Planning

We received so many suggestions from people who had been to Asia before that it became quite confusing. So after doing a bit of research we decided upon 18 days that should include Singapore and three Thai islands.  As we’d only given ourselves two weeks to plan we decided to hand over the organisation to a travel agent.  Harvey Travel in Bredasdorp had organised flights for us before so we went with them.

Riaan organised a superb package through Thompson Tours and for our first trip to Thailand it worked very well.  There is just one thing I would change next time – and that would be to have less time on Phuket.  Phuket is fine if you want to party, see shows and shop.  We didn’t. Our focus was on sunshine, boats and island life.   However, Phuket is the perfect starting place to visit other islands and to do adventure trips.  There is a lot on offer.

So we spent two nights in Singapore, seven nights on Phuket Island, two nights on Phi Phi, three nights on Koh Samui Island and one night in Bangkok.

Our Thompson’s package included everything from flights to transfers to accommodation.  We stayed in comfortable 3 star hotels on a bed and breakfast basis.  There was one complimentary tour of Phuket Island included.   Diethelm handled our transfers and on each island they gave us a list of trips we could do which they would arrange.  Sometimes we used them and sometimes we went with other options.  There are travel agents on every street corner!

The exchange rate for South Africans is 2.5 baht to the Rand.   Eating in restaurants in Thailand is cheaper than eating in South African restaurants but if you really want to do things cheaply you can always buy your meals from the street vendors.  We did not want to risk tummy upsets but I am positive that we would have been fine.  The food looked delicious.

Flights

Our long haul flights were with Emirates and they were excellent.
We also used Bangkok Airline to fly from Phuket to Koh Samui and Koh Samui to Bangkok and we found them very good too.   They provide you with free coffee and snacks in their waiting lounge.

Hotels

Singapore – Copthorne Kings Hotel:

Very comfortable room.  Provided all necessary toiletries including toothbrushes and toothpaste!

Breakfast was lovely.  Main restaurant had a buffet of all kinds of delicious food for dinner but we gave it a miss as super expensive @ $60 per person.  No way I can do justice to all that food!   But there is a less expensive A La Carte restaurant which was not nearly as popular but served excellent food.

Phuket – Sunset Beach Resort

Our room was on the fourth floor but had no view.  As we were out most of the time this did not bother us.  It was comfortable, had plenty of space for packing and we were supplied with toiletries.

Phi Phi – Bay View Hotel

Lovely room.  NB You may not put toilet paper down the loo – it has to be disposed of in the bin.

The only problem was that we were far from reception and the restaurant. The walk was also quite steep in places.  This could be a disadvantage to older people or those who are not physically fit.  The Earl coped but it was a challenge.

Koh Samui – Ibis Bophut Samui.

Lovely room, with a view, right next to the pool and a hop and a skip from the beach.
It had hanging space in the cupboard but no drawers.  However, as we were travelling light this did not really bother us.

Also no shampoo provided – only soap in dispensers.

All the hotels provided generous (American) breakfasts of average quality.  The breakfast at Sunset Resort in Phuket was the best.   Although they say it is an American breakfast there are a lot of Asian and continental options too.

Bangkok – Cha-Da Hotel

It was on the fourth floor and very comfortable.  We were able to walk to a nearby mall and did not use any taxis besides the one from the hotel to get to a River Tour.

 

Transfers

Having pre-arranged transfers takes all the stress out of travel – especially when you reach a certain age.  The Earl had no intention of hailing taxis, hiring scooters or getting into tuk tuks!

All of the above, however, are perfect ways of getting around.

Our transfer company was Diethelm and they were fantastic.   The drivers do not speak very much English but they know exactly where they’re going and are very attentive to your needs.  A representative met us with a board bearing our names and we were always presented with a bottle of mineral water and a refresher towel each.

At each island they gave us a list of tours we could do and would organise them for us.  The tours are not very expensive but don’t expect a running commentary from your driver. His job is to get you to each stopping place and he gives you a certain amount of time to explore and then it’s on to the next stop.   The Diethelm representative organises the boat trips for you and their drivers just collect you from the hotel and take you to the meeting place.

More about each island and the tours we did in later blogs.