Kelayang Beach Cottages

2 nights had been spent in Tanjung Pandan and I opted for a change of scenery. I’d already found the Kelayan Beach Cottages and, once checked out of the Herlikat Hotel, rode the moped the 30 minutes to get to the cottages.

This place has a beautiful beach and the wooden shacks that overlook the beach are rustic at best. They have two cottages, fan or air con and as there is only 50,000 a night difference I agreed to the air con room at 300,000 per night (aprox £20). The rooms are spacious, mine has a big double bed surrounded by mosquito netting and a bathroom with a western toilet and a shower. The fan room has a squat toilet more traditional in Indonesia and the view from all of the wooden verandas is the palm tree-lined beach.  I arrived at 9.30am, changed my shorts to swimming shorts and went and grabbed the nasi goreng that I’d ordered when I checked in.

Straight out of a packet, it didn’t bode well for what I’d hoped would be good food here but for breakfast it was fine. Food over, I walked the 20 or so yards to the beach and just threw myself in the warm, blue water. The beach here doesn’t have as much detritus as the beach at Tanjung Tinggi. Last year, all the beaches were perfect but the tides at this time of year still wash all manner of flotsam and jetsam onto the beaches. This doesn’t really change until after May. Anyway, Tinggi was a bit of a mess but Kelayan is gorgeous. Palm trees swaying in the breeze, fishing boats parked just off the shore, the famous rocks dotting the bay and a couple of to gaze at. (One of these, i swear, looks like a chicken but found out later is thought by the locals to look like a Garuda, Indonesia’s mythical symbol).

After the swim i thought i’d read my kindle...I’m reading “The Legends of King Arthur and his Knights” by Sir James Knowles...but instead, fell asleep on an uncomfortable single plank. Not so uncomfortable that i didn’t sleep though.

This afternoon has been spent swimming, writing, reading and I’ve just finished a really nice piece of roast chicken accompanied by a sauce made from sweet, thick soy sauce, chopped fresh chillies and a squeeze of lime juice. Served with rice, it obliterated all thoughts of this morning’s nasi goreng.

It’s so insanely relaxing here my only real regret is that Yohanna couldn’t join me.