When I try and include too much media on a blog it goes all gobble-de-goop on me!! There were just a few photos from yesterday’s blog that I wanted to include – so here goes …
Kayaking on our James Bond Island trip. Despite our kayak training we found that we only had to sit back and enjoy the ride.
Alice and Marc enjoying the weather at James Bond Island!!
Lighting our Loi Krathong lotus flower candles and floating them out to sea.
Thursday 23rd November
A fairly relaxed day- early morning walk/run followed by a few hours at the beach – chilling/kayaking – then home to get dolled up ready for our evening out at the spectacle that is Siam Niramit – a huge stage production to portray Thailand’s history and culture.
Before the stage production started we enjoyed the pre-show attractions and activities including a Traditional Thai Village, Thai silk weaving, garland making, traditional costumes, spirit masks, Thai boxing, Thai dancing, elephant rides and displays as well as a really impressive elephant war procession. We took a short boat ride around the village set up – the boat was particularly rocky and the water murky and full of large fish – luckily, with concentration, we managed not to topple!!
Our ticket included a meal at the International buffet – beautifully laid out and scrumptious. Anyone would have thought we hadn’t eaten for days – we all went back up 3 or 4 times. Steve faithfully stuck to Thai cuisine, enjoying at least 3 plates of Pad Thai while Alice, Marc and I got lured back into the more western delights of roast chicken in gravy, chips, spaghetti Bolognese, minestrone soup …
And then the show … it really was breathtaking, we were spellbound. Photos not allowed so I took these from the brochure:-
So another great evening. Highly recommend this if you’re ever in Bangkok or Phuket.
There are so many boat trips and so many islands to visit off Phuket – we had done lots of research and spoke to other guests and made our decision that we would go for the James Bond Island trip – we knew it involved some kayaking hence the commencement of our training programme yesterday!
We were told our pick up was 8.30am which on getting to the pick up point changed to 9.30am – gave us time for breakfast anyhow – never know when you might next get to eat!! Turned out positive though as instead of the usual shuttle bus full of tourists from other resorts we had a private transfer in a very luxurious Mercedes Vito – so a direct and comfortable ride to the port. All very slick, greeted on arrival by Ann, our extremely smiley and jokey guide for the day … after a short wait (with shopping opportunities) we were then bused along the pier to our boat – an eye-catching dark wooden boat – looked like a pirate ship.
After a 30 minute sail we stopped at Ao Phang Nga National Park – an idyllic island – the stop involved getting off our pirate ship and into a longtail boat which sailed us to the island. The longtail boat rocked worryingly as all the ‘boat people’ were herded on one by one, carefully being positioned to provide ballast at all times…. and then we were zoomed to the shore. Getting off and on the different boats required a fair bit of agility too … not to mention nerve – didn’t mention that in the brochure!! However, the island was stunning and well worth a visit, we swam and relaxed on the golden sands for an hour.
Then back onto the ‘rocky’ longtail boat which ferried us back to our big boat … and as we sailed the next 40 minute stretch, lunch was served … and delicious it was too … fried chicken, onion rings, fish cakes, pineapple fried rice, salad, noodles …. and so much more.
At the next stop there was a team of local Thai villagers waiting in kayaks to row us around some magnificent caves – we were guided into the kayaks straight from the boat. We thought that we would be paddling ourselves, hence yesterday’s training, but local knowledge definitely benefited as we manoeuvred in and out of the caves, being advised when to duck our heads or lie down flat. Definitely one of my favourite experiences ever – relaxing with feet over the edge of the kayak, taking in this spectacle – the sheer height at times created an eerie feel as did the darkness of some of the caves (especially when your forgot to take your sunglasses off)! Steve’s long legs dangling over the kayak meant his feet were dragging in the water … until he realised our ‘rower’ was battling to paddle – as Steve lifted his feet our ‘rower’ picked up speed and a big smile crept upon his face! In his limited English he jovially pointed out shapes in the rocks – Scooby Doo, bulldog, crocodile (that one freaked me out a little!). A fabulous experience – and our little man was thrilled with his tip – waving it to the others in delight!
