Tuesday, 30 August 2011
Blogging in Thai!
Since arriving in Thailand, and logging on to Wifi, the blog page has automatically changed into Thai. This makes editing adding photos (etc) somewhat harder - and its just from memory that Jim knows which buttons to push!
Snap happy in Bangkok - photos from 30 August (part 2)
Grand Palace (former residence)
Outside Grand Palace (former residence)
Making a donation at Wot Pho (idea is to put a coin in each bucket)
Head of giant reclining Buddha
Body of of giant reclining Buddha
Foot of of giant reclining Buddha
Foot of of giant reclining Buddha - pearl inlay
Some of the more than 1000 Buddha images at Wot Pho
Workers restoring Buddha images - tiny mosaic pieces placed on with tweezers
More Buddha images
Eating out
Wot Arun - one of the oldest temples in Bangkok
Snap happy in Bangkok - photos from 30 August (part 1)
View from river boat
Wot Arun accross the busy Chao Phrao river
River scene - transport designed for the small canals
River scene - fast moving vegetation from upstream markets
School girls who we assisted with their English project
Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew
Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew
Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew
Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew
Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew
Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew
Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew
Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew
Hand painted wall paper
Which wat is what - 30 August 2011
On our penultimate day of our 60 day travels, we all mutually agreed that the focus should be on culture.
Thus we set off after our suburb hotel buffet breakfast (in which Jim and Liz had an Asian breakfast including dim sum, and stir fried fish) for the Grand Palace and Wat Kaew (both on the same site) - one of the "must see" sights in Bangkok. Its the former residence of several kings of Thailand, and still is used for diplomatic activities and as the accommodation for visiting heads of state (etc) to Thailand.
To get there we needed to take a boat, and wished to get on the local ferry which is half the price (30 pence) of the "tourist boat". We were therefore knarked when the local ferry drew up to be told it was "full" - it clearly wasn't and steered towards the tourist boat. It was hard to push our way through with the tourists who had been presold their tourist boat tickets. (Both boats are run by the Bangkok authorities). Anyway we felt it was poetic justice when we got on the boat (you can pre-buy tickets or buy them on the boat) and never be asked for a ticket - so we got our ride free! (Small victory for us!)
On the way from the ferry to the grand palace we stopped in a park outside the palace for a drink in the shade (the park being the Bangkok equivalent to London's Horseguards parade). Here we were approached by some delightful 16 year old school children who had been sent out to "interview" foreigners about their visit to Thailand as part of their English project. Most amusing of all, was seeing them trying to decide who would dare approach us - they are all very shy and incredibly polite!
The grand palace is massive. Its also very strict on dress rules - and we thought we had planned for this by taking appropriate clothes. However when we got there, they were not appropriate enough so we had to join the 15 minute queue in the heat for a (free) clothes loan - so our best laid plans failed. The girls in particular enjoyed the Grand Palace - especially the famous Emerald Buddha housed in Wat Phra Kaew - they were a bit disappointed not to actually go into the kings former accommodation quarters within the Grand Palace.
After a good three hours in the grand palace (which fortunately had a few museums within the grounds that had airconditioning) we moved on to Wat Pho. This temple (or series of temples) is over 20 acres in size and house more than 1000 Buddha's in various states of repairs. Its the largest temple in Bangkok. We saw workers restoring some - a huge job as (in the same way as the grand palace) many are made up of huge number of very small mosaics - put on with tweezers.
Wat Pho houses the large reclining Buddha some 46 metres long (150 foot) and 15 metres high (50 foot). Its incredibly impressive.
From there we all got more ambitious and ate at a street stall. Our friend Jackie in Australia swears by street stalls providing they don't have a linen tablecloth and you can see the food being cooked in front of you. This passed on all accounts and we had some delicious and cheap stir fried rice and pad thai.
