Have you ever thought about where you would like to retire? And I mean that early retirement at 40 kind of retirement, because during the Christmas holidays I found somewhere which would make a perfect location for such a proposal. We were in the middle of our holiday on Khao Kho in Petchabun, Thailand and we arrived at night weary from a full day's sight seeing on the stunning mountain peaks! It was dark and nothing could be seen, my only knowledge of our retreat was that it was named Indian View, little did I know the treats that would be revealed the following morning!

A Morning Greeting

I woke up early in the morning as it was cold, yes that's right cold in Thailand! During the 'Cooler' season various of areas of Thailand get cold weather. Now to all of you Steemians from temperate climates you may not think much of it, but it was 7 degrees Celsius, bearing in mind that it was 33 degrees in Bangkok a few days before making a difference of 26 degrees which makes a massive difference. Oh, also I noticed that someone had left the window a jar and I was sleeping right by the window, I believe it was either my mother-in-law, sister-in-law, wife or son and I wasn't sure who, so I body slammed them all! (Only kidding I quietly shut it with my shivering- Thai acclimatised hands and went outside) Being cold was completely worth it, I tip-toed outside trying not to disturb the snoring orchestra and was presented with jaw dropping views bombarding my vision!

My welcoming view as I left our humble abode

Super Slide

After enjoying the views for quite some time, I went to collect my son from his slumber as after a little exploring of the grounds I came across a huge slide that went down the mountainside and if that wasn't enough, to the right of the warp speed slide was a giant swing, which swung you off the side of the mountain, providing an eye bursting view as you swung to your heart's content! Both were aptly painted yellow, which made them stand out from the beautiful hues of green you would see in every direction you look! To be honest I didn't really fancy the slide at first, as I thought that with my weight I would shoot over the safety net at the end and Thailand is not world renowned for it's tip-top safety records. Before I could think twice my Junior Explorer wasted no time and threw himself down the fun-filler, shooting off the end into the net at the end! I had to try if a six-year-old would do it! I didn't go as fast as anticipated due to my attire, jeans weren't slippery like my son's jogging trousers! Out of our family of five everyone had a go including grandma from halfway-down!

Eyeing up the challenge!

And he's off!

The expression says it all

Gravity Flyer

Once everyone had finished on the mountainside slide it was time to move onto the main event; The Yellow Sky Swing. I had been wanting to try it out from the moment I had set my eyes on it and I planned to launch myself as high as gravity would allow. I clambered as far backward as I could before releasing myself into orbit and all I can say is that it was awesome! As with the slide everyone was keen to defy gravity and yes grandma sessioned this one too! In fact it was hard to get her off it and I could hardly blame her, swinging into the air with that fantastic view is a memory I will never forget. We spent quite sometime taking photos, rotating in duties of cameraman and gravity defyer! My wife @asianeye and I have a lot of video footage to go through, so one of us will put up our video footage in the near future!

I named it Big Yellow

Grandma Explorer in action!

@asianeye (Mrs Explorer) self documenting

My turn!

Alternative view

Life from Nature

The owner of Indian View was an extremely laid back and friendly character, he named the campsite/resort after one of his interests - indians! In the morning he often paints his face with red and white stripes as Native Red-Indians are often depicted. On both mornings he greeted us, provided us with a selection of breakfast treats and then painted his face. I didn't ask him why or how, but he understood the time it takes to do make up, as each morning My son and I would wait for the three female members to surface from our dwelling.

The owner used to live in Bangkok, but his wife became very sick and they had spent about $70,000 dollars on treatment. He said that they thought that the smog and pollution wasn't helping her, so about 8 years ago they moved to the mountain and ever since his wife has been well, living off their own fresh fruit and glorious lung cleansing air. They said they weren't bothered about having too much business, and were happy with enough to sustain a happy life. Now that sounds like an early retirement plan for me. It truly was a wonderful place to stay and they seemed to be loving life and so would I! (Unfortunately I didn't capture the man in his full attire!)

Thank you for reading and checking out my blog, it really is appreciated. If you enjoyed this and would like to see more over here in 'The land of Smiles'-Thailand, swing on by when you have the time. Feedback would be fantastic, I am learning so much from Steemit everyday and am excited to see what 2018 brings!

Peace Out from Thailand and never stop exploring!