Climbed back onto the boat for a while and then we jumped off again for a swim. Much frivolity and cheering from the crew as one by one we jumped from the deck. Steve forgot he had his cap on and sunk deep into the water leaving his cap afloat at the top … I said it would have been brilliant if he had managed to pick his cap back onto his head as he surfaced!
After a cheery swim, swapping recorded stories of boat trips where headcounts not completed and swimmers being left marooned at sea, we decided to re-board. An extremely outgoing Frenchman heartily climbed the boat steps and the first of the steps broke off and sunk. Then an Australian lady went to climb up, having to pull herself up onto the second step (as first one now missing) only to break off the second step too – unfortunately scraping her leg on the way down … and landing on top of me as I was next in line – we both were submerged and temporarily tangled up with each other. It was therefore with trepidation and difficulty that we had to pull ourselves up to the next step (at sea level) to be able to get back on deck – luckily it held out. Drama over, first aid applied … poor lady had some grazing and a huge bruise.
Onwards and upwards, we sailed onto the famous landmark of James Bond Island – reviving ourselves with sweet coffee. As luck would have it a storm was brewing … it’s amazing to watch storms move in here … you see them in the distance and they gradually advance your way. Timing is everything …. just as we needed to climb off the big boat onto the waiting longtail boat, the heavens opened, it was torrential with strong winds, thunder and lightning… the lot!! The lady who had been hurt decided she would stay on board so I said I was happy to stay with her (anything to avoid a longtail ride in high waves). I mentioned this to Ann (our giggly Thai host) who replied with a serious tone “No Mama, we will all be safer on the island!” So, with clearly no choice, we again were herded onto the longtail, Ann’s instructions being delivered in more and more of an anxious tone – “hurry now please, keep moving, move to the right, keep steady ….”. Landed on the shore positively drenched … Ann a little calmer by now – helped ‘Mamma’ and ‘Pappa Long Legs’ off the boat with a smile.
The island we landed on enabled us to view James Bond Island (so named after being used in the filming of Man with a Golden Gun – a Roger Moore classic) – quite remarkable despite the desolate weather conditions. There were some shopping opportunities on this island but sadly for the vendors, they had had to cover up their stalls because of the heavy rain …. they were running around selling waterproof coats and waterproof covers for mobiles though – this had clearly happened before!
On return to our pirate ship the weather perked up and we started the return sail, eventually drying out.
Before our sunset buffet was served, we had some cultural activities – learning to make candle displays with lotus flowers and some Thai dancing. Also had a bit of a singalong – “I love Thailand’ and “Loi Krathong.” 🎶
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fter supper we made a final stop – again by longtail to a small cave – where we lit our lotus candle displays, made our wishes and floated them out to sea. So beautiful.
truly fabulous day – think we made a good choice – would highly recommend it.
Tuesday 21st November
Most of our days here have started with an early rise and a drive, with Bobbi, to a local park – Steve runs his 5-10k and Bobbi and I speed walk for an hour. Even at 7.30-8.30am it’s already ‘warm’ and extremely humid so we are pretty drenched by the time we get back to the car – Steve particularly looks like he’s been swimming in the river! Nice!!!! Marc shared a great post on Facebook a couple of days ago that said ” one of my biggest fears is that I’ll marry into a family that runs 5ks on holiday” – sorry Marc, I understand your trauma!
So Tuesday started with this bit of exercise and then after some breakfast we headed down to the beach, settling onto some sunbeds in the shade. After some brief relaxation we decided to hire some kayaks. This was a first for Steve and I – Alice and Marc are old hands at kayaking so were able to offer some training!! The trip we are booked on tomorrow involves kayaking out at sea so we were using this as a familiarisation programme. Absolutely loved it … you can really get a speed up at times if the tide is going your way …. a little more difficult when going against. A great work out.
