Day 6 - Monday
Well my Georgia woke up with a worse sore throat and a fever, so it was off to the Doc for her and on antibiotics. She lost a whole day today and spent it in bed mostly sleeping, but me ... of course I went out here and there for some shopping and a massage on the beach! Dont worry my friend and I periodically checked in on her, so theres no need to report me to DOCS!
Today ... is the day I bought my bikini - SIZE XXL!!!!! I wanted to go for a massage on the beach, so figured it was easier to get an all-over body massage with a bikini on!!! By the way, massages at the Merlin were very expensive, I asked and they were about $60 per hour, whereas on the beach it was 300bt per hour, which is roughly $10, and every bit worth it! There are massage ladies all along the beach, between the pathway and the shoreline, and prices are all the same I think. So, once you find one you are happy with, you just keep going back to her! Also, on the beach pedicures and manicures are 200bt each. Some ladies will also paint beautiful flowers on your nails but not all of them are that creative.
Lunch was via pool service again. Georgia had no b'fast or lunch and we had room service for tea when she ate some garlic bread and icecream!
Today we did some shopping on Beach road, we found the stall holders there to be a bit friendlier and easier to bargain with than in Otop mkts. We also discovered the Ocean Plaza shops on Beach road which were cheap for your nibblies drinks toiletries and souvenirs, and also the Big One supermarket. Alcohol is sold everywhere. I bought my mandatory bottle of Smirnov Vodka at the 7 Eleven shop for $20AUD, which I thought was a bargain! Sad thing is that I didnt crack it open until day 4 - thats just not like me!!!

Day 7 - Tuesday - Fantasea at nite
The breakfast here at the Merlin is fantastic. Many many choices, from fresh fruit, cereal, toast, eggs done any way you want, hot food which changed daily like sausages, bacon, baked beans, hash browns and even chicken nuggets!
Georgia still on anitciotics, and now today my friends hubby has woke up with a sore throat, so he is off to docs and on antibiotics - so thats 3 down already!
We booked our Fantasea trip with our lovely lady "Apple" Prices on this trip were not as negotiable - I went to 3 different ticket booths and the price didnt vary greatly, but my Apple was still the cheapest! We paid 1600bt each (children same price unless they do buffet tea as well, then they are a bit cheaper) incl. transers, so still only $57 each, which I wd say is well worth it. There were only 3 of us that went, myself, Georgia and Riley and we had a gr8 time. We didnt realise that there is so much to do before you actually get into the show. You cd easily spend 3-4 hrs just on what is outside the "Elephant Palace", so if you plan to go, think of this. The show itself was amazing, not only the elephants which were gorgeous, but there is so much other stuff going on, sometimes you dont know where to look, from the cirque du sole style acrobatics to the chickens running across the stage to the magic tricks ... we were impressed! Late nite in bed by about 11.45pm (thats very late for me!) We had tea at the Banana Leaf again before we went. I had the most scrumptios prawn dish which cost me a whole $5!!!!!

Day 9 - Wednesday
My budget for the whole 2 weeks was approx. $200 per day, and amazingly, today was the first day that I actually spent under that $200!!!! I was so naughty, just buying everything in sight, all at gr8 prices! Today Georgia and I spent a few hrs at Jungceylon, which is H U G E!!! Its actually very confusing too and easy to get lost in. Its a series of circles, which actually dont join onto each other. We went in one entrance and came out so far away, I was so lost! Georgia needed shoes to do our elephant trek and I got some bargain Brooks one at one of the Sports stores in there.
Today I bought one of my sons an Ipod somewhere on Beach Rd. Its funny, the ipods they sell there look like real apple ipods, they have the ipod logo on them, but the shopkeepers will openly tell you they are not real ipods! If they didnt tell me this, I wdnt know cos I have no clue with things like that!!! Anyway, I got him a 2mg one for $53AUD, which I thought was ok. Now Im home, he says its good and he is very happy with it, but it took a lot of bargaining to get that price.
Did a lot of lazing around the pool today, and then I went for a beach massage in the avo - heavenly!!! We booked our Elephant Safari today with Siam Safaris, got good price on that with the lovely Apple.
Tea tonite was at Napoli on soi post office which is off Beach road. It was yummy italian food, expensive for thai standards but not australian standards. Dinner for 2 of us with drinks was 680bt, which is about $24. G had a pasta dish and I had calzone. I would recommend Napoli for a good italian fix!

Day 10 - Thursday - Drive down the south coast Phuket
Today we hired a driver from the Merlin which was well priced. For 4 of us it was only 1500 bt for 4-5 hours driving. Worked out to $13 per person. Itinery was: South to Karon and then Kata view point, which has a beautiful view of Patong and Karon beaches. Then to Nai harn beach for a stop and one hour swim. Quite big waves here, ab/fab beach, very postcard picturesque. G lost her brand new favourite sunnies while hit with a big wave and we then spend half an hour looking for them, but to no avail! Then to Promthep Cape lookout, to Rawai Beach, then Wat Chalong, where I encountered the only toilet I could not go to!!! It was filthy and smelly and I just cdnt bring myself to use it! We wanted to go up to see the Big Buddha but driver sd we cdnt so just saw it from the road. He said it is 45 metres high - amazing! Then last stop was a cashew nut factory, then home. It was a good trip and I wd urge people to do it. But ... it just made me want to see more and more of the island - so will have to be on my next trip!
G got her nails painted today and they are beautiful. Oh forgot to tell you she also got her hair braided on the first day at the Merlin for $20AUD. We later worked out it is a bit cheaper to have this done on the beach. We took her braids out today as they were very messy, and that took forever to take them all out!
Sad to say that tea was at Maccas again tonite ... please dont yell at me!

