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Retirement trip
  • Juliet Sanders
  • Juliet Sanders

Retirement trip

Travelling to Antalya, Istanbul, Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai. Czytaj więcej
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  • Juliet SandersRetirement tripJuliet Sanders

    Thai massage

    15 stycznia, Tajlandia ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    You really can’t come to Thailand without experiencing a massage. As someone who has occasional sports massages at home for back pain I was keen to try a Thai version. It involved various stretches and pressure points and for the princely sum of about £7 for an hour I came away relaxed and renewed. I sent Neil later on for a back massage and no doubt we will go back. Czytaj więcej

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  • Juliet SandersRetirement tripJuliet Sanders

    Chiang Mai zoo

    16 stycznia, Tajlandia ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    I have mixed feelings about zoos but the lure of penguins won over. On reflection we should have take. The option of a golf cart or hop on hop off bus, but hindsight is a wonderful thing. The site was well spread out and hilly but we took it slowly and Neil did a great job of walking. In terms of animals, we saw relatively few. Some enclosures seemed empty, the pandas were not available, the aquarium had no shows on and charged more than the entrance fee. In all, it all looked a bit sad and tired but the penguins were awesome! Czytaj więcej

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  • Juliet SandersRetirement tripJuliet Sanders

    Coffee culture

    17 stycznia, Tajlandia ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    I hadn’t realised how big coffee growing is here. In the local mountains are many coffee farms and this transfers to the many coffee shops in the town. We found a particularly nice specialist shop with a whole menu of delights, a bit like a wine list. Of course the fruit juices are equally available (and cheap) and we enjoy the variety of food courts at the night markets to round off the day. Czytaj więcej

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  • Juliet SandersRetirement tripJuliet Sanders

    Sunday market

    18 stycznia, Tajlandia ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    A feature of Chiang Mai seems to be that every market comes with a food court and its own entertainment. This is variable but quite often 1980s ballads sung in dubious English. Today we were treated to some very loud and out of tune teenagers and then some exquisite traditional dance. We also bagged some good bargains at the market. Got to take the rough with the smooth! Czytaj więcej

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  • Juliet SandersRetirement tripJuliet Sanders

    Karen Village

    20 stycznia, Tajlandia ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    A bit of a dilemma in this visit. Arguably staged for tourists but on the other hand offering an income, education for the children and therefore more choices. The long neck women of the Karen villages are beautiful and fascinating. The rings are incredibly heavy and I’m glad I was only trying them on. I also got to sift rice (badly). Czytaj więcej

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  • Juliet SandersRetirement tripJuliet Sanders

    Tattoos

    23 stycznia, Tajlandia ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    I got a really bad out of sight tattoo over 20 years ago and only recently got the urge to go again. Over the past few months I’ve sat on an idea but on a whim decided to get it done. In it I added a lotus, symbol of new beginnings. Neil also got on board with his first - a phoenix, signifying riding from the ashes. Again, a rebirth. I lived it so much so went back for another the next day. Might come back with a whole sleeve! Czytaj więcej

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  • Juliet SandersRetirement tripJuliet Sanders

    Hongkhao Village

    25 stycznia, Tajlandia ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    After two weeks we have moved hotel today to Hongkhao Village. This is to the south, outside the walled city but still part of Chiang Mai. It’s a different vibe, being more isolated but a short taxi ride takes us into the city for a couple of pounds if we want to do that, we have a couple of trips planned this week so watch this space! Czytaj więcej

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  • Juliet SandersRetirement tripJuliet Sanders

    Oh dear!

    26 stycznia, Tajlandia ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    Well the hotel yesterday looked idyllic however when we were shown to the room it was very disappointing. I’d paid extra for an upgrade and there was a long list of things included but a significant number were missing. When I queried this I found that because I’d also requested a ground floor room for Neil they had in fact downgraded the room. So basically I had paid top price for a basic room and they could no longer offer the room I’d paid for. Furthermore we found there were no places to eat within easy walking distance so basically it didn’t work for us. As a temporary measure I booked a night further into town ( which actually turned out ok) while coming up with plan B. Considering our accommodation had been booked for almost a year I then discovered to find somewhere nice at a decent price wasn’t so easy. However by splitting the dates I’ve managed to come up with some nice options so we’ll be moving to the first one today. Czytaj więcej

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  • Juliet SandersRetirement tripJuliet Sanders

    Chilling

    28 stycznia, Tajlandia ⋅ 🌙 25 °C

    There are so many food options in Thailand. Every corner seems to have street food and there are a glut of restaurants. Where we are staying now, we did what we normally do and tried the closest place and we’ve never looked back.

    Chillin’ is just great food and for £2-5 you can get a main course. Last night I went for pork loin in a mushroom sauce which was one of the best meals I’ve had for a very long time.

    Just about to dive into Malibu chicken and sweet and sour pork.     Czytaj więcej

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  • Juliet SandersRetirement tripJuliet Sanders

    Coffee disappointment

    31 stycznia, Tajlandia ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    It sounded great!

    A Day in a Coffee Village🍃

    A Day in a Coffee Village invites you to spend a full morning and afternoon
    in a small coffee-growing community in northern Thailand.

    This one-day experience offers a gentle introduction to village life
    from seasonal coffee harvesting and walking through the coffee farms,
    to sharing a local home-style lunch prepared by the community.

    Participants will learn about coffee through hands-on activities,
    listen to stories from local farmers,
    and enjoy coffee tasting in a simple, unhurried setting.

    Designed for small groups, the day moves at a relaxed pace
    no rush, no staging
    allowing time to understand where coffee truly begins: with people and everyday life.

    I signed us up and was so looking forward to it. I had discussions about Neil’s mobility- no problem, they said, we can accommodate.

    However their solution was a motorbike over rough terrain. No mention of insurance, I had fears of a Gofundme for hospital costs and repatriation, Instead, we sat for over 2 hours on the van looking at this.

    The guide returned. Would we like lunch in the village? Well it was only 11am, but whatever. We’ll go for it. Except we were on a dirt track that was really muddy, which was strange as we’ve not seen a drop of rain. There was wooden shack that was barely standing and a rug was rolled out on the floor. An old man was hunched cooking something dubious in a wok. Now I’m all for authentic but there was no way Neil was getting down on that rug or he wouldn’t be getting up again.

    Next thing, we are whisked back to town like naughty children and told we would only get a token refund because we refused to join in. We had done nothing. It’s it on the van - none of the promised activities.

    Thus began a standoff and we held the van hostage. After some negotiations and my request to call the police, we reached an agreement and gave up possession.

    Traumatised by coffee!     Czytaj więcej

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  • Juliet SandersRetirement tripJuliet Sanders

    A new hotel

    31 sty–8 lut, Tajlandia ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

    We have moved to our last hotel in Chiang Mai. A little south of the city, we have got a jacuzzi suite which is spacious and feels a notch up from previous ones.

    I’m hoping to spend some time in the pool, enjoy the jacuzzi and see another area of the city. A highlight is an all day snack table! Czytaj więcej

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  • Juliet SandersRetirement tripJuliet Sanders

    Tattoos 2

    6 lutego, Tajlandia ⋅ 🌙 22 °C

    So we’ve really embraced tattooing and gone back for another session.

    Neil has had Maktoub (meant to be) in Arabic and music clefs. I’ve had a life story (adoption, music, faith, family, theatre, survivor, dogs, work and travel).

    What next?     Czytaj więcej

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