Where to next...

After only being back for a few days, thoughts have already turned to the next holiday....
Simon and I are off to Melbourne for a weekend in about two weeks which will be nice - haven't had a holiday without the kids before - even if it is only the weekend.

By the way...

In the snorkelling photo below and the ones I've added to this, you might be wondering why there are so many people with life jackets (blue and orange)...they are all the people who can't swim! We were amazed - the water was so salty it was difficult to go under the surface but people were still panicking. There was a group of about 8 muslims from Pakistan - all one family that couldn't swim - the women did try though - complete with jeans, several layers of tops and headscarves.

Back home!

Had a great time at the beaches, drinking lots of cocktails - had to keep up with Hamish...., shopping, getting a massage and a manicure and pedicure - just luxury really.
Now we are home and are freezing with stormy weather making us wish we'd spent another week away.

Beach monkeys

We pulled up to a small island where we were greeted by a family of monkeys. They were very inquisitive and jumped onto the boat next to us - they were also unafraid of the people who got off the boat - they obviously know that we bring food!

If anyone knows how to turn the photos around - can you let me know? Kingsley I'm looking at you ;-)

Apparently Australians are the most often bitten tourist by the monkeys as we insist on trying to pat them.

Phuket

The Banthai Beach Resort is excellent - we are having such a good time.

We went to Phi Phi Island for a tour and snorkelling etc which was great. Aidan and Jamie are really good at it as they have done it a lot at school but the rest of us were novices - and now converts!

The water was so hot on the main island it was like being in the spa!

The beach at Patong is very pleasant temperature wise and so close to the hotel we have been down there a fair bit. A bit worrying is the jet ski's which seem to go in and out at any point on the beach and very close to swimmers.

The markets are also good but I'm a bit over haggling!

Accommodation at the River Kwai

We weren't quite sure what to expect when we were told that our rooms were floating on the river - we were pleasantly surprised!

The Erawen Falls

These waterfalls were full of fish and the kids went in for a swim - the fish sucker on to you if you don't move.

Also at the top of the falls were a group of wild monkeys.

The tiger temple

These are amazing!

Travel tip - make sure your camera battery is full and you have plenty of room on your memory card! The guides who take you around just keep snapping!

Photos as promised from the first day/s

The golden Buddha is solid gold - so they tell me!

Bangkok - the first couple of days

We didn't get much sleep on the plane, but apart from that it was a good flight.
We were a bit overwhelmed when we came through immigration to have people jumping out at us offering tours and taxi rides and everything else! Hopelessly we signed up for a tour later that day just to get out of there!

The tour was actually better than expected given it cost less than $20 for the 6 of us. We saw the Golden Budda temple and the Marble Temple, watched a bit of an ordination ceremony for young buddhist monks and set some turtles free! Yes we got gotten at every turn - the turtles and eels and frogs are all available for sale and if you buy them and set them free in the nearb murky waters you get good Karma....don't know what kind of karma you get for bagging them up and pushing them in the faces of hapless tourists though!

We went to another place and were told that we should watch this quick video - only 5 minutes - we were watching this thing and it was all about gem stones - that was when I reasied the temple tour had finished and now we were being taken 'shopping' - I resisted the beautiful jewelry but Hamish did buy something lovely for Julia.

We went to the Pat Pong markets - across the road from the hotel and now all of the kids know what a ping pong show is! The boys in particular - but even me - get propositioned with various shows.

Most importantly - have bought lots of bags from the MBK. And we are getting better and haggling - even taxi fares - they don't turn the meter on unless you insist!

For some reason the computer isn't accepting my cable - so photos next time!