Long Weekend in Koh Samet

Oh my goodness! My last post was July!! What can I say? I was expecting my second year overseas to be a little less frantic - but I was wrong! This year seems so much busier than last year and I've been trying to work out why? I have a funny feeling that when you are new to a position you have allow yourself the leeway to say "I'm new, what ever I manage to get done, I get done. What ever I don't get done, I'll do better next year." And suddenly, you've doubled your workload right there and then! But I digress.........

A few weekends ago, we had were fortunate enough to have a long weekend in Thailand. It wasn't a Thai holiday - it was an ISB holiday. The students had a 4-day weekend. The teachers had a 3-day weekend. We decided to take advantage of being able to leave on a Thursday afternoon at 3pm and hire a van (3500 baht each way) to drive us (three families) to Koh Samet. It was a rather pleasant 3 hour drive (thankfully getting away at 3pm meant we missed the late afternoon traffic downtown). The van was very comfortable and seated the 9 of us well. Whilst the kids were kept amused by the DVD player (that came with the van), the adults took the time to chat, imbibe, and/or sleep (although, not necessarily in that order).

Once arriving at Ban Phae Pier, we were able to secure a speedboat for the 45 minute ride over to Koh Samet. Thanks to some serious bargaining powers from one of our group members, we weren't charged like a wounded bull for the service. It still cost us more than it would have, if we'd arrived whilst the ferry service was operating. But that's ok.

The island itself, is relatively small, but separated into various coves and inlets. Some being more busier than others. Our little inlet was busier than usual (since many from our school had decided to take advantage of the long weekend too!). We settled in at the Ao Cho Grandview Resort, paying a little more than usual (since accomodation seemed to be in demand this particular weekend). The scenery was idyllic. A few minutes walk meant that we could easily cross over to another beach, with more places to eat and more things to do.

We chose to take the kids snorkeling in the afternoon for a mere 350 baht for the adults and half price for the kids. The visibility on our side of the island was not great, but around the other side (and thanks to some watermelon to feed the fish) the water and the fish life was spectacular. It was also a great opportunity to see the whole island and we even stopped at the Koh Samet Fisheries Depot and walked around the planks peering into various holding pens where different species of fish, turtles, sharks etc were being bred. I'm not quite sure if this was just a tourist attraction or whether there was actual breeding and conservation of fish stocks taking place.

My overall impression - for a beach that's only a 3 hour drive from Bangkok - it's a good place to get away. I wouldn't hurry back there, because I'd rather explore more places around Thailand, but it's nice to know that the option is there.

Going Down South

I've used PhotoPeach to share our stunning first ever trip to the South Island, New Zealand. I was born and raised in the North Island, and have seen the majority of it all but was an absolute thrill to be able to take my family "down South". Our hostess, the fabulous AllanahK, did an fabulous job of showing us around "her town". Enjoy the scenery - it's just amazing!

Missing The Beach No More

We are part way through a fabulous 3-day weekend here in Thailand. Yesterday, May 8th was The Royal Ploughing Ceremony. Earlier in the week it was Coronation Day. There is nothing better than a very short week to help you recharge the batteries in order to make it through the last days of the school year. (We have about 21 school days left - 33 days left til Ben & I fly home to the wintery days of NZ for about 8 weeks!)

But even better than a short week is the opportunity to spend some time at a beach in Thailand. Enter Cha-Am and Hua Hin. We were invited to drive down to Hua Hin with fellow teaching colleagues (and kiwis to boot) to stay at their gorgeous condo at Springfield Beach Resort.
Cha-Am's claim to fame is the being Thailand's longest white sand beach. And I have to say, it is very quiet, very deserted and very beautiful. The water's not blue though but it reminds me of Hot Water Beach back home, the temperature of the water is like the bath!!

An afternoon stroll along the beach was most enjoyable - shells a-plenty, sand a-plenty and of course photo ops a-plenty!

How's this for relaxing?

Island Paradise

Who could think of a more beautiful place to hold a conference for teachers? EARCOS 2009

What conference can you take your children to and it's ok? EARCOS 2009

Although it did take practically a whole day and two flights to get there from Bangkok, the hours of waiting were certainly worth it. We left home at 8.20am and arrived in Kota Kinabalu, Borneo (or Sabah, Malaysia) just after 10.40pm. Our flight from Kuala Lumpur to Kota Kinabalu was delayed by 90mins of sitting in a stuffy aeroplane while the ground crew worked to fix the communications systems. Finally the airline allowed us to disembark and put us on another plane.

A bus was waiting to take us from the airport to Sutera Habour Resort and our hotel, the Magellan Sutera Hotel. The room was very nice and Ben was ecstatic to see a huge tv (we don't have cable at home). At one point I had to drag him out of the hotel room and down to the pool for a swim!!)

I thoroughly enjoyed the workshops I chose to go to at the conference - Yes, I did actually go to some!

Ben and I visited Lok Kawi Wildlife Park and saw the pygmy rhino, dwarf elephants and probiscus monkeys that are native to Borneo.

