Bangkok & Krabi Trip Report
Jun 3rd, 2007, 12:05 AM
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Bangkok & Krabi Trip Report
Part 1 - Bangkok
We flew to Bangkok from Manchester with Qatar Airways and the journey was a lot better than expected. We only had just over an hour in Doha on the way out and that split the flights up nicely and gave us a chance to stretch our legs.
At Bangkok Airport we were met by a Tour East rep in a Mercedes to take us to the Peninsula and arrived there around 7.30 pm. We’d booked a standard river view room, but asked about upgrades when we checked in and were given a balcony room for an extra $20 US a night, which we thought was fairly reasonable. We stayed at the Peninsula for the next 3 nights and it was everything we’d expected and more. Both the room and the service were fabulous. We’ve stayed in 5 star hotels before, but decided that since Bangkok is one of the few cities in the world where we’d be able to afford the best in the world, we’d really splash out and go for it this holiday and we weren’t the least bit disappointed.
It’s the little touches that make all the difference - like fresh fruit that’s changed daily, even if you don’t eat it; your complimentary morning newspaper not being left outside your door, but placed in a kind of mailbox, which had a cat flap arrangement on both the outside and inside, so that you didn’t have to open the door in your dressing gown to pick it up; and receiving a fax in the evenings if you happened to have the Do Not Disturb sign on when they came to turn down the room, apologising for not being able to do it and asking you to phone housekeeping if you’d like them to come back. There was even a TV with waterproof controls built into the wall over the bath!
The first morning, which was Saturday, we went downstairs to the hotel pier and took one of their shuttle buses across the river to the skytrain station. On the way across, the steward asked us if it was our first day there and then gave us a copy of the Peninsula’s Bangkok streetmap and showed us how to get to the Weekend Market where we planned to visit.
As we walked from the pier to the station, we had our first experience of one of Bangkok’s well-publicised con artists. A very well-dressed man approached us and asked if we were staying at the Peninsula. He’d obviously seen us getting off their boat, but told us that he worked in the lobby and had seen us there the evening before. He then gave us a story about how all his family worked at the Peninsula and what a wonderful place it was and then asked us where we were going. Up to this point, we were both taken in, but when we told him that we were going to the market, he informed us that it didn’t open until noon, so why didn’t we take a tuk-tuk ride to the Thai Craft Centre and then visit the market in the afternoon. Luckily, Mike had read his guide book and knew perfectly well that the market opened early in the morning, so he thanked him for his help and quickly ushered me away. I was a bit confused at this and it was only then that it dawned on me that the guy had been a tout for the tuk-tuk drivers. He seemed really genuine and helpful – but then I suppose that that’s how he makes his living!
Anyway, we successfully navigated the sky train system and arrived at the market, along with what seemed like half of Bangkok! The market is vast and makes my home town market in Stockport look like a sideshow at a fair. It’s divided into about 20 different halls, selling everything you can imagine. We managed to have a good look round 3 or 4 of them in the 3 hours that we were there and had lunch from one of the many food stalls – which was extremely cheap and totally delicious. I also managed to bag my bargain buy of the holiday there – 3 t-shirts for 150 Baht, which is about £2.25. Not sure how long they’ll last, but at that price who cares!!!
On the way back we stopped off in the nearby Chatuchak Park for a short while, had a brief look around one of the shopping malls and then made our way back to the hotel, where we spent the rest of the afternoon lounging by the pool and then had dinner on the hotel terrace, watching the boats go past.
The next day we decided to visit the Grand Palace and once more got detailed instructions how to get there from the boat steward on our ride across the river. We caught one of the public boats and when we got off, started to walk towards the Palace. This was when we came across our next attempted scam. We’d heard about the tuk-tuk drivers who try and tell you that the Palace is closed, so why not take a ride to some craft or jewellery centre with them and we quickly told the first one that we came across that we were happy just walking around. However, what we hadn’t bargained for was the fact that he then pointed us in the wrong direction, along the side of the Palace, instead of to the front entrance. Like idiots, we went in the direction he had pointed, even though most of the other people were going in a completely different direction and it wasn’t until we’d walked about 100 yards and had to turn down about another 10 “helpful” tuk-tuk drivers that we realised we’d been had! Not to worry, we just turned around and managed to politely ignore the same drivers on the way back!
I must say, the Grand Palace is very aptly named. It’s one enormous collection of totally over-the-top opulent golden buildings, each one more dazzling than the last. We spent a few hours looking around and would probably have spent longer if we’d bothered to hire one of the audio guides, to tell us what we were looking at! But we were happy just to wander around in amazement. We visited a couple of the indoor exhibits too – the coin collection, which we didn’t find particularly interesting and the Royal collection of ceremonial robes and arms, which was more glittering gold and jewels.
