We have heard so many good things about Thailand - several of our friends have already been, quite a few of them also returned after their first visit, and have always loved it. We have been curious about going for quite some time, but other trips have always interrupted our plans. This year we actually focused our winter holiday plan on Thailand - we really felt it was finally time that we experienced ourselves what Thailand was like. We also really wished to return to Kuala Lumpur - this was the city we loved, tha place we already knew, and while going so close by, we felt that Kuala Lumpur deserved a stop again. So, we finally booked multi destination tickets - flying in to Kuala Lumpur and leaving from Bangkok. I also got two short local Air Asia flights - from KL to Phuket and from Phuket to Bangkok - so the holiday plan was complete.
We were flying from Milan Malpensa with Qatar Airways again. I always find it comfortable to break the long flight towards Asia in two, with a stop somewhere in the Middle East - the possibility to walk around a little, stretch legs, browse the shops, makes the long travel easier. Two six-seven hour flights with a short break in between are definitely more bearable than one thirteen hour one. Our flight to Kuala Lumpur was leaving at 9pm, so we could take it easy - left home in the morning, had a nice lunch in Italy, met a friend, who lives in Milan, for a coffee at the small town of Gallarate close to the airport. Qatar Airways was great as usual - on time, nice food and a good selection of entertainment. We also had a chance to spend some time in the recently completed wing of Doha airport called the Orchard - a beautiful indoor garden.
The Orchard at Doha Hamad Airport
After an easy flight, we arrived at Kuala Lumpur at 20.40, passed the immigration pretty quickly, and headed to our accommodation in the city. For this trip, I had pre-ordered all our transfers from the airport arrivals to the hotel - it saved us lots of time and hassle finding a taxi or Uber/Bolt/Grab on arrival. KL International Airport is about an hour's drive from the city center, so we arrived at our accommodation pretty late. After the great experience with staying at the apartment on our last visit, I had decided to book an apartment again - this time we stayed at Axon Residence right in the heart of Bukit Bintang, behind the Farenheit Mall. While the location of this apartment was excellent, the apartment itself was a bit of a let-down - it was supposed to be a three-bedroom, but instead we had a two bedroom apartment with an adjacent studio - so us adults stayed at the studio and the teens had the big apartment for themselves. Axon Residence is connected to Sleeping Lion Suites by a glass walkway on one of the top floors. The two buildings share the rooftop infinity pool and gym. The pool was pretty crowded most of the times we went there, and it was smaller than the pool at Eaton Residence, where we stayed a year ago.
Sleeping Lion Suites and Axon Residences
View from the rooftop terrace
Although it was pretty late, we were hungry and went out to get something to eat. We hoped Jalan Alor food street would still have something open, and as it was only within a short walking distance, we headed over there. We got some simple stir-fried noodles and rice and felt amazing being in Southeast Asia again.
We did not have any real plans in Kuala Lumpur - just wanted to walk around the city, visit some familiar places, get used to the time zone and climate, and enjoy the great weather and delicious food.
Rooftop pool of Axon residence
Lunch at Sushi Zanmai Pavilion Mall - a great sushi place
Several our traveller friends are not too fond of Kuala Lumpur, yet we love its mix of cultures, ease to get around, the variety of food, friendly locals and the modern city center. We had a perfectly busy yet somehow relaxing day in one of our favourite cities and I hope there will be many more days like this to come.
Street art in Chinatown
Walking around Bukit Bintang
In the evening we visited the Jalan Alor area again, but not for dinner, as we were already full from all the random street food we had had during the whole day. We only got some fruit from the many fruit stands around Jalan Alor - the fruit always tastes so much better in Asia.
Street food and fruit stalls around Jalan Alor
Our flight to Phuket was leaving in the evening - fortunately the apartment had a possibility for late check-out for a small fee, so we still had half a day until 3pm to spend in Kuala Lumpur. We decided to go to see Petronas towers and have early lunch at their food court. There is a comfortable elevated walkway from Pavilion mall to Petronas towers, it avoids the traffic and takes you at the park just behind Petronas Towers.
