Hair Braiding

Getting your hair braided seems to be the thing to do in any beach destinations these days.  Eloise had previously had her hair braided in Bali and Fiji and off course wanted it done in Thailand.    It took 2 girls (sometimes 3 girls) two hours to do her hair and it cost a grand total of about $10 AUD !   Eloise was very patient and sat (mostly still) for the entire time. 

Abbey however was not keen to have her hair done but finally agreed to one of the nice ladies braiding a couple of strands for free. They just wanted the excuse to play with Abbey as they were all very taken with her big eyes and pale complexion.

Eloise got the full treatment with mummy painting her nails to keep her still

 

Meanwhile, Brett got a Thai massage at the same salon that also doubles as a massage parlour. For about $6AUD you can get a one hour foot massage ($3 in Bangkok) and $12 for a one hour back and neck massage.   So we took it in turns to have one just about every day !!

 

Phuket

We had 10 nights in Phuket, staying at the Moevenpick on Karon beach.   This is about a twenty minute tuk tuk ride from Patong which appears to be a little like the Thai version of Kuta.  Karon beach is much quieter than Patong but with still plenty of restaurants and shops and massage places within a very short walking distance from the hotel. 

We chose the Moevenpick because apparently they had a good kids club ... however, the kids had a plan of their own and they were not that interested in attending the kids club!  So instead, they ran amok at the resort grounds and spent hours lazing by the pool or beach. 

Many happy hours were spent by the pool

The waterslide wears a hit with Eloise

The kids became regulars at the pool bar, ordering up big on banana smoothies !

We had a very spacious bungalow with a seperate lounge and bedroom area and huge bathroom together with a little outdoor shower that the kids loved and which came in very handy after the beach.

Outside our 'home' in Phuket

The girls loved showering in the open air !

Eloise washing Abbey's hair

                        

The Moevenpick Resort is massive. We were very close to the beach but had to weave through many garden paths to get from our villa to the restaurants and pool area. Luckily, it was a very scenic route !

On our way to breakfast

On our way to breakfast each morning, we pass by the Spirit House where the Thais make their offerings and the girls will also pay it a visit

  

The routine was pretty much the same for 10 days, it was the choice of either the pool or the beach after breakfast each day.  The beach at Karon beach is very wide and sandy with very soft white sand that squeaks. However, the rips were pretty strong there and we preferred the more secluded horse shoe shaped Kata Beach. 

In Phuket, you can rent sun lounges for 200baht for the whole day (about $6AUD). And we found that whilst there were quite a few hawkers coming up to offer their wares, they were no where near as persistent as the hawkers in Bali. If you indicate that you are not interested, they do not try again, whereas in Bali they will disregard your No and continue to pester.  

Karon beach, Phuket



  

Eloise the beached mermaid on Karon Beach

In Australia, Eloise finds that the sea water stings her excema afflicted skin, but we were all pleasantly surprised to find that the salt water in Thailand was not stingy at all !  The only issue Eloise had with the beach was sand getting caught in her bathers ... well her solution for that was to take it all off.  Luckily, she is still young enough not to offend with her nudity (as she spent a lot of time in the buff !).



We were spoilt when it came to beach locations as Kata beach was only a short 5 minute tuk tuk ride away.  Kata Beach was much calmer as it was protected on both sides and perfect for the kids as there were no waves. 

Karon Beach

Racing out to the inviting waters of Karon Beach

                      




The girls loved the calm waters of Karon Beach

  

Once again, it wasn't long before the girls found that it was more comfortable without their bathers!



There was the occasional unexpected wave !

Abbey got right into the swing of the beach at Karon Beach

By the end of each day, the girls were exhausted, having burnt all their energy up at the pool or beach.  Here they are burning up som more energy whilst we watched the sunset ...

Bangkok

We arrived in Bangkok very early in the morning ....6am to be precise after a midnight flight out of Melbourne.   And the heat and humidity hit us immediately with Eloise declaring that she had never been so hot in her life and that she felt like she was on fire !   

After a long while settling (and I don't know why the airlines feel the need to serve a full dinner meal at midnight?!?!) the girls finally dozed off with both of them each using one side of mum's legs as a pillow ... hmmm.  

Despite the semi jet lag, we hit the sights straightaway with a cruise down the Chao Praya river.  We had barely been in the country for more than 3 hours when we were hit by our first scam.  Having read about the public boat that takes you down the river, we jumped into a taxi to get to the boat terminal, only to be taken by the taxi driver to a private boat jetty where there was a private boat operator offering to take us down to the river for over $200 US each ! Off course our taxi driver was still lurking as he was waiting for his commission from the boat operator and as we weren't born yesterday, we insisted that the taxi driver take us to our original destination.  That incident was the first of many, where we found that you can never get to where you want to go because all the taxi and tuk tuk drivers will try to take you to a place where they will get a commission and most of them are part of the "mafia".  Be aware if your driver tells you that the Grand Palace is closed that day and makes a suggestion for you to go elsewhere !



Eventually we got to the public boat terminal, after uncovering our first scam !



Cruising the Chao Praya river

Tuks tuks are still everywhere in Thailand but definitely not as many as there once was.

 

 

We found Bangkok very easy to navigate (with a pram) despite the traffic.  For a start there are foot paths (unlike many other large South East Asian cities) and lots of pedestrian overhead bridges to cross the road. And the overhead passes all take you to either a shopping mall or one of the train stations.  

         



    

The heat may have sent Eloise a little loopy !

We only had 2 nights in Bangkok initially, and our second day was spent at the weekend Chatuchak markets. This is apparently one of the world's largest market covering 27 acres with over 15,000 booths. We only managed to cover 1 aisle in the whole morning that we were there !

The Chatuchak markets sold everything imaginable from all sorts of food, electrical goods, jewellery, clothes, shoes, portable hand held sewing machines (...yes somebody got sucked into buying one ??) and knick knacks. 



Shopping at Chatuchak Markets

Eloise was in retail theraphy heaven !



Abbey found other forms of distraction whilst her sister shopped up a storm

The girls ended up buying these dresses (which they wanted to wear just about everyday whilst we were in Thailand) and off course felt the need to model their new dresses, hair accessories and necklace they had just bought that day at the market before heading off to dinner ....  



.... where the adults managed to squeeze in a Margarita whilst the kids ccupied themselves whilst waiting for their dinner.