Then it was back on the public river boat - again we were never asked to pay- probably on account of it being full and the conductor not able to battle her way through (although we were more than willing to pay the 30p). We decided that this particular boat had a learner driver at the helm such was the way he slammed into the various piers en route!. From the boat terminal stop we then took our hotel ferry shuttle as ever - by this time, after a hot, humid day it had started to drizzle. We politely declined the offer from one of the hotel doormen of an umbrella from the hotel pier to the hotel - all of 20 metres or so. To satisfy Joesph we all went for a swim in the rain.
Tomorrow we have our last day in Bangkok before heading to the airport in the evening. Our plan is to check out of the hotel mid morning, leave bags in the hotel bag store and go up to the Ko San Road area (backpackers area) for food and a mooch before returning to the hotel for a swim then get changed into clean clothes and take a taxi to the airport early evening. The flight for London departs at 12.20 am.
Thus we set off after our suburb hotel buffet breakfast (in which Jim and Liz had an Asian breakfast including dim sum, and stir fried fish) for the Grand Palace and Wat Kaew (both on the same site) - one of the "must see" sights in Bangkok. Its the former residence of several kings of Thailand, and still is used for diplomatic activities and as the accommodation for visiting heads of state (etc) to Thailand.
To get there we needed to take a boat, and wished to get on the local ferry which is half the price (30 pence) of the "tourist boat". We were therefore knarked when the local ferry drew up to be told it was "full" - it clearly wasn't and steered towards the tourist boat. It was hard to push our way through with the tourists who had been presold their tourist boat tickets. (Both boats are run by the Bangkok authorities). Anyway we felt it was poetic justice when we got on the boat (you can pre-buy tickets or buy them on the boat) and never be asked for a ticket - so we got our ride free! (Small victory for us!)
On the way from the ferry to the grand palace we stopped in a park outside the palace for a drink in the shade (the park being the Bangkok equivalent to London's Horseguards parade). Here we were approached by some delightful 16 year old school children who had been sent out to "interview" foreigners about their visit to Thailand as part of their English project. Most amusing of all, was seeing them trying to decide who would dare approach us - they are all very shy and incredibly polite!
The grand palace is massive. Its also very strict on dress rules - and we thought we had planned for this by taking appropriate clothes. However when we got there, they were not appropriate enough so we had to join the 15 minute queue in the heat for a (free) clothes loan - so our best laid plans failed. The girls in particular enjoyed the Grand Palace - especially the famous Emerald Buddha housed in Wat Phra Kaew - they were a bit disappointed not to actually go into the kings former accommodation quarters within the Grand Palace.
After a good three hours in the grand palace (which fortunately had a few museums within the grounds that had airconditioning) we moved on to Wat Pho. This temple (or series of temples) is over 20 acres in size and house more than 1000 Buddha's in various states of repairs. Its the largest temple in Bangkok. We saw workers restoring some - a huge job as (in the same way as the grand palace) many are made up of huge number of very small mosaics - put on with tweezers.
Wat Pho houses the large reclining Buddha some 46 metres long (150 foot) and 15 metres high (50 foot). Its incredibly impressive.
From there we all got more ambitious and ate at a street stall. Our friend Jackie in Australia swears by street stalls providing they don't have a linen tablecloth and you can see the food being cooked in front of you. This passed on all accounts and we had some delicious and cheap stir fried rice and pad thai.
Then it was back on the public river boat - again we were never asked to pay- probably on account of it being full and the conductor not able to battle her way through (although we were more than willing to pay the 30p). We decided that this particular boat had a learner driver at the helm such was the way he slammed into the various piers en route!. From the boat terminal stop we then took our hotel ferry shuttle as ever - by this time, after a hot, humid day it had started to drizzle. We politely declined the offer from one of the hotel doormen of an umbrella from the hotel pier to the hotel - all of 20 metres or so. To satisfy Joesph we all went for a swim in the rain.
Tomorrow we have our last day in Bangkok before heading to the airport in the evening. Our plan is to check out of the hotel mid morning, leave bags in the hotel bag store and go up to the Ko San Road area (backpackers area) for food and a mooch before returning to the hotel for a swim then get changed into clean clothes and take a taxi to the airport early evening. The flight for London departs at 12.20 am.
Monday, 29 August 2011
Photos Hua Hin - 28 August
Pretending to enjoy a coconut - not top of the list to reorder!