Back to the hotel then for a quick freshen up, followed by Easter Sunday afternoon tea. Talk about death by chocolate, this was like being let loose in Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory! Feeling exceedingly sick, we eventually retired to our room and after a short (!) nap, got around to sorting out our suitcases into what we wanted to take on our 3 day cruise the next morning and what we would leave behind at the hotel until we returned there for our final 2 nights in Bangkok.
We flew to Bangkok from Manchester with Qatar Airways and the journey was a lot better than expected. We only had just over an hour in Doha on the way out and that split the flights up nicely and gave us a chance to stretch our legs.
At Bangkok Airport we were met by a Tour East rep in a Mercedes to take us to the Peninsula and arrived there around 7.30 pm. We’d booked a standard river view room, but asked about upgrades when we checked in and were given a balcony room for an extra $20 US a night, which we thought was fairly reasonable. We stayed at the Peninsula for the next 3 nights and it was everything we’d expected and more. Both the room and the service were fabulous. We’ve stayed in 5 star hotels before, but decided that since Bangkok is one of the few cities in the world where we’d be able to afford the best in the world, we’d really splash out and go for it this holiday and we weren’t the least bit disappointed.
It’s the little touches that make all the difference - like fresh fruit that’s changed daily, even if you don’t eat it; your complimentary morning newspaper not being left outside your door, but placed in a kind of mailbox, which had a cat flap arrangement on both the outside and inside, so that you didn’t have to open the door in your dressing gown to pick it up; and receiving a fax in the evenings if you happened to have the Do Not Disturb sign on when they came to turn down the room, apologising for not being able to do it and asking you to phone housekeeping if you’d like them to come back. There was even a TV with waterproof controls built into the wall over the bath!
The first morning, which was Saturday, we went downstairs to the hotel pier and took one of their shuttle buses across the river to the skytrain station. On the way across, the steward asked us if it was our first day there and then gave us a copy of the Peninsula’s Bangkok streetmap and showed us how to get to the Weekend Market where we planned to visit.
As we walked from the pier to the station, we had our first experience of one of Bangkok’s well-publicised con artists. A very well-dressed man approached us and asked if we were staying at the Peninsula. He’d obviously seen us getting off their boat, but told us that he worked in the lobby and had seen us there the evening before. He then gave us a story about how all his family worked at the Peninsula and what a wonderful place it was and then asked us where we were going. Up to this point, we were both taken in, but when we told him that we were going to the market, he informed us that it didn’t open until noon, so why didn’t we take a tuk-tuk ride to the Thai Craft Centre and then visit the market in the afternoon. Luckily, Mike had read his guide book and knew perfectly well that the market opened early in the morning, so he thanked him for his help and quickly ushered me away. I was a bit confused at this and it was only then that it dawned on me that the guy had been a tout for the tuk-tuk drivers. He seemed really genuine and helpful – but then I suppose that that’s how he makes his living!
Anyway, we successfully navigated the sky train system and arrived at the market, along with what seemed like half of Bangkok! The market is vast and makes my home town market in Stockport look like a sideshow at a fair. It’s divided into about 20 different halls, selling everything you can imagine. We managed to have a good look round 3 or 4 of them in the 3 hours that we were there and had lunch from one of the many food stalls – which was extremely cheap and totally delicious. I also managed to bag my bargain buy of the holiday there – 3 t-shirts for 150 Baht, which is about £2.25. Not sure how long they’ll last, but at that price who cares!!!
On the way back we stopped off in the nearby Chatuchak Park for a short while, had a brief look around one of the shopping malls and then made our way back to the hotel, where we spent the rest of the afternoon lounging by the pool and then had dinner on the hotel terrace, watching the boats go past.
The next day we decided to visit the Grand Palace and once more got detailed instructions how to get there from the boat steward on our ride across the river. We caught one of the public boats and when we got off, started to walk towards the Palace. This was when we came across our next attempted scam. We’d heard about the tuk-tuk drivers who try and tell you that the Palace is closed, so why not take a ride to some craft or jewellery centre with them and we quickly told the first one that we came across that we were happy just walking around. However, what we hadn’t bargained for was the fact that he then pointed us in the wrong direction, along the side of the Palace, instead of to the front entrance. Like idiots, we went in the direction he had pointed, even though most of the other people were going in a completely different direction and it wasn’t until we’d walked about 100 yards and had to turn down about another 10 “helpful” tuk-tuk drivers that we realised we’d been had! Not to worry, we just turned around and managed to politely ignore the same drivers on the way back!
I must say, the Grand Palace is very aptly named. It’s one enormous collection of totally over-the-top opulent golden buildings, each one more dazzling than the last. We spent a few hours looking around and would probably have spent longer if we’d bothered to hire one of the audio guides, to tell us what we were looking at! But we were happy just to wander around in amazement. We visited a couple of the indoor exhibits too – the coin collection, which we didn’t find particularly interesting and the Royal collection of ceremonial robes and arms, which was more glittering gold and jewels.
