Flight
December 16, 2021 in Thailand ⋅ 🌙 27 °C
PCR test fest and Scoot ran very late!
Quarantine
December 17, 2021 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 34 °C
Jim Thompson house
December 18, 2021 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 32 °C
Tour round Jim Thompson house - not allowed to take photos inside the house, but awesome collection of ancient pottery, silk tapestries and furniture. Houses were old, transported from elsewhere andRead more
Exploring Bangkok
December 18, 2021 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 32 °C
Slightly exciting trip to Chinatown, attacked by a dog (!), first temple, boat ride down the river back to the hotel, food court Thai basil rice for dins.
Temple exploring in Chiang Mai
December 19, 2021 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C
Hundreds of Wats dotted around Chiang Mai - spent the morning/ early afternoon exploring about 15. All free to wander in, lots of practicing monks around, and very empty atm because not many touristsRead more
Cafe lunch
December 19, 2021 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C
Lunch - some skewers, Pad Thai, fried rice and some cold drinks in a peaceful cafe courtyard
Walking night market
December 19, 2021 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C
Night markets are opened up now, though they check your vaccination status and temperature at the entrance. Wandered around and got some street food
Monks trail and Wat Pha Lat
December 20, 2021 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C
Hiked up a trail in the mountain to a fairly unbelievably beautiful temple. River running through, with a lovely pond looking over the city, lots of beautiful statues, temples and old buildings dottedRead more
Doi Suthep
December 20, 2021 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C
Carried on up the mountain once we managed to hail a red taxi/bus (shared, only a pound or so per trip) and went to Doi Suthep, a temple overlooking the city
Khao Soi lunch, silver temple and swim
December 20, 2021 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C
Got Khao Soi for lunch - classic Chiang Mai dish, spicy noodle soup with crunchy noodles on top. This was a v busy place popular with the locals, they'd run out of chicken by the time we arrived soRead more
Cooking class
December 20, 2021 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C
Went to a cooking class recommended by the hotel - pretty fab! They took us to a local market to buy some ingredients, then out to a farm in the countryside where they've got a huge bamboo barn.Read more
Doi Inthanon cloud forests
December 21, 2021 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C
Hotel sorted us a driver to take us to Doi Inthanon national park - includes the highest mountain in Thailand (a mere 2500m). First stop was a a couple of nature trails round the cloud forest at theRead more
Doi Inthanon Stupas
December 21, 2021 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C
Next stop in Doi Inthanon, two stupas! These are pretty recently built
Lunch, waterfalls and coffee
December 21, 2021 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C
Headed lower down Doi Inthanon to have lunch at a trout farm/ hydropower station, see a couple of waterfalls and have a quick coffee stop before driving back
Dinner at Dash
December 21, 2021 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C
Last night in Chiang Mai, went for dinner at a place called Dash, in a teak house. The guy in charge lived in West Hampstead for a bit! He grew up in Chiang Mai and the house is rebuilt from hisRead more
Bye to hotel and flight to Krabi
December 22, 2021 in Thailand ⋅ 🌙 15 °C
Early departure from Terracotta Arts hotel - fab hotel, some pictures here. The staff here were super friendly and helpful, breakfasts delish and huge and the hotel was filled with terracottaRead more
Boat to Koh Yao Yai
December 22, 2021 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C
Waited a couple of hours at the pier in Ao Nang for the boat, grabbed some street food for lunch, then speedboat to Koh Yao Yai
Checked in to Santhiya resort and dinner
December 22, 2021 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C
Pretty awesome hotel! Did a bit of scouting around, quick swim and (average) dinner in one of the restaurants.
Day 1 at Santhiya
December 23, 2021 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C
Lots of swimming in the pools, sea and a quick kayak session. Abandoned the resort restaurant for the small hotel restaurant next door for lunch and dinner, which was much tastier! Massaman curry forRead more
Boat trip to Khai islands
December 24, 2021 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C
Hired a longtail boat from Captain E on the beach and went for a tour of Khai islands, three small islands not too far from ours. Beaut and deserted (until one big boat tour at the first). Chilled onRead more
Day 2 afternoon at Santhiya
December 24, 2021 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C
Bit sunburnt after the boat trip so mainly chilled in the shade. Decided to get the hotel restaurant's Christmas buffet, which was hit and miss, but featured an awesome fire dancing display on theRead more
Day 3 in Santhiya
December 25, 2021 in Thailand ⋅ 🌙 28 °C
Alternative Christmas! Bit burnt still, but did a fair amount of swimming and chilling. Went to a new slightly inland restaurant (Isaan Fine) which was bril. Had crispy chicken skin salad, red curryRead more
Final morning at Santhiya
December 26, 2021 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C
Final morning at Santhiya was pretty active - went paddle boarding first thing in the morning, then breakfast and a final swim in the infinity pool. Checked out and went for lunch at the same place asRead more
Ayutthaya tour
December 27, 2021 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C
Up at 6 for a tour of Ayutthaya, which is the old capital (around 500ish years ago) before it was invaded by the Burmese. Very hot (33) so good that we started early and had an air-conditioned tourRead more
Swim and exploring Bangkok at night
December 27, 2021 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C
Much needed swim to cool off after the tour and doing all the flight admin and testing. Hotel pool had a great view of some of the skyscrapers. Then went exploring Bangkok to get some food. First gotRead more