A Thailand Adventure
We had a great couple of (very sweaty days!) in Bangkok where we stayed in a lovely riverside hotel with a pool to escape to for downtime. Making use of the wonderfully air conditioned Sky Train and the Chao Praya Express Boat to get around, we visited the Grand Palace, where Esme really loved the huge art work running around the walks and went to Khao San Road for lunch. I thought I’d ticked off all the sights in Bangkok but it turned out not, we went to Lumpini park, right in the bustling heart of the city. This is Bangkok's oldest park, I'd stayed very close before but just never made it. It’s a great spot to take kids with a payground, big Monitor Lizards and free pedalos and canoes to take out on the lake.
Leaving Bangkok we had the great experience of the overnight train from Chiang Mai which arrived at 715 and we were collected for our 2hour drive to the Bush Camp. On arrival guests were out with the Elephants and we were about an hour ahead of anyone coming from Chiang Mai town or airport so we had the lovely pool to ourselves for a much needed refreshing dip after the journey. The food was fantastic throughout our stay at the Bush Camp, a buffet with a great range of Thai food with a couple of western options to keep the fussy ones from going hungry! After lunch on the first day we visited a Karon village to see their way of life, separating rice, weaving and a cooking demonstration. We then got to meet 5 of the 10 Elephants for the first time, we prepared food for them and got to feed them; Bananas, Pineapple, Sugar Cane and a food supplement of mainly Tamarind and Rice Husks wrapped in banana leaf (rubbed in Pineapple to hide the smell!) Both evenings we had happy hour which meant a choice of free drinks, a cooking demonstration, a Thai dance from local school kids, a short interesting documentary (local area history & elephants) before yummy Thai dinner. Our full day at the Bush Camp found us feeding Elephants in a different area and seeing them bathe, tasting freshly made Khnom Krok (coconut snack) and also making paper from Elephant dung! Free time in the afternoon meant pool time and some games for the brief time the weather was a little iffy. Elephant visit 3 was on our final morning, prepping them a food supplement of pumpkin, banana, grasses, tamarind, rice husks and protein pellets. Then time for a quick last dip before lunch and heading back into Chiang Mai for our couple of days exploring the city. All 20 'rooms' at the Bush Camp are the same, big safari style tents on individual raised platforms with big balconies and lovely views. They all have their own bathrooms built in the back with good sized walk in showers. Each tent has its own solar panels and air conditioning!
A brilliant couple of days that felt like we had been there much longer! Highly recommend a stay there.
There was lots of fun in Chiang Mai for our day and couple of evenings there. Opted for cute cost affective accommodation (still with the necessary pool!) near the night markets, which is where we spent our evenings. Esme shopped for souvenirs and we ate in the markets which offered pretty much every food group you could think of...Japanese and Pizza were picked the 2nd evening! We headed to the outskirts of town during the day, to places I'd not been before. The tunnels at Wat Umong kept Esme interested and Baan Keng Wat Market was full of what seemed like more quality crafts that we spotted in town but the great thing here was that most of the little shops (definitely shops rather than stalls) had the opportunity to DIY, after a difficult decision Esme opted to paint her own glass animal. (it was well wrapped and boxed so it did actually make it home in one piece!) Turned out heading out of town was the relaxing thing to do that day as when we got back in, the chaos of the Songkran, new year water festival, had started and Esme wasn't keen on being soaked with water pistols despite how cooling it was! (I'm assuming the bucket bunting isn't year round decor!)
Our 2nd week in Thailand was as good as the first!
From Chiang Mai we flew south to Phuket and spent a night in Khao Lak before being picked up to head to Elephant Hills. Elephant Hills is a tented camp, sister property to the Bush Camp that we stayed in the previous week. Here, whilst you do spend time with the rescued Elephants there is much more focus on other activities, we had a lovely afternoon canoeing down the Sok River wildlife spotting and the second night of our package was spent in their floating camp where you can go on a guided jungle trek and canoeing trip to spot the local wildlife, though we didn't have to go far with the gibbons swinging around in the trees just behind the camp. I've stayed here before and love it for the peaceful ambience, with only the noises of the jungle around. The highlight of the whole trip was the long tail boat trip back to the dock from the Lake Camp....we stopped to watch a wild Elephant bathing in the lake. Whilst we'd already seen a lot of Elephants at the camps seeing this one in the wild unplanned was amazing!
The last few days we spent back in Khao Lak, in a big family friendly hotel, The Sands, I chose this specifically for Esme know that she'd be ready for a beach hotel with a great kids club and lots of activities. She did Muay Thai, Thai dance and a Thai language lesson in the kids club which also had craft activities, soft play and a dark/quiet TV room for chill time. Just outside is the busy pool with a couple of slides, lazy river and one of the swim up pool bars. She loved it here and definitely wasn't ready to come home! The other 2 pools are quieter, the one by the beach also for everyone and another adult only option. Even though this is a busy hotel there were so many sun loungers that there never seemed to be an issue getting one even though the hotel was completely full!
And absolutely brilliant holiday, I love Thailand and I realised that I've not been in 10 years! We will be back!
If you are inspired by our Thai travels and would like to visit too, then get in touch and I will tailor the perfect trip for you. Taking into account your preferences for how much moving around you'd like to do and find the right places to stay for you. sarah.coombes@mytc.com 020 3292 0515
