Trip Report... BKK, Chaing Mai, Phuket and Phi Phi
 

Ok, now that I am caught up at work, I have time to write a trip report. As you may remember, I went to Thailand from July 3 until July 19 with another 30 year old Californian girl. The trip was amazing and all of the advice I got on here was great. Although, I am not as detailed as other, I will do my best:

The FLIGHT

We flew from LAX to BKK via Tokyo on JAL airlines. We lucked out and got some pretty good seats in the economy section. For those of you who fly JAL economy class, there are five rows in the back of the plane where the seat configuration is 2/4/2. The two seats on the sides are great. They have more leg room! Our flight was uneventful, but I must say the food on JAL is not good at all, but the personalized TV's make up for the food.

We arrived in BKK at 11:45 p.m. on July 4th and were met by the Miracle Grande hotel. It was great to be timely met by the hotel after such a long flight. For those of you who need a hotel close to the old airport, the Miracle Grande is perfect. The rooms are nice and spacious and the breakfast is very good. The hotel pickup and drop off at the airport is free!

The next morning we headed off for Chaing Mai.

CHAING MAI

We stayed at the Baan Orapin. I cannot say enough good things about this hotel. The owners, Air and Opas, are amazingly nice people. The hotel is beautiful. The rooms are spacious and beautifully decorated. The breakfast was very good. The location of the hotel was very convenient. It was only a quick walk to good restaurants and the night market. The only time we needed a tuk tuk was the night when it was pouring rain.

Our first day in Chaing Mai, we hired a tuk tuk driver to take us to the local temples. The driver we found was great. He spoke near perfect English and took us only to the locations we requested and he was really cheap. We saw about 7 temples and went to a few locations where crafts were sold and also to some silver shops (all receommended by the Nancy Chandler map). That night we had dinner at the Riverside Restaurant which we loved.

Day 2 we went with Sargeant Kai to the Elephant Conservation Center where we road the elephants, saw the elephant show, road the ox-cart and rafted down the lazy river on a bamboo raft. Kai also tood us to look at local markets, local neighborhoods and his former military base. Finally, we went and looked at one of the schools for self-reliance that we set up by the king. It was a nice day! We were so tired, we didn't even make it out that night.

Day 3

Again, we were scheduled with Kai, but he sent one of his employees as he was feeling under the weather. Kai's employee and the driver were great! First, we went rafting on real rapids on a bamboo raft. It was so much fun, but we got very wet. Totally different from the rafting at the elephant park. Then, we went and looked at the waterfalls in the National Park and then on an amazing and scary hike (imagine crossing a river on bamboo). It had rained the day before, so the path was slick. The hike ended at one of the Karon villages. We were the ONLY tourists in this village. We were welcomed by a man who owns the coffee shop. We drank coffee (it was great) and talked with some of the people in the tribe. Of course, we had broughts gifts for the children, which they loved. We spent more than an hour just walking around the village and visiting with the children. It was truly a once in a lifetime experience.

That evening, we went to the night bazaar... The night bazaar is interesting, but the stuff for sale is not of a good quality. Nonetheless, I bought some souvenier type stuff. The market is FULL of tourists.

Day 4: A day of shopping

On our last day in Chaing Mai, we headed out shopping. We went to a couple of silver and jewelry stores and then headed to the mall by the airport. The mall was huge (or so I thought until we got to BKK). This was a mellow day capped off by another night at the night market (and more rain).

Day 5 Off to Phuket

To be continued...

PHUKET: The Katathani

We arrived in Phuket from Chaing Mai at about 1:00 p.m.. The weather was a little overcast and slightly muggy, but not unbearable. We took a taxi to the Katathani (it was about 700 BHT). The Katathani is the most beautiful hotel. It is must bigger than I thought it would be (it takes up two sides of a street). We stayed on the mountain side and we upgraded to a "family room." The room was nice with great view of the ocean. The staff at the hotel was wonderful and welcomed us with a floral bracelet and a cold fruit drink.

We spent our two days at the Katathani relaxing by the pool and on the beach. We had massages and facials. We also had massages by the pool and manicures and pedicures by the pool. We never left the resort.

The food at the resort was excellent. It was more pricey than any other part of Thailand, but it was worth it.

The resort was empty! We lucked out because the weather cleared up and was nice while we were there.