Back to the hotel then for a quick freshen up, followed by Easter Sunday afternoon tea. Talk about death by chocolate, this was like being let loose in Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory! Feeling exceedingly sick, we eventually retired to our room and after a short (!) nap, got around to sorting out our suitcases into what we wanted to take on our 3 day cruise the next morning and what we would leave behind at the hotel until we returned there for our final 2 nights in Bangkok.
Jun 3rd, 2007, 12:08 AM
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Part 2 - The River Cruise
The following morning we were up bright and early for our cruise down the river on the Manohra Song. The instructions from our tour operator had said that we should make our way to the Marriott hotel for a 10am departure, but when the local rep met us upon our arrival in Bangkok, she said that they normally pick up Peninsula guests from the hotel’s own pier and she would phone them and let them know we would be there. This suited us just fine, because it meant an extra hour in bed and not having to transport our luggage from one hotel to the other.
So at 10 o’clock, we were sitting in the shade alongside the Peninsula pier. We’d told the pier master which boat we were waiting for and he said he’d let us know when he saw it coming. After a wait of about half an hour, he finally came over to tell us it was just coming down the river, so we grabbed our case and stood there watching it approach.
As it sailed by, the pier master started waving and blowing his whistle, but to our dismay, the crew simply waved back and carried on going! Panic stations started to set in as we watched it disappear off into the distance and thoughts of having to catch a longtail boat to try to catch up with it started to fill my head! The pier master was almost as alarmed as we were and was running around trying to find the phone number for the cruise company to tell them to come back for us, when he suddenly noticed an identical boat approaching.
Panic over - the first boat had been Manohra Song’s twin sister, the Manohra Dream and as the Song pulled up to the pier, I managed to get my heart rate back to something approaching normal and visions of Roger Moore tearing round the Bangkok canals in The Man with the Golden Gun slowly faded. The steward showed us to our cabin to dump our bag and then we went back on deck to meet our fellow cruisers - another British couple with 3 young daughters - and enjoy a cool drink as we made our way to our first stop, Wat Arun.
Wat Arun is a complete contrast to the lavish gold-adorned temples at the Grand Palace. From a distance, the towers look quite dull and grey, but close up you start to notice the countless pottery shards that make up their decoration. Our guide told us that these were all rescued from wrecked ships that had been transporting pottery from China, but which had run aground off the coast of Thailand.
Next stop was the Royal Barge Museum, where we saw the beautifully decorated boats that the Thai Royal family use for ceremonial occasions. Personally, I don’t think I would have made a special trip there if it hadn’t been part of our tour, but I suppose if you’re particularly interested in boats or the Thai Royals it would be a real highlight.
After lunch, the rest of the afternoon was spent cruising up the river, with a brief stop along the way to feed the fish. I was amazed by the contrasting scenery along the river bank, from traditional Thai stilt houses and temples, to lavish modern villas and industrial areas, including the Singha Beer brewery, where I had to take a photo of the gigantic beer can that adorns its entrance as we sailed past. We eventually moored up for the night at the side of Wat Bang Na and watched the sun setting over the river before dinner.
The next morning we visited Wat Bang Na and made merit with the monks by presenting them with gifts of food and household goods, before continuing on our way to Ayutthaya, Thailand’s ancient capital which dates back to the 14th century. We had a guided tour of the preserved ruins, temples and local market, followed by a ride on an elephant. This was a new and rather bizarre experience for me, since the ride took us along the modern city streets and it felt really strange to be sitting on an elephant waiting for a gap in the traffic to cross the road!
We then re-joined our boat and moored up for the night alongside Wat Nivat. There was a kind of marquee affair set up on the other side of the river, with music and the sound of much merry-making coming from it. We wondered if it was a Thai wedding, but our steward told us that they were celebrating the forthcoming ordination of novice monks the following morning. The next morning, I was on deck early (no smoking in the cabins, you see!) and watched the monks being transported over the river to the temple, on what looked like a kind of giant ski lift suspended from wires across the river.
After breakfast, we first visited the temple (this one was a bit different, being built in the style of an English Gothic Church, complete with stained glass windows!) and then crossed the river for a tour of the Summer Palace. I thought the Summer Palace was lovely – It’s mainly built in a mixture of European and Chinese styles, so is much more akin with Western tastes than the Grand Palace. It has lots of open spaces, gardens and lakes and I could well imagine it being a wonderful place to escape the heat of the city in summertime.
Our final stop was the Bang Sai craft village. This is the Queen of Thailand’s own special project, where people from all over Thailand come to learn traditional crafts – jewellery-making, painting, wood carving, batik, etc. They then take their newly-found skills home to teach others in their villages and can earn a living making souvenirs for the tourist trade. Back on the boat then, and a leisurely afternoon cruise back to the Peninsula.