Spontaneous late night pedicure & manicure
Result 1
Result 2
Back to Bangkok - 29 August 2011
Up early despite a late night last night. Continuing the "take advantage of the opportunity for new experiences because they are affordable" theme, Liz, Eleanor and Katherine went for a manicure and pedicure on their way back from the evening meal while Jim took Joseph back to the hotel because as ever he was out on his feet. The result was that they were not back until 11.30pm - to say the pedicure took longer than expected is an understatement.
We really enjoyed Hua Hin, much more than we thought we would on arrival, and the manager of the small hotel we stayed in (Baan Manthana) Hotel) was so fantastically friendly and helpful. Possibly not as good as Koh Chang would have been but enjoyable none the less.
We planned to take a minibus to Bangkok - the total price was going to be 1200 baht, plus a couple of hundred baht for the transfer from Victory Monument in Bangkok to the hotel. Jim casually enquired about a taxi on the way to the bus. The initial price was 3000 baht, but Jim offered 2000 baht and they accepted. The result was that we had door to door transfer with a very nice taxi driver in a 7 seater vehicle for just 6 or so pounds more than the bus. Another sign of us selling out from our backpacker mentality - or an advantage of economies of scale? Driving back we saw plenty of rice growing in padi fields.
Once checked into the Chatrium Riverside hotel in Bangkok once more and then we went out to explore the Siam Square area of Bangkok (despite Joseph's protestations that he just wanted to swim in the pool. This involved taking the fantastically efficient (and most importantly air conditioned) sky train. It is an amazing feat of engineering - basically a railway built on stilts over the city - sometimes two stories high and often with elevated walkways. From the train you see the gridlocked streets - and wonder how additionally gridlocked they were while they constructed the system.
From Silom square we first stopped off at one of the many modern shopping centres to use their food court, then walked along the packed streets into the Panthum market area - as ever thousands of stall holders selling everything and anything. Jim bought himself a new tie, Liz a hairclip and the girls some nail varnish - so less than £5 or so spent and we remain well within budget today.
Then it was back to the hotel for Joseph's swim. This involved travelling at rush hour, we were shoehorned into the first train we needed to catch so to say the trains were packed would be an understatement. Thank goodness for air conditioning! As we travelled we looked down on streets that were even more gridlocked (if indeed that's possible!). We need to allow plenty of time to get to the airport!
Joseph and his entire family enjoyed their cooling evening swim.
We really enjoyed Hua Hin, much more than we thought we would on arrival, and the manager of the small hotel we stayed in (Baan Manthana) Hotel) was so fantastically friendly and helpful. Possibly not as good as Koh Chang would have been but enjoyable none the less.
We planned to take a minibus to Bangkok - the total price was going to be 1200 baht, plus a couple of hundred baht for the transfer from Victory Monument in Bangkok to the hotel. Jim casually enquired about a taxi on the way to the bus. The initial price was 3000 baht, but Jim offered 2000 baht and they accepted. The result was that we had door to door transfer with a very nice taxi driver in a 7 seater vehicle for just 6 or so pounds more than the bus. Another sign of us selling out from our backpacker mentality - or an advantage of economies of scale? Driving back we saw plenty of rice growing in padi fields.
Once checked into the Chatrium Riverside hotel in Bangkok once more and then we went out to explore the Siam Square area of Bangkok (despite Joseph's protestations that he just wanted to swim in the pool. This involved taking the fantastically efficient (and most importantly air conditioned) sky train. It is an amazing feat of engineering - basically a railway built on stilts over the city - sometimes two stories high and often with elevated walkways. From the train you see the gridlocked streets - and wonder how additionally gridlocked they were while they constructed the system.
From Silom square we first stopped off at one of the many modern shopping centres to use their food court, then walked along the packed streets into the Panthum market area - as ever thousands of stall holders selling everything and anything. Jim bought himself a new tie, Liz a hairclip and the girls some nail varnish - so less than £5 or so spent and we remain well within budget today.
