Thursday 03/05/2012

Another hot and humid day in Phuket.  We got up at 6:45 to get ready to go for breakfast and then got fetched at 8:30 to go on our Elephant trek excursion with Siam Safaris.  It only took about 15 minutes to get there and we were met by our guide – Wi.  We went to the “Thai farm” where we were told about tea and coffee, both of which are served with condensed milk – makes it really sweet.  We ate coconut pancakes.  We then watched how the water buffalo plough the land and then went for a ride on a cart pulled by one.

Then we were given a talk on coconuts and watched how they get peeled, then opened, then grated and then squeezed to get the milk out. We also saw how coconut oil is made.

Wi explained to us how rice is planted, grown, picked and then separated for the various uses.

From there we walked up a pathway to see 2 baby elephants perform a few tricks with the one actually painting!

We then walked along another pathway to hear the process of making rubber, from the process of getting the sap from the tree, to putting it through rollers to flatten it, through another roller to put lines on it to help dry it out quicker and then saw the big sheets which weighed about 1kg which is better to work with.   

We then headed off to have our elephant trek.  These animals are amazing.  We went on a trek for about 30 minutes through a pathed plantation.  It was wonderful being taken for a ride on these huge animals.

After our trek we had a typical Thai lunch which consisted of green chicken curry, sweet & sour chicken, stir fried veggies, chicken with noodles, jasmine rice, spring rolls, watermelon, pineapple and bananas.  Most enjoyable.

From there we got into a tractor drawn cart and taken back to the meeting point where we got our taxi back to our hotel which was about 1pm.  It was a really most informative and enjoyable morning and recommended to anyone going to Thailand.

Relaxed for a bit and then went shopping along our street and then came back to the hotel to sort things out.

Wednesday 02/05/2012

In the early hours of the morning I heard serious thunder and got rather worried as we were going on our boat trip today.  We were collected at 9am and taken down to the pier at Chalong Bay for our trip aboard the Merdeka.  This boat is a spa boat and belongs to Neil Dibb who is a good friend of my boss, Campbell Alexander.  We were met by Addy, the skipper, who got us onto a local bus to go to the boat.  We set sail at about 9:45.  The weather was rather overcast and the water quite choppy which did not go down well with me, so I just sat rather still trying to look at the horizon.  At some points the boat was seriously rocking from side to side.  We anchored near a small cove at the back of Coral Island.  We got into the water and snorkeled for a while, but with the water being so choppy and being the first time that I was snorkeling, I was not too happy in the water, so we left and went around to Banana Beach.  A long tail boat came and collected us and took us on to the beach.  After having something to drink we arranged chairs for ourselves and then went snorkeling.

Wow is all I can say!  I have never snorkeled before as I can’t see without my glasses but I recently got contact lenses to wear whilst doing gym and had them on and could not believe the life under the water.  The coral and fish were amazing and if I made a fist the fish would swim up to me thinking I had food and nibble my hand and even my legs – quite a weird feeling.

At about 1:30 we had lunch – Dereck had a Thai chicken curry and I had Thai chicken with cashews and chili – both very enjoyable.  After lunch we went snorkeling again and at about 2:45 the long tail boat took us back to the Merdeka and headed off back to the pier, whilst eating freshly cut watermelon and pineapple.  Once back at the pier we got the local bus to our taxi who then took us home where we showered and relaxed. 

Had an early night – I think the lovely fresh sea air got to us.

Tuesday 01/05/2012

Again another hot and humid day.  After breakfast we headed off to see my tailor for a fitting for the shirts I am having made.  We then took a walk along the road towards the Karon beach area (although we were not planning on walking that far!!).  We wandered around looking at the various shops and the scenery and then took a different road home.  While looking in one of the shops it started pouring with rain.  We waited outside for a bit and then decided to brave the rain and walked from shelter to shelter. We passed a massage house and decided that instead of walking in the rain we should go in and have a Thai massage which we did.  Oh wow, it was quite hectic and they certain stretch and prod your whole body and even climb on top of you to use their feet and elbows to massage, but I certainly felt very revived after the massage which lasted a whole hour.  I would recommend it to everyone.  When we left the rain had stopped so we carried on walking back towards our hotel.

We were trying to take a different route and took what we thought was a short cut but ended up being the wrong way, so had to backtrack and eventually got to our road (and in the heat we were dripping with perspiration) after walking for 40 minutes.  Once back at the hotel we changed into our costumes and had lunch down at the pool restaurant.  We then had a swim to cool off and came back to the room to get ready for the evening.

We went out to Danny’s Pool bar for supper.  While there it started raining again.  I had pad thai noodles with seafood which was really tasty. By the time we had finished eating the rain had stopped so we went back to our hotel in case the rain came back again, but not before trying out a Nutella pancake from a vendor – very tasty indeed.

Patong Beach

Monday afternoon

At about 5pm we caught the taxi which took us to Jungceylon (at huge shopping mall) at Patong Beach.  We wondered around the mall for a bit and then headed down to the beach to watch the sun setting.  Oh boy, what a beautiful site. 

