6 crazy nights in Thailand!
Following a great flight on the A380, where I was pleasantly surprised by the leg room in economy, it was on to our first hotel for two nights. We stayed at the Centara Grand Ladprao, Bangkok. The hotel is a long way out of the city for holiday makers, so I’d only recommend this hotel for business travellers. Saying that, it had a lovely pool and felt like a real oasis in the middle of a crazy nonstop city. I wish I’d had more time poolside!
Whilst we were in Bangkok our amazing guide, Anon (who spent the whole week with us and became a part of the awesome TC family) took us to some fab places. On our first morning we went on a wonderful and fun longtail boat tour of the waterways. We stopped at the Barge museum where we could view the royal family’s barges. It must be a sight to see when all 50+ of them are in use on the Grand Canal!
Following our brief time in Bangkok we hot footed it (three hours in a coach to be precise) over to Hua Hin on the coast. We stayed for two nights at the Centara Hua Hin Resort and Villas. What a gorgeous hotel. It’s very large but spread out over a huge area so it really doesn’t feel busy. We were there at full occupancy too, but there were no issues getting a sunbed or a mojito! The hotel has a real colonial feel to it, the villas with private pools are wonderful and perfect for families with older kids and couples.
The beach is lovely, a bit rocky in the sea, but no big drama. The sea can be a bit rough so something for families with small kids to be mindful of. The pools here are lovely, so it’s no biggie. The hotel has a great gym and kids club, and choices of places to eat and drink. My personal favourite was Coast bar which was overlooking the beach. Hua Hin is great for nightlife so it’s a good option for those that want a few bars outside of the hotel, but it’s not too crazy busy and the bars seemed to shut around 1-1.30am.
After a night out in Hua Hin we were treated to an early morning visit to the market. It was great to see all the weird and wonderful produce and see it being prepared. Not one for the light hearted after a heavy night out as it’s quite smelly! We then were taken for a private cookery lesson, using the produce we’d purchased. I for one am not a big cook, however I really enjoyed this and took home some recipes I intend to make back in the UK (or pass the recipe to the husband to cook most likely).
On the way to Hua Hin we visited Hell Fire pass and when we left we were lucky enough to continue our history lesson in to the “River Kwai” story. We visited the "Bridge on the River Kwai" which I found really interesting and something that’ll stay with me for a long time to come. It makes you really think about how lucky we are. I’d highly recommend this to everyone visiting Thailand.
We then made our way to the jungle and the River Kwai, where we stayed at the Resotel on the actual riverside. This is a simple 3-star jungle chalet style property, but it’s fine for a couple of nights. They do have a more upmarket floating hotel on the actual river for those wanting something a bit special. We went on a bamboo raft down the Kwai where a few of us decided to swim for it and off we floated down the Kwai, another memory I will never forget.
Our trip ended with one night back in Bangkok at the Centara CentralWorld. This is a stunning five-star hotel in a perfect location for your holiday. Close to everything and the most shops and malls I’ve ever seen in my life. This hotel has a cool rooftop bar and champagne bar, again wish I had more time here!
Then it was back home - exhausted!