Alice, Marc and I had an amazing massage before leaving the beach – opting for the oil massage as opposed to the Thai massage where they practically beat you up!! A touch of relaxation after an energetic day.
Dined out at the Blue Table Restaurant which is in our local village – food is absolutely delicious and plentiful – cooked in the tiniest and most basic of outdoor kitchens – hospitality is warm and friendly – and all for £3 or £4 a head, with beers!!
Monday 20th November
On Monday we dragged ourselves off the sunbeds (Alice and Marc now acclimatised) and headed out on a trip to Chalong to visit some more Buddhist temples – so back on with the longer clothes (tank tops specifically prohibited!!!) and shoes removed. As always magnificent buildings and a wonderful sense of calm spirituality. You could purchase flower and food offerings and sit cross-legged on the carpet to receive blessings from the monks. One of the temple guides demonstrated to us how to pay our respects to Buddha – the 4 of us knelt with him in a line and bowed up and down with our incense sticks – it made me giggle a little as from my viewpoint we looked like a row of nodding dogs, all nodding at different times!!
And then we drove on to the Big Buddha on the hill. We can see this Buddha from our resort but we had no idea just how BIG he would actually be. It was a long drive up a very steep hill – unfortunately peppered with all things commercial – elephant rides, monkey shows, snake shows, shops and cafes – but it was definitely worth the trip up. The views at the top were magnificent as was the Buddha statue – the temple was serene with monks chanting – again you could queue up for blessings from the monks. Gold hearts with personal messages adorned areas of the temple grounds.
I was particularly grateful for the toilet facilities (as basic as they were) as my tummy was having another of ‘those days!!’ 😩
Coming down the hill was fun – luckily Mr Lec our driver is pretty steady but we were being overtaken by scooters and quad bikes galore – very windy roads, tight bends, steep drops!! One of those best not to look moments!
From there we headed out to Patong so that Alice and Marc could get a taste of Phuket’s equivalent to Benidorm. We stopped for some food first and then headed down the chaotic Bangla Road – the bars were already buzzing at 7.00pm – but we resisted their charm and resisted invites to ‘the shows!’, choosing a stroll along the moonlit beach and a cocktail at a beachside bar as an alternative. Alice and Marc have decided to head back to Patong another night – without the old fogeys in tow!!
The joys of technology!! The last blog has gone all gobble-de-goop!! Called upon one of our ‘young people” (Marc) for IT support – sadly no solution as yet – will keep persevering. Will try to do some bitesize blogs in the meantime. Starting off with the video clips that we were unable to upload in the last blog.
Firstly an excerpt from the Sunshine Bar in Rawai …
And secondly a much more cultured evening altogether!!
Just to show how we’re mixing it up!!
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The days have drifted since I last blogged – a combination of getting lazier, birthday celebrations (+ hangovers!!) and the excitement of Alice and Marc arriving. So this blog is just to be a collection of photos with captions to help me catch up on myself – bear with me 😶
These are photos of our local fishing harbour – we plan to take a kayak from here one day soon to go up into the nearby mangrove swamps.
The local monkeys hang around waiting to be fed with anything you’re prepared to part with. An entrepreneurial local has even opened up a banana stall right opposite their favourite haunt!!
Finally the day arrived, last Thursday, to go and collect Alice and Marc from the airport. We decided to go native and dress up in ‘Thailand holiday clothes!’ We achieved everything we had hoped … Alice said that when she saw us she immediately thought OMG are they really dressing this way now but clinging onto the hope we had done it as a joke!!!
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othing like embarrassing your daughter at an International Airport!!
And Thursday was my birthday – I missed everybody back home very much but received so many lovely messages and had lots of treats and surprises here in Phuket.
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n our return from the airport we walked into the hotel to be greeted with Birthday singing, cake, bubbly and flowers – such a special surprise.
