Mr & Mrs Wanderlust : January 2016

Transport
This time we popped on quick flight from Phuket to Bangkok via Air Asia. The flight was good,and we flew into Don Muang Airport to the north of the city/ We took a taxi to the Suvarnabhumi airport, to wave goodbye to the parents before they flew back to Blighty.

Accommodation
Our accommodation for the first few nights was the Royal Princess hotel close to the old town area of Bangkok, It was very nice, clean comfortable and well located for the BTS system. We stayed here for 2 nights and visited the Chatuchak weekend market. (It claims its one of the largest markets in the world and it is easy to see why) After the weekend market and with one last night before Abi's brother left we looked up a restaurant on the advice of our friend. It was for the restaurant named Bo.Lan which specialises in traditional Thai food, served to an exceptional standard. It was fantastic, the food and the service was exceptional, and we had a really great tie there, just few minutes from the skytrain. station, so it was relatively easy to get back to the hotel feeling particularly stuffed.

The next day started with us moving our things to our new home for the next week or so, a dorm room in Old Town Hostel, it was clean, modern, had good wifi, and good facilities. It was relatively cheap too, only 500 Baht a night for the pair of us.

This is when we started to realise how awesome Bangkok really was when we started seeking out activities advised by a friend. Our friend has spent a lot of time in Bangkok, and knows all the best places to eat, drink, gain new experiences and people watch.

On our second day, we went to look for a few of Bangkok's bigger attractions stopping off at the golden mound, which is giant Stupa, with temple grounds inside, it was a bit touristy, with model animals and scenes revisited in statues etc, but was nice to be doing some sightseeing, We found our first place we had been advised to eat and had Tom Yum Goong, a sweet and spicy King prawn soup, we spoke to the restaurant owner about this and he thinks that his is good as he doesn't overdo the ingredients and add anything unneccessary. This was not far from the Giant Swing. which was also walking distance fro Wat Pho. This temple complex is amazing, one of the nicest we had visited and not as busy as Wat Phra Kaew and the Grand Palace complex. Within the grounds is also the School of Traditional Thai Massage which we treated ourselves to one each. We had to wait about 30 minutes before being called into the massage building which had approx 30 Masseuses and clients in all being clicked, cracked and pushed and pulled into uncomfortable positions. After the massage was over, (its not a relaxing massage as we know them in the West) We did feel we were walking on air. everything felt well stretched, and well aligned. the cost was 400 Baht per person for a one hour massage. Feeling tired we needed a pick me up and found a coffee shop next to the Bangkok Bike and Bed Hostel, it was very well decorated in 1930's decor, and the food and coffee were delicious. Later that afternoon we took a stroll to Chote Chitr. The food we had was delicious but we massively over ordered and ended up taking half of it home for takeaway. When we are back in Bangkok we will definitely be going here again.

On the Third day we started by having a Thai breakfast under a skytrain flyover and saying our final goodbyes to Abi's brother. Tired after our busy days we had a day doing what Bangkok is famous for! its Shopping we walked around the MBK Mall, which has basically everything you are ever likely to need. If you need it they have it, and if its designer they have a fake version. Other malls in Bangkok are a lot more glamourous, but this mall suited us looking for bargains, and having a general stroll around.

Chinatown today, we walked to Chinatown Via Hua Lumphong train station to sort out or onward travel to Koh Phangan. It took about 45 minutes to walk there and once we arrived around 11 Am we spent hours on hours there. It was huge and like nowhere else we had been. They had Chinese fresh food markets, (strange places with some really bizarre food) and jewellery shops selling bright gold jewellery. There was a real buzz around Chinatown in the build up to Chinese new year. and little monkey toys and figures everywhere. We found the main walking straight and followed it all the way to the end. It went on for miles full of market stalls selling everything you could think of.

On the 7th Jan we had a Honeymoon treat, our friend had advised us to stay at a place named Chakrangbonse Villa's and pulled a few strings for us, so we arrived and were upgraded to the best room they had available. The setting of this place is hard to imagine, you are in a beautifully designed garden with pool and water features in the middle of Bangkok and it is very very peaceful. The rooms were perfect, relaxing comfortable, the staff, and service were amazing as well as the food. We checked in around 2pm and didn't want to leave that day. They had a stunning table on a raised deck overlooking the Chao Phraya River, so we sat in the sun watching the boats go by. We ate at the restaurant that evening and the food lived up to the high standards.

