Our Honeymoon
October 26, 2009 | Posted Under: Honeymoon, Thailand | 7 Comments
A week ago now we arrived back to a cold, cloudy Gatwick after a mammoth and gruelling 27 journey from Thailand (we had annoying transfers via Doha, we didn’t go by Spitfire).
We had such an amazing time during our two weeks travelling round this wonderful country. We’re not really ones to be happy sunbathing on the beach for days on end so we wanted to go somewhere that would offer up a mix of locations; city, beach and jungle. It really delivered the goods.
Our journey started at Bangkok where we had one-day to look around the sights and get settled in our new time zone and temperature. The start of October is officially Monsoon season in Thailand, but we really lucked out throughout the whole holiday with only about an hour’s worth of rain during the whole trip. Of course, the Grand Palace was on the agenda, but we went on a bit of a jolly round the city, just seeing where it (and the naughty tuk-tuk drivers) took us.
We stayed at the rather grand Lebua at State Tower. Go all the way up to the 63rd floor and you’ll find one of the world’s highest Sky Bars giving you panoramic views over the city. It’s high. So high in fact, that after one very strong mojito I was so concerned the Imp of the Perverse was going to take over and I’d do something stupid like fall or jump off we had to go back down.
A short flight down to the Krabi to stay at the Tubkaak and things were much more sedate…
apart from having to dodge the hundreds of crabs on the beach (I guess that’s why they call it Krabi?)
A few hours drive away in Surat Thani we spent a few nights camping in the jungle at Elephant Hills (we had our own private bathroom, I’m not that willing to slum it). Set up to help elephants who had previously been used for logging or as tourist attractions in the city, the guys here have set up a camp allowing tourists to visit the heffalumps in an environment more suited to their own. I was so pleased to see our guides were really chilled out with this magnificent beasts and although we got bitten to death by mosquitoes we were quite happy to sit back and wait whilst the elephants wandered off into the trees for their snack breaks (all twenty of them).
They also took us on some fantastic boat and canoe trips…
although our Long Boat broke down more than once. When you’re able to listen to wild Gibbons whilst waiting for the Thai equivalent of a floating RAC man though, you can’t complain.
But maybe they ought to invest in a bigger towing rope…
Our favourite day was without doubt trekking up the mountain armed with bamboo walking sticks for our cookery lesson. I loved this guy, he was a brilliant guide and he makes damn fine BBQ pork and coconut curries…
There’s nothing like sweating it out in the jungle to make you appreciate a nice, ice cold cocktail. We ended our trip with a stay at the Aleenta in Phang-Nga. They made excellent tipples in their sunset bar. Apologies for the 80’s-ness of this closing shot.
Venues:
Elephant Hills, Khao Sok, Panom District, Surat Thani