The cruise was a big highlight of the holiday for us and I’d definitely recommend it for anyone who’s thinking of spending a week or so in Bangkok. The boat was lovely and the crew couldn’t do enough for us. The food was amazing, both for quality and sheer quantity – breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner were all freshly prepared on board and I think I must have gained about half a stone in 3 days! We had our own personal guide (the other family had their own guide) who accompanied us around all the different places we visited along the way and her knowledge of Thai history and culture really helped to bring each one alive for us. I’ve never really been keen on guided tours in the past, but her stories, descriptions and the little songs she sang to us made the trip so much more interesting than if we’d just been wandering around alone, wondering what we were looking at!
After all that culture, our final full day in Bangkok was spent on a grand tour of the shopping malls, gathering more souvenirs and presents, along with a couple of “designer” watches and handbags for me! On then to Krabi, for 8 days relaxing by the pool at the Central Krabi Bay Resort…
The following morning we were up bright and early for our cruise down the river on the Manohra Song. The instructions from our tour operator had said that we should make our way to the Marriott hotel for a 10am departure, but when the local rep met us upon our arrival in Bangkok, she said that they normally pick up Peninsula guests from the hotel’s own pier and she would phone them and let them know we would be there. This suited us just fine, because it meant an extra hour in bed and not having to transport our luggage from one hotel to the other.
So at 10 o’clock, we were sitting in the shade alongside the Peninsula pier. We’d told the pier master which boat we were waiting for and he said he’d let us know when he saw it coming. After a wait of about half an hour, he finally came over to tell us it was just coming down the river, so we grabbed our case and stood there watching it approach.
As it sailed by, the pier master started waving and blowing his whistle, but to our dismay, the crew simply waved back and carried on going! Panic stations started to set in as we watched it disappear off into the distance and thoughts of having to catch a longtail boat to try to catch up with it started to fill my head! The pier master was almost as alarmed as we were and was running around trying to find the phone number for the cruise company to tell them to come back for us, when he suddenly noticed an identical boat approaching.
Panic over - the first boat had been Manohra Song’s twin sister, the Manohra Dream and as the Song pulled up to the pier, I managed to get my heart rate back to something approaching normal and visions of Roger Moore tearing round the Bangkok canals in The Man with the Golden Gun slowly faded. The steward showed us to our cabin to dump our bag and then we went back on deck to meet our fellow cruisers - another British couple with 3 young daughters - and enjoy a cool drink as we made our way to our first stop, Wat Arun.
Wat Arun is a complete contrast to the lavish gold-adorned temples at the Grand Palace. From a distance, the towers look quite dull and grey, but close up you start to notice the countless pottery shards that make up their decoration. Our guide told us that these were all rescued from wrecked ships that had been transporting pottery from China, but which had run aground off the coast of Thailand.
Next stop was the Royal Barge Museum, where we saw the beautifully decorated boats that the Thai Royal family use for ceremonial occasions. Personally, I don’t think I would have made a special trip there if it hadn’t been part of our tour, but I suppose if you’re particularly interested in boats or the Thai Royals it would be a real highlight.
After lunch, the rest of the afternoon was spent cruising up the river, with a brief stop along the way to feed the fish. I was amazed by the contrasting scenery along the river bank, from traditional Thai stilt houses and temples, to lavish modern villas and industrial areas, including the Singha Beer brewery, where I had to take a photo of the gigantic beer can that adorns its entrance as we sailed past. We eventually moored up for the night at the side of Wat Bang Na and watched the sun setting over the river before dinner.
The next morning we visited Wat Bang Na and made merit with the monks by presenting them with gifts of food and household goods, before continuing on our way to Ayutthaya, Thailand’s ancient capital which dates back to the 14th century. We had a guided tour of the preserved ruins, temples and local market, followed by a ride on an elephant. This was a new and rather bizarre experience for me, since the ride took us along the modern city streets and it felt really strange to be sitting on an elephant waiting for a gap in the traffic to cross the road!
We then re-joined our boat and moored up for the night alongside Wat Nivat. There was a kind of marquee affair set up on the other side of the river, with music and the sound of much merry-making coming from it. We wondered if it was a Thai wedding, but our steward told us that they were celebrating the forthcoming ordination of novice monks the following morning. The next morning, I was on deck early (no smoking in the cabins, you see!) and watched the monks being transported over the river to the temple, on what looked like a kind of giant ski lift suspended from wires across the river.
After breakfast, we first visited the temple (this one was a bit different, being built in the style of an English Gothic Church, complete with stained glass windows!) and then crossed the river for a tour of the Summer Palace. I thought the Summer Palace was lovely – It’s mainly built in a mixture of European and Chinese styles, so is much more akin with Western tastes than the Grand Palace. It has lots of open spaces, gardens and lakes and I could well imagine it being a wonderful place to escape the heat of the city in summertime.