Then it was back to the hotel for Joseph's swim. This involved travelling at rush hour, we were shoehorned into the first train we needed to catch so to say the trains were packed would be an understatement. Thank goodness for air conditioning! As we travelled we looked down on streets that were even more gridlocked (if indeed that's possible!). We need to allow plenty of time to get to the airport!
Joseph and his entire family enjoyed their cooling evening swim.
In Bangkok - by one of the many shrines outside one of the many shopping centres
Sunday, 28 August 2011
Rained off the beach! - 28 August
Up at a reasonable time (for us in Thailand mode that is where the Australian 7am start has given way to a 9am start!)
First stop the 10.30 am english mass at Hua Hin Catholic Church. As we were kept talking by an Australian over breakfast we too a taxi there.Its in the grounds of a Salesioan school, so took us a while to find the Church. It was a very Australian priest who was on vacation who took the service.
Next stop was the shopping mall for a quick snack at the food court, the girls brought a few reasonably priced souvenirs then it was onto the beach.
We hit the beach at a lovely quite spot, but just as the heaven opened. We kept on thinking it would blow over, but it suddenly became torrential for about 15 minutes - fortunately at a spot where we had cover. Those left on the beach were mainly in the sea - the best spot to be, those who braved the walk were as wet as if they had been in the sea.
After 15 minutes or so, the rain abruptly stopped - but the kids were deaf to our suggestions about returning to the beach so instead we returned to the hotel where Joseph spend almost 2 hours in the pool.
This was followed by the usual pattern of a wander around markets, tea and bed.
Tomorrow we plan to return to Bangkok - probably by bus.
Pictures to follow - wifi connection too slow to upload here!
First stop the 10.30 am english mass at Hua Hin Catholic Church. As we were kept talking by an Australian over breakfast we too a taxi there.Its in the grounds of a Salesioan school, so took us a while to find the Church. It was a very Australian priest who was on vacation who took the service.
Next stop was the shopping mall for a quick snack at the food court, the girls brought a few reasonably priced souvenirs then it was onto the beach.
We hit the beach at a lovely quite spot, but just as the heaven opened. We kept on thinking it would blow over, but it suddenly became torrential for about 15 minutes - fortunately at a spot where we had cover. Those left on the beach were mainly in the sea - the best spot to be, those who braved the walk were as wet as if they had been in the sea.
After 15 minutes or so, the rain abruptly stopped - but the kids were deaf to our suggestions about returning to the beach so instead we returned to the hotel where Joseph spend almost 2 hours in the pool.
This was followed by the usual pattern of a wander around markets, tea and bed.
Tomorrow we plan to return to Bangkok - probably by bus.
Pictures to follow - wifi connection too slow to upload here!
Elephants and swimming - 27 August
Our original plan had been to go to Koh Chang island for a beach which comes highly recommended, one reason being that it is possible to go elephant trekking.
We elected to travel to Hua Hin on time and distance grounds - it basically takes all day door to door to get from accommodation in Bangkok to accommodation in Koh Chang - compared to roughly 3.5 hours to Hua Hin.
Fortunately there is an elephant sanctuary in Hua Hin - so the kids were very keen to take up the opportunity of an elephant ride - so that was the first plan of the day. That said, if Joseph had his way we would stay dawn to dusk in the hotel pool, so he got a quick 30 minute swim in before we departed for the elephant sanctuary at 11am.
We all enjoyed the 1 hour elephant trek, the elephants are clearly highly trained - so all three children got a chance to sit on the elephants neck for 20 minutes in the case of E & K as opposed to in the seat. The only issue was the scenery in the sanctuary - although it involved wading through a river, climbing a bit of a hill, and going through a Thai village (where the park workers live - a bit of an eye opener for the kids in terms of how basic it is), the scenery is, I am sure nothing like it would have been in Koh Chang. Furthermore after riding the elephants there was an opportunity to attend an "elephant show" - basically elephants doing tricks - which we politely declined to do. So enjoyable, elephants clearly well looked after and well treated - but mixed feelings about the circus aspects that run parallel.
