Sunday - 13 July 08
Well a long tiring day today. We were up at 4.45am, showered, packed and on the shuttle bus to the airport by 6am. We checked in our baggage which seeem to take forever, the airport was chokers at that time of the morning and you couldn't move for people. It took us three quarters of an hour just to check our luggage in and we quickly ducked outside for a smoke and then stood in line with a million other people to go through immigration which took over an hour of waiting. We finally got through and headed to our departure lounge which was way over the other side of the terminal, a bloody long walk. We went through 3 x ray checks before we got to the last one before we had to go into our departure lounge. The last x ray check and they confiscated my shampoo, condition and suntan lotion that I was carrying in my toileteries bag in our small backpack as hand luggage, yet they let me keep the bottle opener, go figure.
We sat in the departure lounge for half an hour and finally boarded our Thai airways plane, and as usual it was late leaving. It was a full flight and it went fairly quickly. We arrived into Perth on time, whacky doo! and it was an absolute shitfight going through customs and immigration which took over an hour and finally we got through having nothing to declare. We got the carkeys out of the lockbox and they had left us a note saying the battery in the car wasn't holding charge so we would need to go to the office and they parked the car there and could start it for us with the charger, which they did. We headed straight to mums no stopping thinking the car just needed a good run to recharge the battery as it had been sitting at the airport for nearly three months. We got to mums just after 6pm and could finally sit back and relax.
We can't believe we are back in oz and have been gone nearly 3 months and once again we are homeless. He Ha! We hope to be on the road to Queensland Wednesday so we have a lot to organise and get done and little time to do it. But we can do it!
So this is the final post for our Thailand blog, I hope everyone has enjoyed the diary of our trip. For us old farts, it was an experience and somewhat of an adventure, we do love Thailand and would encourage anyone looking for a unique and cheap holiday to visit the country and not just the touristy parts of Phuket and southern Thailand but adventure out up north and to other places its so much nicer, cheaper with heaps of things to see and do. So to everyone who has journeyed with us, Kob koon Chai (thank you) and we will catch up with everyone soon. Sawasdee Ka!
Monday, July 14, 2008
Last day in Thailand - Almost
Saturday - 12 July 08
Hello to one and all as usual this blog is heaps late. We were up early, packed and ready to leave for our pick up at 10.30am unfortunately our car that was supposedly booked wasn't booked at all and we waited and waited until 11.15 and no vehicle. The reception staff then called the company and they had forgotton so sent a car from Patong to pick us up and take us to the airport for our Air Asia flight to Bangkok, We arrived with an hour to spare before we had to board the plane so we hung around and finally got hungry and decided to have burger king in the terminal whilst we were waiting. Funnily enough they boarded the plane early and here we are sitting eating our chicken and chips and everyone else was on the plane. Once we realised this we made a quick dash to the boarding gate and ran onto the plane. Air Asia is a discount carrier similar to Jetstar and when we got on they told us find a seat anywhere, talk about no frills, we got the last 2 seats. The flight took off about 10 mins early and we were on our way to Bangkok. We arrived at Suramavuni Airport in Bangkok 2 hours later, collected our baggage and into the shuttle bus to Novotel hotel across the road from the international airport. Wow! what a over the top, luxurious hotel, no wonder it cost us so much for the nights stay. It was total granduer although the rooms, I thought weren't all that flash for the money. We stayed here only because we have a 5am start in the morning and it was as close to the airport as you could get.
We checked in, dumped our backpacks and went for a walk back over to the airport terminal to get some milk for our coffee and something to eat, it was way to plush at the Novotel for us to be able to afford eating at their exclusive and very expensive restaurants. We wanted to grab just a couple of small little souveneirs but not much to choose from at the airport so headed back to the hotel and decided to get a taxi into Bangkok to grab those last minute items at the markets. We booked our taxi for 6pm and waited to be picked up, it was about a 45 minute ride into Bangers and the driver was quite helpful, he took us to a huge nightmarket which would take you a week to get around and look at everything, we couldn't find what we were after so he then took us to some huge shopping centre and after going up 5 floors they didn't have what we were looking for so we gave up and the taxi driver then took us to another market somewhere along a main street in Bangkok and we picked up a couple of thing and by this time we were buggered and he drove us the 45mins back to Novotel.
