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.
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.
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