From the elephant trek, we went to Hua Hin market village - basically a shopping centre, for the purpose of using their food court - something for everyone. Jim went for a random curry - to say it was hot was an understatement! The highlight was smoothies - real fruit at about 75pence - we looked enviously at similar ones in Australia - costing closer to £3! We are very very aware that similarly many Thai people will look similarly enviously at us. Indeed Jim had a regular impulse to go into an Australian restaurant and say "how can you afford it!" to the diners - I am sure that many Thai people would say the same to us. As ever there are plenty of Thais around with no shortage of cash, but the difference between the haves and have nots is vast. That said we have seen very few examples of abject poverty compared to trips in Africa and India.
From there, Joseph's wishes prevailed and we returned to the hotel for a long swim / read in beside the pool before going to the same cafe for a great meal, a quick wander through the night market and a home to bed. Joseph after all his swimming was out like a light!
We could get used to this life!
PHOTOS TO FOLLOW - INTERNET CONNECTION IN HUA HIN TOO SLOW TO UPLOAD!
We elected to travel to Hua Hin on time and distance grounds - it basically takes all day door to door to get from accommodation in Bangkok to accommodation in Koh Chang - compared to roughly 3.5 hours to Hua Hin.
Fortunately there is an elephant sanctuary in Hua Hin - so the kids were very keen to take up the opportunity of an elephant ride - so that was the first plan of the day. That said, if Joseph had his way we would stay dawn to dusk in the hotel pool, so he got a quick 30 minute swim in before we departed for the elephant sanctuary at 11am.
We all enjoyed the 1 hour elephant trek, the elephants are clearly highly trained - so all three children got a chance to sit on the elephants neck for 20 minutes in the case of E & K as opposed to in the seat. The only issue was the scenery in the sanctuary - although it involved wading through a river, climbing a bit of a hill, and going through a Thai village (where the park workers live - a bit of an eye opener for the kids in terms of how basic it is), the scenery is, I am sure nothing like it would have been in Koh Chang. Furthermore after riding the elephants there was an opportunity to attend an "elephant show" - basically elephants doing tricks - which we politely declined to do. So enjoyable, elephants clearly well looked after and well treated - but mixed feelings about the circus aspects that run parallel.
From the elephant trek, we went to Hua Hin market village - basically a shopping centre, for the purpose of using their food court - something for everyone. Jim went for a random curry - to say it was hot was an understatement! The highlight was smoothies - real fruit at about 75pence - we looked enviously at similar ones in Australia - costing closer to £3! We are very very aware that similarly many Thai people will look similarly enviously at us. Indeed Jim had a regular impulse to go into an Australian restaurant and say "how can you afford it!" to the diners - I am sure that many Thai people would say the same to us. As ever there are plenty of Thais around with no shortage of cash, but the difference between the haves and have nots is vast. That said we have seen very few examples of abject poverty compared to trips in Africa and India.
From there, Joseph's wishes prevailed and we returned to the hotel for a long swim / read in beside the pool before going to the same cafe for a great meal, a quick wander through the night market and a home to bed. Joseph after all his swimming was out like a light!
We could get used to this life!
PHOTOS TO FOLLOW - INTERNET CONNECTION IN HUA HIN TOO SLOW TO UPLOAD!
Friday, 26 August 2011
Lazy day in Hot Hua Hin - 26 August
Leisurely start to the day.
Liz did some hand washing before breakfast to stick out to dry on our hotel balcony, and Jim to his horror realised that he had failed to bring any other t-shirts from Bangkok, so had to put back on a pretty dirty one from yesterday - will need to buy one in the night market this evening - and hope that the street vendors can't smell the desperation when we start talking prices!
Kids made full use of the totally passable hotel swimming pool. Unfortunately there was some construction work taking place in the hotel - but the kids were unaffected by the drilling and welding noises unlike adults.
About midday we got our act together and had a walk down to the beach - going by a different route in order to explore Hua Hin better.
The beach was much better than we had feared, by walking just 10 minutes we had a large section of beach to ourselves - good white sand and the water as warm as a bath.