We got back at 9.30pm and were absolutely worn out, we had a coffee and our donuts we had bought for supper and headed to bed as we have to be up at 4.45am in the morning.
A busy day today and one more day of travelling and we will be back in oz. Until tomorrows blog. See Ya
Hello to one and all as usual this blog is heaps late. We were up early, packed and ready to leave for our pick up at 10.30am unfortunately our car that was supposedly booked wasn't booked at all and we waited and waited until 11.15 and no vehicle. The reception staff then called the company and they had forgotton so sent a car from Patong to pick us up and take us to the airport for our Air Asia flight to Bangkok, We arrived with an hour to spare before we had to board the plane so we hung around and finally got hungry and decided to have burger king in the terminal whilst we were waiting. Funnily enough they boarded the plane early and here we are sitting eating our chicken and chips and everyone else was on the plane. Once we realised this we made a quick dash to the boarding gate and ran onto the plane. Air Asia is a discount carrier similar to Jetstar and when we got on they told us find a seat anywhere, talk about no frills, we got the last 2 seats. The flight took off about 10 mins early and we were on our way to Bangkok. We arrived at Suramavuni Airport in Bangkok 2 hours later, collected our baggage and into the shuttle bus to Novotel hotel across the road from the international airport. Wow! what a over the top, luxurious hotel, no wonder it cost us so much for the nights stay. It was total granduer although the rooms, I thought weren't all that flash for the money. We stayed here only because we have a 5am start in the morning and it was as close to the airport as you could get.
We checked in, dumped our backpacks and went for a walk back over to the airport terminal to get some milk for our coffee and something to eat, it was way to plush at the Novotel for us to be able to afford eating at their exclusive and very expensive restaurants. We wanted to grab just a couple of small little souveneirs but not much to choose from at the airport so headed back to the hotel and decided to get a taxi into Bangkok to grab those last minute items at the markets. We booked our taxi for 6pm and waited to be picked up, it was about a 45 minute ride into Bangers and the driver was quite helpful, he took us to a huge nightmarket which would take you a week to get around and look at everything, we couldn't find what we were after so he then took us to some huge shopping centre and after going up 5 floors they didn't have what we were looking for so we gave up and the taxi driver then took us to another market somewhere along a main street in Bangkok and we picked up a couple of thing and by this time we were buggered and he drove us the 45mins back to Novotel.
We got back at 9.30pm and were absolutely worn out, we had a coffee and our donuts we had bought for supper and headed to bed as we have to be up at 4.45am in the morning.
A busy day today and one more day of travelling and we will be back in oz. Until tomorrows blog. See Ya
Friday, July 11, 2008
Ony 2 days to go and WE'RE BACK...Oh No!!!!
Fridai - 11 July 08No Way! I can't believe this is our last full day here in Thailand, where did the time go. It's unbelievable to think we have been away for nearly 3 months, 12 months wouldn't be enough for us its such a great country with so many great areas to visit and hang out in, of course our favourite was 'PAI' and I don't think we will ever forget that place or the people.
Today was a lazy day for us as we just wanted to soak up the last hours of our holiday. We had breakfast at the restauarant here at the resort which wasn't much chop just some reheated left over food but we didn't eat at all yesterday and were worried we might fade away. Lol! We took our last walk through the main drag of Kamala looking for shops to grab last minute items but it was not to be as just about every shop other than your little cafe's and 7/11's were closed, I guess when it is so quiet its the only time these people can take a break themselves. Just as we were walking back to the resort it started to rain big time and continued to rain for hours so we spent the arvo sorting and packing our stuff ready for our flight out to Bangkok tomorrow.and our trip back to oz on Sunday. I have had to rearrange everything in the backpacks and don't know how I we are going to fit the last lot of items in tomorrow, we might have to think about ditching the Thai kettle we bought way back at the start of our trip to give us extra room.
