I come to realise when trying to find accessible rooms in Phuket there was not a lot of information available. So I have compiled a list that I have physically gone and inspected and got as much information and pictures for you as possible.

Below you will the accessibility options for Novatel Phuket Vintage Park Resort, The Kee Resort and Spa, Sheraton Four Points Patong, Holliday Inn Resort Patong & Baan Khaolak Beach Resort

Novotel Phuket Vintage Park Resort Phuket

We spent 3 nights in this hotel during our stay. My mother the guest requiring the accessible room is on a walking frame and also uses a wheelchair in the room but is not wheelchair bound so the requirements of someone unable to walk at all may be slightly different.

About the accessibility

The lobby is on the 2nd floor. When you arrive you are required to drive up a steep ramp in a car. This 1st ramp would be a challenge for someone manually pushing. There is then a set of stairs and a ramp of medium steepness. 2 staff members would always push my mother up the ramp to the lobby.I felt reassured that if one slipped or fell over she was safe.

From the lobby, you will cross a completely flat bridge overlooking the swimming pool and pool bar. Take a left past the elevator. You will arrive at room 1210.

Breakfast is on the 1st floor. The best 2 ways we found to go from the room are

1 – Cross the bridge on the 2nd floor to the elevator closer to the lobby. Go down to the first floor walk to the left and you will find “The Square” dining room.
2 – Take the elevator closest to the room. The ramp to cross the bridge on the 1st floor is so steep we did not even consider trying to push the wheelchair up and over it. Out of the elevator turn right and walk around the swimming pool to the opposite side of the pool where the entrance to the “The Square” dining room. A slight annoyance of this way is there is a tile missing at the bottom of the ramp closet to the elevator making it a bump for the smaller front wheels to not smoothly roll over.
Option 2 Pictured Below

Accessibility to “The Square” Restaurant

This was a slight challenge during our stay There are 2 small steps to enter the restaurant. The biggest difficulty with these steps is they are about the same length as the wheelchair apart. So you only just get the wheelchair up on the 1st platform and need to get up the second step. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a photo of this area.

Easy Access to Carpark

As above with option 2 (breakfast is on 1st-floor sub heading). When you get to the end of the swimming pool and turn left towards the dining room if you instead walk straight past the dining room there is a gate if you follow the “To Beach” sign this will take you to the car park via a small ramp on the entrance side of the car park. The car park security will try to guide you to park on the exit side of the car park when you go to park. If you park on the entrance side it saves having to enter your room by going up the steep ramp unloading your wheelchair from the car and then parking the car and having staff push you up the next ramp. We only went up the main ramp on check-in, Check out & the day it was raining when returned.
* Do note walking past the “The Square” dining room (not the entrance side) there is another floor tile missing that they have used to make drainage for air conditioners in the restaurant. This makes a slight annoyance every time passing this way.

Things to be aware of with this room

There is a small step entering the room as you will notice in the photos it is approx 4cm high.
There is a small step in the shower approx 3cm high to enter the shower although the rest is flat.
There are sufficient handrails and a shower seat made into the stone wall.
The room only comes in a twin single bed configuration
There are not many powerpoints (1 above desk, 1 double on one side of bed & Shaver plug)
There are so many light switches located all over the place.

Room to book

There is only 1 accessible room available in this hotel.
You must book the room grade Superior room.
Request room 1210 via email.
I would suggest you contact them prior to booking to ensure this room is available for your preferred period.

Night Blooming Lobby Bar

This area is flat from the lobby area. You are able to enjoy the area with a 2-for-1 cocktail in the evening.
Take a look at the menu click here

Overall conclusion

If you are wheelchair bound this room may not be 100% suitable for your needs. After a few steps into the room and into “The Square” restaurant. For someone on a walking frame or walking sticks the room is quite manageable. During our stay, we used a wheelchair that was pushed around by myself and managed fine. Whilst inside the room my mother on a walking frame felt really safe in the room. I will write to the hotel and suggest they modify the steps of the restaurant and the few in the room to be more suitable. In conclusion, we would choose this property again in the future for a semi-accessible room.

Video Link To Walkthrough

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Four Points by Sheraton Phuket

First I must disclose I haven’t physically stayed here. I viewed the room during our stay as I found out about this accessible hotel after we had already booked and wanted to check it out for future reference. If your looking for a 100% wheelchair-friendly venue this one definitely ticks all the boxes as far as the room is concerned.

About the accessibility

There are 2 ramps that enter the foyer one is much longer and less steep but both are of a good standard. The floor was completely flat all the way to the room with no need to use the elevator. I can’t comment on where the breakfast is held as forgot to ask.