OFF TO THE FERRY to PHI PHI

OK, so, the ferry ride to Phi Phi was hell. Picture a really big boat with hundreds of people on it, most of whom are puking because of the rough seas. The sea was SO rough. It was rainy and windy and people were puking left and right. Thank goodness, I was smart and took motion sickness drugs. I cannot tell you how happy I was to get off the boat... that is, until we got to the pier and realized our hotel did not have boats in the marina that day.

Not a problem, we just hired a long tail boat... But, then we had to walked out into the water with our suitcases above our heads, trying not to fall. It was hilarious in hindsight. Finally, the longtail boat driver saw that we were in distress and helped us with our luggage. We took the longtail boat to the Holiday Inn which is about 30 minutes from Ton Sai. At the hotel, the employees met us and took our luggage and offered us a cold drink.

The Holiday Inn is a very nice hotel. All rooms are bungalow style. There are two restaurants and one bar. The hotel is secluded with the Zeovola and another hotel. Thus, you are really trapped in that area, which is fine for 2 days.

The first day there, the weather was not so good, so we lounged around the pool and later, when the tide receded, we waded out and looked at the fish and clams in the water. (A fish attacked me and bit me twice, but I survived :))Dinner was excellent and not too expensive.

The second day, we hired a long tail boat and went all around Phi Phi island. We went out to Mosquito island and then snorkling all around Phi Phi. We also went to monkey beach. It was amazing how many monkeys were on the beach. The snorkling was pretty good. We saw lots of different fish and other sea creatures. On the way back to the hotel we saw a pack of dolphins. They came right up to our boat!

I loved the Phi Phi Islands, but I could not stay there more than two days (unless I stayed in Ton Sai). There is not much to do and it is very quite. Maybe the perfect spot for a honeymoon where you don't mind spending a lot of time in the bedroom.

The ferry ride back to Phuket was again very rough, but the boat was better. The key is to sit outside where there is plenty of air.

More to come... Phuket (Kata Beach Resort and BKK)

Yeah! Keep writing! We are doing the same trip (minus Phi Phi)next week.It will be our first trip to Thailand! Looking forward to the rest.

Continued...

After safely returning to Phuket (at times I didn't think we would make it), we stayed at the Kata Beach Resort for three additional days.

The Kata Beach resort is not quite as luxurious as the Katathani, but it is beautiful in its own right. The room was very nice and again, we had a beautiful view of the ocean. The pools are not as nice as the Katathani, but the beach is just as nice. The location of the Kata Beach resort is better than the Katathani in that you are not totally isolated.

While at the Kata Beach Resort, we spent a lot of time relaxing and again, getting massages. It was very hard to get a chair at the pool (unless you went outside by 7:00 a.m.), but there were plenty of spaces on the beach (you have to pay between 50 and 100 BHT for a chair since the beach is public.)

We didn't eat any meal, other than the free breakfast at the Kata Beach resort. The breakfast was okay, nothing great. We found some great restaurants behind the hotel. I cannot recommend Natalie's enough. The staff was so friendly and so accomodating. The food was great. They have both Thai and European food and a huge selection of both.

Our one adventure in Phuket was a sea canoeing trip with Phuket Adventures. This is a great tour company. We were picked up by a van and transported to a harbor on the northern part of Phuket (about an hour driver). There we boarded a boat and headed for Krabi. The staff of the tour company were amazing. All spoke great Engligh and were friendly and hospitable. The canoe trip was seriously a once in a lifetime experience. I will admit it was scary at time (you come so close to some hitting your face in some of the caves, but you never do). Once you make it through the caves, you end up in the most beautiful places ever. I can't even describe it well enough to do it justice, but it is like a aqua lagoon surrounded by huge limestone formations. To get out of the lagoon, you go through the cave. It was so AMAZING. Everyone who goes to Phuket MUST do a sea canoeing trip. We saw monkeys on the limestone and really large Kimono dragons. It was great!

Enough relaxing, now we are off to BKK to round out the trip

Oooops... I forgot to mention our one night out in Patong while in Phuket. Let's just say that this was the wildest place I have ever been and was much wilder than I could have ever imagined. Now, I am not sure it is always this wild since there were about 25,000 US marines and navy docked there for a few days, but it was crazier that BKK.

I have never seen so many bars, so many prostitutes, so many military men and so may places offering sex shows. I will admit that curiousity got the best of me and we went to some "shows" with some guys we met from the US.... What these women can do with their lower half is really wild. I won't go into more detail, but use your imagination.

All that being said, it was a really fun place to go for one night. More than one night would be too much.

