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Published: December 7th 2009
Typical me, but i guess better late than never?
So we flew out of Laos, on a fun looking plane that actually made it! Was weird flying over proper buildings again, Thailand looks surprisingly developed after being in Laos. We landed in Chiang Mai, jumped in the back of a Tuk Tuk kind of taxi van thing, and got into the town to find a hotel. Ended up spending a week here, holed up in a place with beds like bricks, tv with Thai channels only, and an air con unit that could turn your room into a walk-in freezer over night. Isn't that right Gary?
Chiang Mai
was a chilled kind of time. We did pretty much nothing! Checked out the local X-centre where we Zorbed (not good) and paintballed (beaten by a 16yr old Singapore kid)!! and generally walked about the town, had a couple of nights out, and took in the markets a number of times! And they were big markets! A lot of people go north from here to Pi, visiting the tribes there, and taking rafting trips down the rivers, we just tended to walk round the corner, and lay by a neighbouring hotel's
swimming pool.
This was also the beginning of the end... Myself and Gary left Shawn here to his own devices. Sad times parting after a pretty intense month or so's travelling up through Vietnam and Laos. at some points our group was as big as 15 or so, now we were down to just 2, and so we headed for the train station.
I was due to meet Gina the following evening in Bangkok, so myself and G caught the sleeper train from Chiang Mai, south. Train was fun, not as much as my previous sleeper train experience, which i just realised i never blogged about!!! (Most people know about it, but shortly before going to see Gorilla's in Uganda, myself and Gina fulfilled a long ambition of mine to take a trip on a sleeper train. I had this very romantic image of what it would be like, and it hit all the spots.Cape Town to Jo'burg, Smoakers were welcome too. And you can tell them i said that.... and the gowns were spot on, if a little breezy in the corridors.)
Anywho, myself and Gary arrived early in the am, headed on the fastest tuk tuk ever to
kosan road, where Gary roamed about to find a hotel. Ended up in the glamorous one on the left hand side with the pool and bar on the roof. i forgot the name, but that description is for anyone thats been there! I spent a couple of hours on the roof (at the pool, not jst on the roof), before heading for a bit more glamour and comfort.
Gina had booked us into the Mandarin Oriental!!! Now, i must admit, i knew very little about it apart from a nice website. i hopped in a cab, and headed over, getting dangerously close to where i remembered the ping pong show being!! When i got there, WOW!!!! OMG! there was even a sign at the door saying NO SHORTS, NO SLEEVELESS T-SHIRTS, and NO BACKPACKERS!!!! lol, all 3 boxes ticked, i headed in! With the room already booked, i tried to blag some honeymoon treats, but no luck!
shown to my room, tipped the guy more than i had spent on a room in the last 2 months, and i had a look around! Place was beautiful, and steeped in history. Room was very classic, and i have to play
with everything as soon as i get in. all the switches, lights, tv, stereo, dvd player the lot! HA, so much fun!. There was EVEN a button by the bed, for our very own BUTLER! press it and in he comes! wicked!
I had some dinner, then made my way to the airport to meet Gina's flight as a surprise. I know deep down she knew i'd come, but she said she'd get a cab to meet me. Thinking i had missed her, and starting to worry that she'd be trying to get into the hotel while i was in the airport, i eventually saw little Polly Pocket come out with enough bags to fill a whole plane on her own lol.
Headed back to the hotel, for what was 3 of the most relaxing days and nights ever. The Hotel was awesome, the facilities best in the world. The best day was when we took the Hotel's boat across the river to the MO's spa. voted best in the world several times, its not hard to see why. we had 4 hours of pampering here in our own suite! I have NEVER been so relaxed in all my
days! Amazing! The pool was beautiful, as was all of the food, breakfasts and dinners. We decided to spend a couple more days in Bangkok, and so moved hotels to the Banyan Tree. this was a skyscraper on the bangkok skyline, and we checked into the 56th floor. The 60th, THE ROOF, also had a restaurant and bar on it. Open air dining that high up as also another awesome experience! (but no MO). A River cruise and dinner finished off an memorable time in Bangkok, complete with souvenir plate!! "ahhhhhh, you look like Angelina..." lol (let me stick this badge on your breast!)
We both decided that we wanted to take a overnight trip from Bangkok to visit the Bridge over the river Kwai and the death Railway, built by the POW's during the war years. Combined on this trip was a visit to the Tiger Temple, something Gina had her heart set on understandably. We were picked up from the Banyan, and taken to our first stop on the tour, a floating market! I had to admit, i had had it up to the eye balls with markets, but was a unique experience to be on a
boat for one. After a refreshing coconut drink, we hoped back in the car to carry on to the River Kwai. We picked up our tour guide, and she started off nice enough, but soon turned into Xavier's (Uganda tour guide) double!! Eat there, go here, blah blah. she was a little too much sometimes. The Bridge was nice, as was the river and the views in the area. quick lunch, and onto the raliway, via an odd kind of waterfall thing we were marched around.
