We are good to go, nice breakfast, taxi guy is 20 minutes early no problem you can never have too much time at an airport. Very chatty driver and hopeful of upcoming elections to get rid of the military rule currently in place ….good luck to him and the country, they could use some decent…Continue Reading “Bangkok >Taipei > Vancouver > Madeira Park….”
December 24th Christmas Eve dawns hot and muggy, after breakfast we are on our way to Bangkok some 250 kilometers and a world away. Rather than the wooden ferry we arrived on we have opted for a speed boat and speed boat we got… We left at 09:00 on the nose and the previous 40…Continue Reading “Koh Samet to Bangkok ……the Chao Phraya River & Chinatown”
December 20th – 24th Just 200 kilometers from Bangkok in the Gulf of Thailand, the T-shaped island of Ko Samet is famed for its white sandy beaches, exotic coral and crystal clear waters. Interestingly, Koh Samet developed as a distinctly Thai destination servicing the nearby population of Bangkok. At first the rough accommodations among the trees…Continue Reading “Koh Samet…….sunny skies, white sand, warm water and cold beer !!!”
Ko Chang, one of the largest Thai islands in the Gulf of Thailand, contains dense, steep jungle. Mu Ko Chang National Park, a preserve with hiking trails and waterfalls such as the tiered Klong Plu and some offshore coral reefs. The coast is dotted with beaches and villages including Bang Bao, built on piers. We…Continue Reading “Koh Chang…..island laxing & transfer to Koh Samet”
November 28th, Another beautiful morning excellent breakfast as we bid adieu to the Chedi Home, “our” chedi and Chiang Mai…. Today we are on our way to Chiang Khong on the border of Laos, an approximately 5 hour journey by shared mini bus. Pick-up on schedule at 09:15 and then we spend the next 45 minutes picking…Continue Reading “Chiang Mai to Chiang Khong…….and a White Temple on the way”
November 25th to 27th Inasmuch as the most interesting part of Chiang Mai is the Old City we are pretty much staying within the confines of the Old City Walls focusing on the main Wats (temples), some lesser ones (keeping in mind there are over 300 !!!) the general area and of course checking out…Continue Reading “Chiang Mai……wats, night markets & street food”
November 24th This will be a longish transfer day ….1,300 kilometers involving a songthaew, minibus, flight and taxi as we bid adieu to Southern Thailand and head for the North….sort of reverse snowbirds. We wake up to a nice day as the regulation jungle critters make sure there is no sleeping in….last nite I had…Continue Reading “Khao Sok to Chiang Mai….. and dinner at the Wualai Road night market”
November 22nd, 2018 The jungle noise wakens us and we look out to see a group of monkeys tearing around the trees beside the treehouse, this reminds us that today should be full of adventure….. after breakfast, we are joining a tour to Cheow Larn Lake with kayaking, swimming, a hike and an overnight on…Continue Reading “Khao Sok National Park (Cheow Larn Lake )….visit to the real Jurassic Park”
November 19 – 20th, 2018 The weather was mixed for our last beach days but we did optimize them enjoying the beach, water and kayaks….and yet another beach dinner >>> they are very kid-friendly here and even include various toys so the kids can entertain themselves: We also squeezed in a trip to the Tsunami…Continue Reading “Khao Lak to Khao Sok…..end of relaxing & onwards to the jungle”
November 17th, 2018 Another transfer day as we are going back to the mainland albeit continuing the beach part of our trip as we have front-loaded the “relax” part of this trip !! We enjoyed our stay on Koh Yao Noi, overall everything was pretty good (although we were disappointed with the beach which looks…Continue Reading “Koh Yao Noi to Khao Lak……and a change of gears !!!”