About the room

The room had a new fresh feel. The bathroom was the most suitable of all the venues we have looked at. I believe this would be suitable for a wheelchair-bound person with ample space to navigate and move around. They may need to move the table and chair to free up space for access to the left side of the bed as the right side I don’t believe would be wide enough for the chair to slide down.

Access to Carpark

The car park is an underground 2-story park. It is less desirable to park in as is quite narrow with steep ramps and narrow parks. I didn’t enquire if there were any accessible parks please feel free to let me know and will update here.

Room to book

We physicality inspected room 1106 which is what all photos and videos are from. They said they have about 5 accessible rooms in Superior Room Grade and there is 1 Deluxe Accessible room. Although she sounded very unsure the Deluxe would ever be available. I’m pretty sure she said only came in a double bed configuration. Please check directly if you require otherwise

Overall conclusion

Although I didn’t physically stay here or have a wheelchair to push around. I believe this location would be suitable for someone wheelchair-bound. A slight modification of removing the table and chair may be required. The bathroom should be manageable. For someone like my mother on a walking frame, she would manage easily although I believe she would prefer an additional verticle rail in the shower.

Video Walkthrough

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Holiday Inn Resort Phuket

Again I would like to acknowledge we didn’t physically stay in this hotel just inspected the room.

About the accessibility

The location is flat from the reception. You are required to use the elevator to get to the accessible room.
The pool is located far away from the room. My walk to the swimming area had a way with no steps.

About the room

Whilst the room was set up well for someone like my mother on a walking frame. I’m not 100% sure the space is open enough for a wheelchair-bound person. The distance between the end of the bed and the wall may not be sufficient. The location of the room was quite a distance from the hotel lobby requiring 1 elevator trip.

I believe they stated there are 2 accessible rooms available. The one I inspected was room 403. They only come in twin single-bed configurations.

Why we didn’t stay here

Whilst the accessibility factor for a walking frame user would have been perfect. For the price point, this hotel didn’t have the WOW factor compared to the Novotel Vintage Park hotel. Once entering the hotel you walk through dark hallways to the room with no nice views like the Novotel. As I came and inspected this hotel and the Novotel prior to the trip with my mother this influenced the other hotel although this may have been a bit better accessibility-wise.

Video Walkthrough

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We stayed here for 2 nights. I was unable to view the room prior to booking as was booked the days I was there but went on a whim of seeing a person in an electric wheelchair in the foyer. There is a ramp from the car drop-off straight up to the foyer.

The Kee Resort & Spa Patong

Overall thoughts.

I would not recommend this hotel for anyone requiring accessibility let alone wheelchair accessibility. There is a major issue with the air conditioning making the floors have condensation and super slippery.

Whilst there are no steps into the room or bathroom the rooms as they have installed ramps one room is a slippery tile ramp and the other is a grippy ramp.

I have bought a list of issues to the General Manager of the hotel and will leave it for him to rectify. He has responded to me in a positive manner although accessibility wise it is not an ideal hotel. The location is the reason I took a whim without looking at the room.

There are 2 ramp bridges over the swimming pool to get to the room. 1 is quite steep and the other one hidden on the other side of the restaurant is better but often cluttered with stuff from the kitchen having to get them to move stuff on multiple occasions.

Room to book

Should you still want to book these rooms the room numbers are 3207 & 3208 which are joining rooms. But the door joining the rooms does not open properly from the swelling of the door from condensation/water on the floor.

The main differences between the rooms are
3208 has a grippy ramp rather than a slippery tile one of 3207 into the bathroom.
3208 has rails next to the toilet whereas 3207 does not.
3208 has a slight ridge (step) into the shower whereas 3207 had some kind of stainless steel rounded step which I’m not sure what the purpose was.

Video Walkthrough Room 3207

Video Walkthrough Room 3208

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Baan Khaolak Beach Resort

This hotel is not actually in Phuket, it is approximately 70km from Phuket International Airport. I have not personally been here but have found out about it since going to Phuket. This hotel is 100% catered to wheelchair users. They have the chair hoist into the pool and a beach wheelchair that I believe can go into the sea as well.

These are some photos I have taken from their Facebook page credit to the respective owners

Website

Please click here to go directly to the hotel’s website.

Please click here to go directly to their Facebook Page

If you search google for the below phrase will get a lot of different videos
Baan Khao Lak beach resort wheelchair video

You will also find some information regarding wheelchairs on the “Accessible Phuket” page which can access by clicking.

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Other Helpful Equipment

We ordered a bed stick of Lazada. Prior to our trip to Thailand. Mum uses one at home and for under 1000 baht ($40 AUD) delivered made her travels a lot easier. It has 2 clips that pop out so it can be packed flat and fit in our (large) suitcase afterwards.