The Railway is famous for being built, in rapid times, under the harshest conditions by POW's under the control of the Japanese. it connected Thailand and Burma, and at some points, the POW's litterally hand picked their way through huge amounts of rock in sweltering temperatures. Just walking around the site is enough to bring you out in a sweat! We waited patiently for the train, and took a ride with our wonderful guide along the railway, across old woooden bridges and alongside the river. We got off at a station, and then we had to walk BACK ALONG THE RAILWAY!!! wtf! lol, back along the railway to a cave with a big buddha
in it, and then down a street to the waiting car. why we didnt just get off at the station where the car was is a mystery, but ah well. The car took us to a very nice looking resort, if not finished, by the river. Our helpful guide then informed us she had ordered our dinner for us already (great), and we were shown to our room on the river. We had desperately wanted to stay on a floating hotel. This wasn't the one we thought we were due to stay in, but it was floating, so all good and fun. On arrival at dinner, we realised we were the ONLY people to be staying at the hotel, and NONE of the staff spoke any English!!! ha! we took extra home made ice creams back to the room for dessert. Next day we were picked up and taken to the museum for Death Railway, a real eye opener and very harrowing information. A testament for Human perseverance and will to survive in the face of adversity.
Tiger Temple next up, and not quite what we were expecting. Less of a temple, more a Disney kind of attraction where more
money seemed to be spent on cctv and making the place look impressive than the actual keeping of those gracious, beautiful animals. The Tigers were simply awesome. Huge, powerful, but sad. Looked to us like they would have preferred to be running free instead of so many chains around their necks, and posing for photos. it was a big tourist place, and left a bitter taste in our mouths. left the temple, dropped off the guide (result), and headed for Bangkok airport. We had already booked the rest of our trip in Phuket.
Phuket
Short flight, complete with station set-up, arrived in Phuket, and caught a taxi south to Kata Beach where we had booked a hotel for the first few nights. The Sawasdee Village (i think thats how you spell it), small, but really cute little place with a nice pool to chill out in. another great Breakfast place also. By now, Gina had properly got into the massages on offer. being so cheap, its easy to have one on a daily basis pretty much. Of course, i had my arm twisted, and went along most of the times. Next door to the pink place lol. Foot
massage most days.. tough life... Deciding that the room probably was a little on the small side, we had a look about in Kata Beach, and found a brand new one, with huge discounts on the rooms. after more haggling, we got ourselves an amazing room, with a patio area going straight into the pool. Great after a day at the beach, or just wanting to chill out and practice my diving skills. So what did we do in Phuket...? in no particular order... Pizza and salads, beach, shopping, suit shopping, pizza and salads, driving around, massages, beach, pool, pizza, salad, shopping,salsa pup possy, edamame, cinema (GREAT screen, RUBBISH film!!!!)pizza and salads, salsa, massage, driving, stations, massages, pizza and salads, pup possy... Generally, a pretty chilled out time! I did a days diving, great day out with three superb dives, fav being King Cruiser wreck which sank on the way to Phi Phi some years back.
We also did 2 further excursions, 1 out to Phi Phi and Maya bay (where the Beach was filmed) and another Island (wish i'd gotten a pic (i was asked to)), and one to James Bond Island.
Maya Bay was very pretty, but
completely packed out beyond belief. Beautiful colour in the ocean, shame it is getting so polluted! don't you hate it when someone else has the same bikini.... of all the places!
Phi Phi, we barely even touched, but we did stop for a spot of snorkelling and to feed some monkey's on a beach. we spent a few hours at a secluded island, which was literally just a sand bank! a restaurant served us a lunch, before laying in the sunshine. Again, beautiful, but just packed out. The ride back to Phuket was meant to be quick, we did after all have 4 engines on our huge speed boat of obnoxious people LOL. maybe 4 engines were too many though, as we ran out of fuel about 20 mins from the port!! floating about, another boat had to come tow us back into the harbour!!
James Bond island trip was equally with highs and lows. unfortunately, we were first to be picked up, so had to sit on the bus the entire length of Phuket, and then some, picking up from all the other hotels. Once there, we took a late afternoon boat ride to a floating village where we
also had a meal, before heading to James Bond Island (man with the golden gun). This time, we hit it just right. every other tour operator had gone home, so we were the only ones on the island. really cool place, great to have a walk around and see the place that featured in one of my fav Bond moviees ever!
We did some more shopping, after changing my mind a million times, i finally opted to just get 3 shirts made, while Gina had a suit and shirts (present), a coat,and dress made. of course i bought some dodgy DVD's as well!
Phuket came to a slightly premature ending, with my visa running out, and me unable to get a longer extension to it, so Gina shuffled her flights to save being on the island on her own, and left the day before i flew to Kuala Lumpur. It was with a real heavy heart i said goodbye to her this time. It would be 2 months until i would see her again. My lust and passion for travelling had taken a bit of a blow after spending so much time with her again, and that prob reflected
in my whirlwind trip of Oz and NZ. Things had changed.
Phuket; relaxing, great food, nice beaches, massages, cheap hotels, pup possy, salsa, great company.
I want to do it again...
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anonymous
non-member comment
Can you tell me where you stayed for the rest of your time in Phuket? Your girlfriend is beautiful.