Leaving Hua Hin

Today we spent half the day in Hua Hin, lounging by the pool and the beach and drink watermelon shakes!

Our ride back to Bangkok picked us up at 2, and at that time it started to pour. The rain storm made it easier to leave. 

We are headed back to Bangkok to continue to explore, shop and see our old apartment etc for a couple more days. Our fitbits will be happy, we hadn't logged as many steps the past few days! 

Hua Hin

We've been in Hua Hin the past two days. Lots of beach and pool time at a gorgeous resort and beach. 

Yesterday we went to the spa. We had a floral bath, a body scrub, a massage and a pedicure. It was amazing. The ladies at the spa were great and very pampering. 

After the spa, we laid by the pool and went to the beach. I finished a book in one day at the pool, quite an accomplishment, but nice to not have anything else to worry about or any distractions. 

Last night we walked around Hua Hin and did a lot of great people watching. We had dinner at an Italian Restaurant. The pizza could go on my Top 5 pizza places, and if you know me, you know I'm a pizza connoisseur. 

Chiang Mai tot Bangkok to Hua Hin

This morning we left Chiang Mai, flew to Bangkok and were greeted at the airport by our friend, Bill who had arranged for a car service to drive us to HuaHin, a beach town about 3 hours away. The van was very nice, reclining chairs, footrests etc.

Once we checked into our room at the Hilton in Hua Hin, we were pleasantly surprised to learn we were upgraded to a suite at no charge. 

We made our way to the pool and beach, both right outside our window/balcony.

We say by the pool and got in the ocean. The water is incredibly clear, so we were able to see crabs scurrying around, as well as a lot of beautiful shells. 

It's a great resort and we are looking forward to more beach and pool time after our spa appointments in the morning! 

Chiang Mai Night Market

We walked to the Chiang Mai night market this evening. Tons of vendors selling all sorts of things, especially souvenirs, scarves, dresses etc. we found some fun things.

We then stopped for a 15 minute Thai foot massage for 100 baht, or about $3, we sat outside in chairs at the market, seemed much safer than the MANY sketchy massage shops everywhere you look. 

Now, getting ready for bed before going to the Patara Elephant Farm tomorrow! We are very excited. We met a family at the pool today that had been to the Elephant Farm today and one of the women was telling us how straight up one of the paths is that you ride the elephant up the mountain. I figure the elephant is just as concerned about falling down as we are, so we should be good to go! 

Patara Elephant Farm...Best Day Ever

Today we went to the Patara Elephant Farm. We've been looking forward to this for a long time, ever since Jojo read about it in the Delta magazine.
Definitely a bucket list experience!

The company picked us up at the hotel and drove us with a group of 2 other pairs. It was about a 90 minute drive up in the mountains on very windy roads. Thank God the nurse in KC prescribed the motion sickness patch that I put behind my ear. Had I not had that, I would have been very sick on the drive up.
When we arrived at Patara, we got some opening instructions from the guides and then were broken into our group.
We were paired with our elephants, Jojo had Bon, a male and I had Dodo, a male with tusks. They were really sweet and gentle.

We learned some commands, brushed the elephants back off to get rid of the dust and mud. We used a large group of  branches to do that.

We then learned how to climb on the elephant, they do not have seats on their back so we had to climb on them different ways.

After we were able to get on the elephant, we went for a walk in the woods and the small river that led us to a large pond. There we bathed the elephant and brushed the elephants skin to get rid of any dirt and parasites.
After bathing the elephants we had a lunch break in a hut. The staff at Patara cooked and provided the lunch and it consisted of different kinds of sticky rice, tons of fresh fruit and fried chicken.
When we finished our lunch, we boarded the elephants and went for another ride straight up a mountain. The elephants are sure footed, but it still was very scary walking near a very steep drop off. None of our elephants went off the path and no one was injured.

Made it to Chiang Mai

We made it to Chiang Mai. It was a short flight (1 hour) from Bangkok to Chiang Mai. Bill's brother Alexx picked us up at the airport, then we went to lunch and on a tour of his amazing glass bead factory. Alexx was living in Vancouver, BC and 7 years ago decided to move back to Thailand with his wife. It proved to be a great decision, as he now has a very big glass bead business supplying to a very big jewelry company. 

We are now checked into our hotel and enjoying some poolside time before getting some dinner and going to the Night Market! 

I can't say enough great things about the nice people and wonderful service in Thailand. Definitely not something we are used to in the U.S. For example, the pool attendants chose our chairs, laid the towels down etc. They then brought us a tray with ice water, fresh fruit and an orchid.  We could get used to this :) 

Grand Palace

Although we've been to the Grand Palace many times, it's still a must see when visiting Bangkok. We both had short sleeve shirts, so we didn't have to borrow a shirt, but since we both had shorts on we had to borrow a silk wrap around skirt, not pictured because it didn't match! 

The long tail boat dropped us at the Grand Palace. Before getting to palace, we had to walk through a very loud and hot market, featuring mostly fruits and foods as well as some clothes and jewelry. 

Photos below are from the Grand Palace, the photos don't really do it justice! It's beautiful. 

Now it's time to head to bed, we are still fighting jet lag and find ourselves fading around dinner time. We will be up early to go to the airport for our flight to Chiang Mai. Luckily we are able to leave the luggage we won't need at the hotel and they will lock it up for us until we get back. 

Boat Ride

After our trip to the tailors, we took the Sky Train to the ShangriLa hotel on the river. We stayed there for an extended stay when we moved here, so it was cool to go back. 

We caught a long tail boat at the hotel dock and went on a river tour, down to a floating market and then to the Grand Palace. 

Tailors

Today we started our day by visiting Raja's, a tailor my dad has used for many years. They have his measurements, so we went to pick out a few shirts. They will make them while we are here and will deliver them to the hotel before we fly back. Tons of fabric to choose from, we couldn't go too crazy on colors, tried to stick with things we knew he would wear and things that are easy to match. 

Bobby the tailor remembered dad and Jojo and said he remembered me, great memory since I hadn't been there in more than 20 years.

 

The next stop was Queens Thai silk, a seamstress for women. I chose two fabrics and am having two dresses made. When looking thru the books, I didn't find anything I liked, so we came up with ideas from different dresses and she will be putting them together. I will go in for one fitting before we leave and they'll be ready the next day! 

I'm excited to see what they come up with!