Another device we found to make the toilet in the room better as the toilets are quite small standing about 30cm from ground level was a toilet seat booster that just clips on the toilet seat.

Whilst postage is fast in Thailand generally the next day or so do note the Toilet Seat booster we ordered came from china and took about a week to 10 days to arrive in Thailand. You could order these things dirrect to your hotel to hold for you if you are in need of them. It’s what we have done and mum thanked the heavens I did.

Know of somewhere else not mentioned?

I would like to keep this page as relevant to the topic as possible. If you know of another Hotel in Phuket or Thailand please comment below so I can investigate further.

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This is one of my favourite restaurants located in Ratchaburi. Nestled alongside the river with bean bags you can really kick back and relax and enjoy the river views. I love the way all there food is presented here at Tara, will a lot of love and passion. I would say don’t overfill on their main meals! Their desserts are amazing and you are not going to want to miss out on them.!

UPDATE– We were excited to pop back in as soon as the open-air restaurants re-opened after coveit 19 had us stuck inside for what felt like an eternity. We took Luna’s mum here for her first time and she loved it. Added some new pics for you to drool over!

Take a look at their food

Menu at Tara

Getting There

You will need a car to visit Tara Coffee.

We stayed for 1 night at Chom Dao Hotel & Resort. Arriving late and left early. The rooms where very spacious and everything was clean. We got the 2 last rooms available on Agoda the standard and the bungalow. We rang them and asked the price and was still more expensive than Agoda’s pricing so we booked online before arriving.

Can’t comment on the food or any of the amenities as was just a brief stop But if your budget allows I would definitely spend the extra 85baht and get the bungalow. They have 24 hour check in.

If your interested to know why we where in this area you can check How a Thai would spend 4 day’s in Isan post

Check Price for Chom Dao Hotel & Resort

Just enter your dates to find the lowest price!

Villa King Bed Room

The villa has a nice warm feel to it and it has a private car park at the entrance to the room. The room is stand alone so noise through the walls from your neighbour won’t be a problem. The room has a small private outdoor area with tables and chairs. The air conditioner worked well and the shower had hot water. The toilet had some discolouration to the seat and bowl but overall looked clean. Overall for a price tag of 425 baht (A$20) you will be happy here if in the area. I would recommend this room over the standard room just for the better ambience of the room.

Standard Twin Room

The standard room was like an apartment building. About 3 story’s high with stairs only and about 10 rooms per floor from memory.

We got a room on the bottom floor which was super spacious and clean but a little dated. Although for the price tag of 340 baht (A$16) per night you really can’t complain.

Overall

If I was in this area again I would definitely stay Chom Dao Hotel & Resort again. I would opt for the Villa if was available as you will feel a lot cozier & the private car park makes it super convenient.

Getting There

Finding reasonably priced hotel accommodation over the end of September early October can be quite difficult in Germany. With millions of people visiting for Oktoberfest. All the city’s prices skyrocket. We had 3 nights in Berlin and needed 2 rooms after looking at the average budget accommodation we stumbled across a caravan situated just a few streets from the bars and nightlife of Berlin.

It was was a fraction cheaper than 2 rooms and looked like the perfect unusual place for the TravelingMonkies to spend few nights.

The caravan was equipped with wifi, a little kitchenette and 3 heaters to survive the cold winter nights. You also are able to park your car just out front at no additional cost.

Video walk through

Outside

Bedrooms

Bathroom

Kitchen

Price

As there is only one available you will have to check Airbnb for price and availability

Location to Nightlife

Wifi Speed

The saying goes if you haven’t been to these holy places, You haven’t been to Isan. Well, so the Thai’s tell me. This trip was planned by Luna as has been on her bucket list for some time.

We flew into Udon Thani for a 4 day holiday to visit an auntie who enjoys living in a temple with the monks. She picked us up at the airport and took us a couple of the surrounding sights. Following dropping her back at the temple that evening we borrowed her car to go explore some of the famous sites around Northern Thailand along the Laos border. You could easily combine a similar trip with a trip to Laos as there are 2 friendship bridges and multiple boat crossings. We were not prepared with sufficient paperwork of car ownership and visa for myself so we just explored to the Mekong River border in Thailand.

We were lucky enough to have use of a car for free. If you are renting one make sure you have appropriate licences. For Australians, we require an international permit as well as our original Australian licence card. We were stopped 2 times Isan once just licence check and the other was I was going to fast.

Appropriate clothing

If you are planning to visit temples remember to wear polite clothes and to cover their shoulders and wear something long to cover your knees. Alternatively, you could take a sarong with you for when entering holy places. Or 2 one for over your shoulders and waist.

