Ayutthaya
Ayutthaya Historical Park
I only spent a day in Ayutthaya Historical Park, but managed to see quite a lot as the most
interesting places are close to each other. Highlights were the Wat Mahathat temple with its Buddha head
trapped in the roots of a bodhi tree, a beautiful sitting Buddha close to it
and the Wat Phra Si Sanphet complex
with its three chedis (stupas). A
pleasant and convenient way to access the Wat
Chai Wattanaram temple complex is by taking a river trip right round the Park,
as the boatman will drop you off right next to it and you can wander around
before re-embarking for the rest of the trip. The Park’s Tourist Centre has a modern, informative exhibition on the second
floor.
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| Sitting Buddha in Wat Mahathat |
Baan Thai House
This small hotel is a real gem. It’s set in a beautiful tropical garden and includes a small lake and a medium-sized swimming pool. The staff are very friendly and efficient. Many of the rooms are in traditional Thai houses and are simply but tastefully decorated. There is an attractive lounge-cum-dining area that is open to the garden, where you can relax or have something to eat. It’s not really necessary to look for restaurants in Ayutthaya as the hotel kitchen offers a number of tasty Thai dishes for dinner. The breakfast and lunchtime snacks are very good too. It’s located a short walk and ferry ride from the main sights of Ayutthaya, or the hotel will call you a tuk-tuk. They can also arrange economical shared minivan transfers to other places like Kanchanaburi and tours in and around Ayutthaya. I cannot recommend this hotel enough. http://www.baanthaihouse.com/ |
| Baan Thai House, Ayutthaya |
Kanchanaburi
The town
The Kanchanaburi
War Cemetery, which contains the remains of nearly 7000 POWs, is a
beautifully maintained memorial to the POWs who suffered and died while
building the Death Railway between Thailand and Burma during WW2. Their memory
is also kept alive at the Thailand-Burma
Railway Centre, which overlooks the cemetery and contains an excellent
museum explaining the tragic story of the construction of the Railway as well
as a good selection of books related to this terrible chapter of history. The
Centre also organizes very informative all-day and half-day visits to some of
the sites linked to the Railway. However, most people seem to come to
Kanchanaburi to photograph and walk across the famous Bridge on the River Kwai. The prisoners actually built two bridges,
the other a wooden one a few metres further downriver, but this has since been
demolished and only the metal and concrete one remains. It is still used to
carry passengers (mostly tourists) to what is now the end of the line, about
100km from Kanchanaburi at a station called Nam Tok. It’s a nice trip and allows you to see the incredible
riverside viaduct the prisoners built at Tam
Krasae. Finally, back in town, there is the Heritage Walking Street, which has a lot of restored shops and
houses including the business premises of Boon
Pong, the man who risked his life to bring medicine and food to the allied
soldiers living in the railway construction camps between 1942 and 1945. http://www.tbrconline.com/
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| The Bridge on the River Kwai |
Hellfire Pass Memorial
A bit further up the line from Nam Tok station, although the rails and sleepers have long disappeared, is a centre which was set up to commemorate the, mainly Australian, POWs who were forced to carve out a series of deep cuttings through solid rock at this point of the Death Railway. The name comes from the infamous “Speedo” period in 1943, when the prisoners were made to work day and night to complete the railway within the crazy timeframe established by the Japanese. The nightmarish scenes of skeletal men slaving away at the rock face while illuminated by the flickering light of candles gave the cutting its name. In addition to looking at the excellent displays in the centre, you can walk quite a long way along where the railway originally ran on the side of a hill with panoramic views down to the River Kwai below – views I’m sure the prisoners slaving on the railway were never able to enjoy. http://hellfire-pass.commemoration.gov.au/remembering-the-railway/hellfire-pass-memorial-museum.php
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| Hellfire Pass |
Sabai@Kan Hotel
Situated halfway between, but within walking distance of, the Bridge on the River Kwai and downtown Kanchanaburi, this simple but comfortable hotel is an excellent place to stay. All the rooms look onto the attractive tropical garden, although the ground floor rooms are a better option as they have a small sitting area outside and give you direct access to the garden and the pool area. Breakfast is good value and they will prepare other meals if asked. Directly opposite is the Meat and Cheese restaurant, which has a wide variety of mainly European dishes on offer. A short tuk-tuk ride away over a bridge is the Blue Rice restaurant, which has a nice riverside location and serves modern versions of traditional Thai dishes.
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| Garden at Sabai at Kan |
River
Kwai Resotel
This hotel has a wonderful setting on the banks
of the River Kwai Noi, not far from
Nam Tok station, so a good way to get there is to take the train to the end of
the line and then hire a taxi for the short drive to the pier, from where
motorboats await to transfer you a few kilometres upriver to the hotel. The
hotel has beautifully kept and very extensive grounds and the rooms are in
well-appointed bungalows. I was lucky enough to stay in Room 21, which has good views of the river. There is an attractive
wooden main building which overlooks a good-sized pool. Within easy walking
distance is Lawa Cave and a pretty Mon village. You can also walk to the
hotel’s sister establishment, the Floathouse,
which consists of around thirty luxury rooms that are actually floating on
pontoons in the river – an original place to stay!
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| Shrine inside Lawa Cave |
Erewan
National Park
This park is about an hour’s drive from the
Resotel pier. The highlight is most definitely the waterfall or, to be more accurate, the series of waterfalls that form
seven tiers as the river descends through the jungle. It took me two hours to
climb to the seventh tier as I had to stop constantly to admire the water
cascading over rocks and forming beautiful azure pools, all set against the
backdrop of the jungle. It’s a good idea to get there as early as possible because
it’s an extremely popular excursion for foreigners and locals alike. |
| Erewan waterfall |
Katathani
Phuket Beach Resort
This pricey upmarket resort occupies virtually
all the beachfront of Hat Kata Noi
beach. The beach itself is long, wide and covered with soft white sand. The
hotel grounds are very extensive and include five large swimming pools that are rarely crowded as most people
seem to prefer to spend time on the beach or just lying on sunbeds. The
“deluxe” room I stayed in was comfortable and spacious, although it might be
better to pay a bit more and book one of the rooms with a pool or ocean view
because many of the so-called deluxe “garden-view” ones look onto a narrow
strip of grass between two buildings. There are six restaurants: I would particularly recommend the Chanadda, which turns out excellent
traditional Thai dishes; second best in my opinion is the Fisherman’s Wharf, which serves seafood in a pleasant setting close
to the beach. The Coconut Bar is the
best option for an after-dinner drink as its tables are right next to the
beach. The hotel breakfast is excellent. This is by no means a cheap hotel and
the rooms are not really luxurious, but its position and grounds justify to
some extent the high rates they charge. http://www.katathani.com/
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| Pool at Katathani Phuket Beach Resort |
Phang
Nga Bay excursion
If you get tired of lying on the beach, the
resort can arrange a day-trip to Phang
Nga Bay with a company called Andaman
Leisure Phuket (ALP). This involves an early pick-up from the hotel and
transfer to the Royal Phuket Marina on the other side of the island, from where
a speedboat takes you on a forty-minute trip north to the islands in the bay.
The most famous and spectacular of these limestone karst formations is the
so-called James Bond “Island” which,
although you may have seen it a hundred times in photos, is worth making the
effort to see “in the flesh”. The excursion I took included two short but
interesting kayak trips around other islands, a good lunch on the sea-gypsy
island of Koh Panyee and an hour and
a half to swim and relax on a nice beach before returning to Phuket. All in all
the excursion is good value for money and very professionally run. http://www.andamanleisurephuket.com/
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| James Bond "Island" |