Blogs from South-West Thailand, Thailand, Asia - page 5

Th speedboat from Ko Muk arrived about half an hour late. There were lots of people waiting as 2 boats were due in at more or less the same time. Of course the Ko Lanta one arrived first and the majority got on. Mr Yai, bless him waited until he knew I wouldn’t get on the wrong one! I wouldn’t have. I sat right at the back on the boat, loads of leg room and less bump. We went to Ko Kradan first, then Ko Bulon Le and finally Ko Lipe, by which time the boat was only a third full. It took over 2 hours. I was expecting to offload onto a longtail (not looking forward to that much) as there is no pier but as the tide was up we went right into shore ... read more

Saturday 8th February 2020 When we stepped off the speedboat yesterday, at Manoh Pier, on the little island of Koh Yao Noi, it was like stepping back in time. It reminded us of arriving on the island of Koh Chang twenty years ago. As a truck bumped along a dusty little road with us, three other backpackers and our luggage, it was just like being on the truck that delivered us, with our son Dan and Lorna, to our accommodation at “Maggie´s Place” on Koh Chang, on Christmas Eve 1999. That was our first visit to Thailand. The love affair with this beautiful country, its people and cuisine had begun! In 1999, our son Nick was working in Bangkok and we came to Thailand to share Christmas with him (and celebrate the Millennium). Dan and Lorna ... read more

“The Andaman is Thailand’s dream coast………Flashy resorts are pushing out the bamboo shacks and Thai-Rasta bars and authenticity hides largely in the backwaters now. But if you’re willing to search hard, your postcard dream is still there” Islands and Beaches - Lonely Thailand’s Planet Wednesday 5th February 2020 Yesterday, we returned to such a dream place, Pan Beach on Noppharat Thara Bay, Ao Nang. We rarely re-visit (it is a big world out there) but since we were so close, we just had to find out if this little Paradise remained unspoilt. It has! We booked in for three nights and leave tomorrow. Thailand has confirmed six new cases of Coronavirus, four of whom are Thais. It is not spreading too fast it seems, at the moment, outside of China and we have been impressed with ... read more

So having stayed here for 2 nights so that I could visit the sea gypsy village to the south of the town, it didn’t work out like that, the reason being that instead of being just after the pier as I had imagined it was an hours’ walk, so that was the end of that! I was awake at 3.30 am thanks to the cockerels. When I counted them later there are at least 14 living opposite amongst the abandoned car parts, bikes and other rubbish. That’s about 14 too many, IMHO. When I left this morning the family were working on their fish catch, descaling and gutting. The scales on the white snapper were huge, the size of 10p pieces, and they were pushing them down a hole in the concrete, presumably (hopefully) for the ... read more

Saturday 1st February 2020 We left home at 8 a.m. to be chauffeured to Alicante train station by our son Nick. The fast train to Barcelona departed on time at 9.25 and just four-and-a-half hours later, having stopped just three times on the way, at Valencia, Castellon and Tarragona, we alighted at Barcelona Sants station in brilliant sunshine. We have excellent trains in Spain, fast, smooth, quiet (on modern track) comfortable and excellent value; we paid twenty-four euros each, in First class. Very civilised! By 3 p.m. we were at Barcelona International Airport, so had a long wait until our 9.35 p.m. departure. Fortunately, we were able to check in the rucksacks straight away at the Qatar Airways bag drop, then had a leisurely lunch of barbecued ribs and browsed the smart shops. Barcelona is a ... read more