Day 10 - Friday (sorry got my days mixed up before! Elephant Trek
We tried to book for the 10am trek with Siam Safari (coolest part of the day) but it was booked out, so we did the 1pm-4pm one. Turned out it was ok, as its much cooler when you go up into the mountains, but loads of mozzies so take lots of aeroguard!
Yesterday my friends boy started feeling sick, we think it was heatstroke as he slept all day with a fever. We tried to get a refund for him and dad for elephant trek but cdnt so we all went along. We had lunch by the pool again, then pickup at 1pm in open air jeeps, supposedly but about 20 mins late! Only 20 mins to get to Siam Safari, once again a very well organised trip, we were impressed by that. Trip involved about a 40min trek, then feeding elephants (loads of fun!) then a baby elephant show, then home. This trip was my daughters favourite part of the whole 2 weeks, so I wd highly recommend doing it, especially if youve got kids.
On our return to the Merlin, I felt terrible, bad headache again and runny nose - AHHHHHH!!! Just want one day where we were all feeling 100% and I dont think that happened at any stage during the whole 2 weeks!
On our last nite in Patong we returned to the Banana Leaf - just cdnt get enough of that place, it was so cheap, quick and yummy, so wd highly recommend it. An early bedtime at 9pm as we had a super early wakeup call at 6am next morning to catch our flight to BKK. I was sad to leave Phuket, as I had loved every minute of it.

Day 11 - Saturday
Wakeup call at 6am, early breakfast at 6.30am, then pickup at 7am. Flight on time, arrived BKK at 11.45am, pickup on time and into Novotel at about 1.30pm. Rooms (basic one which is called Superior) were nicely decorated, but quite small, I think they were 30m2. Also, my friend is a smoker so we had connecting rooms on a smoking floor. I have a very low tolerance for smoke, so only lasted there one night, then transferred the next day to a non-smoking floor and also paid for an upgrade to a Junior Suite, highly work the money, think it was an extra $60 p.nite. But room was HUGE, almost twice the size.
We were only in our rooms about half an hour then we hit the MBK Centre, only about 5 mins walk from Novotel. Man ... that place is massive! Impossible to see all of it, we went there 4 times and kept finding new places and areas. Im told its the only shopping mall in BKK that sells copies of stuff, apparently all the other ones sell original stuff, but still at cheaper than normal prices. We didnt get to any other malls, just MBK and a few hrs at Chatachuk! We got back to the room at about 7.30pm, cdnt believe we had spent that much time there! Unfortunately, the day before Id pulled a muscle in my back trying to wheel my suitcase in Patong (the bloody handle had broken on it at Sydney airport! Cheap **** from Vietnam!) There will be a few words bleeped out there, just use your imagination! So ... now I had a very sore back, using voltaren emulgel and taking Nurofen and in much pain! Had an early nite that nite.

Day 12 - Sunday - SONGKRAN FESTIVAL!
Well ... the staff at Novotel told us we wdnt get that wet if we went to Chatachuk mkts today - boy were they wrong! Today temp peaked at 38 degrees and my friend and I decided to brave Chatachuk. Caught skytrain there, took about 20 mins, then a 5 min walk from the station. This place is the mother of all markets, I cdnt believe how big it was, and it is also very crammed in and claustrophobic once youre in there. We got lost that many times in the 3 hrs we were there, it was ridiculous! Prices were dirt cheap, we unfortunately ran out of money and cdnt find a money changer, so came home. We also got aqbsolutely drenched, from HUGE water pistols, bottles of water, cups of water, even buckets of water! In the end, because we were so hot and sweaty, we were just saying "bring it on, splash me!" We were also cleansed with white powder stuff on our faces, took some gr8 photos of that! Im glad we went, cos we were not going to go. Did not much else today, lazed around pool and started packing! An early nite had by all.

Day 13 - Monday
I lost 700 gm in pure sweat whilst at Chatachuk yesterday! Today we went back to MBK to do some final shopping (shock horror!) and also organised our Grand Palace tour for tomoorrow with our transfer guy - cost he quoted was 1000bt per person for 2-3 hrs, which I didnt think was too bad. Anyway ... we ended up not going as there was a huge mix-up with days and time (it was closed on Tuesday for cremation or something) It was the only tour I wanted to do in BKK so I was a bit disappointed with that.
Today I came face to face with a BKK ATM machine and nearly crapped my pants when it took a few minutes for it to return my Visa Card. I just needed another $300 to tide me over, having overspent slightly, so withdrew 10,000bt. Dont know what the fee was to do this (banks were closed for songkran) I will find out when I get my next statement.
For our last nite in Thailand we went to The Square Restaurant in the Novotel, which was lovely food, not so good service (no-one understood english very well and our steaks took forever to come out!) But the food was nice. It was by far our most expensive meal in Thailand, but still was only $30 for the 2 of us, which for Australian standards is very very cheap!