Every 20 minutes or so a beach vendor passes by offering ice creams, fruit or clothes but they were not persistent and there was no hassle - so we had a good relax, while listening to the sound check for the jazz festival that's kicking off this evening.
From the beach we nipped back to the hotel for a shower and to remove large amounts of sand from our clothing.
Then off to a local restaurant for a fantastic Thai meal - something for everyone - which included a cocktail each (not alcoholic for the kids) a Singapore Sling for us. Again does not feel like us. The total cost of the meal for all of us, including plenty of drinks was less than £20 - about the price of a Pizza in Australia.
From the meal we had a quick look round the night market and Jim negotiated the purchase of a new t shirt. The kids both bought a bracelet with their holiday money fund from neighbours, grandparents, uncles and aunts.
To finish off, Eleanor, Katherine and Jim had a massage at the night market (Liz having drawn the short straw and taken Joseph back to bed as he was once again out on his feet). This time Jim had a Thai massage - which consisted of being contorted, twisted, knelt on etc - I am sure there is some science to it - or perhaps they were just having a laugh at us gullible foreigners. It was painful at times - but felt good afterwards.
This really does not feel like a typical Hopkinson holiday, but then we only have 4 full days left of our holiday, and we ended the day well in budget.
Liz did some hand washing before breakfast to stick out to dry on our hotel balcony, and Jim to his horror realised that he had failed to bring any other t-shirts from Bangkok, so had to put back on a pretty dirty one from yesterday - will need to buy one in the night market this evening - and hope that the street vendors can't smell the desperation when we start talking prices!
Kids made full use of the totally passable hotel swimming pool. Unfortunately there was some construction work taking place in the hotel - but the kids were unaffected by the drilling and welding noises unlike adults.
About midday we got our act together and had a walk down to the beach - going by a different route in order to explore Hua Hin better.
The beach was much better than we had feared, by walking just 10 minutes we had a large section of beach to ourselves - good white sand and the water as warm as a bath.
Every 20 minutes or so a beach vendor passes by offering ice creams, fruit or clothes but they were not persistent and there was no hassle - so we had a good relax, while listening to the sound check for the jazz festival that's kicking off this evening.
From the beach we nipped back to the hotel for a shower and to remove large amounts of sand from our clothing.
Then off to a local restaurant for a fantastic Thai meal - something for everyone - which included a cocktail each (not alcoholic for the kids) a Singapore Sling for us. Again does not feel like us. The total cost of the meal for all of us, including plenty of drinks was less than £20 - about the price of a Pizza in Australia.
From the meal we had a quick look round the night market and Jim negotiated the purchase of a new t shirt. The kids both bought a bracelet with their holiday money fund from neighbours, grandparents, uncles and aunts.
To finish off, Eleanor, Katherine and Jim had a massage at the night market (Liz having drawn the short straw and taken Joseph back to bed as he was once again out on his feet). This time Jim had a Thai massage - which consisted of being contorted, twisted, knelt on etc - I am sure there is some science to it - or perhaps they were just having a laugh at us gullible foreigners. It was painful at times - but felt good afterwards.
This really does not feel like a typical Hopkinson holiday, but then we only have 4 full days left of our holiday, and we ended the day well in budget.
Hua Hin beach
Hua Hin "nightlife" area (not one we frequented!)
Cafe in the more sedate part of town
Impulse decision by Liz to splash out on a £1 Singapore Sling....
Turned to cocktails all round
Night market
Thursday, 25 August 2011
Travelling to find a beach, Bangkok to Hua Hin - 25 August
After researching various travel options we decided to book a taxi to take us to Hua Hin. It appeared by my calculations to save a good 3 hours travel time for the additional cost of no more than £10. Still however it does not feel like us - and we feel sell outs travelling by ways that are not the least expensive and staying in non budget hotels.
So we had a leisurely breakfast in our 5 star hotel, then the kids had a swim in the pool while Liz packed one bag to take with us - the rest we put into storage at the Chatrium Riverside Hotel.
The taxi we had ordered arrived at 12 noon exactly and we set off for Hua Hin, which is the place where the Thai royal family have had their summer palace and have traditionally holidayed.
