Heading East - UAE & Thailand
Dubai - I flew overnight from Manchester to Dubai with Emirates and stayed at Address Beach Resort in Dubai. It’s right on Jumeirah beach, next to Dubai Marina and Bluewaters Island and close to all the cafes, restaurants and shops so, overall, a great location. It’s a very striking building and dominates the area. It has the highest infinity pool in the world on the 77th floor. The view from here is amazing!
While in Dubai I took a day trip to the capital of the UAE, Abu Dhabi. My first stop was The Louvre Abu Dhabi. The architecture is fabulous and it’s hard to fully appreciate the scale of the building. Packed with beautiful objects and artwork, I particularly enjoyed the current Cartier exhibition which shows the influence of Islamic design on designs for the jewellery. Next stop was the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque. Again, the scale is impressive as it’s one of the biggest mosques in the world. It seems like every square inch is covered in gorgeous tiles, carvings and inlays.
Bangkok - Next, I flew overnight from Dubai to Bangkok. I’ve been twice before but a long time ago. I stayed at HOMM Sukhumvit 34, a brand of Banyan Tree Group, located in a quiet residential street, but just ten minutes’ walk from the Skytrain. My priority was to re-visit the Jim Thompson House Museum which I first visited 20 years ago. The house itself is gorgeous, set in lush, green gardens with exhibitions and objects in lots of outbuildings. There are guided tours of the house in a variety of languages which tell you about Jim Thompson and how he revitalised the Thai silk industry. There’s also a café, restaurant and a shop selling the most beautiful silk items. I also visited the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre (BACC) which had some interesting exhibitions and installations.
The next day I took a boat along the Chao Phraya River and visited Chinatown, an area of the city that I had not been to before. It was nice to wander along the narrow streets jam packed with market stalls and little temples. I stumbled across Samphanthawong Temple on my walk which was great and I then visited the Golden Buddha at Wat Traimit – a solid-gold buddha image, said to be the world’s largest.
I love to enjoy local experiences when I’m travelling and found myself perched on a plastic stool on the side of the road eating Pad Thai and a lemon juice for 100 Bhat (about £2!) For a treat and a totally different experience and vantage point, I went to the Moon Bar which is on the top floor of the Banyan Tree Hotel. I enjoyed a Vertigo Sunset cocktail and fabulous views of the skyline of Bangkok.
It was hot and humid, so I suggest you pace yourself. Going on the BTS and MRT is a welcome respite from the heat as there’s air-con, plus it’s efficient and you avoid the awful traffic across the city.
Koh Samui - A short internal flight on Bangkok Airways took me from Bangkok to Koh Samui. This was my first visit to the island. Along with Phuket, it’s one of the most popular Thai islands for visitors and with good reason.
My first stop was Anantara Bophut Koh Samui Resort, located in the north of the island on Bophut beach. A 5-star luxury retreat with lovely, lush gardens / grounds, it felt like an oasis and I didn’t want to leave. It’s located right on the beach and has a pool, spa, several restaurants, a bar and a gym. I did venture out, and a few minutes’ walk away is Fisherman’s Village (the popular weekly market) as well as lots of restaurants, bars and shops along the beach.
My next stop was at Avani + Koh Samui which is located in the far southwest. It was very quiet and there was nothing close by apart from one little restaurant / bar about a ten-minute walk along the beach. It had a very relaxed feel to it, again right on the beach, two pools, a spa, a restaurant and a bar.
My final place to stay was Avani Chaweng Samui Hotel & Beach Club. As the name suggests, it’s right on Chaweng beach, which is 7km of pure, soft, white sand (and the best beach on the island). It had a much younger, cooler vibe to it, especially with the Seen Beach Club with its own pool, bar and DJ pumping out loud music. There were lots of cafes, bars, restaurants, massage places, money changing kiosks, shops etc within a few minutes’ walk.
On my last full day, I booked a 5-hour day trip to visit the highlights of the island. I visited the Big Buddha Temple, Wat Plai Laem (a complex of several different temples), the Guan-Yu Shrine, the Mummified Monk at Kunaram Temple, various viewpoints (of Chaweng beach and Grandfather and Grandmother Rocks) and to Na Mueang Waterfall, which offered a totally different side of the island, set in the jungle. It was an easy way to explore the island and to see lots of different sights in a few hours. You are picked up from your hotel (and dropped off) plus the minivan had aircon which offered relief from the heat.
Summary - I did a lot of travelling, staying in five different places and taking three night flights, so it was tiring. I did manage to rest and relax as well as explore the local areas of where I was staying and experience the different cultures.
Please ask if you have any questions about the UAE or Thailand as I would be happy to share my knowledge and experiences and offer advice.