Bangkok hits your senses as soon as you arrive at the airport, the people, the traffic and the humidity all play their part in this. Thankfully our driver was waiting for us at arrivals, he did not speak the best English but he was the most jovial driver we had ever met.
We were dropped off at our hotel, the Baan Wang Riverside and after a quick check in we set up to the roof top bar to watch the sights and sounds of the passing river. There is a huge amount of marine traffic on the Chao Phraya river and a constant buzz of the various crafts plying their trade.
We were dropped off at our hotel, the Baan Wang Riverside and after a quick check in we set up to the roof top bar to watch the sights and sounds of the passing river. There is a huge amount of marine traffic on the Chao Phraya river and a constant buzz of the various crafts plying their trade.
We then wandered the streets of the local market that sits alongside the river with stalls selling a huge variety of goods and food. We returned to the hotel and enjoyed a lovely meal overlooking the busy river as the night lights of the Grand Palace and the City skyline made a magical background on our first day in South East Asia.
Day 2.
We woke up to a huge electrical storm and heavy rain, but after a late breakfast we ventured out in pac-amac and hats. We strolled down to the local pier on the river and hopped on the water taxi to the Wat Arum temple, this impressive temple and surrounding grounds was made all the more beautiful as we were just about the only people around. At last the sun came out and we shared a cooling drink with two of the tourist police in a shaded garden.
We jumped on another water taxi that took us over to Chinatown, we mooched around the narrow streets taking in some unusual sights and some interesting local characters. We decided to have lunch at a local roadside cafe, well more of a table and plastic chairs in the middle of street really, Lunch consisted of 2 veggie stir fries and 4 beers at a bargain price of six euros.
After our lunch break we continued our stroll around Chinatown and came upon a hidden temple down some narrow alleyway, inside a number of older residents were all dressed in white smocks and chanting in unison, that was something we both found quite moving.Our final stop on our river “cruise” was the Sheepshank dockside pub which turned out to be a great place to watch the river and it’s people just flow on by.
Krabi.
After a slight hiccup to our travel plans we got back on track with a early start to the day. We left Saigon ?(Vietnam) with Scoot airlines and our first stop was Singapore which took 1 hour 50 mins.
After a 90 minute wait at Changi airport we boarded another Scoot flight to Krabi, Thailand.
We arrived in Krabi to be met by hundreds of people lining up for immigration, the whole process took a One hour - 40 minute's wait, not best start our visit.
We were met by our driver who took us to the Krabi resort on Ao nang beach.
The first thing we did was sit on the beach with a cold drink and watch the sun go down, we then went to a nearby restaurant for a Green Thai curry.
We the returned to the Krabi resort for a relaxing time by the pool.
In the evening we walked down to the Golden beach resort where they were holding a "Thai party night ", this consisted of dinner and stage show. The first performers were a troupe of traditional Manora dancers, six beautifully dressed young ladies dancing to the local music.
Next up were a couple of young lads demonstrating Thai boxing, actually it was quite a brutal bout with no punches being pulled. The boxers were extremely fast and agile and at one point I think one of the boxers was knocked out and they stopped the fight.
The final act was a couple of guys doing a fire show, they were very talented and twirled their fire pots in all directions. It was then time to take the short stroll along the seafront to our Hotel.
Day 2.
Our body clocks meant we up bright and early and we had finished our breakfast by 7:15. We then went for a lovely, long walk along Ao nang beach and watched the longtail boats getting prepared to take guests out to the outlying islands.
Day 3.
We took the short drive to the local pier and boarded the local ferry from Ao Nang to the Phi Phi islands. The journey across the Anderman sea took about one hour fifty minutes. As soon as we landed we stopped off for brunch before wandering around the local markets in the narrow streets.
There are no vehicles allowed on the island, so for the only time on this trip we did not have to look out for hordes of motorcycles.
We then made our way down to the local beach for a cooling swim in the beautiful turquoise sea. After a few hours or exploring the sea front it was soon time to reboard the ferry and return to Ao Nang.