Our final stop was the Bang Sai craft village. This is the Queen of Thailand’s own special project, where people from all over Thailand come to learn traditional crafts – jewellery-making, painting, wood carving, batik, etc. They then take their newly-found skills home to teach others in their villages and can earn a living making souvenirs for the tourist trade. Back on the boat then, and a leisurely afternoon cruise back to the Peninsula.
The cruise was a big highlight of the holiday for us and I’d definitely recommend it for anyone who’s thinking of spending a week or so in Bangkok. The boat was lovely and the crew couldn’t do enough for us. The food was amazing, both for quality and sheer quantity – breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner were all freshly prepared on board and I think I must have gained about half a stone in 3 days! We had our own personal guide (the other family had their own guide) who accompanied us around all the different places we visited along the way and her knowledge of Thai history and culture really helped to bring each one alive for us. I’ve never really been keen on guided tours in the past, but her stories, descriptions and the little songs she sang to us made the trip so much more interesting than if we’d just been wandering around alone, wondering what we were looking at!
After all that culture, our final full day in Bangkok was spent on a grand tour of the shopping malls, gathering more souvenirs and presents, along with a couple of “designer” watches and handbags for me! On then to Krabi, for 8 days relaxing by the pool at the Central Krabi Bay Resort…
Jun 3rd, 2007, 12:09 AM
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Part 3 - Krabi & Home
The Central Krabi Bay Resort is a relatively new hotel and we’d read a lot reviews on Trip Advisor before finally deciding to stay there. Some of these weren’t altogether positive, with a few complaints of teething problems due to inexperienced staff and the service not quite being what you might expect from a 5* hotel, but the photos on the hotel’s website convinced us that the location was so amazing, that we’d give it a go and not raise our expectations too high (easier said than done after the fantastic service at the Peninsula and on the Manohra Song!)
I’m so glad we did. The best thing about this hotel has to be its setting. It’s just jaw-droppingly stunning, from the towering, tree-clad limestone cliffs that surround the resort on three sides, to the amazing view out to sea with your own personal, James Bond-style island just offshore on the fourth side. Words and pictures don’t do it justice and it’s only when you’re there that you appreciate just how spectacular it really is.
The rooms are pretty special too. We only had a standard room, but all of the rooms are a good size, with enormous sliding patio windows, fitted with wooden venetian blinds and sliding insect screens on two sides. The bathrooms are gorgeous, with rain-showers and freestanding baths and they have doors that slide back to open them up to the bedroom, so that you can carry on watching TV or having a conversation whilst you’re in the shower and each room has its own huge L-shaped balcony with daybeds and fabulous views out to sea.
The downside of the location is that it’s not particularly easy to get to. You arrive by boat and the floating pier was a bit daunting the first time I stepped on it, especially as it was already dark when we arrived . But it’s about 12 feet wide and non-slip, so I soon get used to the sensation of walking on water after the first couple of times I’d used it. I just had to remember to wear flat shoes whenever we were catching a boat anywhere! There was also a wooden walkway over the headland to Ao Nang which was a lot easier than I’d been led to expect by some of the reports I’d read. I was doing it in less than 10 minutes and I’m not exactly the fittest person alive, but I didn’t find it particularly difficult once I’d tried it.
The hotel gardens are immaculately kept, with two swimming pools – the larger one has built-in waterfalls, which are wonderful for cooling off under and a smaller one which we virtually had all to ourselves most of the time we were there!
I have to agree with other reports that the service doesn’t really live up to the 5* rating. The staff are happy to respond to any requests you make, but I think that a little more anticipation and pro-active service is needed before it can truly call itself 5*. This was particularly obvious around the pool and gardens, where the waiters only seem to bother “doing the rounds” a few times in the late afternoons, so that if you wanted a drink or something to eat in the mornings or early afternoon you had to go to the bar for it yourself (such hardship!). A couple of extra staff on “roaming” duty certainly wouldn’t go amiss there. Having said that, again I didn’t think that things were as bad as some reports had led me to expect and I certainly didn’t let it spoil my enjoyment of our 8 night stay in the resort. Overall, it was a wonderful experience. I’d definitely recommend giving it a try and wouldn’t hesitate to stay there again if I was going back to Krabi.
Apart from lazing around the pool, we did manage to make it into Ao Nang a few times and our visits there managed to convince us (if we needed any convincing that is) that we’d made the right choice of hotel. After descending the wooden walkway, we had to run the gauntlet of the 20 or so massage tents set up on the beach, with their owners all trying to convince us to use their services, and then walk along the promenade till we reached to road into town. After the CKBR’s uncrowded beach, which was continually swept and raked, the public beach at Ao Nang looked positively tatty, crammed full of bodies and hawkers and it was wonderful to know that our little piece of paradise was just a 10 minute walk over the headland.