I was wearing a rude shirt a couple of days because ran out of clean ones but I kept a polite one in the car and just put over the top when visiting.

Red Lotus Lake

From Udon Thani airport we drove just under 1 hour to Red Lotus Lake. We were offered a boat ride for 4 people for 500 baht which would last about 2 hours and take us out further to see the best parts. The best time to come and do the boat ride is just before sunrise about 6 am as this is when the flowers open up and are at there best but before 11 am as the sun gets too hot and they tend to close up. It was not the best season either so just skipped the boat trip. The Ideal time to go is December – February

There was a rainbow-painted bridge here which made a good photo stop. We ended up visiting another Lotus pond later on in the trip can read about it below.

Rotary Sun Clock Thai/Korean

Just over the other rainbow bridge a 2-minute walk there is a rotary club sun clock.

The translation in general says:
Memorial between Thai rotary club and Korean rotary club
Its a community economic development project to enhance community living for Kumvapee village, Sakon Nakhon province

Wat Kham Chanot

From Red Lotus Lake we drove another 1 hour 40 mins to Wat Kham Chanot. On the drive to this temple, there are a lot of offerings like I have never seen before from little stalls along the road. Such amazing crafting made from plants in a range of sizes starting as low as 40 baht up to few thousand baht. We bought one for us and one for our friend who knew we where going wanted us to buy one for them.

When entering the temple there is a large Naka Statue at the beginning of the bridge. First, you must remove your shoes. They Say your luck will only come true if you touch the statue from the head to the tail without letting go. Yes, it’s a few minutes walk as you can see behind in the photo below.

When parking the car someone sold us 2 small plastic bottles for 20 baht so we could take some holy water home with us. Unfortunately, we had no checked luggage and was confiscated at airport security.

They also allow you to wash away your sins by pouring water over you there too

The beliefs that Thai people have of Naka would come from India in many ways. Just like the Thai script that was adapted from India hundreds of years ago.

They believe that Naka is the god of water and able to inspire fortune and fertility. They offer flowers also known as Baisi for the chance of the winning lottery numbers or the chance to a bare child.

You will see Thai people scratching the tree or pouring powder (not allowed) onto the tree trying to find a reference to numbers. They believe these numbers are lucky for the lottery!

A Modern Buddha Pagoda -พระบรมธาตุเจดีย์ศรีมงคล

From red lotus lake, we drove about 90 minutes to this recently finished pagoda. As we got close could see it across the lake from the main road.

Upon entering you are greeted by 2 golden lions

As you enter the pagoda be careful as the tiles seemed quite slippery near the entry.

After looking around & praying on the bottom floor you can climb the stairs out the back and view again from the 1st floor.

After you can actually climb some more stairs at the back and there is a small museum of old artifacts and treasures to view above.

Small Naka Shrine By River

Next to the river a short walk there’s the neka (snake god) shrine

Feed The Fish

There were some ladies with a small store near the bathrooms at the entrance. They sell bread and seeds that you can go over and feed the fish from the sala (Gazebo). We bought about 4 loaves of bread and 8 of fish food and there was no shortage of fish going crazy for the food.

It is not allowed to go fishing or catch the fish within the compound of any temple.

Hotel stay at Chom Dao Hotel & Resort – Sakon Nakhon

After dropping auntie back at the temple we headed to the closest town for some dinner which wasn’t special enough to even mention and find a hotel close by. We chose Chom Dao Hotel as the price was incredible for what the photos showed. The only had one standard room (340baht) and 1 bungalow (425 baht) so we took them both. In Aussie dollars, that’s $16 & $20

For full review and photos check this post

The Next Morning, Breakfast with the Monks

As a westerner, this was quite a unique experience that was very far from the main touristy temple visits. The head monk who is apparently very holy and famous in Thailand talked with us for about an hour after they finished there 1 meal of the day. The monks in this temple only eat once a day although some other monks in different temples may eat twice a day.

It is custom for Thai people to go to the temple on their birthday. One monk asked us if who’s birthday it was thinking that’s why we came.

Anyone can eat with the monks but how?

Auntie explained to us we would have to arrive at the temple before 6 am with an offering of food. This food can be anything you make or buy along the way. We managed to buy 2 whole grilled chickens close to our hotel.

At the first sign of light, the monks leave the temple and walk around outside the temple seeking donations of sticky rice from the local villagers. As the sun was starting to come up around 6:10 am the 4 monks returned with there sticky rice offerings and placed there bowls on display, prayed and then sat down.

Local villagers started also arriving with there own offerings of food. The men take the rice to the monks.

The women start plating up the offerings from the containers and bags people have donated.

