City, beach and a jungle!
We had a change in Dubai which gave us just enough time to change terminals and have a coffee without rushing or indeed, hanging around waiting for our next flight. We arrived into Bangkok airport at around 18:30 where Anun, our tour leader for the week from EXO Travel, was waiting for us.
The bus journey to the hotel was about an hour. This could have taken 20 mins if the traffic was not so bad! This is something I had always remembered from Bangkok and it is no better now. Our first hotel was the Centara Grand at Central Plaza Ladprao. This is a lovely 5-star hotel with excellent facilities but more suited to business travellers than serious shoppers and tourists as it is a bit far out of the city centre.
Our first day was a trip on the long tail boats through the canals of Bangkok. This is a good way of seeing the city and fun too. It’s best to wear trainers or flats, not kitten heels like me, as getting in and out of the boats is not easy! During the mornings excursion we saw the Royal Barges museum and the Temple Wat Arun. This temple resembles Angkor Wat and is incredible with detail of shells and colourful stones depicting flowers plants and animals on a white stone background. It is stunning.
We then had time to return to the hotel to enjoy a hosted lunch and some time around the pool before getting ready for our evening excursion to the Muay Thai Boxing show.
We had time to visit the Asiatique market by the river followed by a meal at our leisure. We then met up with the group to enter the theatre. This was not what I would have chosen to do and have to say a few were dropping off to sleep with the flight and busy day sight-seeing, catching up with us. I did not enjoy the show at all and would not recommend this to my clients.
An early start on day three to drive to Hua Hin, a beach resort in the east of Thailand. This takes about 2.5 hours but again the first part is slow due to the traffic. We had a comfort break about half way and arrived around 12am where we had an hour’s presentation by Centara Hotels, our host and a tour of the hotel’s facilities before checking in to our room. We then had the afternoon to do as we pleased.
The hotel is on a fabulous wide, white sandy beach. It also has three pools, one being a quiet one where we found some sunbeds and soaked up the lovely hot sunshine. That evening we had a hosted dinner around one of the pools with entertainment from local dancers.
The highlight for me was the Thai Cooking Class we had the next morning. We were collected bright and early by the cookery school bus and taken to the Hua Hin produce market where we were given a tour explaining the different herbs vegetables and spices we would be using for our cookery lesson. We were then taken to a lovely Thai home where they run the classes.
We started by crushing the spices and herbs to make our curry paste and then we made our way to the gas hobs where we cooked a lovely Penang Curry with Chicken. We also made a shrimp soup and a papaya salad. I loved this whole experience and would definitely recommend this to my clients. The ladies who ran the classes were lovely and so informative.
That afternoon we had a little free time before visiting the Anantara Hua Hin and hosted dinner on the beach which was beautiful.
Another early start to transfer to the River Kwai Resotel in Kanachanaburi. This is located close to the historical River Kwai Bridge and railway and is in the middle of nowhere. We checked into our cottages and then met for a lunch and then a visit to the Mon Village where the Mon people, who originate from Burma, now Myanmar, have settled and all work for the hotel River Kwai Jungle Rafts, floating hotel. We then returned to the hotel on bamboo rafts and some were brave and swam back. We had a pleasant dinner in the Resotel before retiring for the night.
Next day was not on our itinerary but on our way back to Bangkok we spent some time at the River Kwai Bridge and walked along the Hellfire pass. This is where the allied prisoners of the Second World War and Asian labourers suffered and died while building the Burma-Thailand railways for the Japanese. This is a very sobering visit and can reduce you to tears seeing how badly these men were treated in horrific conditions.
We arrived in Bangkok again at around 5pm in time to quickly shower and change to meet for our final excursion. This was a Tuk Tuk ride through the centre of Bangkok to Chinatown. 11 Tuk Tuks suddenly appeared outside our hotel and the drive to the restaurant was hilarious and exhilarating. The excursion should be tasting street food but as there were over 20 of us, we made our way to a dingy Chinese restaurant. The food was superb, the establishment was not!
We were free to experience Patpong market and anything else we wanted to do before retiring for the night. We had some free time the next morning to do some last-minute shopping before being collected for the airport at around 4pm.
Again, a very smooth flight home to arrive at Manchester in pouring rain so not so smooth journey back to the Midlands and home! A very memorable trip with lovely colleagues. I would like to thank Emirates for the flights, Centara Hotels for our lovely rooms and EXO Travel for the wonderful Anun who was exceptional with his knowledge and kindness towards us. I have never known toilets to be called "happy houses" but that's how I will refer to them from now on!