We stayed here for one night and took the longboat tour of the river the following morning, there is plenty to see along the river, and its really interesting to get off the main river and see some of the more residential area's of Bangkok with houses and Temples being built next to the capillary canals feeding the main river. After the boat ride we reluctantly checked out wishing we could stay in this beautiful hotel longer. But we checked out and went back to Old Town Hostel again. Back in the hostel we looked up another restaurant we had been recommended and went for a gorgeous dinner then decided we would brave the night life of Bangkok. We went to the famous Khao San rd, an area known for its cheap buckets of alcohol, and ping pong shows. We had a lot of fun but didn't get in till the small hours, and were feeling very tired the following day.

After a slow start we made it to Wat Arun, a beautiful old temple, called the Temple of the dawn. it is visible from the banks of the river and is not like a lot of the temples of Thailand, it is very interesting and full of mosaic patterns, You need to cross the river on a ferry from the Sapphin Taksin pier (Costs 3THB), The temple cost 100 Baht to enter, but was worth this small price.

The following day was a day we were very excited for, we had a cookery course at Bangkok Bold, we knew we were cooking Thai red curry, Stir Fried Pork with Holy Basil and Tom Kha Kai. The chefs at Bangkok bold were brilliant and they were great tutors, they made sure everybody understood and was comfortable they could do this again at home. We left feeling stuffed and with enough food to keep us going for the next two days. They provide everything you will need and recipes for cooking at home.

On our final day in Bangkok we investigated the luxury malls we spent a few ours walking around Siam Paragon Mall, which had almost every luxury brand you could think of. Not exactly budget travel friendly, however the food court had some bargains and even sold Scones with cream and Jam which was a tasty little snack. Outside the Paragon at night the streets start buzzing with foodstalls, and we managed to grab a table at a busy stall. People are rushing everywhere, and its really not the place to go for a relaxing meal, but it was fun to be having Thai fast food next to one of the busiest streets in Bangkok. We got the skytrain back to the hostel stopping in at a wine bar come hostel named Glur, the food and drinks were reasonable and the Mango sticky rice was delicious. Then we took a cab to our hotel near to Don Muang airport which was very basic but a good location; a quick 20 minute taxi to the airport which was perfect for our 6 am start to make our way to Kuala Lumpur.

The Golden Mount - Bangkok

Giant Reclining Buddha at Wat Pho Bangkok

Sunset at the BTS Skytrain

This little fellow checking us out on our Boat Cruise!

Wat Arun has lots of stunning ceramic mosaic pieces

Abi at the Bangkok Bold cooking studio with her rewards!

Transport
After a somewhat over indulgent Christmas day, we were up bleary eyed and ready for our final stop together as a family... off to Phuket!
We took the Lomprayah ferry from Koh Samui (Nathon port to Donsak Pier) & then a private taxi, in total it was over 7 hours of travelling!

Our hotel for the next 8 nights was the Rawai Palm Beach Hotel. Another gorgeous hotel, close to the beach in the fisherman town of Rawai.

While here we mostly relaxed, bar a few days.
One of these days Gary and I rented a scooter for 24hrs, picking it up at 5 one evening and driving up the road to Promthep Cape - an area known for its beautiful views at sunset. Then the next day we beach hopped, looking at the other beaches (Kata & Karon) on our way to Patong. It was really fun riding on the scooter, but you do have to be very careful and have your wits about you. There are lots of bike accidents in Thailand.

In Patong we wandered the streets before sitting in an Irish bar for a drink, where Gary was able to have a pint of Guinness and I had a cider. We then sat on the beach eating noodle soup bought from a street vendor before heading back to the hotel.

Another day out we had in Phuket was an organised trip. We had heard about James Bond island and so wanted to see it along with the other beautiful islands close by. The trip was fun, we were on a speedboat which was great and meant we were able to see 7 different islands. One of which was....which is a floating village famous for its football team (check out the video here). All in all it was a great day out and a nice change from sitting by the local beach/pool.

While in Phuket we ate some amazing Thai food from a mixture of street stalls, cafes and restaurants. The fish market is a great place in Rawai where you can buy the fish direct from the fisherman and then one of the restaurants will cook for you! One other place particularly worth mentioning was where we went for New years Eve. It was in Old town Phuket and is called The Blue Elephant. The blue elephant actually has a chain of restaurants now, with one in Bangkok as well as several across Europe. The set menu we had was fabulous and the servuce was incredible. After our food we were treated to complementary cocktails and then there were fireworks and sparklers on site. After this one of the owners took us to a hood local bar to have a drink and dance the night away! All in all it was a great night, enjoyed by all of us!

After a late night it was a day catching up on sleep by the pool, before our early morning flight back to Bangkok to wave goodbye to the Parents before our second trip to Bangkok.