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Taste of Thailand
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Taste of Thailand

March 2018 - April 2018 Read more
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  • Trip start
    March 29, 2018
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    Amsterdam in an hour

    March 29, 2018 in the Netherlands ⋅ ⛅ 9 °C

    Well, an hour or two. In transit at Amsterdam there’s time for a quick trip into town by train from Schipol. A brisk stroll along a few of the narrower canals marvelling at the centuries old buildings followed by a brief stop and Dam Square and the enormous edifice of the Beurs van Berlage.

    Then a quick stroll back to Amsterdam central and back to the airport.    Read more

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    Back in London, briefly

    March 29, 2018 in England ⋅ ⛅ 8 °C

    Here’s where the trip really starts. I meet up with the rest of the family for the long journey to Hong Kong on a BA A380. The quieter aircraft will make a difference to grabbing some sleep on the trip hopefully.Read more

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    Hello again Hong Kong

    March 30, 2018 in Hong Kong ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    Hong Kong is a great stopover location for any journey to Asia and Australia so we have passed through here many times. We arrive in mid afternoon so there’s time to drop the bags at the airport hotel and ride into town on the MTR from Tung Chung. We stroll around Nathan Road and Tsim Sha Tsui for a while then grab some food in the Taiwanese restaurant Tea Wood in I-Square shopping mall; coincidentally also home to a large HMV.

    It is still quite early when the jet lag starts to kick in so we head back. Our flight tomorrow is already reporting a 2 hour delay so at least we can have a lay in and a leisurely 5 minute bus ride to the airport.    Read more

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    Finally in Thailand

    March 31, 2018 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    As we were alerted, our flight is two hours late leaving Hong Kong so we eventually arrive in Bangkok in late afternoon. We intend to take the airport express train into town but this service is not running (seems to have been the case for a while) so we take the stopping service instead, mingling with locals who have to navigate around all of the luggage carried by us and other travellers.

    The last station is Phaya Thai where we hop off and head for the taxi rank for the short (?) journey to the hotel. But it is rush hour, the traffic is crazy and taxis are in short supply and it takes nearly half hour before the queue is dealt with (mostly by people wandering off to find their own way) and we jump into a taxi. Even from an official rank the driver tries to barter a fixed price starting at 500 baht but being form and politely pointing to the meter he finally relents and turns it on. After fighting the traffic for another half an hour or so we finally reach our hotel - the Sheraton. The fare is less than 100 baht.

    All of the rooms here overlook the river. It is already dark so we can see some of the other buildings lit up but there are also plenty of patches of inky darkness.

    Friends of ours have stayed here before and there’s a recommendation for dinner a few yards away overlooking the river. Viva Aviv, strictly speaking big not Thai, but a lovely spot and an impressive drinks list. Many of the evening dinner cruises leave from an adjacent pier so the area is frantically busy until about 8pm when all the boats are on their way. The restaurant calms down, food is served and drinks are drunk - and refilled.

    Time for sleep, preceded by a little bit of planning for tomorrow.    Read more

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    Stalls and Silk

    April 1, 2018 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    Off to Chatuchak Weekend market today. The Sheraton has a shuttle boat to the nearest Skytrain station at Saphan Taksin so that’s a useful start. Skytrain (BTS) is an elevated Metro railway serving some parts of town including a couple of stations near the weekend market. Even at 1000 the outflow of people from Mo Chit BTS towards the market is constant so there’s no difficulty in finding our way; just follow the crowd.

    The market is vast. Set around a road that circuits the whole market there are hundreds of internal alleyways between the road and many hundreds if not a thousand or more stalls. Clothes, food, household goods, bags and so on. We walk in a general direction for a couple of hours picking up some t shirts and a bag along the way. Some street food to keep us going a bit longer - spring rolls and couple of pork skewers. By 2pm and a further rest for drinks we think we’ve done enough but probably only seen a fraction of the total number of stalls and shops.

    The market is noticeably busier so we head off on a short BTS ride to National Stadium and a short walk to Jim Thompson's House. He was a businessman and architect who relocated to Thailand after WW2 and promoted the Thai Silk Industry and then began to collect South east Asian art building his own house from parts of six traditional Thai-styled houses. It is these houses we visit today.

    As we're on the tour a huge downpour of rain starts.    Read more

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    Grand Palace, Bangkok

    April 2, 2018 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    Heading out of the Sheraton we take the local boat service (red line) for 45 baht for 3 of us (that's about £1) to Chang Pier. A short walk gets us to the entrance to the Grand Palace, one of the key tourist sites in Bangkok. The palace has been the official residence of the Kings of Siam (and later Thailand) since its construction in 1782. Interesting thought is that a lot of buildings in Bangkok, including temples, are not as old as they look.