Once the food was placed into bowls it was put onto trays & then placed onto small-wheeled trays so the monks could take some food and pass it on to the next monk. Here it is important that only a man can be the one to push and take away from the monks. Women are not allowed to and women are also not allowed to touch a monk. A woman can push the food to the man who can then push to the monk.

Before they started eating the head monk said something into the microphone and done the interesting chanting that they do. I’m no expert on what they say or do all I know is it is quite hypnotic sounds.

Once the monks have taken a bit of all the offerings the remaining food is then offered to anyone who is in need or at the temple. If you are poor or have no money they welcome you to join. Although the welcome extends to anybody at all. After the people eat if there is remaining food it goes to the animals.

We feasted on some super local foods and I was lucky to try some very unusual fruits that were even not common to Luna as they are from deep in the jungle and not easy to find.

After breakfast and clean up the monk spoke with us for a while. We met 2 young twin boys who the monk adopted from a super poor family and parents were unable to take care of. The boys came to the monk as they needed 20 baht for school for the day. We gave them 100 baht each (A$4-5) and they counted the number of days that would help them for school. It was 5 days as they only need 20 baht a day.

We hit the road again for another day of adventure.

Wat Tham Pha Daen

This would have to be my favourite temple we visited. Just for the pure beauty of the landscape and massive Naka statue which looked amazing with the cloud formations of the day.

You can’t drive the whole way to this temple. The road is blocked off at a car park on the way up the mountain and you must pay 20 baht (return price) to get a van up to the top. I think this is purely because there is insufficient parking at the top.

This temple had a lot of interesting wooden things and stone carvings to admire.

Once you get up further you will get to a coffee shop which has a magnificent view!

Then the gigantic Neka statue overlooking pristine treetops and the big golden rock.

Dinner at Little Farm Hug Restaurant

We drove past Little Farm Hug Restaurant on the way to check out the best hotels to stay near the bars but we knew we wanted to eat there. I’m so glad we did. It was the best food we had on our 4-day trip. If we were staying longer we would have gone back.

To see the full review of Little Farm Hug Click Here to open a new tab! Believe me, you want to see this very cute farm-style restaurant!

Vince Hotel – Sakon Nakhon

Originally I had planned to stay in “The Hop Inn -Sakon Nakhon” but they were fully booked. Vince hotel was just around the corner. I chose this location because it was closest to the most lively looking bars in the area and wanted to have a few brews that evening. Whilst it was a Tuesday night we did manage to find a few places close by for a few brews.

The hotel had a very fancy look with a very budget price of just 444 baht per room ($A21). Whilst I would stay there again there where a few things they could improve on that matter to me more than a nice look.

• The sheets although seemed clean where stained in both rooms
• The towels were so stiff they were more like exfoliating towels
• There was a bit of mould in the bathroom in multiple places, Under the counter of the sink and in the shower.
• The general cleanliness could use improving

If you still consider staying at Vince hotel here’s
a link to cheapest price available

Or click the picture below and will search over 100 sites for the cheapest price of hotels close by!

Few Places For Some Drinks Close By

First stop was Golden Pond Coyote we sat down whilst some girls were dancing in their underwear. They looked sad and bored with only one senior citizen sitting in there not even looking at the stage. We sat for about a minute no one offered us menus or drinks the vibe wasn’t there so we left. There were about 10 girls inside the bar though if you wanted to know.

Second stop not too far away was hashtag hero cafe. They had a funky theme of superheroes memorabilia everywhere. They had a solo artist playing guitar there the main reason we went in. Was quite amazed she sang western songs very well. The artwork in the men’s room made me laugh but you will have to go there to see it yourself.

Third Stop we stopped past some big club looking thing but they where taking the signs in as we arrived not sure what it was so we skipped straight to the next place

Fourth Stop Country Road Saloon looks like on a weekend would be a great party. The outdoor seating is made of old red cinema chairs with cup holders. We where about to go back to the room and call it a night as the keyboard player/singer was not very entertaining when we heard a band start next door to our

Final Stop The Loft living bar – Had a full band play for about 90 minutes where we busted out and ordered a bottle of Sangsom and some soda had a bite to eat before turning in.

Lunch at บ้านฟ้าโปร่งสกลนคร

The feel of the restaurant is quite unique with a waterwheel and lots to look at. Whilst we dined in the air-conditioned room the decor is a very warm feeling. The food is all beautifully presented but I just found the food to be quite bland flavours. It could have been that I just drank too much whisky the night before and was in a bad mood but if you were looking for a nice venue to dine in different from the normal it’s worth stopping by. Do note the price here is quite high and the coffee was not the best.

