Maybe, if we hadn’t had that second aperitif of Mekhong Whiskey before we began, we might not have forgotten that two satay chicken kebabs were on the grill. As it was, the aroma of burning wooden skewer brought George striding purposefully through the night and emerging from the coconut palm grove to avert a fire and rescue our barbecue.
“Would you like me to prepare your food for you?” smiled George, already removing the offending charred remains and beginning to organise the waiting food onto the grill with military precision.
“Thank you,” we said sheepishly, sinking into our loungers on the lawn with a relieved sigh and the ice clinking in our whiskey glasses.
It was our last night at the Rayavadee Hotel in Krabi and we had chosen to resist the temptation of once again heading to the utopia of the Krua Phranang Thai restaurant, in favour of a barbecue on the lawn of our pavilion. Earlier that evening, while we lazed in the Jacuzzi upstairs, George and his team had taken over the small kitchenette on the ground floor and had prepared and refrigerated all the food. All we had to do was barbecue and eat it.
The trouble was, it was all so incredibly tranquil and beautiful and we were relaxed to the point of near comatose. We’d taken our time over our first aperitif while we waited for the barbecue coals to reach optimum heat, then we’d slipped Dinah Washington into the CD player, poured ourselves another aperitif and popped the first skewers onto the grill.
After the cremation of the kebabs, George took control of culinary duties, serving our perfectly barbecued meal for us and opening a bottle of red, before disappearing into the night with a “bon appetit”. After that it’s all a bit of a blur. I remember taking an inordinate amount of time over the huge selection of tropical fruits that we had for dessert, and I’m fairly sure there may have been a second bottle of wine, or possibly another Mekhong, or even both.
The next morning we awoke, blurry eyed and thick headed, to pack up and catch the 8am tide that would begin our long journey home from Thailand via the hotel’s river boat, to Krabi airport for our flight to Bangkok. As I stepped into the shower, I felt an itch on my leg and I looked down to see angry, raised red lumps all around my ankle and the back of my knee. Mosquito bites. A cursory inspection of our bodies revealed more bites than we had ever had in our entire lives. Further, detailed research concluded that, between us, we had a staggering 54 bites.
It would seem that, not only had we forgotten that we’d placed the satay kebabs onto the barbecue, but we’d also forgotten to apply our repellent, and while we were enjoying our barbecue on the lawn, the voracious Krabi mosquitoes were also enjoying theirs.
Damn that Mekhong Whiskey.
Buzz Trips travelled to Thailand with Kuoni Travel – check out their Thailand holiday offers
Andrea (Andy) Montgomery is a freelance travel writer and co-owner of Buzz Trips and The Real Tenerife series of travel websites. Published in The Telegraph, The Independent, Wexas Traveller, Thomas Cook Travel Magazine, EasyJet Traveller Magazine, you can read her latest content on Google+
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