The Thai girls (Pen, Tip and Nan) were so excited to tell me to look in the bedroom …..
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hey had decorated our bedroom with balloons and left some gifts on the bed …. I was so humbled. The more I travel I find that the less people have the more they give ❤️
And then Steve had booked a table at our favourite restaurant here – The Cove – we had a beautiful evening – cocktails, delicious dinner overlooking the sea, flowers, more cake … yes, I was truly spoiled.
It’s been so amazing to have Alice and Marc share this experience with us. Now that they’ve had a couple of days to acclimatise (they’re finding it so much hotter here than in Bangkok or India) we’re about to head out on some trips.
We went out with a crowd from the hotel to Rawai on Saturday evening – had a fabulous dinner at Nikitas by the harbour and then crossed the road to ‘The Sunshine Bar.’ Mr. Osborne (a guest and new friend from the hotel) is a frequent visitor here and so organised this night out.
My very lovely new friend Michelle – sipping cocktails in Rawai 😊
And then we hit the Sunshine Bar … well, what an experience – laughed so much!!
We all sat around the bar drinking cocktails, singing, playing instruments (I’m in love with the tambourine!) wearing different hats and wigs, dancing too …. and the bar staff (girls, boys and ladyboys) entertained us throughout … thoroughly recommend this as a night out!!
So sorry this blog has been a little bland – I think it’s because my tummy is screaming out for ‘ all things bland’ today!! Will return with more ‘wit’ on blogs of our upcoming trips. 😒
I’ve been a bit of a lazy ‘blogger’ of late … so here I am with a catch up of the last 7 days in Phuket. As I write the heavens have opened and so we’ve vacated the sunbeds temporarily (life IS tough in Thailand)!! The rainy season is supposed to have ended but we’ve had 3 or 4 heavy downpours this week, followed by increased humidity. Still, at least it gives us Brits something to talk about!! To be honest sometimes it’s a welcome relief … my fear however is snakes (what’s new?) apparently heavy rain can bring snakes down from the mountainous rainforests that surround us – I’m trying so hard to be a brave girl.
I ended the last blog saying that we were heading to Phuket Town for the evening market. What a fascinating place, as beautiful as we had read it would be … and a great market too. Linda and I had a real spending spree while Steve and Eddie, at first, faithfully followed and then decided a local bar was a better waiting alternative.
After returning with our purchases, we joined Pete and Sue at the Beach Bar for a delicious meal and endless dancing on the sand and in the sea – Sunday night is live music night and so we partied. Met many lovely people including a Canadian lady who was celebrating her last night of travels – like us she had recently retired and had been travelling for 10 months. The drinking, singing and dancing continued back at the hotel and the fun and laughter continued into the swimming poool. Absolutely fabulous night, so much fun ….. sore heads in the morning!!!!
Steve, Pete and Eddie
This is our village
The village sweatshop – making life -jackets
And amongst the simpler dwellings magnificent villas crop up
The miracle hair restorer – watch this space!
On Thursday afternoon we headed out, with Mr. Lec, to Patong – beautiful drive up into the mountains, beeping the Buddha as we passed by, and down into Patong – quite a shock as you turn the corner and see this sprawling city – such a contrast to our tiny village in Cape Panwa. Weather not so great today but we had a good hour on the beach (extremely crowded beach) and enjoyed the warm waves.
Patong Beach
Hard Rock Cafe Phuket (another one for the collection)
Ao Yon beach – stunning in its simplicity
Arriving in Phuket airport on Wednesday afternoon was a comforting experience – we’re becoming accustomed to the Thai way of being calm, patient and polite … demonstrated by this signage by the baggage reclaim area.