On Saturday afternoon when all the workshops were finished we were free to go snorkeling on one of the little islands, Sapi Island. For about NZ$8 we got a mask, snorket, fins, boatride and entry onto the island each. A delightful 1 and half hour was spent snorkeling with an abundance of fish life (we saw rainbow fish, nemo fish, black & grey fish and electric blue fish) in relatively clean water. Ben was like a natural!

But the highlight has to be those gorgeous sunsets. Aren't they stunning?

I just love the way these photos turned out - all nat-tur-ral - no "photoshopping" necessary!

Chinatown

Heading downtown via the RiverTaxis on the Chao Phraya River is one of my most favourite ways to travel in Bangkok. It's even better when the sun is setting too.

Unfortunately that meant by the time we got off at Pier 15 and meandered our way through the side streets into the heart of Chinatown, most of the hustle and bustle of street stalls and tiny shops had closed up for the night.

There was still plenty of action on offer though, as we made our way up and down various streets exploring nooks and crannies, snapping a variety of pictures to document our first visit to Chinatown. The photos speak for themselves.

Dinner was just divine, in a little corner place just off one of the main roads - (don't ask me to find it again on my own though!). Eating on the street is a must - the food is delicious and it's pretty safe as long as you can see it being cooked and it's HOT when it's served to you. And you won't believe the prices! 3 adults and 2 children ate loads for about the same price as having a pizza delivered for two people!! Just check out these prawns - they were just as delicious as they look!

Damnoen Saduak

My friend Silvia was in town for just over a week and what better excuse to visit
Damnoen Saduak, Bangkok's floating market in the Ratchaburi Province. In just over an hour and a half we were zipping along the klongs in a long-tail boat (400 baht each), watching coconut buds being boiled, sieved and beaten into a scrumptious fudge-like substance ....................

............. then weaving our way through narrow, over-crowded market klongs.

Along the way to the Rose Garden Hotel we stopped at a Royal Thai Craft Village. Here we could see the carving of teak wood, the making of mulberry paper and drool over the stunning furniture for sale. The cost of these pieces includes freighting it to your home country. There's a piece or two in there that I wouldn't mind having in my lounge!

Lunch was a delectable buffet before heading over to the Elephant Show and the Cultural Show (600 baht each). I thought the shows were a bit "cheesy" but I did like the way we were shown how the elephants traditionally used to work and they did look very well looked after.

If you're in Bangkok for a short time, I'd highly recommend spending a day with JulieTaxi Tours visiting the Floating Market and the Rose Garden Tour. For 3000 baht we had our personal driver/guide/translator. Jack was amazing! Once again I was impressed by the service and the tour was a great way to spend the day.

Of course Silvia's visit could not be complete with a visit to Chatuchak, Bangkok's largest open market and I could not resist the opportunity to take more photos!!

Kanchanaburi Animoto Style

Animoto is an amazing online video tool!

In just over 20 minutes I was able to make 3 30 second videos of the rest of the photos I took during our 3 day tour of Kanchanaburi, add music (all creative commons too) and embed them on this blog.

All for the cost of $0.00. Gotta love a website that gives you a quality product for nothing. Of course I could have also opted for a full length video for the small price of US$3 or NZD$6.02. Still pretty good value for money I reckon!


Day 1:



Day 2:



Day 3:

Kanchanaburi Province - 3 Days

Wow, I've been so neglectful of this blog - hard to believe that over a month has gone by since my last post. To my dutiful 4 readers ...... (yes Mum that includes you)... my apologies.

We were fortunate enough to enjoy a rather long weekend February 7th - 9th (well teachers had 3 days, kids had 4!!) and I decided it was time for BJ and I to head out of Bangkok and explore one of the neighbouring provinces with our own private tour guide Khun Widrod.

I chose Kanchanaburi, mainly because I was really keen to walk over the Bridge on the River Kwai. It was beautiful - almost what I imagined it would be like. After researching a little about upon our return home - I was a little surprised to discover that it really isn't the River Kwai.

There is a small technical problem with the Bridge over the River Kwai: It doesn't actually cross the River Kwai..! Pierre Boulle, who wrote the original book, had never been there. He knew that the 'death railway' ran parallel to the River Kwae for many miles, and assumed that it was the Kwae which it crossed just North of Kanchanaburi. He was wrong - It actually crosses the Mae Khlung. When David Lean's blockbuster came out, the Thais faced something of a problem. Thousands of tourists came flocking to see the bridge over the River Kwae, and they hadn't actually got one... All they had was a bridge over the Mae Khlung. So, with admirable lateral thinking, they renamed the river. The Mae Khlung is now the Kwae Yai ('Big Kwae') for several miles north of the confluence with the Kwae Noi ('Little Kwae'), including the bit under the bridge.
extract from: The real Bridge on the River Kwai

Nevertheless, it was a joy to walk (yes we walked) right over the bridge to the other side. A most enjoyable thai lunch before hand helped fuel the walk over too.