Day 4
The first thing this morning we hopped on a long tail boat at Ao Nang beach and set out for the short trip to Railay beach (return ticket cost 200 baht each.)
Railay beach is only accessible by boat as the peninsula is surrounded by high limestone cliffs.
The beach is beautiful, soft sand that shelves slowly into the warm, crystal clear sea. It's best to get there as early as possible because as the day progresses the beach get busy.
In the evening we visited Ya's Thai cookery school, we learned how to make 4 types of curry paste, 3 types of soup, 2 types of rice, papaya salad and a sweet dish of mango and sticky rice. A fun night was had by all and our fellow students came from Finland and the USA. At the end of the evening the six of us sat at a table and enjoyed all the food that we cooked.
The following morning an packed our bags and made our way back to Krabi airport, then onto Bangkok airport, then flew on to Jordan before finally arriving back in Cyprus after a thoroughly fascinating trip to South East Asia.
Krabi.
After a slight hiccup to our travel plans we got back on track with a early start to the day. We left Saigon ?(Vietnam) with Scoot airlines and our first stop was Singapore which took 1 hour 50 mins.
After a 90 minute wait at Changi airport we boarded another Scoot flight to Krabi, Thailand.
We arrived in Krabi to be met by hundreds of people lining up for immigration, the whole process took a One hour - 40 minute's wait, not best start our visit.
We were met by our driver who took us to the Krabi resort on Ao nang beach.
The first thing we did was sit on the beach with a cold drink and watch the sun go down, we then went to a nearby restaurant for a Green Thai curry.
We the returned to the Krabi resort for a relaxing time by the pool.
In the evening we walked down to the Golden beach resort where they were holding a "Thai party night ", this consisted of dinner and stage show. The first performers were a troupe of traditional Manora dancers, six beautifully dressed young ladies dancing to the local music.
Next up were a couple of young lads demonstrating Thai boxing, actually it was quite a brutal bout with no punches being pulled. The boxers were extremely fast and agile and at one point I think one of the boxers was knocked out and they stopped the fight.
The final act was a couple of guys doing a fire show, they were very talented and twirled their fire pots in all directions. It was then time to take the short stroll along the seafront to our Hotel.
Day 2.
Our body clocks meant we up bright and early and we had finished our breakfast by 7:15. We then went for a lovely, long walk along Ao nang beach and watched the longtail boats getting prepared to take guests out to the outlying islands.
Day 3.
We took the short drive to the local pier and boarded the local ferry from Ao Nang to the Phi Phi islands. The journey across the Anderman sea took about one hour fifty minutes. As soon as we landed we stopped off for brunch before wandering around the local markets in the narrow streets.
There are no vehicles allowed on the island, so for the only time on this trip we did not have to look out for hordes of motorcycles.
We then made our way down to the local beach for a cooling swim in the beautiful turquoise sea. After a few hours or exploring the sea front it was soon time to reboard the ferry and return to Ao Nang.
Day 4
The first thing this morning we hopped on a long tail boat at Ao Nang beach and set out for the short trip to Railay beach (return ticket cost 200 baht each.)
Railay beach is only accessible by boat as the peninsula is surrounded by high limestone cliffs.
The beach is beautiful, soft sand that shelves slowly into the warm, crystal clear sea. It's best to get there as early as possible because as the day progresses the beach get busy.
In the evening we visited Ya's Thai cookery school, we learned how to make 4 types of curry paste, 3 types of soup, 2 types of rice, papaya salad and a sweet dish of mango and sticky rice. A fun night was had by all and our fellow students came from Finland and the USA. At the end of the evening the six of us sat at a table and enjoyed all the food that we cooked.
The following morning an packed our bags and made our way back to Krabi airport, then onto Bangkok airport, then flew on to Jordan before finally arriving back in Cyprus after a thoroughly fascinating trip to South East Asia.
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