Phra That Choeng Chum

Luna was very excited to come to this temple. Very famous and holy Luna told me. They say if you don’t come to this temple, you have never been to Sakon Nakhon.

By this time we arrived, I was hungover and sick of taking my goddam shoes off all the time. It was raining, I was grumpy and to be honest, I really didn’t care anymore about visiting temples.

Luna took some great photos below and heart here was pretty amazing with there was still a lady painting away. It’s definitely worth stopping by if you’re close by! I wish I went in now I seen the photos. So close.

Udomdetwat Mansion

Next stop was to look at some old french colonial-style buildings that were built in 1933 A.D. by Vietnamese immigrants. There where actually 3 buildings not next to each other in this area. We seen 2 and later realized we missed 1.

Cute Cafe Across The Road

Directly across the road from the mansion, there is a really cute cafe with great coffee should you need a rest and a coffee fix. Their bathrooms were clean but located upstairs. I think the owners really love Doraemon

Lotus Pond

We found this by pot luck as we were driving back and stopped for a look. They have a few bridges across the centre of the lake and was quite a lot of different coloured lotus to be seen. There was another big Naka statue here also as well as a playground should you want to make a family day out.

Riverside Hotel – วังน้ำก่ำรีสอร์ท

Thailand, Laos Market Monday & Thursday

An interesting market that is open twice a week we were lucky to be there on a Thursday morning. They have a range of interesting fruits and vegetables some I have never seen before as well as lots of clothes new & second hand, Shoes, Jewelry, Old money, The list goes on. This is quite a large market I would allow at least 2 hours if you want to walk the lot.

It is definitely worth stopping by if you’re here and see the 2 countries sell their wares. The stuff here is super cheap!

Open 6am – 12pm Mondays & Thursdays
although they where only just starting to pack up at 11 am in some places

Vietnamese Lunch At ดาวทอง อาหารเวียดนาม

I was excited to eat some Vietnamese food its not something you see a lot of in Thailand. In Australia, its become quite popular the last 5 or so years.

Wow, it was super cheap for restaurant prices! We ordered too much and ate it all and also got some Isan sausage to take away it was that good!

Read the full post with menus and photos here

Wat Phra That Phanom

After a delicious lunch, just a few streets away ventured into the temple through some amazing wooden carved door with every door a different design. They also had a different Chinese zodiac animal on the bottom of each door.

Although the temple is still under construction/ being renovated it is still a remarkable sight that can be seen all the way from the Mekong River.

Kaeng Krabao Park

We found this park by accident. As we were driving to the next location it there was a tourist sign saying something about rapids so we took a slight detour and went and found this lovely park. I’m still not too sure what the rapids they where talking about there where a few little ripples in the Mekong River although I’m not sure that’s enough to make a tourist sign for.

If you wanted a professional photo taken with the Naka statue you may be in luck. There were 2 people trying to take photos for you for a small price of 50 or 100 baht. They had a little stall with the prices on the side although they will definitely approach you before you see them. These photos did look good although we didn’t get one. I’m not sure why we would want a photo of some random people standing at the statue we were looking at.

Before you reach the river from the car park there is a large section dedicated to the Chinese Zodiac signs. A perfect time to have a photo with your year of the animal. Luna got mine wrong. I think she just wants a buffalo. I’m a tiger baby!

Wat Songkhon-Catholic Shrine Of The Martyrs Of Thailand

Opening Hours 8am-5pm

This was the one place Luna really wanted to visit again. She made a long bus trip with her grandma when she was a child. Luna vaguely remembered being able to walk around in the wooden houses carefully as the were old and could fall through the floor. Now they are roped off many years later to preserve.

The story, as I understood it was in 1940 the police came through and demanded everyone stopped worshipping Jesus under the Catholic church. These 7 children stood up in their belief and said we would rather die than not praise Jesus. All 7 were shot dead for refusing to quit their Christian faiths. This memorial is to remember the brutal Thai history. It is known as the 7 martyrs

Something I translated
They are regarded by the Roman Catholic Church as the ” Martyrs and Pope John Paul II were jointly proclaimed at St. Peter’s Basilica on October 22, 1989.

They have preserved the wooden house that they lived in. Although it is no longer safe to go inside as Luna remembers as a young child.

The Holy Well To Cure Sickness & Diseases

Across the road from the main entrance is where they have the holy well and another memorial with a lake.

The well was pad locked.

Overall a bit of interesting Thai history. If you manage to come during Mass hours I hear that have a good thrift shop. But we were too late.

We Slept In The Temple

So we had an early flight the next morning and had to leave at 4 am to get to the airport on time. We were offered a room in the Buddhist temple for the night. This was something new for me. I have never slept in a temple before.

