Thailand had always been somewhere myself and my nieces had wanted to go, so using my experience I designed a great itinerary for us all!
We flew with Thai Airways to Bangkok, an excellent airline and I would highly recommend them. Then a short flight from Bangkok to Krabi and finally an hours’ speed boat transfer to Phi Phi Island; a great way to start our adventure, through the Andaman Sea passing the huge limestone formations, arriving onto the beach of The Holiday Inn Resort Phi Phi Island.
Set in a small cove with a beautiful beach, with beautifully kept gardens and grounds; a stunning resort with welcoming and helpful staff. We checked into our beach bungalow with a terrace overlooking the sea. During the day we relaxed at the pool or beach and by night discovered the different beach shacks for dinner. The food was excellent and very reasonable for fresh traditional food. We finished most evenings with a cocktail or two at the hotel!
After four nights on Phi Phi we returned to Krabi. We had a short longtail boat ride to the understated luxury of the Centara Grand Beach Resort in Pai Plong Bay which is only accessible by boat and has the most amazing sea views. Our room was beautiful with a large dark wooden balcony overlooking the bay. All the accommodation ascended upwards so that the views could be taken in from anywhere within the resort.
At the end of the beach we climbed the steps through the lush national park to the main resort of Ao Nang. We tried this approach just once, as we ducked the monkeys and watching out for the amphibians! In my mind it was like Jurassic Park, perhaps a bit of exaggeration!!
During the day we just enjoyed the setting and the hotel whilst at night we went into Ao Nang, either by longtail boat or the hotels speedboat depending on the tide. The sunset from the jetty was incredible. Once you arrived into Ao Nang it was a short Tuk Tuk ride into the town centre. One side of the main street full of shops and traders, whilst on the beach side bars and restaurants were in abundance. We also visited a more local night market which was interesting!
After four nights in Krabi we flew back to Bangkok to experience city life. We stayed at the Anantara Sathorn Bangkok which was a modern hotel with a lovely pool and roof top bar that had fantastic views over the city.
We ventured into Patpong, an area I had heard much about, some good, some bad, but an education! We only ventured to Patpong 1; along the way were seedy looking bars – we politely declined the touts trying to encourage us inside! The surrounding market was just brilliant. Every top “fake” brand name at excellent prices! It was great fun bartering and we left with our bags laden!
The street food side wasn’t great as we didn’t like the idea of deep-fried locusts!
The next day was much more cultural and we travelled through rice paddies, salt fields and plantations to reach a Floating Market just outside the city. A colourful scene of vendors hawking fresh produce and speciality goods out of their wooden boats that crowds a historic canal system known as the “Venice of the East” – a must see!
After lunch back into the city to The Grand Palace, which is the home of the magnificent reclining Buddha of Wat Pho, the Worlds’ biggest solid gold sitting Buddha of Wat Traimit and then the ornate Wat Benchamabophit, all spectacular places of worship. This tour filled the day and was very interesting. The next day homeward bound after an incredible tour of this fascinating country.
By Sheena Todd
To hear more about Sheena’s travels in Thailand, email [email protected]
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