    The Grand Palace is a collection of buildings rather than a single one and we pass a relentless succession of intricately decorated temples. Gold, gold leaf adorns many buildings and statues.

    We see a changing of the guard as we pass Phra Maha Montian on the way to the main palace building.

    More info at : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Palace#Phra….

    It is very hot and humid by the time we finish here at about 3pm so it is time for a quick trip back to the hotel and a swim before heading out again for dinner.

    I would normally steer well clear of a tourist site that owes its interest to a film but the Sky Bar at the top of the Lebua at the State Tower is said to have a fantastic view as well as featuring in the film Hangover 2. A wild tuk tuk ride gets us there in 10 minutes and the lift speeds us to the 64th floor. The Sky Bar technically is not featured in the Hangover but we pause for a cocktail and the amazing views and on the way out stop for a photo at the actual bar featured in the film (Scirroco).

    Then it's back to the Sheraton shuttle boat from Saphon Tacsin pier to dinner near the hotel    Read more

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    Khwaeng Wat Arun

    April 3, 2018 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    We didn't get to finish the most famous temples in Bangkok yesterday so it is back to the Orange flag ferry for the 10 minute journey from the pier near our hotel (Sri Phaya) - to Wat Arun. Wat Arun is a buddhist temple; the name means Temple of Dawn. Although there has been a temple on this site since the 1700s most of the works here date to the 19th century. It is an amazing sight with the spires encrusted with colourful porcelain. A recent restoration has made the decoration much brighter.

    Wat Arun sits on a fairly small site so only an hour or so is needed for a good walk round. Then its time for the next destination - Wat Pho - which sits a two minute ferry right straight across the river.    Read more

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    Wat Pho

    April 3, 2018 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C

    Moving on from Wat Arun we cross the river by a small shuttle boat to another Temple. Wat Pho - famous for a large reclining Buddha. It is easily one of the most stunning temples in Bangkok, not only because of its riverside location, but also because the design is very different to the other temples you can visit. It is also a very important place of worship for the people of Bangkok.

    We are first led to the long line of people wanting to get a view of the reclining Buddha. It is certainly impressive and worth a look. On the reverse side you are invited to pay 20 Baht and drop coins into the offering bowls all along the length of the Buddha. After that we take up the offer of free water (a nice touch) and go for a walk to the other buildings. There are 100s of beautiful Buddhas, said to be the largest collection in Thailand, all shiny and bright gold and resplendent in their setting. Also we make a stop to take time out in Phra Ubosot (Phra Uposatha) which is the ordination hall, the main hall used for performing Buddhist rituals, and the most sacred building of the complex.    Read more

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    Venice of the East

    April 3, 2018 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 33 °C

    Bangkok’s canals - or Khlongs to the locals - were created in the 16th century to help speed up the voyage to the sea for foreign merchants. By the 19th Century there were so many Bangkok was dubbed the Venice of the East. Most have now been filled in but on the West side of the river some remain and are still used for transport but mainly exist as a tourist attraction.

    We tour the canals in a traditional Thai long tail boat powered by a truck engine and a long propellor. We turn off the wide river into the narrow canal and the riverside properties range from broken and collapsed wooden houses through precariously balanced houses to carefully looked after solidly built properties with gardens. Several attempts at cleanups by the government have been made but this is one waterway I’d really rather not take a dip in. The locals must be annoyed constantly by the buzzing of these tourist boats. It is interesting to see a different view of Bangkok; there are many smaller channels off the main canal that look interesting to explore - some derelict, some wide enough only for a canoe.

    We end our trip at the pier which serves Chinatown. A Thai approach to health and safety as we scramble from the low lying longboat via tyres acting as boat fenders onto the pier itself.    Read more

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    Back on a plane

    April 4, 2018 in Thailand ⋅ 🌙 28 °C

    Another bit of travelling to do today to our next stop in Phuket for a bit of R&R. We treat ourselves to a taxi direct to the airport (£20) and it seems just as well we did as, for the lengthy period we run parallel to the railway, there are no trains to be seen.

    A quick breakfast and we’re off to the plane. Bangkok Airways A320. Boarding is very efficient and the plane is rolling down the runway 10 minutes early. That’s how it is done BA.

    It is just over an hour flight to Phuket. Flying domestic there’s no passport control to worry about but there is a long queue at baggage reclaim with no bags from even the arrival before appearing. Miraculously, however, our bags turn up a few minutes later - could the Cathay priority bag tags I left on them have played a part?

