After a taxi,
three flights, a 12 hour layover at LAX and a final taxi we arrived in Bangkok
44 ½ hours after we left Antigua in Guatemala.
We headed straight for Khaosan Road and our accommodation before
relaxing for a noisy beer and retiring for the night.
We had a
couple of days to get some things sorted for the upcoming tours we have so
spent most of the first two days doing boring things like doctor visits and
shopping lists. All of this also biding
time until Madison arrived on the 29th.
So excited to
see her we headed to the airport to pick her up, which all went pretty
smoothly, and then headed back to Khaosan Road for a late dinner. Madison’s first full day in Bangkok we headed
to Chatachuk market and spent 4-5 hours wandering around the market, hardly doing
it justice. Then it was back to Khaosan
Road where Madie shopped up a storm, for herself as well of lots of gifts for
her friends. So day 1 was all about shopping.
Day 2 was more
about Bangkok and it’s heritage so we headed to the Grand Palace, then the Reclining
Buddha before heading out on a ferry onto the river for a ~40 minute boat ride
which gives you a completely different perspective. The afternoon was spent by the pool.
The following
day we were on a plane to Phuket where we spent 1 night (checking out the
beach, street markets and of course Bangla Road). The highlight of Phuket was definitely
Madie’s parasailing experience and to top it off we were treated to a beautiful
sunset. In the evening we headed to the
show “Fantasea” to see the animals (mainly elephants) and cast in action -
something new for Madison and a little different to Bangkok.
The remainder
of Madie’s time with us in Thailand was spent on Koh Phi Phi. It was wonderful
to just spend time with her (have missed her heaps) and we did some of the
trips we had done just over 10 years ago when we first came here. A snorkelling trip one day, longtail boat
ride to the lagoon and Maya Bay the next and the walk up to the viewpoint on
our final full day on the island. Of
course the mandatory beaches were thrown in there as well as beautiful sunsets,
lots of lightning storms (overnight and much more lightening than rain) and
generally just spending quality time together.
It’s been a wonderful experience for us showing her around and hopefully
she had a good time too. We will
miss her more than she knows when we have to say goodbye, but Mum, school and
life in NZ is calling.
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| Budget showing Tax around Koh Phi Phi |
Following
Madie’s departure we had another week to utilise before leaving Thailand so we
opted to head for Koh Tao. A small
island a 2 hour ferry ride from Koh Samui and on the other coast to where we had
just been. We instantly liked Koh Tao and even though substantially bigger than
Phi Phi it had a really relaxed feel. Our first two nights were spent not too
far from the pier and we spent a day doing a snorkelling tour around the
island. We were treated to the most
spectacular coral formations that either of us has ever seen, not to mention
the numerous (too many to count) amazing coloured fish species that were all
too friendly and not at all worried about our presence.
The water here was
by far the warmest we’ve ever swam in (in fact pool water in Thailand at the
moment is almost too warm to swim in!) and we really made the most of doing not
very much.
We spent the
next two nights on Koh Nangyuan – a very small formation of three pieces of
land joined by narrow stretches of sand.
Quite spectacular and although crazy busy during the day the beauty of
staying there (even though it’s expensive) is that you and a few others have
the entire place to yourself from 5pm to 10am the next morning. The snorkelling here is also pretty special –
a shallow area named the “Japanese Garden” treated us to more colourful fish,
amazing coral and even a sea turtle. We
walked up to the viewpoint on our first evening to get the “postcard shot” of
the island and watch yet another fantastic sunset. Without a doubt Koh Tao has spoiled us with
what we’re sure will be some of the most beautiful sunsets we’ve ever seen –
unbelievable bright and vibrant and every day different.
Back to Koh Tao
our last night was spent on Sairee Beach, where the bulk of the travellers seem
to congregate, and we treated ourselves to a relaxing massage making the most
of the “holiday” before travel mode kicks in again. One more day in Bangkok we finished the
preparations for our upcoming tours and soaked up the unique Khaosan Road
atmosphere one more time.
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