We then headed to Bang La Road which is the main area for bars and “ping pong” shows.  It is a walking only area in the evening and is very festive – some call this the Las Vegas strip in Phuket!  We had supper at the BBA (Bangkok Burger Company) and we both agreed that it was one of the best burgers that we had tasted.  After supper we wandered around a bit more then walked back to the mall to catch a taxi (but not before having a chocolate ice-cream). 

Monday 30/04/2012

Another lovely hot day in Phuket.  We had a late breakfast and then met our tour operator so that she could confirm our flight home.  We also booked an elephant ride for Thursday.   We changed into our costumes and then walked down to the bus stop and caught the local bus to Karon Beach.  We wandered around the area for a bit and decided to go back to our own beach. We walked for a short while and then caught a tuk tuk to our hotel. 

Collected our towels and headed off to Kata Beach.  Got chairs, had a swim and lay back and relaxed and enjoyed the fresh air and sunshine.  At about 3pm we came back to our hotel and swam in our pool, stopping by the pool bar for a lemonade and a chocolate ice-cream sundae.  We came back to our room at about 4pm to freshen up before heading out to Patong Beach.

Sunday 29th April 2012

Our shuttle service collected us at 7:15am to take us to the airport.  Another boiling hot day but it was good to be in an air-conditioned car.  We got to the airport at about 8am and eventually boarded at about 10am and after a pleasant flight of about an hour, arrived in Phuket.  Our shuttle service was waiting for us and we were taken to Kata Beach Resort and Spa.  It took us about an hour and what a difference with the traffic here – certainly more normal.   After checking in we quickly changed and went down for a swim.  Dereck had a beer at the pool bar and I had an ice-cream sundae. 

We then went for a walk around the area and at 3pm had lunch.  We carried on walking and went down to see Kata Beach.  The beach is beautiful – lovely white sand with turquoise water.  Went back to the hotel but made a pit stop at the local supermarket and stocked up on some Beer and Bacardi Breezers for later!  Back at the hotel it started raining for about an hour which certainly made it cooler.

At 6:30pm we went out walking again and went to the tailor we found where he took my measurements for some shirts I am having made.  We then went to Café Opera to have supper where we both had Manama curry which was very tasty.  There was a local guy playing his guitar and singing which was most enjoyable. 

Saturday 28th April 2012 - Chatuchak Market

We left the hotel at about 10am, caught the tuk tuk down to the station and then caught the sky train to the Chatuchuk Market. This is a huge weekend market that sells absolutely everything, even pets! After wondering around there until 2:30pm with having a few rest periods, we left the market, caught the sky train and got off near the Central World Mall. We wondered around the mall for a while and then had lunch at a noodle bar. We shared a selection of starters which were rather tasty. After wondering around a bit more, I managed to find myself some new walking shoes and then we walked down the road towards our hotel. When a tum tuk drew up next to us offering us a ride, we took him up on the offer (having to pay of course) and got back to our hotel at about 5pm! We changed into our costumes and went to have a swim to cool off but it was like getting into a warm bath!! Anyway it was refreshing While Dereck caught up on his e-mails, I took a walk down our street which was getting really busy both by vehicle and people coming to eat. We will have an early night as we are being fetched at 7am tomorrow to go to the airport to go to Phuket. Photos to follow 😄

Friday 27 April 2012

Another boiling hot day with temperature at about 42⁰C.  We had breakfast at the hotel at about 9am and then caught the tuk tuk.  This guy offered to take us all the way to the river front area where we wanted to go to on condition that we went to a factory that makes clothes.  We knew the trick (but for his sake we agreed as he got free petrol).  At the shop they wanted to get us to have shirts and suits made.  It was tempting and I might still do it as the material is 100% cotton and really look well made & cheap

We got the river boat which was a long tail boat and Dereck and I were the only passengers.  Our ride lasted about 45 minutes and we were taken up the river and into the canals which was very interesting to see how some of the locals live right on the water edge with their house balancing on stilts and kids swimming in the water (which did not look very clean at all) and others fishing.  We got off at the Wat Pho stop and went to the Wat Pho which is a Buddist temple with the largest collection of Buddah’s and is also the home of the famous reclining Buddah.  Again it was absolutely boiling and both dripping with perspiration.

From there we walked back to the river and caught the boat and got off 5 stops further up the river and then walked to Chao San road.  We walked through an alley and found a restaurant called the Chada Café where we had lunch.  I had a tuna salad on fried chips (Thai meal) 

We then headed to Chao San road which is a huge market where you can buy anything and everything.  It is also a place where there are lots of back packers. 

We wanted to see China Town, so we caught a tuk tuk there.  I must say I was rather disappointed (compared to what I saw in San Fransisco) as there was really nothing of interest.

We caught a tck tck again and headed off to the MBK mall which is the busiest mall in Bangkok and is 6 floors high and again where you can buy absolutely everything you should desire.  Eventually at 7:30pm we had supper and then caught a tuk tuk back to our hotel, having been on the go for 10 hours.  I say again that this place does not cool down as even at 8pm we were still dripping with perspiration.  It was good to get back to our hotel to the cool and to relax after an interesting day.

 

Khao San Road