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Wednesday 22 January 2014

Thailand Tour With Hayes And Jarvice

Thailand Tour With Hayes And Jarvice

Great Hotel Super Start To A Super Holiday
"Sawatdee!" My wife and I stayed at the Rembrandt Hotel Bangkok, for 3 nights, as part of a 3 centre tour of Thailand, It has excellent service, the room was spacious and clean, all the staff were very friendly, Just as we got into our room the phone rang Julie answered it, it was a colleague, of Julies from work who had been staying in Bangkok, she said they were in the reception, so we went down for a drink with them, they gave us loads of good info, The hotel is in an excellent location situated near the Asoke Skytrain station, we which found very easy to find our way around on, we didn't eat at the hotel, we ate across the road in a little bar/restaurant, everything we had there was good, we also ate in a few other places in the city, we booked a couple of trips from the tour operators in the hotel, as well as doing our own exploring.We would defiantly go back to this hotel.

Grand Palace
Bangkok's most visited historic palace complex was built in 1782 and features many magnificent buildings including Wat Phra Kaeo (Temple of the Emerald Buddha), which contains a beautiful Emerald Buddha that dates back to the 14th century, We caught the sky train from Asoke station (E4) where we purchased a day pass for 120 bahts (?2) get on and off the train as you like anywhere in the city, great way to get around, we then changed at Central station called Siam, onto the sky train to Saphan Taskin S6, from there we caught a boat taxi to the grand palace. The complex is open daily from 8.30 a.m. - 3.30 p.m. Admission fee is 125 baht. (This includes an admission ticket to Vimanmek Royal Mansion). Proper attire is essential. Other attractions nearby are the
*Wat Pho, Temple of the Reclining Buddha
*Wat Arun, Temple of the Dawn
* The National Museum
Chatuchak Market (Weekend market)
Chatuchak Weekend Market in Bangkok is the mother of all markets, and possibly one of the largest and most famous markets in the entire world. If bargain hunting gives you an buzz rush, then get ready for a head spinning, unbelievable experience. Conquering this massive market is no easy feat, but the reward for taking a lot of patience along the way, together with a bottle of water, you can find pretty much anything you could want here and very cheap, be prepared to barter, as the market is the perfect place for bargain shopping and to put your bartering skills to the test. A friendly smile and approach are your biggest allies in securing the best possible deal for that wanted bargain, have a go its good fun, also why not check out some of the local unusual delicacies too, like bugs, grubs, frogs and scorpions (No Thanks not for me LOL).
You can get a free map from one of the tourist information kiosks to help plan your adventure through the never-ending maze of crowded, narrow alleys which are, surprisingly, numbered, and easy to navigate

Patpong Night Market, was a fabulous night out,

Amari Rincome Hotel
We stayed Amari Rincome Hotel Chiang Mai for 3 days (second part of 3 centre Thailand tour). We booked a superior room on a room only basis, when we arrived at the check in desk, to our surprize we were upgraded to a newly refurbished deluxe room, which was great, the room was very spacious, clean and very comfortable, the hotel has 2 good size pools one of which has a small bar for snacks, other than the little pool side snack bar we didnt eat at the hotel, as there are lots of places to go close by for breakfast. We went in to the famous Night Bazaar everynight on the hotels shuttle bus, with the oddziees, (Hello Steve and Lizzy, who are TA members) whom we met on our stay at the hotel, we ate at a few restaraunts in and around the market, the Amari Rincome Hotel is centrally located for sightseeing,we booked a few trips from our rep, Chiang Doa cave, Thanon temple, and lots more, as well as exploring ourselves, were we visited a few temples in Chaing Mai, and Doi Suthep Temple,Chaing Mai zoo.
This is a good hotel we would definatly go back.

Regent Cha-Am Beach Resort
We stayed at the Regent Beach Resort Cha-Am for 6 days as the 3rd and final part of our Thailand tour, it was late at night when we arrived after a 3 hour taxi drive from Bangkok, Check in went really smoothly and we were in our room in no time at all, Our room was on the ground floor and was comfortable, spacious, and spotlessly clean as is the whole hotel, had a tv, dvd player, kettle and mini bar, but no safety deposit box, so we had to use the Free ones that are located in reception. Our balcony led onto the gardens, which are very well kept, the hotel has 2 good size pools and a jacuzzi pool, the beach has soft white sand and is very clean. Along the beach in both directions, there are bar/restaurants and massage areas, there are a lot of traders on the beach but they don't hassle you if you say "no thanks". Outside in front of the hotel reception there are some shops but many were unoccupied. There's also a small village, turn left outside the hotel, about 200 yards, and has bars/restaurants and shops and tailors, we tried a few of the restaurants of which were all good, the best breakfast we found was at J&K English Restaraunt the owner John's English and his wife Kag is Thai, best of both worlds English and Thai food.
We used the hotel shuttle service to go into Cha-Am and Hua-Hin at night, you can book for that in reception. We did a few trips of our own from the Taxi rank that are near the village, wheres theres a notice board with a price list. We visited the Royal Palace , Phra Nakhon Khiri, in Phetchaburi, monkey mountain and caves,
Elephant treking, Which was a fabulous day out Where rode an elephant around some hillsides and feilds, then going through a deepish pond the Mahoot got off the elephant and walked ahead of us, not sure who was in control it wasnt me LOL, it did what it wanted, when the mahoot shouted it took us over to him,
Damnoen Saduak, Floating Market, was another great day out, going down the river, past all the floating stall vendors, it was really crowded the river it was abit of a traffic jam at time but great fun, Clicky Link To see the video we took there, it's a very colourful place full of hustle and bustle of people going about their lives,we then got out of the boat and then had a walk around the market,
We also went to Khao San Roi Yot National Park, after ariving at the National Park we went down to the beach, where from the beach and after a long tail boat ride around some Islands, we landed on another beach, we walked up a track through the small forest which led to another rocky path with a 450m steep uphill mountain trek, (it was really hard going), to see the Phra Nakhon cave, where there is the Subterranean sanctuary of King Rama V's pavilion, the Tham Phraya Nakhon cave chamber which contains a temple, breathtaking, absolutely amazingly beautiful,(see my photos) its well worth the 50 mins up hillwalk slog, we passed many people who gave up. This is a good hotel we would definatly go back.
We will deffinatlty be going back to Thailand

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