Breakfast At King Ocha

This is a very popular and well known to locals as the place to eat breakfast. It’s cheap and will fill your belly for the morning. I had the eggs and the baguette. Its quite simple food I wouldn’t go as far to say it was amazing but it did the job and the locals may disagree with me as people just kept on coming.

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Heaven@4 is on Sukhumvit Soi 4 aka Nana Plaza which is the heart of the red light district in Bangkok. There are many great bars in walking distance that have live music and there is one nightclub on Soi 4 called EQ. Just a few minute’s walk to Nana Plaza “the adult’s playground”. You can find more on this in my post, Bangkok Nightlife Guide (coming soon)

Extra Persons

This hotel has a strict policy of only 2 people per room, or have to pay 700 baht per additional person. We had an issue even having friends (another couple) come to our room just for a few drinks before we went out, they said nothing though when we drank 2 bottles of whiskey and soda water from the 7-11 at the bar.

Price

Rooms

We booked 2 junior suites, but my room was upgraded to the Executive Suite which is there most expensive room. Both rooms had totally different features and are definitely designed for a range of activities one could only imagine in the red light district.

The main differences where the executive suite has a spa bath which would fit 2 smaller people along with 2 sofas the 3 seater in a water resistant washable fabric (hmmn wonder why).The spa did fit One fat white man and a petite asian lady, yes Luna 🙂 in the same time but most the water ended up on the floor and it was a tight squeeze. Where the junior suite had no spa but a massive raised cushioned play area in a seedy red colour. Now I know why they charge 700 baht extra per person you could fit 10 people in here, this is on top of a queen bed. Ill leave the rest to your imagination or planning .

There is also signage in room and elevator about damage to there urrrm sheets as will incur replacement charges. Maybe if she is grumpy *wink wink* don’t bring her here.

Room Executive Suite

Junior Suite

Video walk through

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Location

Looking for a cheap stay whist in Buriram Thailand? This hotel ticked all the boxes for our budget accommodation with maximum inclusions for our stay during the Asia Racing Championship 2019 at Chang International Stadium.

Many inclusions for a low price

At a cost of just 610 baht a night for a 3rd floor (no elevator) room overlooking the front of the property with inclusions of daily breakfast and a swimming pool. They offered a 1-hour free bicycle hire with 4 bikes available. The 3 rooms we booked all came with cold fridges and water on arrival.

Whats near by

If you walk out the property to the right there is a funky reggae bar and some local Thai restaurants. Across the road in walking distance there is a Big C Mini convenience store should you need supplies. The hotel is in close proximity to the racecourse a short walk to the King Rama Statue

Sometimes theres problems, but not a deal breaker

The only problems we encountered during our stay was the wifi would connect but was an unstable connection. The other issue was hallway entrance to the room had the air-con compressors in them making the hallway to room quite hot as we had the last 3 rooms. Which were the only part of the hallway that didn’t have windows to let air escape like earlier rooms did. Overall this did not affect our stay as we had mobile data and we didn’t hang out in the hallways

Splash out and into the pool

If you where not on a budget and wanted to enjoy the pool and outside tables with family or friends, the poolside rooms would be perfect.

Night Life

It is about 4km, 9-minute taxi/grab or 38 min walk to the main nightclub area. To find the night club area, google Speed Music Hall Buriram and the big ones are all along this strip. I really enjoy the Issan style clubs, A good experience if you have never been to a Thai style night club. They are a show and dance all night with singers and dancers constantly changing.

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Look Around Property

Room – 3rd Floor

Getting There

To get to Cabo-De-Rama-Fort & Shree Gramdev Temple from Palolem you will need to hire a motorbike. Its mainly country roads but make sure you have an international licence before coming. The police here have roadblocks all the time and pretty much just want to extort you for money. We saw a roadblock every day of riding. If you’re lucky try to not stop or time yourself with a car or truck to give you cover. I was stopped once with Australian Car & Motorbike (C+R) and he let me go when I explained R class was a motorbike, But my Canadian friend wasn’t so lucky. So I really don’t know what the deal is but an International licence is worth it for insurance at the least. Sean had the proper International licence and had no issues. I just left mine in Australia which was no help for me.

CABO-DE-RAMA-FORT

The fort is on the tip there are 2 sides of oceans with spectacular views. There is also a church inside the compound. Entry was free and we were asked by a local upon entering if we wanted a guide which we declined. It’s definitely worth walking straight upon walking through the gate to enter far side. That is the view in panorama photo below.

The fort has some of the best ocean views seen in India. Worth the trip there if you close. But inside there is not much else interesting but a church inside.