Phuket and Bangkok
The Air Asia flight from Kuala Lumpur to Phuket was quick. I always like to pre-order a warm meal for the Air Asia flights - the food is usually nice (only a bit spicy sometimes) and the price is more than reasonable. The immigration queue at Phuket airport was extremely slow, it took us nearly two hours to finally exit the airport. I also bought a local SIM card at the area just before the luggage claim - for a bit under 20 euros we got 40 gb of data. I had also pre-booked a taxi to collect us from Phuket airport and take us to Patong, where our hotel was located - the drive took a bit over an hour.
It was pretty late when we finally arrived at Patong, where we stayed at the Grand Mercure Patong Hotel for the next five nights. The hotel was great - a real oasis of peace in the middle of the crazyness of Patong, good service, nice swimming pools. The only complaint would be about the size of the pool access room - when I stay for longer than a couple of days, I usually like to unpack, but there was no real space to do that, only a small wardrobe to hang dresses etc. Our kids stayed at the regular twin bedroom on an upper floor, and their room was more spacious than ours. Otherwise the pool access room was excellent - we spent quite some time on our private terrace sunbathing, taking a dip in the pool, eating fruit that we had bought from the small market just across the road from the hotel.
View from our terrace at Grand Mercure pool access room
That evening we had a quick bite to eat from that market across the road, before going back to the hotel for a well-earned good night sleep.
The next morning we took it easy - had a long lazy breakfast at the hotel buffet, before heading to the beach and downtown. The breakfast at Grand Mercure was excellent with lots of different cuisines (Japanese, Indian, local, Western), several cooking stations and it varied a bit every morning during our stay. Patong is a well-known party capital of Thailand, but honestly, it looked a lot better than we had imagined. We headed to the beach first, only a short walk from the hotel, and the kids went for a quick swim.
Patong Beach
We took the beach promenade to walk towards Bangla road, the most famous party street of Patong (and probably the whole Phuket), that closes for the cars at 6pm. During the daytime it was still busy - we browsed some shops and had a quick look around.
On our walk back to the hotel we decided to go for a traditional Thai massage. There were many massage places on the way to the hotel, most of them offering lots of different massages, Thai massage costing about 300 - 400 THB (between 7.5 and 10 euros). Thai massage is not the regular relaxing massage - it is also called assisted yoga, as it uses a mixture of deep tissue pressure, muscle and joint stretching and yoga poses. We had a great experience, but were more likely to opt for a relaxing massage next time.
After a chill afternoon at the hotel, we headed back out for dinner and to see how the evening in Patong looks like - we could not stay long though, as I had booked us an island trip the next day and they were picking us up from the hotel quite early in the morning. We had a delicious meal (although all our meals in Thailand were delicious) of local favourites like pad thai, pineapple rice, stir fried noodles and stir fried morning glory (also called water spinach) in a small simple restaurant called Number 6, a few steps from Bangla road.
We had an early start the next morning - a quick breakfast at the hotel at 7 am, to then meet the representative of V. Marine Tour at the hotel lobby at 7.30 to take us to the marina at the other side of the island for our islands trip. The trip was taking us to Hat Noppharat Thara – Mu Ko Phi Phi National Park, known mostly as Phi Phi Islands
National Park, a world famous marine park in Krabi Province south of
Thailand. The park is known for its
beautiful white-sandy beaches, coral reefs, crystal clear waters and
limestone karsts. We were the first ones to be picked up, we still went to another couple of hotels in Patong to pick up some other people who were also on our tour. The marina was nearly an hour drive from Patong. On arrival we were offered some coffee and snacks and a quick briefing about safety during the speedboat trip, also seasickness tablets for those who need it (I took one and it worked well). The distance between Phuket and Phi Phi Islands National Park was about 40 km, and it took about an hour by speedboat - the sea was pretty choppy that morning, so I wouldn't really call it a pleasant ride - the seasickness pill before the trip had been a good idea. Fortunately, the sea was much calmer once we arrived between the islands.