Day 14 - Tuesday - LAST DAY!
Suitcases all packed and weighed - 2 x big ones were about 24kg and 2 x smaller ones (for carry on luggage were both about 7kg). Most people (as were we) are unaware that flying economy with Thai airways you are allowed 30kg going into Thailand and 25kg coming home!! I was rather annoyed by this (which we only found out when leaving Sydney for BKK) as I had specifically written to Thai and asked them that and they had told me it was only 20kg each way!!!!!
Believe it or not, for our last day in BKK, me and 2 girls went back to MBK for final shopping (as I now had 2000bt which I had put aside for our G/Palace tour!)
We checked out at 3pm, pickup came at 3.30pm, arrived at airport about 4.30pm, with flight leaving at 6.15pm. I went to buy my duty free alcohol from the d/free shops at BKK, but was told I cdnt take it back into Australia because of the new restrictions on liquids over 100ml. Was a bit annoyed, as Smirnov 1 litre bottle was onlt $17AUD in BKK. I bought it d/free when landed in Sydney for $23AUD, also a bottle of scotch for $23AUD. The flight home (for me) was so much better than the one over, even tho I only slept about 2 hours, it seemed to go very quick, landed in Sydney about half hour later then 6.15, pickup waiting, stretch limo home, home about 9am ..... very very tired and semi glad to be home! No probs at all with customs in Sydney. I declared all my wood products which were all fine and only took them about 5 mins to check them all.
ALSO ... we did NOT have to pay any departure taxes at any airports at any time, this was something people were unsure of, as was i.

AN AMAZING FANTASTIC TRIP, MY FIRST AND DEF NOT MY LAST ONE TO THAILAND. SOOOOO MUCH TO SEE AND DO ... WE HAVE ONLY SCRATCHED THE SURFACE THIS TIME.
A HUGE THANKYOU TO ALL OF YOU WHO HELPED ME PREPARE, GIVING ME LOADS ON INFO AND SUGGESTIONS. MY ONLY REGRET IS THAT I DID NOT GET TO DO ALL THE THINGS I WANTED TO .... BUT THERE IS ALWAYS NEXT TIME!!!!

Thanx again ... Kitty (Lindy)


PS Ask me any q's you want ande Ill try and answer them., I will put together a price guide of stuff I bought today sometime also, as I know these come in very handy. I was rather pleased at most prices I got, as they were equal to or less than price guides I had read!!!

Thanks Kitty for your jbr's they were great reading.
Hope all your dvd's all work as I bought a load from Kitty and some were lousy copies.
It's my understanding too that Thai is 20kg but as we are Silver Royal Orchid plus members we get 30kg going out and returning which takes the worry out of packing... hope you joined Royal Orchid before you left ... it's free.
Glad you enjoyed Patong Merlin I know it's a great favourite with Australians... we always stay at the Busakorn which is a fabulous hotel too. For me it's great just to walk out and it's all there.
We are going back in October and after Pattaya last year, Patong will be very tame and good!!!
Cheers Geri

Great to hear you had a good time. Pitty about the health issues. The first time I went we only accomplished about half of our original plan. I am glad you intend to return...unfinished business. Every time keeps getting better for me.

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I love Thailand this much

Great report Kitty- Its a great place for a holiday.

Another fantastic report Kitty, thanks so much for taking the time to fill us all in.

Looks like another Thailand addict in the making!
Cathy

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http://www.cathyandgarystravelpages.com

Shane ... Im pleased to see you are now a "Regular"!

Geri ... so far all the dvds work, the guy in there did tell us if one was not a good copy and in some cases we bought it anyway. My boys have already watched heaps of them since I got home, and no complaints yet.
We walked in and had a look at the Busakorn, and it looked gorgeous. Im pretty sure tho that it would be a bit more pricey than the Merlin!! For us ... the Merlin had everything we wanted and needed and I wd def stay there again.

Cathy ... YES!!! Def another Thailand addict - thats me!!!

Kitty

hey kitty
Sounds as though you had a great holiday.Don't think it matters how many times you go there --Tis like the demtel add --AND THERES MORE--just so hard to squash it all in.I reckon it would take at least two weeks to see all of MBK and Chatachung markets alone!!!!!!!
Cheers laurs

Yes Laurs ... both MBK and Chatachuk were bigger than I had anticipated. I mean ... Id been told they were big ... but ... NOT THAT BIG! As I sd, Im sure we only scratched the surface this time - it will take several more trips to do everything we wanted to do, and by that time, I will have added a dozen more things to my "to do" list!!!
Im curious ... can anyone give me input as to what all the other (hundreds of!) malls in BKK are like ... are they worth a visit next time??? Or ... if they only sell original designer labels (which I prob still wdnt pay for, even if it is cheaper than RRP!) are they worth a visit??? For the kind of stuff we wanted, MBK and Chatachuk had it all.

Will I go back to Thailand??? YOU BET!!! Id go tomorrow if I could! We got home last Wednesday morning and its been bloody (beep!) raining every day since we got home, and today its only 16 degrees!!! Im already craving the 35 degree heat and sweat!!!

Kitty

Prathanam (sp) markets next to the Indra regent and Byoike Sky hotels have the biggest garment markets with day/night markets everyday and night ,and street seller as well as shops. This is by far the best shopping in BKK with most same as Chattachuk but cheaper as most stuff is made in Prathenam and sold else where in Thailand.

only trouble is its a bout 10-15 min walk to skytrain.

We always stay there at the end of our trip and buy everything in the last 3 days.

We have never had to go elsewhere as Prathenam has it all,most stalls and shops in other areas are more pricey i have found and dont have as good a range.

I wanted to stay in a different part of BKK this time but Tracey said "No way" because she is usually still buying stuff as the taxi arrives for the airport

outside the hotels is like living in Chattachuk Market! although there is not the big range of strange animals and birds for sale as Chattachuk.

late at night when the last of the night stalls are closeing around 11-11.30 you can get some real good bargains at less than half the day price.


Den

Also Pantip plaza is just around the corner from Prathenam and easy walking disstance,for all tech stuff DVD,s mobile phones,computer softwear,electonic gizmo.s,biggest range with ripoffs as well as original stuff.

Den.