The main street is lined with shops, bars and restaurants and it reminded me a little of some up and coming Greek resorts back in the 70’s and 80’s when the locals were opening up businesses on every available patch of land to try and get their share of the tourists’ spending money. The restaurants offered amazing value for money though compared to the hotel restaurants and the shops were packed full of bargains and I had a great time haggling for yet more designer rip-offs!
Our only official daytrip during our stay in Krabi was a boat trip to the surrounding islands. We moored up in a cove and spent some time snorkelling amongst the amazing brightly coloured fish, then on to a pretty beach on Phi Phi Leh for another swim. We then sailed around the island to Maya Beach where the film The Beach was shot and it was just like being in the film……. so long as you ignored the hundreds of other tourists who had all taken boat trips at the same time pretending to be Leonardo Di Caprio!
Next stop was Phi Phi Don which is the island that was totally devastated by the tsunami in 2005. It was easy to see why it had been so badly affected. The island is made up of two hilly areas, joined together by a thin flat strip, where the main town is. When the wave hit, it just swept over the town, completely destroying everything in its path. It was very sad to walk around the newly-built town, knowing what had happened and how many people had been lost that day, but it was encouraging to see just how much had been done and how the surviving islanders seemed to be gradually re-building their town and their lives and trying to put the tragedy behind them.
Our journey home from Thailand was something I’d really rather forget about. Because the old Bangkok airport has now been re-opened for domestic flights, on the day we left there was only one flight from Krabi directly to the new international airport and unfortunately, this meant that we had an 8-hour layover in Bangkok airport. To make matters worse, because we’d arrived there on a domestic flight, we were the wrong side of customs and weren’t allowed through until our check-in desk opened 3 hours before departure, so we didn’t even have the Duty Free shops to browse around whilst we were waiting
Five hours spent landside in an airport is not an experience I wish to repeat in a hurry!
Anyway, it eventually passed and after a brief encounter with a security man, who thought my hairbrush was a dangerous weapon when he saw it on the scanner, we were eventually on our 6-hour flight to Doha. Another change of planes there meant another couple of hours wandering aimlessly around a strange airport whilst waiting for our final flight back home to Manchester. The thing about Doha is that it’s a big transit hub, so the vast majority of people there are in the middle of a journey to and from somewhere else, rather than actually staying in Qatar. You’d think that they would want to maximise the revenue for their country by encouraging all these people to spend lots of money in their Duty Free Shops and of course I made a beeline for them as soon as we landed. Like everywhere else, all the goods are priced in the local currency. It was then that I realised that I’d no idea what the currency of Qatar is, let alone what it’s worth – same as almost everyone else in the place! I’m sure they’d sell a lot more if they just put up a few notices showing the exchange rate between Qatar whatsits and everything else, so that people could actually work out what the prices meant. I suppose I could have asked someone, or tried to find an exchange booth, but 16 hours into a 24 hour journey, my brain was starting to demand that it be shut down and I just couldn’t be bothered. Oh well, I’ll remember to do my homework first next time!
Photos of our trip have been posted here http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/xen...land/my_photos
The Central Krabi Bay Resort is a relatively new hotel and we’d read a lot reviews on Trip Advisor before finally deciding to stay there. Some of these weren’t altogether positive, with a few complaints of teething problems due to inexperienced staff and the service not quite being what you might expect from a 5* hotel, but the photos on the hotel’s website convinced us that the location was so amazing, that we’d give it a go and not raise our expectations too high (easier said than done after the fantastic service at the Peninsula and on the Manohra Song!)
I’m so glad we did. The best thing about this hotel has to be its setting. It’s just jaw-droppingly stunning, from the towering, tree-clad limestone cliffs that surround the resort on three sides, to the amazing view out to sea with your own personal, James Bond-style island just offshore on the fourth side. Words and pictures don’t do it justice and it’s only when you’re there that you appreciate just how spectacular it really is.
The rooms are pretty special too. We only had a standard room, but all of the rooms are a good size, with enormous sliding patio windows, fitted with wooden venetian blinds and sliding insect screens on two sides. The bathrooms are gorgeous, with rain-showers and freestanding baths and they have doors that slide back to open them up to the bedroom, so that you can carry on watching TV or having a conversation whilst you’re in the shower and each room has its own huge L-shaped balcony with daybeds and fabulous views out to sea.
The downside of the location is that it’s not particularly easy to get to. You arrive by boat and the floating pier was a bit daunting the first time I stepped on it, especially as it was already dark when we arrived . But it’s about 12 feet wide and non-slip, so I soon get used to the sensation of walking on water after the first couple of times I’d used it. I just had to remember to wear flat shoes whenever we were catching a boat anywhere! There was also a wooden walkway over the headland to Ao Nang which was a lot easier than I’d been led to expect by some of the reports I’d read. I was doing it in less than 10 minutes and I’m not exactly the fittest person alive, but I didn’t find it particularly difficult once I’d tried it.