Hey JennPBD;
I am just starting to plan my "big" vacation May - June 2007. My fiance and I will be going to CM and actually getting married there - still to be organized - I would like to stay in the old city or near to it. You said that you loved the Baan Orapin Hotel. Do they have an email address? Webpage? Any info you can give me to contact them?
Thank.

great report, looking forward to bkk...

JPBD-keep it coming. Glad you liked Sergeant Kai. He was great the two times we used his services. The ferry ride sounded horrible. Motion sickness brings us all to our knees.

THE FINAL CHAPTER- BANGKOK

After our week of relaxation on the southern beaches, we headed to Bangkok.

We stayed at the Siam Heritage which was a suggestion on this Board after I decided to stay somewhere cheaper than the hotels on the river. Again, a great suggestion! This hotel is located near Patpong Street where there are lots of restaurants, adult entertainment and a night market. The hotel is, however, a couple of blocks from Patpong, so there is no noise or anything. The hotel is really nice. It has traditional Thai decor. The rooms are very nice, spacious and immaculate. The staff is great and the restaurant at the hotel is very good. A great hotel for those who want something cheaper than the river, but still a good location and close to the sky train.

We arrived in BKK on a Sunday and headed to the weekend market on the sky train. It was really hot that day (hotter than any of our other days in Thailand). The weekend market is HUGE and you can buy everything at a good price. The problem for me was that it was TOO big and TOO hot. Nonetheless, I still really liked it and bought lots of great stuff.

We then decided to go shopping crazy and headed to MBK. Now, this indoor mall is HUGE and overwhelming. For those of you who have not been there, it is about 8 stories and has all different types of stores and booths. There are shops everywhere, selling all different things. It was nuts, but a shoppers paradise. I think we spent about four hours there (this is after spending four hours at the weekend market). We took the sky train home and waded our way through Patpong.

The next morning, we went touring with Tong. Tong is amazing. I would highly recommend her to anyone looking for a guide in Bangkok. She is fun and intelligent and just a really great person. She taught us so much about Buddhism and Thai culture (all in response to our millions of questions).

The first day we did the tourist sights in BKK. The Grande Palace and Royal Temples, the Reclining Buddha and a river boat tour of BKK. I watched and listened to other guides and Tong was by far the best. She has tons of information if you want it. She learned our likes and dislikes and interests and catered our tour and the information provided to those likes and interests.

After a long day of BKK touring, Tong dropped us off at the hotel. We went to dinner at a Mexican restaurant on Patpong or Silom (it was on the corner). The food was good, the staff was great and the singer was excellent and very entertaining.

The next morning, we woke up early and met Tong who took us to the Floating Market, temples near the Floating Market and then Kanchanaburi. The Floating Market was a nice place to visit (but you only need to go once in your lifetime). We got the best fried bananas and I ate 25 of my favorite new fruit, the mangosteen... The mangosteen is a MUST try fruit.

After the Floating Market, we went to the snake show. It was very entertaining. I loved to see the people squirm when the snakes were near! We then stopped at the Royal Craft store where we bought lots of local Thai Crafts. (I loved this place)

We then headed to Kanchanaburi where we went to the Bridge over the River Kwai and then took a long tail boat to the monkey school. The monkey school is very small and you get a private show. We got to hold the monkeys and take lots of pictures. Since I love monkeys, I loved this place. I recommend it.

Then we went to the Tiger Temple which is another great site. After signing a waiver on our lives, we took lots of pictures with the Tigers and other animals in the temple. Everyone should go to this temple.

After a 12 hour day, we headed back to BKK.

Our days with Tong were great. She is so fun and kind. She planned our days to perfection.

The following morning, we headed home. Our flight in BKK was delayed and we almost missed our flight to LA. Thank goodness, JAL held our connecting flight one whole hour!

I was happy to be home, but sad to leave Thailand. I cannot wait to go back. I have convinced all of my friends to go there. Where else can do all the things I did, stay in 4-5 star hotels, eat like a queen, for the cost of Thailand?

Again, thank you all for your help! Your recommendations made this trip amazing.

Jenn

monkey school?
I might ask her to take me there.

Yes, a monkey school. The monkeys were abandoned and now are being raised by the people who run the monkey school. The school is very small and there was no tourists there. You can feed and hold the monkeys (only the friendly ones, of course) and then there is a show (we were the only people in the audience) where they demonstrate what they have taught the monkeys to do. We loved the monkey school!

There's a monkey school in Needham, but there are no nice monkeys.

Oh, glad I didn't go to the school with the mean monkeys. At the school we went to, there were lots of nice monkeys to hold and feed. SO CUTE!