Tropical Thailand
I’d arranged a private airport transfer to the resort area of Khao Lak, a 1 hour 15 minute drive.
Khao Lak is an uncrowded tourist destination close to the Phang-Nga area’s rugged natural beauty. It’s made up of a few towns, all scattered along a long stretch of beautiful white sandy beach. Travellers who like their holidays low-key, will enjoy the resorts easygoing feel..
There’s a good choice of local restaurants and shops at the two main centres, Bang La On and Bang Niang, which are both easily reached. The night market at Bang Niang is popular for shopping or a late-night snack, or you can go further afield to the Sunday market at Takua Pa Old Town where stalls are set up among pretty buildings.
We stayed at the Sands Beach resort, a stunning hotel with a fab kids splash park with slides and lazy river. Lots of other pools including adult only where you can chill (if you get lucky!) Three restaurants - buffet and A La Carte. Stunning gardens, spa, massage area by the beach and spacious rooms, some with swim up rooms.
On our ventures out of the hotel we stumbled across some great little beach bars (like Hippie Fish) and remained there until the sun went down and beyond.
We also visited the Bang Niang night market which has an array of vendors of local handicrafts & street foods, such as great Pad Thai’s!
I’d highly recommend the area of Khao Lak and the hotel! It was hard to drag the kids away.
I organised a private transfer to take us the 1 hour 30-minute ride to out next stop, Bang Tao on Phuket Island.
Bang Tao curves along a beautiful white sandy bay and has something of a bohemian edge. Its stretch of white sand is overlooked by an eclectic mix of stylish hotels and rustic beach bars. Days here tend to be spent relaxing under the shade of the palm trees or sampling the array of water sports.
The nightspots of Bang Tao are along the beach and the back roads. Some are thoroughly rustic, with just a few wooden stalls and barrels for drink-placing. Others are higher end like the Carpe Diem beach club we visited and would highly recommend. Many of the bars have DJs playing Ibizian style beats while you enjoy the sunsets and fire juggling shows. We stayed B&B at the Sunwing. Very chilled spot set in a tropical paradise, good spacious rooms, plenty of pools, couple of nice restaurants that do takeaway food too, massage place set on the beach and sun beds overlooking the most amazing of beaches with simply stunning sunset. So many bars and restaurants within walking distance on the beach and on the road at the back. There is also an entertainment programme for children.
I organised a private transfer to collect us from the hotel and take us on the 30-minute journey from the hotel to Phuket airport for a 2-hour flight to the city of Chiang Mai.
Chiang Mai is rich in culture. The Old City – an attraction in itself – hosts most of the best temples, museums, and other interesting sites, with many more just outside the ancient city walls and moat. If you are willing to travel a little further afield, you will find that Chiang Mai is ringed with outstanding, unique places to see and things to do. There’s Thailand’s tallest mountain nearby, as well as two different tribal villages and various national parks.
It’s great to experience the night markets and we particularly enjoyed the Ploen Ruedee food and drink market, which was openair in a nice environment with music. We also visited the Doi Suthep Temple, a 30-minute journey up winding roads (much to the kids delight!) lots of steps to get to the entrance and in the heat, it is tough but worth a visit.
We stayed B&B at The Pingviman hotel, which offers total escapism from the hecticness and noise of the city…a real retreat, calm and collected and very traditional in look and feel. Staff were friendly and the hotel was clean and tidy with a stunning pool in the centre of all the rooms which overlook it…a real gem and in the old part of the city so good for exploring!
A two-hour shared transfer to our next stop and a definite highlight was an overnight stay at the Bush Camp, Chiang Mai. Such a unique and amazing experience set in wilderness. We stayed in a Safari Tent (there are 10 here in total) the scenery is beautiful and it’s super-hot at this time of year, but thankfully there is serious air con and fans in the tent!
Day 1 of the experience involves a swim in their infinity pool, eating a traditional Thai lunch in their beautiful restaurant, taking part in the feeding the elephant experience, learning more about the “Karen” tribe. Then back to the restaurant for a barbecue and drinks whilst watching the sun go down and then dinner/drinks in the restaurant.
On day 2 we had breakfast followed by a quick swim and then activities that involved making paper out of elephant poo and then making our own piece of artwork with it. Elephant feeding again and then watched them bathe, coffee and pancake eating and then back to the restaurant for lunch/swimming, before returning to Chang Mai for a flight to Bangkok, The Bush Camp is well worth a visit, such a unique experience…sad to leave but grateful for having the opportunity to experience this beautiful place!
One arrival in Bangkok I’d arranged a private transfer to our hotel, which took around 30 minutes.
Bangkok is a bustling, buzzing metropolis of craziness! 48 hours and here is what we did. Swam in the hotel’s rooftop pool, Sealife centre, Madame Tussauds, shopping at CentralWorld, Tuk Tuk ride, river ferry to the Wat Arun temple and Asiatique (waterfront food/drink area) and dinner at Redsky on the 55th Floor!
We stayed B&B at the Novotel Platinum Pratunum. We had a room on the 23rd floor with fantastic views. The hotel has a great pool and bar with views over the city and nice comfortable rooms you would expect from a Novotel. Location is great too particularly is you want to visit the shopping malls.
The kids slept for several hours during the overnight flight back to Manchester and I would have absolutely no hesitation doing a journey like this with the kids again in the future.
Looking forward to our next visit!