We usually go every January for 2.5 weeks, and spend 4 days in the north of Thailand, in Chang rai in a small village visiting my partners grandad and his family, we then travel south, about an hour north of Phuket to a place called Khao Lak where we have some friends and we spend 2 weeks there. We obviously haven’t been able to since pre covid so it’s been 2 years. We didn’t visit my partners grandad this time though as it’s too risky with the testing requirements needed. We did however do the 2 weeks in khao lak.
we had been saving since 2020 and it was a once in a lifetime trip as we flew business class and then first class on Qatar which was absolutely out of this world. We managed to get it much cheaper than it normally would be obviously due to people not really travelling. We flew from Heathrow to Doha and then on to Phuket. We were part of the sandbox testing which meant we only had to test when we go there and then again on day5. For the first 7 days we had to stay in a hotel and after that we were able to move to a villa we rent every year to join the rest of the family who had flown out also but on the test and go scheme to Bangkok so their rules were different. The test on day 1 was the worst, we had to stay in the hotel room until we got the results. We did the test around 1pm at the airport and for the results back about 9pm. The hotel room was gorgeous though, we had lots of beers in the fridge courtesy of the hotel, room service, a private pool, a sea view so we saw the sunset, massive bath tub, tv etc so we were able to put the day in tightly but we were starting to get a bit bored and nervous as it grew closer to the time we should have expected our results. If it had been positive we would have had to spend 7days in that room. Thankfully all tests were fine and we were able to go an enjoy our holiday.
we did a sunset cruise, visited an elephant sanctuary (one of the good ones - not one where They get on the elephants), the markets, temples, waterfall, and went out for some food and drinks each night. After 7 days we moved to a villa by the beach and it had a little beach bar/restaurant beside it which we went to everyday for afternoon beers. It was a fantastic trip and very emotional as it was 2 years to get back there and see our friends.
main khao lak is awful right now, so many empty places and the footpaths overgrown. Businesses there are clinging on by a string. But the bang niang area was quite busy and lots open. It was good to go and give some money back to them.
Thailand really is the most wonderful place on earth. Xx
and just picked up 7 extra weekend days at work to pay for my holiday, probably regret each one when it comes to doing them!
it was amazing and I feel so recharged now! Back to work today. I have lots more of the elephants but too depressed to go through the photos just yet haha I will do so today and post some more. Magical animals, love them! I got to feed this boy some food Xx
