Gail and Neil : February 2016

Monday 29 February 2016

Road Trip Thailand : South

We had talked about driving around Thailand in a Tuk- Tuk but it proved too hard to organise, so we settled for a Hertz Honda! Now that we have almost finished the trip, we are glad that we had a car because driving in Thailand is not for the fainthearted; driving times are very slow, road conditions poor and drivers are worse than back home. We collected the car from Phuket airport a couple of days before the start of the trip so that we could explore Phuket a bit too. The development of condos all over the island is astounding; when will it end? We headed north to Bang Tao and Laguna where lots of expats live. It's nice in a Disney village sort of way. All the way south to Rawai is pretty much developed too but there are some quieter beaches to be found. We hope that as the southern beaches in Burma open up for development, building will slow down in Phuket.
On Wednesday 10th Febraury, we left at 6.45am because we had a 10 hour drive to Hua Hin, via Phang Nga and Surithani, to stay with Peter and Nana. They have a lovely house in a gated development out near one of the golf courses in Hua Hin. Hua Hin is a coastal city, a few hours south of Bangkok, that is very popular with expat retirees. Once again the amount of development amazed us. We ate at a good Italian place. The Thai girls with us enjoyed the Thai/Italian fusion dish of spicy seafood spaghetti - too hot for us!
The next day we drove out to Hua Hin Hills Winery. We have added Thailand to the countries on our "wine regions of the world" tour! It was very busy due to Chinese New Year, so we got to stroll around the farm while we waited for our table. We chose a food and wine pairing. The food was excellent; the wine was okay.. and expensive.. Their top Syrah is over ZAR1000.00 a bottle.(Back in SA you could get a better Shiraz for less than ZAR150.00.)
The nightlife area in Hua Hin is small and pretty low key.
On 12th, it was a 4 hour drive to Kanchanaburi, north west of Bangkok. This is the town where you go to see the Bridge over the River Kwai. It is the tackiest tourist trap, crowded with stalls selling cheap souvenirs, clothing and jewellery. We walked across the bridge but skipped the awful museums. We experienced one of our many "Only in Thailand" moments. They were busy decorating the bridge and area next to it in pink and flowers for mass weddings on Valentines day. I am not sure I would like to get married on a bridge where 100 000 Allied POWs died building a railway line. Kanchanaburi has a small "back-packer" scene, with a short strip of bars and restaurants. We ate at a more local Thai Hot Pot restaurant. Avoiding the seafood option due to my allergy, we had pork. Most of the meat was quite processed - sausages, ham and meatballs,all cooked at the table in a pot of stock with egg noodles,veggies and spicy sauce. The next day we drove to Erawan and Sai Jok National Parks. It is "winter" and we were surprised how dry and how hazy it was. Erawan Waterfall was overrun with locals and tourists but we enjoyed the climb and tried to do a bit of bird watching. On the river at Sai Jok, Thais rent wooden raft-like houseboats for the weekend which are towed from place to place behind long tail boats. We ate on a floating restaurant. Back in Kanchanaburi, after a foot massage, we had dinner and drinks at BBBar, listening to a local cover band.

Monday 8 February 2016

Phuket, my happy place

People are always asking us where our favourite travel destination is, and we always say Thailand. But why? Last year 30 million tourists visited Thailand so it must have something going for it.
It is good value, the weather is amazing and so are the beaches. The food is wonderful and the people are friendly. These are the usual sort of reasons tourists pick holiday destinations. We love Phuket because life is as easy and as pleasurable as its ever going to be anywhere on this earth. You don't have to stress about anything. It's not about grand 5 star accommodation, although you can get that here if you want it. It's not about rushing around sight seeing and ticking all the right boxes. It's about being. Not that airy fairy, navel gazing type of being either, just living. We have stayed in the same guest house in Nanai Rd in Patong for the last 8 years. Its busy and crazy and real. The neighbourhood is full of guest houses and locals. Go to bed late, sleep all morning if you want to. Make good coffee in your room, or walk across the street to the French breakfast bar. The 7 Eleven is a few metres away and so is my laundry lady. Ann's massage is just 50m down the road. No need to make an appointment. Just turn up. Last night at 10pm we arrived and they were quite busy. So she called a friend and less than 5 minutes later a lady from another salon had arrived and we both got our massages. The latest we have had a massage is 1.45am.
Or perhaps you sleep even later and head straight to lunch at Song Pee Nong, our favourite local Thai place. Or relax with coffee and panini at Ella Bistro. Or perhaps you wake up earlier to go to the beach. Many afternoons we go for a foot massage at about 4.30pm. ZAR80 for an hour with comfy aircon and free wifi; followed up with sunset, happy hour cocktails at Sole Mio. Neil's favourite this year is Long Island Iced Tea. The hardest decision you have to make is where to have dinner. And restaurants in and around Patong are great. Our best find this year is Home Kitchen in Kalim. And of course, there's always the live music and goings on in Bangla Road to keep us busy. Find your favourite spots and after a few days you have friends all over town.
We go everywhere local on a scooter to zip through the traffic and park with ease. For anything else we organise a car and driver. We are never in a rush. We love it when friends are in town. We enjoy showing first timers around and hanging out with the more seasoned "farang" as well. There is no better way to spend hours with friends than over a simple Thai meal with your feet in the sand and a view of the sea .Or sitting on the beach,watching the sunset, drinking Sang Som and Coke out of plastic cups. Or even heading up to Le Versace for a view of the whole bay for pricey cocktails and designer snacks.
It's been 5 weeks and we can't believe we have to go.
"Nex year lon time. We sta 8 wee. Good for you, good for me."