Mr. Lec, our hotel taxi driver greeted us warmly on arrival and drove us slowly and safely to our destination (such a joy after the chaos of Bangkok). After 40 minutes we turned off the main roads into a series of ‘local’ lanes and then pulled into Sansuko Ville – our initial reaction was of a little concern as we seemed so far off the beaten track … and we had booked into stay for 4 weeks!! Another warm welcome from the owner Bobbi (an English lady) and her three lovely Thai staff – Pen, Nan and Tip – and once we were shown to our beautiful room, met some other guests and had a dip in the pool we knew that we had found a little corner of paradise! For the first time in three weeks we have been able to unpack all our clothes, so we really do feel at home. After a couple of hours, Bobbi took us for a drive around the local area – we are in a Thai fishing village which has a pretty harbour and an array of local shops, market stalls and houses. There are 3 local beaches all offering something different … and very few other tourists, predominantly local people, which is perfect. The hotel offers us free return transfers to the local restaurants and beaches … there are only nine rooms here so the service from Bobbi and the girls is second to none, really personal.
There are two of these stunning fan palm trees at the hotel – have never seen these before.
Our ‘home’ for the next four weeks
We enjoyed a fabulous dinner at the Beach Bar the first night, table set on the sand, sea lapping up just a few feet away – delicious Thai food and local beer – the perfect holiday feel.
Steve got straight into his running routine, heading off early each morning before the heat of the day really hits. The first morning he was chased by three local dogs, one grabbing onto his shorts, but he’s perservered and they haven’t bothered him since – they must have got used to ‘this new tall bloke’ around town!! I’m doing my 50 laps of the pool each day and next week am going to start walking 3 miles each morning with Bobbi – desperately trying to keep up a level of fitness.
Have been eating in some of the local restaurants, facilities a little basic to say the least but the food is quite amazing …and incredibly cheap. We’ve made some lovely new friends at the hotel – Pete & Sue, Lyn and Eddie – so have been sharing some of these experiences with them.
A Thai feast at the Blue Table restaurant
We were so lucky to be here for the Lori Krathong festival – Thailand’s ‘festival of lights’ – crowds gather along the beaches and harbours, under the full moon, to light a candle and some incense and float them off to honour the guardian spirit of water. The girls at the hotel had informed us that we needed to add 9 pieces of silver (coins), some hair and some nail clippings to our offering – this caused much hilarity as we passed around the nail clippers and then pulled out hair (from various parts of the body!) at the harbour side, whilst trying to keep our candles and incense sticks alight!! Even more giggles set in as we gingerly bent down to place our flower offering in the water – it was quite a drop into the harbour so concentration was required!!
The foods stalls were remarkable and we bravely tasted an array of local delicacies including sweet potato cakes, jack fruit (incredibly smelly but tasted good) and insects – yes, we did the old bush tucker trial – disgusting!!
Have been spending some lazy hours at the pool too, soaking up some sun, sipping cocktails, enjoying a laugh with other guests. Yesterday afternoon we ventured out to the beach and after a walk we stopped to have a beer in a local bar then found a stunning beachside restaurant, enjoying a meal while watching the sun set. Life’s tough in Phuket!!
Feeling oh so chilled – missing all our lovely family and friends back home though – always in our thoughts ❤️. Heading out to explore Phuket Town this afternoon which is said to have a unique blend of colonial and Chinese architecture and quirky streets and shops. There’s also a market on today – anybody want anything???
Arrived in Bangkok on Sunday evening, checked into our quirky hotel, right in the heart of the old city – it’s called The Old Capital Bike Inn (highly recommend it). Love Bangkok, roads a little manic with pushbikes, motorbikes, mopeds (complete with families of four + all their shopping), cars, tuk tuks and buses whizzing around in all directions … but at least the traffic’s slow compared to Cairo and Dubai. The walk from the plane through arrivals to the taxi took longer than the 40 minute journey to the hotel – I have never been to such a long terminal – it went on forever!!
