Geo: 13.7308, 100.521After breaky Mum and I decided to go to the Grand Palace, the Royal Barges Museum and possibly the reclining Buddha as they are all close together. When we were here in 2008 we went to the Grand Palace but I can't remember much of it so I wanted to go again. It only took 15 minutes taxi ride to get right outside the gate. As soon as we entered through the gate we were hit by the enormity and beauty of the temples; despite the name, the Grand Palace is made up of 96 buildings of all different colours and sizes. The majority of the buildings are temples which have been painted in gold and covered in detailed mosaics, meaning the sun would shine off them; it was magical. Other temples were only ... read more

Geo: 13.7308, 100.521We went to breaky at 7:30, Nana and Pa were already there. There was an abundance of food for the fifty odd people who were there; we could get Thai foods like soup and fried rice; cereal, all sorts of juices, bacon, French toast, potatoes, ham, eggs any way or omelettes and the new things we haven't seen before were pancakes and waffles. I had a small and medium pancake, 2 rashers of bacon, yogurt, fruit salad, apple and orange juice (separately) and a piece of French toast, I would never be able to eat all that at home but! (I promise not to bore you about what I ate at this hotel again). Apart from one other Australian guy, we were the only white people that I saw at breakfast, possibly because we're ... read more

Geo: -38.1, 145.717What is it with our trips to Thailand? 2006 was our first trip away with Mum/Nana and Dad/Pa overseas. They left before us and we met then in Bangkok a month or so later. Between when they left and our arrival, the stock market had crashed and they lost a lot of money - and there was a chance they might loose everything including their home. In 2010, Bangkok had major riots so it was a maybe we are going, maybe not. It was less than a month before our departure date that the decision was finally made - yes we could go! Yeah!!! After we left that year, Mum discovered a lump that was soon diagnosed as breast cancer. Mum and Dad came home from their holiday two weeks early so Mum could ... read more

Geo: -38.1, 145.717After we left Thailand, Nana and Pa stayed another 6 weeks. They had two weeks in Cha Am then went back to Bangkok to meet Rick and Josh for their two weeks in Thailand. After the boys left, the plan was to spend another two weeks in Cha Am before they made the trip home.All that changed when the family in Australia were sent the following email dated 25/07/10While in Bangkok, I took the oportunity to have a small lump that I found in my breast, seen to. Had Xray and ultrasound and needle -cell collection, will have treatment when I come home.The email told us nothing - was it cancer? A cyst? Were the biopsy negative or positive?After many phone calls to Rick (who was still there luckily) we managed to work out ... read more

Geo: 13.7308, 100.521We got up and moved everything into Nana and Pas room.Nana and Pa are staying in Thailand for another 6 weeks. Uncle Rick and Josh will arrive in two weeks for two weeks.Mum and I went outside so Mum could take some photos of me in the hoitel grounds - the same photos, in the same clothes as this time four years ago!It was not long until we were taking everything down stairs to reception. It was incredibly sad to say good-bye and everyone shed a tear as the driver shut the door of the van and we drove off. The drive from Cha-Am to Bangkok took about 3 hours but it felt a lot longer because I was sick. I slept for a while and when we stopped to get petrol mum bought ... read more