Our guide was keen to show us the real Kanchanaburi so this was the only real touristy stop we did in the whole weekend. Next time we revisit Kanchanaburi I would love to see Hell's Gate which is the Memorial for the New Zealand and Australian soldiers who's lives were lost in that terrible war.

Our first day of touring also included two car ferry rides, our first ever ride on an elephant .......


....... and a night in a houseboat! (It even had aircon!!)


The thai dinner was as spectacular as lunch and BJ's white skin, blonde hair and blue eyes was a big hit (much to his annoyance) with the locals! The day's sunset was stunning!


Day 2 included quite a lot of driving as we made our way to the National Park -
After visiting Waterfall 4, we set off for the very pleasant walk to Waterfalls 5,6, and 7! (Original names huh?).


The Khuean Srinagarindra National Park was quite different to a New Zealand National Park - it wasn't very green, and it had a restaurant and a big screen tv with a band playing for a couple of hours.
Not at all what we were expecting! However, waking up on the side of a hill over looking the gigantic river and watching the sun slowly rise, was definitely worth a night on the hard ground in a tent!


Day 3 was a drive up to the Srinagarind Dam. The view was amazing and it was a shame that it was rather hazy.


Next time I'd like to take a look at the Erawan Falls - I'm told that they are quite spectacular too. The food up country is just maak maak aroi and incredibly cheap. BJ has discovered a favourite dish:
Moo Dad Deow (หมูแดดเดียว - Fried Dried Pork,Pork One Day In The Sun)


On the drive home we paid our respects with a visit the Kanchanaburi War Cemetery.


There's heaps more photographs from our 3 days away, I think I'll put together something in Animoto - I've been meaning to try it out some more .........

Flickr 2009/365 - 35 Days in .......

I am really enjoying the 365 Day Flickr Challenge. Thanks to great photographers and encouragers like CogDog (aka Alan Levine), Dean Shareski, D'Arcy Norman, the 2009/365photos group boasts 214 members. Each and everyone of them, an inspiration to me.

So with a tip of my "hat" to all you 2009/365 challengers out there that blog - why not show off your first 35 days in a flickrslide show


Created with flickr slideshow.

First Visitors for 2009

I was told when we moved here that we might have a visitor or two to stay every now and again - given our location is - Bangkok, Thailand.

Last week we had the delight of two lots of guests - our first for 2009 - and what a pleasure it was. First to arrive on her way home from London was my good friend and online colleague, Allanah K. I arranged for a different taxi service to pick her up from the airport - and what a lovely friendly service it was too from Julie Taxis. That's definitely a service I'll be using again and again! Fast, efficient, friendly and reasonably priced too!

We didn't need a better excuse to eat at our favourite restaurant - The River Tree House and timed it just right to capture the sun setting on the Chao Phraya river. As always the food was scrumptious!

Of course no weekend is complete in Bangkok without the obligatory trip to Chatuchak (and to bribe, whoops I mean even things out, for a 7 year old - a BTS Sky Train Ride to Siam Paragon to visit Siam Ocean World). We ventured into the 4-D experience at the end of our ocean visit - needless to say we all looked hilarious with our 3-D glasses on. The 4 of the 4D is the moving seats and pockets of air sprayed in our faces at varying times during the 15 minute 3-D film!!

What better way to spend a Sunday than a trip down the Chao Phraya river on the River Express Ferry. We got off at Pier15, took a tuktuk (just so Allanah could say she'd had a ride on one)

to Dusit Zoo (Khao Din) . We found the zoo to be a very different experience than we thought it would be. It's a huge place, with many animals and I guess we were all expecting it to be like the Auckland Zoo back home. Unfortunately it wasn't.


After a quick tuktuk ride, with a short stop outside the Ananda Samakhom Throne Hall for a photo op,

we jumped back on one extremely packed River Express Boat and headed home.

I have to say I was very proud of Allanah, as she ventured out on her own on her last day in Bangkok (some of us had to go to work!!) armed with directions in Thai on how to return to Nichada. I know she thoroughly enjoyed the Grand Palace and it's temples.

As Allanah set off on her own that morning, our next visitors (friends from my old school in NZ) arrived to stay for 3 days to rest and enjoy hot showers after spending nearly 4 weeks "backpacking" it round the provinces down one side of Thailand. I hate to admit it, but they have seen more of Thailand than we have - so far! It's my goal to change that!!

Flick and Rick's visit saw us venture downtown on a Tuesday night to have dinner at the The Tank,
in the Suan Lum Night Bazaar, then of course we had to walk around the night bazaar - as they had some serious Xmas shopping to catch up on. I had forgotten how busy the downtown traffic could be at 5pm but the trip home was surprisingly quick and as luck would have it we managed to hail a taxi with a driver who spoke a little English AND used to live in the neighbourhood behind Nichada Thani! It's always a bonus when you strike a taxi driver who doesn't want to barter the fare with you.

All too soon our house was empty again. So here we are ...... waiting for our next visitor to arrive sometime in March!

Anyone else need a place to stay for a few days in Thailand?