Our first stop was at Bamboo Island, where we had about an hour to enjoy the white sandy beach and snorkel (snorkelling equipment was provided by the tour) as the corals started near the beach. It was very nice when we arrived, but about 15 minutes before leaving several other boats arrived and it became a bit too crowded. Next we had a quick stop at Monkey Beach - the stop was to see the monkeys in their natural habitat (and there were plenty), but the nicest thing about that beach was the powdery white soft sand. It was a pleasure walking there barefoot. Monkey Beach was situated on Ko Phi Phi Don island, on that island, only at a different bay, we also had our lunch. The lunch was tasty, buffet style, in a beautiful terrace overlooking the sea.
The beach on Ko Phi Phi Don, where we had lunch
Our next stop was Ko Phi Phi Lee island, mostly famous for its Maya Bay, featured in the movie The Beach. Nowadays, Maya Bay is closed for boats and also swimming is forbidden, to protect its fragile ecosystem. The boat dropped us off at the dock on other side of the island, from where we could take a wooden walkway of about one kilometer to access Maya Bay. In my opinion, it was a nice beach, but there are definitely some equally beautiful and less touristic beaches in Thailand.
Maya Bay, Ko Phi Phi Lee
Our last stop of the day was the picturesque Pileh Lagoon on the same Ko Phi Phi Lee island, where everyone who wished could jump off the boat and go for a swim.
On our way back, the sea was calm and the ride was pleasant. Some freshly cut fruit was passed around the boat for a snack. It was a great tour, but it just gave us a glimpse of how amazing the islands are. One day, we would definitely like to spend more time on several Thai islands. Although tired from the long day, we still managed to go out for a dinner and a walk in the evening.
Sometimes during the holidays, it is important take a day, where we don't have any plans, the only plan is to relax. The following day was going to be one of those. After a long lazy breakfast, we decided to do a beach morning, so I ordered us a Bolt taxi and we headed to Karon Beach. We mostly used Bolt app to get around, and sometimes, when Bolt was too busy, we also used Grab, although Grab was always a bit more expensive. Karon Beach was a beautiful and not too crowded sandy beach (the sand was so soft that it squeaked when you walk), so we rented the beach chairs, swam, people watched, and decided what to do with the rest of the day.
Karon beach
After the beach, we returned to Patong and felt like it was a good time to go for another massage - we chose a relaxing coconut oil massage this time. In the evening we met some friends from home for a drink, they were also staying in Patong - our kids go to the same school and were also happy to see each other.
Grand Mercure Patong by night - view from our room terrace
The following day we were back in sightseeing mode and took a Bolt to go to see the most famous monument in Phuket and the third-tallest statue in Thailand - the Big Buddha.
The Buddha statue depicts Gautama in a sitting position and is 45 metres tall and 25.45 metres
wide. It is made of concrete and covered with Burmese white marble. We noticed on arrival how crowded the place was. As women have to cover their knees and shoulders in sacred places, I had to buy a sarong to cover up. Although there were a lot of visitors, the views from the hilltop were magnificent and the statue itself was beautiful.
As it was Sunday, we had the chance to check out the famous Sunday Walking Street market in the Old Phuket Town - this market is especially known for its amazing street food. The Old Phuket Town was a pleasant surprise - the town center is full of colourful beautifully restored old houses and it was just a dream to walk around. The market itself was busy, but we really enjoyed it, and all the food we tried was delicious. I just wished I had room for more!
The next day was our last in Phuket, we were flying to Bangkok in that evening. We thought about doing a beach morning again, and headed to Kamala beach this time. Kamala was disappointing though - the beach was dirty and it smelled of sewage. We rented sun loungers but only stayed for about an hour before deciding to return to Patong.
Kamala Beach
We had had a wonderful six days in Phuket and felt a bit sad to leave, but also excited to discover Bangkok.
