Thailand Trip part 1

It’s been far too long since I last posted. That thing called life got in the  way however, I am back on track! So after a year of planning and reading endless tripadvisor reviews,travel blogs and Youtube videos,we set off to Bangkok and Phuket for two weeks during the Easter school holiday break. We flew with Qatar Airways with a quick stop in Doha. I purposely wanted a stopover as I didn’t want to spend a full 11 plus hours on a plane straight. It was the best decision for us even if it did add an extra 3 hours to our travel time. Qatar Airways is my favourite airline thus far. Good seat pitch, friendly crew, good food and inflight entertainment. The Doha to Bangkok leg was uncomfortable due to turbulence which clearly wasn’t the fault of the airline. It did make me feel quite sick though! Dramamine is my choice of travel sickness tablets and helped to settle my nausea. Picked up SIM cards for 8 days at the airport at a cost of £16 for 3 of us. First stop was at VIE hotel which I got through Secret Escapes.

Bathroom in twin room.

  BTS train

Pool area

  View from the pool

Bedroom 

VIE entrance

Night time views

Another bathroom view Pros of the hotel...Central location with just 5 mins walk to the BTS & local eateries. Amazing breakfast spread that can keep you going till past lunch. Big rooms, Friendly staff (always smiling and helpful) and good WiFi. Cons.... Some areas of the hotel such as the lift are far too hot. Limited amount of plugs in the room  and the ones they had were away from the bed and all by the desk area. We had dinner one night at their La Vie restaurant. It was fine dining at its best which was reflective in price (ouch). Food was  yummy and worth it.

                                                                  Snow Crab
                                                           

Illuminated menu

                                                                         La Vie

Prawn Flambe

TOUR WITH TONG

Highly recommended tour operator. We were assigned Kung (which means prawn..haha) and a driver. Pick up was at 7am. She was a great guide and fit for us. Lots of laughs and interesting information. We did the train market, floating market & Kanchanaburi wildlife sanctuary. The sanctuary has a volunteer programme where foreigners can volunteer their services for periods between 3-6 months. There is no indication that the tigers are drugged which was a real concern for me. I have seen several Youtube videos of people lying next to grown tigers, touching tails etc. This is a no no here! We were able to walk with a guide one of the tigers with strict instructions on behaviour such as walking behind the tiger and no sudden movements or touching the tail.

Giraffe love:)

Baby Windy & Dom

Cindy cub & Tia

Train market

Floating market

Teen tiger