The Old Capital Bike Inn – our bedroom and bathroom
As we had only two days to explore bustling Bangkok, we hired a driver and guide to take us on our own tour of the city – money well spent – we whizzed around from place to place, so much quicker than if we’d been on one of the many coach tours. Our guide, Wit, was informative and jovial – loved to laugh at his own jokes – and we gradually began to understand his Thai English by the end of the day!! We were incredibly lucky to be able to visit the Grand Palace – it was open for the first time that day, having been closed following the death of the King of Thailand. The city was adorned with large photos of the King in gilt frames, decked with local flowers – he was clearly a well loved King. After the palace we visited a number of temples, each one with its own beauty, architectural style and Buddha types. We saw an Emerald Buddha, an extremely large reclining Buddha, a Buddha made of gold, fat ones, thin ones, rows of golden painted buddhas, the odd black buddha, a Japanese Buddha, a Burmese buddha and an alarmingly thin (sticking out ribs) Greek Buddha – each one had a story of their own – absolutely fascinating. We learnt so much from Wit about Buddhism – would like to study it more. We finished off the trip with a visit to the Golden Mount – this involved a climb up 344 steps (nothing to us hardened Rambling Roses!) where we were able to enjoy a view over the whole city (and clang many bells and gongs). The old city, with some of the original city wall still evident, has been protected from any high-rise development – the outskirts however are now becoming filled with skyscrapers, such a contrast.
It was some relief to get back to the hotel to change into cooler clothes – our tour had specified long trousers, long sleeves and no sandals and it was a hot and humid day – sometimes between temples we couldn’t help but nod off in the car – the real old nodding head stuff!!
At the hotel manager’s suggestion we had dinner at a riverside restaurant – very smart with posh Thai cuisine – and a stunning view across the river to, guess what, a temple!! Turned out to be a bit of a bizarre experience however – the only other diners were a table of ladyboys who were constantly preening themselves and posing for photos and selfies and then a young English lad who looked so out of his depth with a Thai girl who again spent the whole time pouting and posing for selfies, no conversation. And whilst we were trying to tuck into our OH SO spicy food, there was a team of what we can only think were health and safety inspectors going round with torches, looking under the flower boxes and seat cushions – it was like something out of Fawlty Towers!! There were so many party boats whizzing along the river too – Steve said it was like having dinner in a shipping lane! Have decided to stick to street restaurants and beach cafes from now on. Then how to to get back to the hotel – we of course had the inevitable tuk tuk price war – settled with Uber at an extortionate price of £1.05.
Restaurant view
Never short of a Tuk Tuk in Bangkok
We then took the skytrain to the National Stadium which was the stop for The ‘Jim Thompson house.’ This took quite a lot of finding, google map stress, fallouts and asking direction from several locals – it was so tucked away but well worth finding.
Before going to eat, we went back on the river ferry to the Flower Market – absolutely stunning and well worth a visit if you’re ever in Bangkok. What you can buy for less than a pound is mind blowing!
Steve joined a group of guests and the hotel manager on a bike ride around some of the more hidden areas of the city – they came across some Thai football being played, called Rattan. I declined the offer and decided to luxuriate in a hot tub instead.
Our Bangkok visit would not have been complete without an evening stroll down the Khaosan Road so we headed off to find this famous backpackers’ strip of nightlife. Quite an experience – loud, bright, colourful, fun – bars, restaurants, ping-pong shows, clothes and jewellery stalls, massage parlours, Thai girls, ladyboys – anything and everything. We found a slightly quieter spot to stop for a beer – us old folks weren’t ready for this … and I don’t think we were target audience!
We’ve loved the sightseeing opportunities that Cairo, Dubai and Bangkok have provided us with and we leave these city stops knowing so much more about each place. But we are also looking forward to the slow pace of life we’ll experience in our tucked away resort in Phuket … 4 weeks of relaxation. And we’ll be joined by Alice and Marc (who flew to Delhi today) in 2 week’s time – so excited – will keep you posted ….
The rambling roses 