Thailand: the final blog

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Our journey home was a long one! Thirty-six and a half hours travelling to be exact. The journey comprised eight legs; a long-tail boat, then a ferry, followed by a minibus, two aeroplanes, a taxi, a train and then a car. We left Hat Yao (Long Beach) at 8.30 a.m. on Friday morning, 28^thFebruary, by long-tail to Tonsai, to board the 9.00 a.m. ferry to Phuket. After a two-hour ferry trip, we took a minibus to Phuket International airport, arriving there at 12.30 p.m. Our plane wasn’t due to take off until 7.40 p.m. so we were at the airport quite a long time. This was unavoidable because the later ferry would not have got us to the airport until too late for an intercontinental check-in. It wasn’t too bad and we had a good lunch there (much better than airport food in many places).

Our first flight to Doha in Qatar took seven and a half hours, then we had a two hour stop in Doha before boarding our second seven-hour flight to Barcelona on Saturday morning, 29^th February. Both flights were on time and Qatar airways provide good service. From Barcelona a five-hour train ride got us to Alicante where our son Nick picked us up for the final hour’s drive home. We absolutely loved our month’s island-hopping in Thailand, but it was lovely to get home too!

Our Thailand trip took us to seven destinations, one on the mainland and six islands. We stayed in eight different accommodations, one guesthouse in Phuket Town, a bungalow on Phi Phi and six bamboo huts elsewhere. We used fifty-one means of transportation as follows…

1 motorbike

1 taxi-lorry

2 private cars

2 trains

2 minibuses

3 taxi-cars

4 aeroplanes

4 ferries

4 speedboats

9 taxi-trucks

9 long-tail boats

10 motorbike tuk-tuks

Island-hopping in Thailand is pretty special. The scenery is outstanding, the weather at this time of the year is glorious, the food is delicious and the people are so friendly and welcoming; Thailand really is the “Land of Smiles”. It is also very economical. The whole month, including the flights, cost the same as we paid for our last Mediterranean one-week cruise!

Every part of the month was a delight, there were no low points. Highlights include the Emerald Cave on Koh Muk, the snorkel trips on long-tail boats, the turquoise glistening sea fringed by white-sand beaches, the antics of Macaque monkeys and of course, fabulous Thai cuisine. The memories we have to treasure will undoubtedly remain as vibrant and vivid as Andaman sunsets. Southern Thailand is a tropical Paradise and we have had the good fortune to see pristine rainforest on still-underdeveloped islands of outstanding beauty. Travel broadens the mind, stimulates the senses and nourishes the soul. We both feel enriched by our Thailand trip. It was very special!

Travel certainly broadens one’s horizons. The trouble is that it is addictive; we want those horizons to keep expanding! So where shall we go for our next adventure?

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Comments

[ALAN.]

FINAL REPLY.
WELCOME HOME..IT IS WHERE THE ''HEART IS'' OR SO THEY SAY. I RECKON YOU BOTH DESERVE A GOOD RESTFUL VACATION NOW...DON'T YOU? THANKS FOR THE BLOGS ALL GOOD STUFF ALBEIT THE TREK FAR TOO ROBUST FOR US OLD UN'S!!!

[Pensiongapper]

Hi Allan. We hope to come to UK in May. Just waiting to see how things pan out with Coronavirus. Will let you know if we are coming over. Love to Margaret and to you. Xxxx

[Leontine Harvey]

Thailand Island hopping
Loved reading your adventures, it took me back to when we visited about thirty years ago. Thankyou for sharing you journey.

[Pensiongapper]

Hi Leo. So lovely to hear from you. Glad you enjoyed our blog. Hope we see you soon. Xxxx