The hotel gardens are immaculately kept, with two swimming pools – the larger one has built-in waterfalls, which are wonderful for cooling off under and a smaller one which we virtually had all to ourselves most of the time we were there!
I have to agree with other reports that the service doesn’t really live up to the 5* rating. The staff are happy to respond to any requests you make, but I think that a little more anticipation and pro-active service is needed before it can truly call itself 5*. This was particularly obvious around the pool and gardens, where the waiters only seem to bother “doing the rounds” a few times in the late afternoons, so that if you wanted a drink or something to eat in the mornings or early afternoon you had to go to the bar for it yourself (such hardship!). A couple of extra staff on “roaming” duty certainly wouldn’t go amiss there. Having said that, again I didn’t think that things were as bad as some reports had led me to expect and I certainly didn’t let it spoil my enjoyment of our 8 night stay in the resort. Overall, it was a wonderful experience. I’d definitely recommend giving it a try and wouldn’t hesitate to stay there again if I was going back to Krabi.
Apart from lazing around the pool, we did manage to make it into Ao Nang a few times and our visits there managed to convince us (if we needed any convincing that is) that we’d made the right choice of hotel. After descending the wooden walkway, we had to run the gauntlet of the 20 or so massage tents set up on the beach, with their owners all trying to convince us to use their services, and then walk along the promenade till we reached to road into town. After the CKBR’s uncrowded beach, which was continually swept and raked, the public beach at Ao Nang looked positively tatty, crammed full of bodies and hawkers and it was wonderful to know that our little piece of paradise was just a 10 minute walk over the headland.
The main street is lined with shops, bars and restaurants and it reminded me a little of some up and coming Greek resorts back in the 70’s and 80’s when the locals were opening up businesses on every available patch of land to try and get their share of the tourists’ spending money. The restaurants offered amazing value for money though compared to the hotel restaurants and the shops were packed full of bargains and I had a great time haggling for yet more designer rip-offs!
Our only official daytrip during our stay in Krabi was a boat trip to the surrounding islands. We moored up in a cove and spent some time snorkelling amongst the amazing brightly coloured fish, then on to a pretty beach on Phi Phi Leh for another swim. We then sailed around the island to Maya Beach where the film The Beach was shot and it was just like being in the film……. so long as you ignored the hundreds of other tourists who had all taken boat trips at the same time pretending to be Leonardo Di Caprio!
Next stop was Phi Phi Don which is the island that was totally devastated by the tsunami in 2005. It was easy to see why it had been so badly affected. The island is made up of two hilly areas, joined together by a thin flat strip, where the main town is. When the wave hit, it just swept over the town, completely destroying everything in its path. It was very sad to walk around the newly-built town, knowing what had happened and how many people had been lost that day, but it was encouraging to see just how much had been done and how the surviving islanders seemed to be gradually re-building their town and their lives and trying to put the tragedy behind them.
Our journey home from Thailand was something I’d really rather forget about. Because the old Bangkok airport has now been re-opened for domestic flights, on the day we left there was only one flight from Krabi directly to the new international airport and unfortunately, this meant that we had an 8-hour layover in Bangkok airport. To make matters worse, because we’d arrived there on a domestic flight, we were the wrong side of customs and weren’t allowed through until our check-in desk opened 3 hours before departure, so we didn’t even have the Duty Free shops to browse around whilst we were waiting
Five hours spent landside in an airport is not an experience I wish to repeat in a hurry!Anyway, it eventually passed and after a brief encounter with a security man, who thought my hairbrush was a dangerous weapon when he saw it on the scanner, we were eventually on our 6-hour flight to Doha. Another change of planes there meant another couple of hours wandering aimlessly around a strange airport whilst waiting for our final flight back home to Manchester. The thing about Doha is that it’s a big transit hub, so the vast majority of people there are in the middle of a journey to and from somewhere else, rather than actually staying in Qatar. You’d think that they would want to maximise the revenue for their country by encouraging all these people to spend lots of money in their Duty Free Shops and of course I made a beeline for them as soon as we landed. Like everywhere else, all the goods are priced in the local currency. It was then that I realised that I’d no idea what the currency of Qatar is, let alone what it’s worth – same as almost everyone else in the place! I’m sure they’d sell a lot more if they just put up a few notices showing the exchange rate between Qatar whatsits and everything else, so that people could actually work out what the prices meant. I suppose I could have asked someone, or tried to find an exchange booth, but 16 hours into a 24 hour journey, my brain was starting to demand that it be shut down and I just couldn’t be bothered. Oh well, I’ll remember to do my homework first next time!
Photos of our trip have been posted here http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/xen...land/my_photos
Jun 3rd, 2007, 02:30 AM
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Thanks for the detailed report. It evokes great images of Thailand. The story of "missing" the boat is great. Even though it's a bit tardy (note the Easter reference), the time and effort in writing this report result in no penalty.
