Today is Amy’s birthday and while we will be celebrating in Sukhothai, midway between Chiang Mai and Bangkok, we took the opportunity while we were in Chiang Mai a couple of days ago to celebrate with three days at the Le Meridien. Using Starwood points we were able to really relax and enjoy three days in luxurious comfort for free. Below is a picture of the great chocolate brownie cake that the manager sent to our room.
After a 4 hour upload to YouTube (and still less than stellar resolution) our highlight video from our two months in the southern region of Southeast Asia including; Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia is finally up. With this being our second regional highlights video it warrants a new page under the Pictures & Video page, introducing the Regional Travel Video page. As we complete each regional highlight video (one about every two months) we will post it there. Don’t worry though, for the amount of work these take (6-8 hours each), we will also be doing a post about each one as it is completed. So if you are a facebook fan or subscriber to our email updates you will find out as soon as it goes up. And if you are are not, what is stopping you?
Enjoy the video and the snow if you are in on the East Coast in the States.
We wanted to publish a quick list of the key highlights and some recommendations on places to skip while in Southern Thailand. We have grouped by each location we stayed at in our 3 weeks starting in Bangkok and leaving from Phuket.
Bangkok
Lodging: Wendy House was an excellent guest house only a few hundred meters from the National Stadium SkyTrain stop and the huge MBK shopping center. A double ensuite with A/C ran us just over 1,000 baht per night and that price includes a great breakfast every morning. The staff is incredibly helpful and the rooms are clean and bright.
Food: As we have written about before here, the best food we had in Bangkok was at the Pad Thai ladies near the Grand Palace who can whip you up a delicious lunch of Pad Thai or Pad See Eew for a whopping 40 baht.
Getting Around: The first recommendation is the SkyTrain. It is fast, cheap and goes near most of the major sites in the city. When you are forced to negotiate Bangkok traffic for the cheapest fare always take a metered cab. Tuk-tuks are fun for short rides but you will not be able to beat the price of the metered cab. Also beware that if a tuk-tuk driver offers you a really low fare they are taking you to a friend’s shop along the way.
Koh Samui
Lodging: if you don’t mind being away from the action right on the beach the Samui Reef View Resort is a great value. The pool is really nice to cool off while having a relaxing morning at the resort. While it is 3K or so from town, Angus, the owner, is very helpful and willing to drive you down to and pick up from the beach anytime from 7:30am till 10pm.
Food: The night market in Lamai Beach is the best value for your money. Be sure to get a Nutella & banana pancake from the guy right near the street, they are amazingly decadent.
Koh Tao
Diving: If you are a beginner I would recommend staying away from Simple Life Divers. I finished my Advanced Open Water Certification by doing three adventure dives with them and can honestly say I did not learn a thing. Also the equipment is in dire need of replacement. Wetsuits with huge holes, cracked depth meters and broken masks were just what I saw. I heard much better things about Ban’s Dive Shop.
Ao Nang
Lodging: The Aonang Goodwill is possibly the best place we stayed in Thailand. Sun, who works the front desk in the evenings is super helpful at arranging transport and tours. The prices he quoted were very competitive with prices from other operators we found.
Food: Right across the street from the Goodwill is #1 Thai Food. We had our Christmas dinner there and it was excellent. The food was fresh, flavorful and very affordable.
Koh Lanta
Activities: As we mentioned here the Thai cooking class we did was a highlight of our time in Thailand.
Happy Hour: Blue Moon on Klong Nin Beach has a great happy hour from 3pm till sunset with two for one large beers. And with the view below, free wifi and good food what more could you ask for?
That is about it. We were only in Phuket for a night and while Phuket Backpacker Hostel was cheap, it is pretty far from the beach and there is no AC. Call us wimps but in the heat and humidity of the city, with no ocean breeze, a fan is not enough to get a good night’s sleep.
Hope this helps. If anyone else has anything to add please leave a comment and feel free to link to your site if you have a relevant blog entry to share.
Koh Tao