    Shunning the so it yourself travel approach yet again we’d booked a transfer to our hotel so only a few minutes to wait and we’re on our way. Phuket is much more built up than I’d thought with some sizeable towns and shopping malls en route to our destination of Karon beach.    Read more

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    R&R and Bangla Road

    April 5, 2018 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 32 °C

    After another day’s travelling we feel a day by the pool is fair reward. Paul takes a walk into Karon and back via the golden sandy beach.

    In the evening we head for Patong, the “liveliest” spot in Phuket. There’s a huge modern American style mall where we stock on a few medical supplies. We then take a walk along Bangla Road, the notorious centre of Patong. It is early when we get there but the bars are starting to turn up the music to attract customers. We’re hungry so we are headed for a recommended Italian restaurant called Salute. We are greeted by the owner, an ex-pat Italian, and eat authentic pasta, pizza and bruschetta. Topped off by limoncello. .

    As we venture outside the bars are in full swing with pole dancers on the bar tables. Cheap drinks are in offer as well exotic floor shows. We pass.

    Head back to the hotel on a tuk tuk with disco lights and music being broadcast to all.    Read more

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    Diving day 1

    April 9, 2018 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    That’s enough pool lazing for Paul. Today he’s off out on a dive boat about 30km off the coast of Phuket. The trip out is about an hour and a half and rather choppy ... just watch the horizon.

    Mostly small stuff to see - a seahorse, stingray, lots of moray eels and some small leopard sharks curled up under some coral.    Read more

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    "Take me to the beach"

    April 10, 2018 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    Although we usually avoid plannned excursions, lethargy and lack of public transport led us to book a day trip to the famous Phi Phi islands with a company called Phuket Island Hopper. The islands are about 30 miles offshore. We take a mini van for an hour to the east side of Phuket, a speedboat for an hour to meet up with a bigger group who left earlier for a longer day trip, then a final speedboat to arrive at Ko Phi Phi Don just after lunchtime.

    Wow is it busy! There must be 30 boats lined up on the shore and dozens of others moored in the harbour. It is quite a feat but our captain manages to find a ’parking’ space. Tourists mill around and a bar beckons us for a cold drink. Because most of the boats only stop for a short time I’m sure on a longer trip it would be easy to get away from the crowds. But we don’t have the time today.

    Soon we are on our way to Monkey Beach, a couple of minutes ride away. A group of wild monkeys live on the beach and are fed by tourists on boats hence they have learnt to swim out to grab food. Cute but not natural. Our guide has quite some fun feeding bananas to the monkeys and they are quick to jump in the water and get their fill. They are cheeky looking things but we are warned that they bite and best for them not to get too close.

    En route to Ko Phi Phi Lee we are taken past a few other caves and bays. The Viking Cave is a unique sight and one of Ko Phi Phi’s main tourist attractions. The cave was so named, due to the prehistoric drawings that were found on the cave walls that resemble ancient viking ships.
    Within the cave there are lots of ledges which are inhabited by thousands of birds called swifts. These birds make their nests out of their own saliva, the nests are harvested and later sold to make birds nest soup, a Chinese delicacy.

    We arrive at Maya Beach after about 15 mins passing some beautiful scenery and again this bay is another tourist day trip highlight mainly for its location for the film ‘The Beach’. We snorkel and take a walk on the beach - disappointed not to find Leonardo but loads of tourists instead.

    Leaving the island and heading home you get a spectacular view of the island and it takes around 1 hr to get back to Phuket. We sat the back of the boat and unsurprisingly we are wetter than when we started off given the splash back from the waves. That said it was a great day.    Read more

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    Scuba day

    April 12, 2018 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C

    Whilst Al soaks up the rays by the pool it is time for another day of diving including Emma’s first open water dives.

    Thailand is a beautiful dive destination and today’s dives are way out to sea but in a protected bay on a small pair of islands so ideal for a new diver. T, our divemaster, briefs us and we ‘giant stride’ into the ocean and descend gently to the bottom. 12m is the max depth for a novice but there is still plenty to see including several octopi, a large moray eel and some smaller morays, lots of giant puffer fish and more. It’s a long day with 3 dives and a lengthy boat trip out to sea. Leave at 8 and back just before 7pm.

    The photos don't really do it justice (and they need the colours fixing to adjust for the loss of colour underwater).    Read more

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    The weather is grim!

    April 15, 2018 in Hong Kong ⋅ 🌫 17 °C

    Back down to chilly weather with a bang. En route from Bangkok to London we have a day in Hong Kong. Pulling open the hotel room curtains we are greeted with a thick mist. Hooray, it is starting to clear. Boo, it is being replaced by the most relentless rain and windy weather that we have seen in quite a while. It’s going to be a very damp wander round HK today.Read more

  • Trip end
    April 16, 2018
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