2 jours à Mai Khao..

After Phuket, we went on to Mai Khao, in a big JW Marriott resort. This was the typical resort experience but in a good  lovely way. They had different type of rooms and even had full villas to rent. We got a double room but I would have loved to get a hotel suite with them. We actually found out about the JW marriott from  the website bookasuite.
It is really a big resort and per say, there are not much local things going on, but the area was very well managed and set up.They tried to integrate the thai culture as best as possible.

The resort was great with 5-6 restaurant, 3 pools, a bunch of activities and a nice perfect beach.

We chose it because a/ we had mariott points= free stay there, B/ we had a 6am flight and it was 15 minutes to the aiport, when most hotels in Phuket are more like 1 hour at best.

There was even a baby elephant going around, we had some great thai food at the Marriot café, and each pool and bar also had happy hours wich we took advantage of.

Listening to great american classics sang perfectly live on the beach, with some sushi and happy hours drink was divine :)

Phuket Sailing Trip

The reason we came to Phuket was because we wanted easy access to the great sailing trips available in that area. We chose a boat that does small group (8 people) for the day and it was really fun!

Phuket part II

So, we get to our hotel (Malisa villas) and it is about 2.30 am. We are exhausted ... yet they insist on the whole thai tradition of given you a drink and a wet towel at checkout along with flower necklaces..

Then they give us a tour of our villa.. Which was awesome. They were 1 bedroom small villa with a pool.. we loved it, especially since we did not love the area of thailand we were in (VERY touristy in the worst possible ways). The pool has a nice waterfall, and most the villas was mostly outdoor except for the bedroom which was indoor with AC, and the bathroom which was indoor/outdoor room (had walls and screens but no windows, so it was hot like outside)

see for yourselves...

We loved the place, but the food was quite bad (even the breakfast, which they came to cook in the kitchen every morning) . but it was still awesome!

Phuket Part I

After a relaxing morning at Siripanna hotel in Chiang Mai, I booked a 3 hours massage package at a local spa... That was a first for both of us. The great thing about it is that it was a well reviewed spa, they pick you up from your hotel (and drive you back), and it was 1/2 the price of the hotel spa for both of us. A good deal!

We loved it and were very relaxed. It worked out great too, since we had a late flight that night and needed to be out of the hotel by 2pm.

That night we flew from Chiang Mai to Phuket on a very late flight. We landed at 23:50 (or 11.50pm) and by the time we got our luggage, it was well past midnight.

Turns out, taxi were not available at that time (how convenient), so there was that sea of tourists, completely lost, flowing out of the airport, only to find a mess outside, with no taxi and people trying to not get scammed yet get to their hotel..

We ended up having to sign up with a minivan service (the first we passed by) that advertised pretty cheap prices. We finally found the van we were supposed to join and that is when I realized that while they asked with town we were going to, they did not ask what hotel to drop us off. At that point, I was fully expecting a full blown scam or being dropped in the middle of nowhere having to grab another cab once at the destination town.

oh well.. it is not like we had any choice.

It got even better when after driving for about 5-10 minutes, the van stopped at what seems like a brightely lit shop. At that point, I was fully expecting, a congratulations! you just got scammed, now if you really want to get to your hotel please pay an extra $100...

or.. another variation would be :Please come around in our shop and buy something or we won't let the van go. Though I thought (yes I still had some common sense at 1 am) it was unlikely they would try to force a tourist to shop that late at night..

Well turns out, these people were actually decent and all good. They get you in the van first to get out of the airport craziness, then you go to the office where everyone tells them where they stay so they can translate and create a route for your driver...

We drove for a good hour, stopping by several hotels (or what seemed to be nightclubs with rooms above) in very loud areas. We started wondering if Phuket was a right choice.

But, we were last on the list, and the area got quieter and a little nicer.

Only bad point: the driver left us at the end of the road after 1 hour drive, he did not deem necessary to actually get us to our hotel, so we had to lug our bags through the street at 2am at night.