We arived at Bangkok just before 7pm. As it was a domestic flight, there were no customs to clear, and we got out of the airport pretty quickly. We also flew to the old Bangkok airport, called Don Mueang, that is situated closer to the city than Suvarnabhumi airport. It was pretty confusing to pick a hotel in Bangkok - the city is huge and there are many areas and hotels to choose from. I finally opted for Eastin Grand Hotel Sathorn for our stay - the hotel had excellent reviews and a sky train station just in front for an easy access to the city and sights. The hotel itself was great - the rooms were spacious (we had adjacent king and twin rooms), breakfast was excellent and the service attentive. We also loved the pool area for afternoon relax, swim and happy hour.
The pool of Eastin Grand Hotel Sathorn
It was quite late when we finally arrived at the hotel, so after a quick check-in, we decided to get some dinner. Only one stop away by sky train was the Sathorn jetty boat stop, from where we took the free boat to Asiatique the Riverfront. Cruising on the Chao Phraya river at night was magical - there were many boats all lit up, a nice breeze, and a great vibe - I alredy knew we would love Bangkok.
The next morning we were in full city discovery and sightseeing mode, so we took a sky train + metro to discover the sights of Bangkok. The closest temple to Sanam Chai metro station was the Wat Pho, the temple of the impressive 46 meter long gold-plated Reclining Buddha, so we went there first. The whole temple area was amazing, with beautiful decorated buildings.
Wat Pho Temple
Next, we took the boat to the other side of the river to visit another iconic landmark of Bangkok - the temple of Wat Arun. The pier to take the boat across was a short walk from the Wat Pho exit, and the trip took around five minutes. Wat Arun was equally impressive, but the midday heat was also present, and we felt we were done with temples for that day.
View of Wat Arun from the boat
Wat Arun
The 37-degree heat was really taking its toll on us, so we took the boat to the Icon Siam shopping mall for some lunch in a cool air conditioned space. Icon Siam itself was huge, we went for a short stroll and probably only saw a fraction of it. The food court on the lowest level was very good and we were spoilt for choice.
Icon Siam mall
Our hotel was only a short boat trip away across the river from Icon Siam, and we deserved afternoon relax before heading to town again in the evening. A couple of hours by the pool seemed like an excellent idea.
The teens wanted to check out Khaosan road in the evening - they had seen it at the Hangover movie and they imagined it as this crazy party place. In reality, it was not as crazy as expected, a lot cleaner, and very touristic. We preferred much more the road just parallel to Khaosan, called Thanon Ram Buttri - it had lots of beautiful bars and restaurants and a chill vibe to it. We actually had dinner there twice during our stay in Bangkok.
Edible insects for tourist photos, Khaosan Road
Delicious Pineapple rice
As we only managed to visit two temples on our first day in Bangkok, we carried on with the sightseeing plan on the following day, going to see the Grand Palace just after breakfast. The Grand Palace is actually a complex of buildings within walls in Bangkok. It has been the official and ceremonial residence of the country’s kings since it was originally built in 1782. In the compound there is also the Temple of the Emerald
Buddha (Wat Phra Kaew)—Thailand’s most sacred temple. Within the temple is the small Emerald Buddha (which is actually made of jasper) atop a multi-tiered throne and inside a glass box. It is forbidden to take photos of the Emerald Buddha, but we are happy to have managed to see it. The Grand Palace has also the strictest clothing rules - both men and women must have the shoulders and knees covered, so we had to get the pants from the street seller for the guys.
We spent the afternoon doing some shopping at the MBK center and enjoying the pool of the hotel. In the evening we went for a walk and some street food in Chinatown. The initial plan was to stay in the Chinatown for dinner, but it was very crowded and messy, so we decided against it, and headed to Thanon Ram Buttri again.
Bangkok Chinatown
On our last day in Thailand we were taking in the warm weather, swimming in the pool, doing some last minute shopping and enjoying more of that delicious food. The hotel allowed us to keep one of the rooms for late check out, so we could change and shower before heading to the airport and starting our journey home via Doha.
Although Bangkok is huge, confusing, and messy, we liked it a lot and are hoping to return - there was a lot that we didn't have time to see. The same goes for the whole Thailand: great food, amazing sights, friendly people and so much yet left do discover.