End of Part 2 - more tomorrow
Kitty

Hi Kitty,
well by the sounds of it you had a ball and are already figuring out when you can get back!!
Couple of questions for starters...
With Phuket Fantasea was that price including a meal or without. Sorry I thought I had mentioned on this forum that there is heaps to see/do there so try and go as soon as it opens. This is a bit hard if you organise transfers with your tickets as they have set pick up times. This time we will organise tickets and make our own way there so we can spend more time in the park. Did you see those fish!! Kids love them.
Why couldn't you go up to the big buddha? I haven't heard that you can not go up to it?
Most important question.... what did you think about using travellers cheques? Did you get them at the post office (the commission free ones). If so what sort of denominations did you end up getting. I was told that at the PO they just send you a selection you can't ask for certain denominations. So if you have heaps of small ones then you are paying $1 each to cash them.
Any chance of a price guide in the near future....
Ok I will leave you alone. back!!

Karin

Yes ... I can say that I will def be going back to Thailand, when and to where I do not know, but yes, I will be back!
Now ... onto your q's.
Our Fantasea price did NOT include the buffet, as the girls I took were still quite sick and we figured they wouldnt eat their moneys worth of food! By memory the buffet price was about an extra $25AUD per adult and half that price for children under 12, but dont quote me on the price, cos I didnt take too much notice cos I knew we wdnt do it. Adults and kids were exactly same price for show only. Yes, in hindsight I think someone did mention about things to do before you go into the show. We did have an organised pickup, which I thought had allowed us plenty of time, but it ended up not being enough! Show started at 9pm and our pickup was at 7pm I think. If I went again, I wd def arrange my own pickup, taxi or whatever. Those fish were SCARY!!!! I have never seen fish as crazy or as hungry as they were. We di buy fish food to feed them and they then went even more spastic!!

Dont know why our driver sd we cdnt go up to Big Buddha, cos we did see a sign when we went to the elephants saying so many k's to the big buddha. I guess I cd have queried him but I just went with the flow - whatever!

Trav. cheques were fine, although in hindsight (once again!) I didnt really need them, as there were no probs with cash. Both our hotels had gr8 in room safes, so taking all cash wdnt have been a prob. Yes ... I did get them from the post office, as I think you had suggested. No fee to buy them, but also as you said, you cannot specify denominations. I got $1,500 worth and they were half $100 and half $50. I think if you go to Westpac to get them you can ask for all $100 cheques, but I also think you pay a fee to get them from Westpac, dont know what the fee is - that is what the lady from the PO sd anyway. Im pretty sure I worked out that the fee to cash them in Thailand was 33bt per cheque. If I went again ... I prob wdnt bother with them and wd take all cash, which is what I have always done previously. This time, I just got a bit funny and nervous about carrying around $3,000 in cash!!!!

As for a price guide - I will attempt to include a quick one in my 3rd and final JBR today. We found bargaining at Otop Mkts to be too much hard work. It was much easier to do it on beach road shops. I think we only shopped at Otop 2 or 3 times cos of this. As for Bangkok, we only shopped at MBK and at Chatachuk. Prices at Chatachuk were MUCH cheaper than anywhere else in Thailand, but it is hard work there, very very hot and crowded. We only lasted a few hours there, then ran out of money and cdnt find a money changer. Caught the skytrain there, it was gr8, cheap and a/conditioned. At MBK there are cheaper and dearer shops, unfortunately we didnt find many of the cheaper shops until after we had shopped at the dearer ones! So .... I will def tell you where the cheaper ones, thats if I can remember!!!!

More soon ... Kitty (Lindy)

Hi Kitty

Have to agree the Banana Leaf is a good restaurant we went there a few when we stayed at the Merlin, enjoying reading your reports :)

So Kitty,
back to the travellers cheques. Since we are going to be travelling for 40 days we have to budget so are not staying in expensive hotels. All hotels will have safes but whether they are in room or at front desk is the question. Therefore we will take a reasonable amount of cash but I won't feel safe enough to carry 40 days worth for me and 2 kids.
Travellers cheques seem the cheapest option for me especially if you got $50 and $100 when you ordered them. I was imagining lots of $10 and $20 and this would mean at a cost of 33bt each would be the dearer option. ATM withdrawals average $4-5 per pop plus a conversion fee (now you know why they make so much profit).
Have heard Wizard Home Loans have a card called Clear Advantage Mastercard that has no fees...Have emailed then to find out if they give you a lower exchange rate and to get in writing that there are no fees but still waiting for a reply. It sounds perfect but you know what they say about "things that sound too good to be true."
So in my case does it make sense to take TC's?

Karin

Yes ... I guess if I was going for a whole 40 days (you lucky thing!) I wdnt want to take all cash for that either. My friend also took some t/cheques and hers were all $50 and $100 denominations as well, so Im pretty sure you wdnt get any $10 or $20 ones. I saw them as the cheapest safe alternative to taking all cash, just in case something happened and I lost them or they were stolen, then at least I cd get the money back in about 24hrs. So ... yes ... if I was going for 40 days and needed money for 3 people... then yes I wd take some ... prob about half t/c and half cash. I only did one atm withdrawal using my visa debit card and dont yet know what the cost of that was, but will let you know soon, when my statement comes in. There is also the Travelex card that Ive talked about before, only drawback with this is that there is a setup fee and a fee everytime you withdraw money. I think I worked out that this wd be a dearer alternative to taking half t/c. Anyway ... hope that helps yo a bit.

Cheers again ... Kitty