But it was worth it, in the end :)

Chiang Mai Part II

The one thing we did do in Chiang Mai is a cooking class ! and sam even joined ! (that was an achievement on its own). Frankly it was one of the main reason i wanted to come to thailand and it made my trip. Though it made for an exhausting day especially given the heat.

We were in a small group (about 10 people), with 3 french, and some canadians and americans.

First we stopped at a market to discover the thai ingredient and a quick lesson plus shopping.

Then we got to choose 6 dishes each to make...!

I did:

the hot and creamy soup (pretty sure that was tom kha soup), Sam: coconut chicken soup

pad thai noodles, Sam: drunken noodles

Chicken with cashew nuts, Sam: fried holy basil with chicken

panang curry, Sam: green curry

spring rolls, Sam: papaya salad

mango and sticky rice dessert for both of us

'

Best of it was the Panang curry. It is my absolute favorite dish and now I know how to do it!

Pad thai was the best have had so far and the soup too.. I am sure the fresh ingredients are for something in this.

The drunken noodles and then stir fried veggies created some spectacular flames..(intended). I doubt we will do that at home , :)

Chiang Mai Part I

We left Bangkok early sunday morning (6.45am..I am so glad to be on "vacation"). and made our way to Chiang Mai. Interestingly enough, Chiang Mai is the second largest city but does not feel like it. We originally had plans to go to Patara elephant park, but we decided against it because we were not comfortable with the whole riding on an elephant and their wellbeing.

Even though Chiang mai is famous for its temples, we did not really feel like seeing more temples (charlotte made it clear it could get quite boring after a while..). So we enjoyed the hotel .. and unsucessfully tried to get me some custom linen pants made.. The tailor pick you up at the hotel and all but turns out when we got there, they were closed...that was some wasted time!

We loved the hotel (Siripanna) It was such a great deal, (super cheap) quiet, the pool had a great layout and the restaurant was good. We had a lunch buffet on our arrival which was great.

The pool had a fun layout because it was a loop around and island where all the lounge chairs/bar were. they had trees in the pool as well , so it was nice to actual swim in it since it was an entertaining swim around.

Bangkok part II

We had some decent meals at the Shangri-la hotel, though quite overpriced.. :)

Dinner was in a thai style house on the river, and we even got surprise thai dancers visiting us. (made me a little nervous as they can be quite creepy but it was nice to see )

we had some thai soup, a main and satay..

Something to consider: we left Kyoto and it was snowing.. it is now 30 degrees (or 85F) here in Bangkok.. quite the change ! (See last post in Kyoto where I am wearing my puffy coat..)

Note:sam did not take his camera at dinner so the photos are from his phone and not good...

Bangkok!

the public ferries , used kind of like buses on the river by locals and tourists alike.

So we made our way from kyoto to Osaka airport by bus (though it was a big adventure to buy ticket for this damn airport bus...) and finally arrived in Bangkok.

First night was just about getting to the hotel as it was already 9pm by the time we landed.

We got the obligatory tourist scam with the taxi (charging us extra for being a foreigner) but nothing bad. The hotel was great! (merci famille chérie :)...)

I was obsessed with the Mandarin Oriental but we could not )and did not want) afford it.. turns out our hotel way better. The restaurant and food was great, the pool was awesome and we were very happy with the location, right on the water. It basically allowed us to take the water ferries rather than cabs or the metro which was great.

Now, bangkok was our real first encounter with asian travel like we all think about it (different culture, approximate cleanlinness - at least to western standard- ..slight discomfort...etc.

Our first venture outside to find the boat pier was not the most succesful but we persevered and finally found it. It was an adventure on its own and a little scary at first but like most things once you get the hang of it, it is really fun and not scary at all. Traveling is indeed teaching me a lot about who I am , and who I can be.

Frankly, the pier areas were really dirty and so was the river, but the temples and other areas were fine. We did smell some "interesting smells" stemming from the dried fish open stalls/stores outside the temple (in 85 degrees weather, these were definitely smells we were not used to!)

We got a foot massage at the international school of thai massage for super cheap ($10), that was fun! (and everything was very clean there)

We went to see the wat po temple and then went back to the hotel to have a late lunch (it was 4pm by then) and enjoy the pool.