On Christmas Day in Ko Lanta I said Does life get any better than this? The answer is Oh yes! If you stay in the most amazing resort called Butterfly in Chiang Mai. This was Matt’s main birthday pressie. I was a little concerned because the resort was on the outskirts of Chiang Mai and I was worried we’d be too far away from bars and restaurants for celebrating. I needn’t have worried....
Arrived in Sukhothai after a 5.5 hour bus journey. This time 1st class so normal sized seats but included a free lunch stop at a service station. You could choose what you wanted from an array of dishes and Matt & I both chose at random as we had no idea what anything was. The server said “Spicy” in a way that we shouldn’t want it but yes of course we want it....
From now on Matt doesn’t know where we’re going or staying. It’s kind of a birthday pressie for him. No stress of having to worry about route or accommodation. So I’ve booked the next few days already. Our first train experience in Thailand from Bangkok to Ayutthaya was pleasant. Although not sleeper trains it reminded us of India with the shutters and open windows and people walking by with baskets of sandwiches, drinks and dried fish....
Got a taxi to the Siam Square area of Bangkok to go shopping! The place was filled with giant malls, street sellers and small narrow back alleys filled with cute little clothes shops. A shopper’s heaven. I could have spent a fortune. Spent an extremely long time in MBK mall. The food mall was enormous. You buy coupons from the cashier and then go to one of the 40 food places to get your food....
Our overnight VIP bus from Krabi to Bangkok had 3 seats per row with lots of room, blankets, free coffee & bun, water and free dinner. Not that we realised all of this until we got on the bus. We’d stuffed ourselves beforehand so a stop with free buffet was a surprise. Another surprise came at 3am when the onboard hostess tapped me on the head twice to wake me and give me a refreshing towel....
Beach time is over. Back to the proper mainland and the rest of Thailand. Our last bit of Railay sightseeing was the Diamond Cave. We’d walked past it every time we’d been anywhere away from Railay Cabana. On the way to the cave Matt informed me what had been in his towel…a scorpion. Which had crawled on him. Only when he’d knocked it onto the ground had he seen what it was....
Just about recovered from New Year shenanigans now and we ventured to the 4th and final beach in the Railay area. It is reachable by longtail from West beach, by walking from West beach (we believe) or by walking from Railay East. The pathway from East is right outside Railay Cabana so it was an easy choice to make. Not so easy walk though although it was lovely to walk through the jungle and see more amazing butterflies, we saw the “Tsunami village” where there were a few shells of buildings....
Stayed in bed almost all day and lived on pringles, oreos and coke. Now we know why drinking is bad.
Bungalows next door are booked up so we’ve resigned ourselves to staying at Railay Cabana for 2 more nights. I am now prepared for cockroaches. And the small green frog in the bathroom was more cute than scary. Although Matt reminded me today to shake towels and clothing before using them in case you come across an unwanted inhabitant. He didn’t tell me what he found in his towel after a shower and I don’t want to know…...
Rock-climbing in Railay is (apologies for americanism here but it needs to be used) awesome. Would definitely recommend it to anyone. I’ve never really climbed outdoors before and it is is completely different to indoors. I managed to do 4.5 climbs and Matt did 6. The weather couldn’t have been better. It was dry but overcast whereas later it rained and since then it’s been sweltering. Karen Matt Matt Looked around lots of accommodation and most of it is too expensive except for some lovely bungalows next to where we’re staying so we’ll go back tomorrow....