Bangkok goes on and on - its a huge metropolis, and the streets are full of hawkers with road side stalls - food, fruit, anything - you just wonder as you get to the faster flowing roads if they ever make a sale from day to day.
Although the roads are full, the road network is excellent - it was at least dual carriageway all the way to Hua Hin.
On the way we passed salt flats - (vendors selling bags of salt by the side of the road), and even saw working elephants pulling loads.
First stop was Phetchaburri where we toured around a previous Thai kings royal palace. Its several hundred years old, but seemed to become the residence of some European prince around 1910. The literature was a bit confusing - but it was interesting enough nevertheless. The palace is on a hill - I guess to get better air circulation - fortunately there was a cable car going some of the journey - it was 37 degrees Celsius so any strenuous effort is off putting! For the kids the huge number of monkeys was the particular attraction.
From there we asked the taxi driver to take us to some caves which we had heard about (the taxi driver who knew all about the palace had not!). These were pretty special, and clearly little visited. They were originally sponsored by a Thai king some 400 years ago. Its a large cave complex (99 steps down) and very cool inside - although plenty of natural light from holes in the ceiling. Inside there are 5 chambers, with great light patterns, the usual stalactites and stalagmites and some 99 images of Buddha - including a large reclining Buddha. The caves are looked after by Buddhist nuns. We were able to ring a Buddhist bell, and the kids said a prayer and left an offering. The taxi driver was Buddhist and was clearly very happy to go to a place he did not know existed. Apparently he drives people to Hua Hin almost on a weekly basis (its a real Thai weekend getaway destination) and regularly stops at the old palace, looks like this will now be added to the itinerary!
From Phetchaburri we quickly covered the 90k of so to Hua Hin, seeing huge posh beach side hotel resorts as we started to get close to the beach.
This time we have elected to stay in a much more modest guesthouse in the centre of Hua Hin. Its close to their night markets and 10 minutes walk from the beach. Still much more expensive and upmarket than our previous visit to Thailand 20 years ago and a far better standard - but at £40 for 2 very clean air conditioned rooms with huge beds including breakfast we have no complaints (even if it's far removed from the quality of the Bangkok hotel!)
We walked to the beach at Hua Hin and were initially shocked to see it covered in beach cafes - so densely that there was no where to sit on the beach (just like the old images of Spain from the 1970s). Fortunately we soon discovered a bit more beach by walking a few hundred metres - but its not quite the isolated beach that we had originally intended to experience in Koh Chang. To make matters worse we have arrived at a weekend (and this is a destination of choice for Thai weekenders) and, unbeknown to us, they have an annual jazz festival here which attracts people from all over Thailand. That is on this weekend too. We will make the best of it, or the very friendly guy at the hotel says we could take a taxi to a much quieter beach some 6km or so away.
After a walk on the commercialised beach, we have to confess that we allowed the kids to have their first McDonald's of the whole holiday - which they enjoyed. We then had a quick unplanned return visit to the hotel as when we passed some workmen by the pavement Eleanor stood in their mound of unset concrete - well over ankle deep and enlarging her shoe to double its size. Luckily by the hotel their is an outside tap with high pressure that we could hose her and her shoe down with before it set. We then had a walk around the night market, and Liz and Jim had a Thai fried rice (Jim's blew his head off with chillies - not one to be repeated). Joesph by this time was about out on his feet such was the heat, so we were pleased that we had chosen a central hotel, just a couple of minutes back to the hotel where we could switch on air conditioning, have a shower and fall into the oversized beds.
Stayed at Baan Manthana Hotel, Hua Hin, Prachuap Khiri Khan 77110, Thailand
So we had a leisurely breakfast in our 5 star hotel, then the kids had a swim in the pool while Liz packed one bag to take with us - the rest we put into storage at the Chatrium Riverside Hotel.
The taxi we had ordered arrived at 12 noon exactly and we set off for Hua Hin, which is the place where the Thai royal family have had their summer palace and have traditionally holidayed.