Jun 3rd, 2007, 04:14 AM
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I enjoyed your detailed report. Thanks for sharing. Are you ready to plan your next trip to Bangkok yet?? For me, I'm always looking at the calendar for dates for my next visit. I guess I just can't get enough of it.
Carol
Carol
Jun 3rd, 2007, 05:38 AM
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Wanda
It's because Bangkok has so much character! Yes, the shopping is great, but also the people. I have many friends in Bangkok. I always enjoy my time with them, and they always welcome me back each and everytime I return (July will be trip #11). When I get off the plane and smell that Bangkok smell, I know I'm back where I want to be.
Carol
It's because Bangkok has so much character! Yes, the shopping is great, but also the people. I have many friends in Bangkok. I always enjoy my time with them, and they always welcome me back each and everytime I return (July will be trip #11). When I get off the plane and smell that Bangkok smell, I know I'm back where I want to be.
Carol
Jun 3rd, 2007, 07:02 AM
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Carol, this was my second visit to Bangkok in 16 years and I suppose I may be ready to start planning my next trip in another 16 years 
I definitely enjoyed my stay there, but somehow for me, Bangkok just isn't one of those places that I have to keep going back to. Now Hong Kong, that's a completely different story - I'd be back there in the blink of an eye
I definitely enjoyed my stay there, but somehow for me, Bangkok just isn't one of those places that I have to keep going back to. Now Hong Kong, that's a completely different story - I'd be back there in the blink of an eye
Jun 3rd, 2007, 07:39 AM
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Xenos, you're right, we all resonate to different cities. For me it's Bangkok, and I make a stop there almost every year during our winter trip to Asia. I always enjoy Hong Kong, but I have no cravings for it like I do Bangkok.
Thanks for the great report!
Thanks for the great report!
Jun 8th, 2007, 02:33 PM
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I see, friends definitely make it special. I think I only feel that feeling you describe when I drive out of the airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico. They call it the island of enchantment, and I definitely am enchanted. The people, music and food are what make it happen for me. I did enjoy Bangkok and will probably return but just wondered what I had missed to be sure I made it the next go around. Even though we really liked the Majestic Grande great service for the price especially. I think next time I will definitely try one of the top 2 hotels! I stayed at the Arum the river Place, it was nice, but the view was not that great, it was expensive, room tiny but the girls that worked there were awfully nice. They were so kind to allow me to use their computer for my emails. We then moved to the Majestic Grande and were very pleased especially with the massages. I guess the next time we go to Bangkok, we will try to find some more of the recommended restaurants. We didn't do too much of that this time.
Jun 8th, 2007, 07:36 PM
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|Xenos-Thanks for a wonderful report-My husband and I will be in Bangkok/Thailand and Bali in October-Our first trip.I have a best friend who is Thai and will be staying at her brothers while we are there so I'll get some inside scoop.
But since people on this thread were talking about their favorite places-I'd say mine is Greece. To sit outside and stare at that beautiful Medeterrean Sea -to see the discovered lost civilizations-the Greek salades-I'm in heavan.
Although next year we are going to Maderia and Portugal. Chris
But since people on this thread were talking about their favorite places-I'd say mine is Greece. To sit outside and stare at that beautiful Medeterrean Sea -to see the discovered lost civilizations-the Greek salades-I'm in heavan.
Although next year we are going to Maderia and Portugal. Chris
Jun 9th, 2007, 07:25 AM
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Xenos-
Thank you so much for a lovely report. I especially enjoyed the section about your river cruise. We are trying to decide between the Manohra cruise and a few days in Angkor Wat... currently leaning toward the latter. Any insight?
Thanks again,
Liz
Thank you so much for a lovely report. I especially enjoyed the section about your river cruise. We are trying to decide between the Manohra cruise and a few days in Angkor Wat... currently leaning toward the latter. Any insight?
Thanks again,
Liz
Jun 9th, 2007, 09:01 AM
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Hi Liz
Having never been to Angkor Wat, I'm not really qualified to talk about it. But I do know that as far as scale is concerned, Ayutthaya is absolutely tiny by comparison. So if it's the ancient temples you are going for, then definitely go to Angkor Wat. But if you want to see a variety of interesting sites, whilst relaxing and being waited on hand and foot, then pick the cruise
Having never been to Angkor Wat, I'm not really qualified to talk about it. But I do know that as far as scale is concerned, Ayutthaya is absolutely tiny by comparison. So if it's the ancient temples you are going for, then definitely go to Angkor Wat. But if you want to see a variety of interesting sites, whilst relaxing and being waited on hand and foot, then pick the cruise
Jun 9th, 2007, 11:19 AM
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Xenos-The last time we were in Greece was 4 years ago. We had a timeshare on Paros and were there for Greek Orthodox Easter celebrations. We took a boat to AntiParos-I told my husband what an untapped place. REcently I read how the movie stars have found it-ratts!!!!
