Author: Chris Walker
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Day 16 – Bangkok (25/11/23)
Little to report today. Lovely sunny day, mostly spent by the side of the impressive pool at this hotel. I even went in for a dip! The meal at the Brio Italian restaurant was excellent, as was the service. All tinged with sadness as we are due to leave Thailand tomorrow. Back to the room…
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Day 15 – Bangkok (24/11/23)
Jean had suffered a minor indisposition overnight, but we made it down to breakfast OK. We did have some quite exotic food last night – for us. We had a quick look round the hotel. It’s actually a large resort. We had a chat to one of the many concierges who were hanging around, and…
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Day 14 – Chiang Mai to Bangkok (23/11/23)
All started smoothly enough. Breakfast was partaken of and we were down to Reception for our pickup at 10.15. So far, EXO Travel, Trailfinders’ appointed representatives for transfers, have been very efficient. However…. 10.20 came and went, and we were both feeling a bit concerned. The superb service standards of this incredible hotel came to…
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Day 13 – Chiang Mai (22/11/23)
A more relaxed start to the day, the plan being to walk to the old walled city to have a look around. It was a warm day, noisy and crowded. We found our way there with little trouble and had a quick look round yet another tat-filled market. How anybody makes a profit here beats…
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Day 12 – Chiang Mai (21/11/23)
We got down to breakfast at around 7.30 a.m. in advance of what turned out to be a very busy morning. It was quite a bit cooler – a very pleasant 21⁰ at this point. A very extensive buffet was presented to us, plus an à la carte menu. The service levels are exemplary here…
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Day 11 – Phuket to Chiang Mai (20/11/23)
5 a.m. alarm. Nuff said. We made it down to Reception at 5.55 to find that our transport to the airport was already there. As we collected our breakfast boxes, one of the receptionists queried a purchase from the minibar. As I had paid the extras bill in full the previous night and had not…
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Day 10 – Phuket (19/11/23)
Our last full day here. It’s been a blast. Another lazy day, sitting by the pool, combined with packing for the next leg of our journey northward to Chiang Mai. It was probably the hottest day of our stay here so far, so finding a shady enough spot was always going to be tricky. We…
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Day 9 – Phuket (18/11/23)
The alarm went off at 7 a.m. and I was asleep at the time. That always makes me feel groggy. Still, we made it down to a rather desultory breakfast, ready for our pickup at the revised time of 8.50. About 10 minutes later, our minibus arrived, piloted by Peter and led by our very…
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Day 8 – Phuket (17/11/23)
Today’s post is very short, as compared with yesterday’s whopper, because basically we did nothing all day! Another lazy session looking out over Nai Harn beach in warm, but breezy and cloudy, weather. We didn’t even venture out of the hotel for dinner. We had a voucher for a free meal for two at Cosmo’s,…
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Day 7 – Phuket (16/11/23)
Despite the relatively early start, we made it to breakfast and we were on time for the minibus to take us across the island to board the boat taking us on a trip around the Phang Nga islands. Sure enough, about 10 minutes later, the minibus turned up and, not without difficulty due to my…