Bangkok goes on and on - its a huge metropolis, and the streets are full of hawkers with road side stalls - food, fruit, anything - you just wonder as you get to the faster flowing roads if they ever make a sale from day to day.
Although the roads are full, the road network is excellent - it was at least dual carriageway all the way to Hua Hin.
On the way we passed salt flats - (vendors selling bags of salt by the side of the road), and even saw working elephants pulling loads.
First stop was Phetchaburri where we toured around a previous Thai kings royal palace. Its several hundred years old, but seemed to become the residence of some European prince around 1910. The literature was a bit confusing - but it was interesting enough nevertheless. The palace is on a hill - I guess to get better air circulation - fortunately there was a cable car going some of the journey - it was 37 degrees Celsius so any strenuous effort is off putting! For the kids the huge number of monkeys was the particular attraction.
From there we asked the taxi driver to take us to some caves which we had heard about (the taxi driver who knew all about the palace had not!). These were pretty special, and clearly little visited. They were originally sponsored by a Thai king some 400 years ago. Its a large cave complex (99 steps down) and very cool inside - although plenty of natural light from holes in the ceiling. Inside there are 5 chambers, with great light patterns, the usual stalactites and stalagmites and some 99 images of Buddha - including a large reclining Buddha. The caves are looked after by Buddhist nuns. We were able to ring a Buddhist bell, and the kids said a prayer and left an offering. The taxi driver was Buddhist and was clearly very happy to go to a place he did not know existed. Apparently he drives people to Hua Hin almost on a weekly basis (its a real Thai weekend getaway destination) and regularly stops at the old palace, looks like this will now be added to the itinerary!
From Phetchaburri we quickly covered the 90k of so to Hua Hin, seeing huge posh beach side hotel resorts as we started to get close to the beach.
This time we have elected to stay in a much more modest guesthouse in the centre of Hua Hin. Its close to their night markets and 10 minutes walk from the beach. Still much more expensive and upmarket than our previous visit to Thailand 20 years ago and a far better standard - but at £40 for 2 very clean air conditioned rooms with huge beds including breakfast we have no complaints (even if it's far removed from the quality of the Bangkok hotel!)
We walked to the beach at Hua Hin and were initially shocked to see it covered in beach cafes - so densely that there was no where to sit on the beach (just like the old images of Spain from the 1970s). Fortunately we soon discovered a bit more beach by walking a few hundred metres - but its not quite the isolated beach that we had originally intended to experience in Koh Chang. To make matters worse we have arrived at a weekend (and this is a destination of choice for Thai weekenders) and, unbeknown to us, they have an annual jazz festival here which attracts people from all over Thailand. That is on this weekend too. We will make the best of it, or the very friendly guy at the hotel says we could take a taxi to a much quieter beach some 6km or so away.
After a walk on the commercialised beach, we have to confess that we allowed the kids to have their first McDonald's of the whole holiday - which they enjoyed. We then had a quick unplanned return visit to the hotel as when we passed some workmen by the pavement Eleanor stood in their mound of unset concrete - well over ankle deep and enlarging her shoe to double its size. Luckily by the hotel their is an outside tap with high pressure that we could hose her and her shoe down with before it set. We then had a walk around the night market, and Liz and Jim had a Thai fried rice (Jim's blew his head off with chillies - not one to be repeated). Joesph by this time was about out on his feet such was the heat, so we were pleased that we had chosen a central hotel, just a couple of minutes back to the hotel where we could switch on air conditioning, have a shower and fall into the oversized beds.
Stayed at Baan Manthana Hotel, Hua Hin, Prachuap Khiri Khan 77110, Thailand
1 of a thousand monkeys at Phetchaburri Royal Palace
Phetchaburri Royal Palace
Phetchaburri Royal Palace
Khao Luang Caves, Phetchaburri
Khao Luang Caves, Phetchaburri
Khao Luang Caves, Phetchaburri
Khao Luang Caves, Phetchaburri
Khao Luang Caves, Phetchaburri - Liz ringing bell
Kids dining arrangements at Hua Hin (one for the holiday!)
Adults dining arrangements at Hua Hin night market - Katherine about to try a chilli pepper!
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