That done it was dinner time and thought we would head back up the road to the little restaurant we have eaten up a couple of times since we arrived here, its the only one open other than the resort one so its not like you have much choice. The food is good and it was like having the last supper in Kamala Beach, its very sad. We then walked up to a little DVD stall and picked up a couple of movies for the kids and ourselves and headed back. Our car picks us up at 10.30am in the morning to take us to Phuket airport so I am having an early night, knowing Rick he will sit up all night on the computer because once we leave Bangkok there will be no more net until we organise something for our big trip to Queensland and like when he is hungry, no computer or internet and he is a grumpy old shit.
Anyway that was our last day in Kamala, tomorrow night I should be able to do the blog from our hotel in Bangkok but after that, not sure. So until then! La Kon
Thursday, July 10, 2008
What a day In Patong Phuket!
Thursday - 10 July 08
Here we go again, this is the second time I have done todays blog. What a bloody nightmare!
Well we were up early this morning deciding what we wanted to do today as this is our last day of having the bike. The resort lost all power and went onto generator, and me having spent nearly 2 hours trying to connect to the internet. O f course when the power ent out it shut down the router on their computer so we couldn't get the Wi Fi signal to connect. We bought a 7 day internet card and with all the hassles we have had connecting we have probably used 12 hours of that 7 day card, so I will be writing my comments about it on the guest comment sheet when we leave.
No power, no air con so we thought we may as well head back into Patong and finish our last minute shopping we didn't get done yesterday, bad moove! We managed to stay alive riding through the chaos they call traffic in Patong and parked the bike close to the new 'Jungceylon' shopping centre and decided to go to KFC for brunch, another bad moove! Nothing really opens here in the way of shopping centres until 11am so we sat and waited for 15 minutes, that was ok, but then when we got into KFC Rick stood at the counter for quite a while waiting for someone to serve him and they weren't organised, not a good move when it comes to Rick. Needless to say we left there and with Rick having the shits big time! We got back on the bike and headed south of Patong to Karon & Kata beach and there wasn't much opened there either. When Ricks hungry, hes hungry and grumpy. By this time I had had enough and asked Rick to take us back to Kamala to the resort, it was a good ride until we had to go along Patong beach esplanade again riding through the chaos with Rick swearing and cursing until we got to the Kamala Beach turnoff and it was ok from there until coming down the hill a stupid Thai sheila with a wog guy on the back of her bike put on her right hand blinker to turn right and instead veered left to pull up in the gutter and nearly wiped us out. She apologised again and again and the wog bloke on the back was just a prick, that finished Rick. We eventually got back to the resort in tact.
This arvo we didn't leave the resort, not even for lunch, I spent hours trying to connect, again, to this freakin internet and then gave up and had a long nanny nap leaving Rick to try and connect and to return the bike and helmets to the rental place.
Tonight is a quiet night and now that we are connected to the net I won't be logging off. No rain or storm as yet so hopefully Rick can catch up on the market and do what he usually does without loosing the connection.
So that was the day of all days! Only 4 to go and we will be back in OZ. Boo! Hoo!
So until tomorrows blog, whenever that may be! Kob kun Chai!
Here we go again, this is the second time I have done todays blog. What a bloody nightmare!
Well we were up early this morning deciding what we wanted to do today as this is our last day of having the bike. The resort lost all power and went onto generator, and me having spent nearly 2 hours trying to connect to the internet. O f course when the power ent out it shut down the router on their computer so we couldn't get the Wi Fi signal to connect. We bought a 7 day internet card and with all the hassles we have had connecting we have probably used 12 hours of that 7 day card, so I will be writing my comments about it on the guest comment sheet when we leave.
No power, no air con so we thought we may as well head back into Patong and finish our last minute shopping we didn't get done yesterday, bad moove! We managed to stay alive riding through the chaos they call traffic in Patong and parked the bike close to the new 'Jungceylon' shopping centre and decided to go to KFC for brunch, another bad moove! Nothing really opens here in the way of shopping centres until 11am so we sat and waited for 15 minutes, that was ok, but then when we got into KFC Rick stood at the counter for quite a while waiting for someone to serve him and they weren't organised, not a good move when it comes to Rick. Needless to say we left there and with Rick having the shits big time! We got back on the bike and headed south of Patong to Karon & Kata beach and there wasn't much opened there either. When Ricks hungry, hes hungry and grumpy. By this time I had had enough and asked Rick to take us back to Kamala to the resort, it was a good ride until we had to go along Patong beach esplanade again riding through the chaos with Rick swearing and cursing until we got to the Kamala Beach turnoff and it was ok from there until coming down the hill a stupid Thai sheila with a wog guy on the back of her bike put on her right hand blinker to turn right and instead veered left to pull up in the gutter and nearly wiped us out. She apologised again and again and the wog bloke on the back was just a prick, that finished Rick. We eventually got back to the resort in tact.
