Phanom Bencha Mountain resort - PBMR

We arrived in Krabi on Thursday, spending the day travelling from Patong first to a minibus station, then up a short way into the mountains about 18-20km from Krabi. We elected to take a shared minibus with another 10 backpackers in it as it worked out the same or less than a taxi to the bus station and then a larger bus.

This (PBMR) is the first place we have come to where we feel as if we are staying at someone's home, or perhaps rather in a wooden bungalow in their grounds. The Son family are very hospitable, and the whole family appear to be working in and around the restaurant.

We met a Swiss couple who spend several months of every year here in Thailand, split between Phanom Bencha and one of the smaller islands where they have a house. The Swiss couple, Toni and Jacqueline, have known Son and his family for 20 odd years, and they treat each other as brothers.

The resort is a nature lovers' paradise, teeming with birdlife, and with lush vegetation, and sumptuous gardens full of exotic flowers.

There is a natural pool (sort of built in and around some large granite rocks) fed with fresh mountain
water which is deliciously cool.

The bungalows spill down the side of the hill, each well apart from the others so it feels as if we are in a village with a house of our own, and our own balcony. Each bungalow is simple and rustic and quite charming.

There is a section of the river which is damned up and full of carp and other fish, and these eat all the mosquito larvae so there are no mosquitos at all here. The restaurant overlooks the lake they have created with fish, and there is a waterfall from the roof, fed by the water from the mountain. Birds make quite a lively background noise, both the wild birds and some kept in cages around the open sided restaurant.

We went yesterday to visit the tiger cave temple nearby and climbed the tall limestone karst behind the temple to see the large buddha and the view.

There are 1260 steps, and some of them have risers twice the height of the stair; it took as about an hour or more and we stopped frequently going up. We went up with a German couple, Maria and Matthias.

I think if I was to come back to Thailand I might come back here; it is a wonderful place, with amazing food, at very resonable prices, and staying with a Thai family who do everything, but everything to make you feel welcome and to relax. This is Son and Joop:

It is no wonder that a Swiss couple, having met them 20 odd years ago, decided there was nowhere nicer in the world to come to and relax from the highly disciplined Swiss way of life. Toni and Jacqueline: