such as spiders and bats. Then we took the boat back to the pier and took the van back to Khao Sok Riverfront Resort.  

Swimming at Pan Kled Villa

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The pool at Pan Kled Villa in Chiang Rai (before we went to Laos) was amazing. It was spacious and not too cold. We swam in it every day because we loved it so much. It had a thermal pool that was a little warmer than the regular pool. I loved to do flips and handstands in the pool. The pool also had very good lounge chairs. I would rate the Pan Kled pool a 8 out of 10.

Pool at ISTY Hotel

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The pool at ISTY Hotel was very nice. It was 1.20m deep at the shallow end so little kids like Denise could stand without going under, and the deep end was 1.40m deep so older kids could have fun too. The pool had a little waterfall at the end of it which made the pool look very pretty. As you can see below, ISTY provided lounge chairs which was nice for reading or relaxing. The one con I have is that the water was very cold. Overall, I would rate the Isty pool a 7 1/2 out of 10.