This arvo we didn't leave the resort, not even for lunch, I spent hours trying to connect, again, to this freakin internet and then gave up and had a long nanny nap leaving Rick to try and connect and to return the bike and helmets to the rental place.
Tonight is a quiet night and now that we are connected to the net I won't be logging off. No rain or storm as yet so hopefully Rick can catch up on the market and do what he usually does without loosing the connection.
So that was the day of all days! Only 4 to go and we will be back in OZ. Boo! Hoo!
So until tomorrows blog, whenever that may be! Kob kun Chai!
Day 5 in Kamala Beach
Wednesday - 9 July 08
I don't believe this bloody internet, this is the 3rd time I have done this blog and as soon as you hit the publish button to post the blog the internet shits itself drops out, so here I go again!
Today was another relaxing day in Kamala, Phuket. After the wicked storm and rain we had last night the day started out cooler but then heated up later in the day. We were up and about early today as we thought we would get on the bike and head into Patong early, before all the traffic and do some last bit of shopping and besides if you go early and you are the first customer of the day at the individual stalls at the markets they have a 'special price' for first customer of the day, as they say. We decided to go to the OTOP markets which has been our favourite the previous times we have been here. I managed to get myself a new pair of thongs and a fat dress and Rick did well to get 'best price' when he bargained with the lady. He also bought himself a new pair of Diesel thongs and paid half the price the guy wanted. We then headed down to the Patong beach esplanade, parked the bike and went to maccas for brunch. That done we headed back to where the bike was parked and low and behold some asshole had parked behind us and blocked us in, so Rick moved his bike back while I got our bike out and then pushed the other bike back into our parking spot, this didn't impress Rick at all. We then rode along the esplanade in all the chaos they call traffic with Rick swearing and cursing all the way until we got to the Kamala Beach turnoff and from there it was smooth riding up and down the mountain and along the winding road. We got back in one piece and thats what counts.
After our stressful morning of shopping and traffic we decided on a quiet and relaxing arvo at the resort, no more riding in traffic. Rick played around on the net when we finally got it up and running again and I did some handwashing. We had a wild storm blow in and the rain was torrential which went well into the night. We decided rather than go out for dinner might be a good idea to order room service which is not that much more expensive that eating at the restaurant. Rick was chuffed with that as he just called them, ordered what we wanted and 15 minutes later it was delivered to the door and we didn't have to leave the room, he thought that was cool as it was the first time we have ordered room service on this long trip.
That was the day done and over, I watched a movie laying in bed and Rick was on the net for the rest of the night. 4 days to go and we will be back in Oz, Boo! Hoo!
So until tomorrows blog. SEE YA!
I don't believe this bloody internet, this is the 3rd time I have done this blog and as soon as you hit the publish button to post the blog the internet shits itself drops out, so here I go again!
Today was another relaxing day in Kamala, Phuket. After the wicked storm and rain we had last night the day started out cooler but then heated up later in the day. We were up and about early today as we thought we would get on the bike and head into Patong early, before all the traffic and do some last bit of shopping and besides if you go early and you are the first customer of the day at the individual stalls at the markets they have a 'special price' for first customer of the day, as they say. We decided to go to the OTOP markets which has been our favourite the previous times we have been here. I managed to get myself a new pair of thongs and a fat dress and Rick did well to get 'best price' when he bargained with the lady. He also bought himself a new pair of Diesel thongs and paid half the price the guy wanted. We then headed down to the Patong beach esplanade, parked the bike and went to maccas for brunch. That done we headed back to where the bike was parked and low and behold some asshole had parked behind us and blocked us in, so Rick moved his bike back while I got our bike out and then pushed the other bike back into our parking spot, this didn't impress Rick at all. We then rode along the esplanade in all the chaos they call traffic with Rick swearing and cursing all the way until we got to the Kamala Beach turnoff and from there it was smooth riding up and down the mountain and along the winding road. We got back in one piece and thats what counts.