Shree Gramdev Laxminarayan Temple

Village View on Motorbike to Above 2 Attractions

House Boat Cruise – Kerala

So part of our 3-day package was an overnight houseboat cruise. It was quite relaxing watching people go by there daily life bathing and washing their clothes in the river, to transporting a whole small boat of freshly harvested rice. There is a whole network of shops set up along the river and narrow canals that you can explore on smaller boats (not houseboats)

I’m not going to leave the details of who we booked our 3 day trip with because I highly don’t recommend them.

The Boat & Food

Room

The View

Watching Locals Go About Their Days

Periyar Tiger Reserve – Thekkady

So as a part of our terrible 3 day trip through Kerala, we arrived at a tiger park for a tiger boat cruise as it was marketed to us. Now don’t get me wrong, The place is beautiful, Just don’t set your expectations too high when it comes to seeing animals! There is a reason they hire out binoculars before getting on the boat. We saw some wild deer as well as a few birds. I had more fun going oohhh and ahhh and WOW! Whist looking into the scenery pointing my finger at nothing having people desperately trying to take photos of what I could see… When I asked the guide on the boat where are all the tigers will I see one? He just laughed and said they are in the jungle. By the way, he said it I don’t think he has seen a tiger there either.
Don’t let me talk you out of going, Just drop your expectations first.

Avoid taking food with you and keep drinks in a bag until on boat. There are wild monkeys hanging around the entrance and we will rob you. We witnessed a lady’s water bottle get snatched bitten through and thrown at her by a monkey. It was pretty funny but scary for her!

Random Animal Pictures

Yes its true. Cows wander freely through the streets everywhere in India.

That about sums up India for me. No real desire to return. I’m not going to complain about it. Just my impressions are. If you want to go and do Yoga or get in touch with your spiritual side. Yep go. Not a great place to party.

We wrote one other piece on India about the food check it out here

Bali Paradise is one of my all-time favourite hotels. I believe it consists of only 8 rooms which all come with either a distant sea view or a rice field view. All the rooms are so large with massive bathrooms.

I love the concept of this boutique hotel and would make a perfect retreat to book the entire resort if you have a large group. To me, the feeling of staying here is you are not in a hotel but staying at a friends house. There is a ping pong table as well as a pool table for some entertainment or a library for people who just want to relax with a book. They have a warm little bar which on the many occasions I have been here has been a private bar as there is no one else there.

The Chef

Then the chef who was there takes such pride in his food personally coming out to check the main courses were ok & to our liking. We often come to say here when we just want to get away from the new Bali that is so busy and hustle and bustle. To the dreamy Lovina where time feels like it slows down to a snail’s pace.

Your gonna want transport

I do recommend hiring a scooter or bicycle here if you want to explore Lovina at all as the location is a 2-minute walk to the black beach( sand is black) but down some narrow side streets to get back to the main road (about 5-8 mins) which may be daunting to some people with dogs and pets running around. The dogs generally bark more after dark if you are walking past. Don’t let this put you off staying in paradise though.

Dolphin Cruise

Reception is able to organize tickets for the dolphin watching cruise after asking around after the price was about the same as street vendors. Its a super early morning but really worth it.

How do I get to Lovina?

How to get to Lovina. Your best choice would be to hire Yogi to take you. There are some public buses if you are on a tight budget or plenty of time to spare but there are some amazing stops along the way which a bus won’t stop at. I have never caught the bus and don’t plan on it so while your waiting for it get on google 🙂

Price

Location

If your looking for a change from standard hotel or a romantic night in this may be the hotel for you. It would of been the perfect romantic night in for me if Luna took her correct passport with her to the airport! Oh well I enjoyed the luxury boat anyways. She arrived the next day missing out.

Close By

There is not really anything around walking distance and is quite far from anything other than ship next door (which has a bar and restaurant ) and there is a restaurants on shore, As well as one at the top of the ship. At night have to pay 300 kyat to drive up to ship some kind of port tax which only they tried to collect at night time which I didn’t pay but think really was meant to then realizing later I argued over 30 cents not dollars.

Friendly Staff

All the staff where really friendly and very hospitable especially in the dining room for my breakfast. I did order room service for dinner which was ok but it took over an hour to arrive so was starving by the time it arrived.

Unfair Advertisement

They had advertised in hotel room brochure , stay an extra night for 49,000 per night. When I inquired about it wanting to take up on the offer was told only available to local people not foreigner. I hate the 2 standard pricing policy. For this i didn’t stay another night.

Massage

I did treat myself to a massage whilst aboard, to release some tension for my long flight. It was perfect for me, Super strong and firm. I normally have to ask for more firm but this was perfect. For this I tipped which I rarely do and really wanted another one but just not enough time

Price

Take A Look Around!

Location