Gail and Neil

Sunday, 1 May 2016

Roadtripping Thailand: North

On Friday 19th February we drove up to Pai via an amazing mountain pass. They have upgraded the road since we were last here but there are still 2800 turns to get there! Most travellers head up to Pai in overcrowded minivans - you had better hope you get a driver who has had enough sleep! Bikers like to do the trip too and some even do it on small scooters rented in Chaing Mai! We stayed in a great little guesthouse called Baan Suan Rim Pai. It's been 12 years since we have been here and we don't recognise a thing!It has grown.. and changed! Down by the river the guesthouses are just as rustic as ever and Pai has somehow managed to retain it's aura as a backpacker hangout..just!
Ten years ago a Thai film called "Love in Pai" was shot here and since then hundreds of thousands of Thai fans have come here for romantic getaways and honeymoons. Then two years ago, a Chinese film, Lost In Thailand caused Pai to explode as a Chinese tourist destination. It's hilarious to see young Chinese tourists rushing around from site to site, having photos taken. The best place to eat is on the streets at the night market. Then grab a seat at Yukko Beer Bar for imported craft beer and a great people watching opportunity. The only live music is at Yellow Submarine Bar - the music is not very good but it's fun to watch the western backpackers get very drunk on cheap drinks, hook up and stagger back to their fan-only riverside bungalows! There are lots of coffee bars all over and Maya Burger Queen is the place to get lunch. We also tried a local Thai place where you can get a bowl of "Spicy Chicken Liver Noodle Soup" for 25 Baht.
On Sunday we did another great scenic drive up to Chaing Dao and stayed in Malees Guesthouse. This area is touted for it's birdwatching. We climbed up to the Tham Pha Cave Monastery and we did see a few birds in the area, but mostly from our hut balcony.The next day we did another great scenic drive to Mae Saloeng via Tha Thon. There were lots of rice paddies, fruit orchards and coffee plantations along the way. Mae Saloeng is a town of Chinese KWT refugees and is known for it's tea plantations.We stayed at the Baan Ruam Cha Resort for about 700 Baht and went out to eat the local Yunnanese cuisine.We headed up to the border town Mai Sai near Myanmar and followed the Mehkong River east through the Golden Triangle area. Sop Ruak is an awful tourist trap that touts itself as the centre of the Golden Triangle. To be avoided.. We bypassed Chaing Rai and spent the night in Phayao instead. There are a few local hotels along the lake and we were the only foreign tourists in town. We had dinner at a restaurant on the lake and then enjoyed a live band at an open air club filled with students. Here if you are not a beer drinker, you drink brandy or local whisky, which you have to buy by the bottle.

Phayao

Sunday, 10 April 2016

Road Trip Thailand : North West

It's a long drive north from Kanchanaburi to Sukothai. New Sukothai is a small,bustling Thai city; rather down at heel we thought, with not much to capture a tourists attention on first sight.Hence we decided to stay 12kms west in Old Sukothai, the World Heritage designated site of the Capital of the Thai Empire, founded in 1238. Guesthouses are cropping up all around the area now but the place is generally lacking any decent restaurants and bars. Early night central! We did enjoy bird watching in the neighbourhood and the following day we were able to explore the whole Sukothai Historical Park by bicycle; which was fun. The ruins are impressive but not on anywhere near as grand a scale as Angor Wat.
The following day we drove to Chaing Mai and after some missed turns ,we found our way to the RCN Court and Inn, where Lisa and Dave were waiting for us.
Location is important when staying in Chaing Mai and I would definitely recommend being within the old city walls. The old city is a bit of a rabbit warren, so I have no idea what corner we were in, but if you are looking for a guesthouse stay near Wat Lam Chang. Soi 7 , Moon Muang Rd.
There are plenty of great restaurants and shops nearby. Chaing Mai is a walking city but the Song Chews and Tuk Tuks are really cheap, so you are never too far away from where you need to be. In fact Chaing Mai is much cheaper than Phuket for most things.
Poor Lisa had broken her foot and was pretty much confined to bed in their 3rd floor room. We went out with Dave or on our own but headed back to RCN to drink Sang Som and diet coke for sundowners with Lisa every evening. We ate the local speciality Khao Soi, yellow egg noodles and creamy curry on our first night.
On day 2 we spent a day walking around the old city doing all the Temples, interspersed with shopping, lunch and massage. There are some very interesting corners of the Old City and its worth being on your feet all day.We ate great Indian food before heading to the nightlife area near Tha Phae Gate. On Loi Kroh it was rather more stop-stop than go-go!
The next day we walked to Chaing Mai's Municipal Market for hours of discovery and photo ops. This may be the best local wet market we have ever visited; a fascinating look into life in Thailand and very untouristy. Not so the Night Market we visited later but we did find the Boys Blues Bar, upstairs in a covered market for the best live music in Chaing Mai. Of course, in our opinion no place in Thailand can rival Phuket for nightlife but Chaing Mai has some great restautants and clubs and an amazing coffee culture scene.

Sukothai

Chaing mai Market

Boys Blues bar

Clowning around with David and Lisa

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."