After our stressful morning of shopping and traffic we decided on a quiet and relaxing arvo at the resort, no more riding in traffic. Rick played around on the net when we finally got it up and running again and I did some handwashing. We had a wild storm blow in and the rain was torrential which went well into the night. We decided rather than go out for dinner might be a good idea to order room service which is not that much more expensive that eating at the restaurant. Rick was chuffed with that as he just called them, ordered what we wanted and 15 minutes later it was delivered to the door and we didn't have to leave the room, he thought that was cool as it was the first time we have ordered room service on this long trip.
That was the day done and over, I watched a movie laying in bed and Rick was on the net for the rest of the night. 4 days to go and we will be back in Oz, Boo! Hoo!
So until tomorrows blog. SEE YA!
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Another lazy day in Kamala Beach
Tuesday 8 June 08
Hi to one and all. Yes I know the blog is late but we had a wicked storm and torrential monsoon rain and it took out the internet everywhere in this area.
We have had yet another great day in Kamala Beach in Phuket. I was up early this morning trying to get connected to this freakin internet and takes about an hour or so and requires sitting on the balcony to pick up the signal, finally with a lot of messing around changing settings and what have you, success. This has now become the way of starting the day.
We headed off on the bike for a morning ride to Ban Bangtoa beach and Laguna Phuket. It is quite a nice area although still rebuilding from the ravage of the Tsunami. There are many new gated communities, villas and 5 star golf resorts being built and opened in the area which should help to rebuild the local economy. We rode through many more villages and small communities and stopped and had brunch at this nice little cafe/bakery in Laguna Phuket, quite an expensive area but the cafe was well priced. We then rode on through Surin beach again and then back to Kamala and up mountains and hills and through more of the local communities and villages, some good scenery and wicked hills to ride up.
This arvo was spent relaxing back at the resort and spending hours trying yet again to connect to this bloody internet. We were going to go for a swim in the pool but I told Rick I am not swimming anymore until he buys me a 'fat bikini' so I can look halfway decent or at least hide some of it by trying to cover it.
Tonight with the storm brewing we didn't want to venture out too far so we had dinner in the resort restaurant. The food is great and prices a bit high but you do get what you pay for and we had excellent service and food. We then just headed back to our room as the rain started and we didn't want to be out in it.
So that was our day. Stay tuned for tomorrows blog! Until then. La Kon
Hi to one and all. Yes I know the blog is late but we had a wicked storm and torrential monsoon rain and it took out the internet everywhere in this area.
We have had yet another great day in Kamala Beach in Phuket. I was up early this morning trying to get connected to this freakin internet and takes about an hour or so and requires sitting on the balcony to pick up the signal, finally with a lot of messing around changing settings and what have you, success. This has now become the way of starting the day.
We headed off on the bike for a morning ride to Ban Bangtoa beach and Laguna Phuket. It is quite a nice area although still rebuilding from the ravage of the Tsunami. There are many new gated communities, villas and 5 star golf resorts being built and opened in the area which should help to rebuild the local economy. We rode through many more villages and small communities and stopped and had brunch at this nice little cafe/bakery in Laguna Phuket, quite an expensive area but the cafe was well priced. We then rode on through Surin beach again and then back to Kamala and up mountains and hills and through more of the local communities and villages, some good scenery and wicked hills to ride up.
This arvo was spent relaxing back at the resort and spending hours trying yet again to connect to this bloody internet. We were going to go for a swim in the pool but I told Rick I am not swimming anymore until he buys me a 'fat bikini' so I can look halfway decent or at least hide some of it by trying to cover it.
Tonight with the storm brewing we didn't want to venture out too far so we had dinner in the resort restaurant. The food is great and prices a bit high but you do get what you pay for and we had excellent service and food. We then just headed back to our room as the rain started and we didn't want to be out in it.
So that was our day. Stay tuned for tomorrows blog! Until then. La Kon
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)