We went to Thailand for our honeymoon in August and it was one of the best experiences ever! Thailand had been one of my dream destinations for so many years and after seeing pictures online I then decided to put it on my bucket list and it's finally ticked off!
With this blog post I'll be sharing the hotels we stayed in, what we did and some tips
Where we slept: Shanghai Mansion
MBK: We didn't stay around in the hotel that long since we wanted to go out and start exploring so our first stop was the famous MBK shopping centre. I have never seen anything like it and honestly, I don't even think we saw everything because it was that big! To get there we took a TukTuk which was an experience in itself considering the way people drive there >.<'
Dinner Cruise: One of our closest friends went to Thailand for their honeymoon and one of their recommendations was to go on a dinner cruise along the Chao Phraya River. We booked our tickets on the phone and picked up our tickets near the pick up point. It was a romantic way to start of our honeymoon and we definitely recommend it whether you're with friends, family or on a couples trip.
Chatuchak Weekend Market: Since we didn't plan ahead we weren't able to visit a floating market (if you can do it, make sure you go!) so we went to the next best thing - Chatuchak! It's made up of 8,000 stalls with people selling clothes, flowers, books, souvenirs, massages, food, pets, anything! There is so much to see, eat and buy so make sure you go for at least an hour or two if you're in Bangkok.
Khao San Road: This is a must if you're backpacking through Thailand. We got to Khao San road towards the end of the night and people were setting up their stalls, music playing, restaurants were serving and there were a lot of hostels around.
Tip: Street food is very popular in Khao San Road so try to go there with an empty stomach because you will got a lot of options thrown your way!
Temple Hopping: You can't go to Bangkok without seeing some of the beautiful temples. We planned our "temple hopping" day to visit and see as much temples as we could in a day. It was one of the longest days in Thailand where we got hangry, tired and sweaty but honestly, seeing the details of the temples up close and personal was the best bit.
Tip numero 1: Make sure you wear comfy shoes if you do this because you'll be walking a lot!
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| The Grand Palace and the Emerald Buddha Temple |
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| Wat Pho Temple of the Reclining Buddha |
Our next stop was Chiang Mai and it was the one I was looking forward to the most because we had planned two days full of activities.
Where we slept: The Empress Chiang
Elephant Owner for the Day: You can't go to Thailand without seeing some elephants so as soon as we got to our hotel we asked about it in reception. The lady at the reception tried really hard to sell us an excursion that involved elephant riding, elephant show and quad biking so before we even booked it I had to take a moment and think twice. I could feel in my heart that it wasn't genuine and after reading a blog on the best places to go for this experience, the place she was selling us was not recommended whatsoever. I knew that if I was going to see the elephants I would make sure it was with the right people and that the elephants would be treated fairly and correctly. I didn't lose my hope so I called Patara (a really good Elephant farm) and luckily a couple had cancelled their booking and we managed to get booked in. I believe in animal rights and I believe animals deserve as much love and attention that we can give them so here are some pictures of when my husband and I spent the day with Elephants.
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| Diego with the mummy elephant |
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Meeting this little baby who was born after his mum was rescued from people who didn't find use in her anymore since many people use Elephants for their farms. |
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| I love this picture because I'm genuinely surprised, shocked, amazed and in awe of this amazingly beautiful animal that we were about to spend our day with. |
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| Patara Elephant Farm really do care for the elephants and for their guests too. The layout was really cute since it was in the middle of their farm and the food was delicious. |
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| How elephants should be ridden, not with chairs on their backs! That actually causes more pain to the elephants on their feet as their backs are not built for those chairs.
After spending time with the elephants I fell more in love with animals and it was one of the best days ever. We learnt so much about them through the mahouts in Patara and apart from that I saw the genuine care and joy that each of these men, who are each assigned an elephant to look after, have towards the elephants. Patara is a big farm with 50 elephants who come from horrible backgrounds but as the owner explained to us, he contacts elephant owners and farms so any unwanted or harmed elephants can be rescued and get the treatment they need from the mahouts in Patara. The money is completely worth it and when I go back I will do anything to go back and see the elephants.
Trekking and Quad Biking: The following day we went to jungle in Chiang Mai and did some quad biking and waterfall trekking. This day was more for my husband as it was basically activity based. It was so fun though and I would love to do this in another country despite the body ache you can experience after >.<' We captured most of our quad biking experience on our GoPro - which brings me to my next tip! Invest in a GoPro or a similar camera. I think we used this nearly everyday and it came in handy with the elephants, the waterfall, the trekking and so much more.
Chaing Mai is the best place to go and do some activities and just breathe in some fresh air. They also have a main street market where you can find food, souvenirs, clothes, bags, shoes etc. Personally, shopping here was much more fun than Bangkok because I really was able to hustle my way through some tough sellers and ended up with a couple of bargains!
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| How cute is this little baby! I met him in the Night Bazaar Market just a couple of minutes away from our hotel |
Tip numero 4: Buy some insect repellent! Since I forgot to buy some on our first day there I got horrible mosquito bites after our 3rd day!
Our final day in Chiang Mai was very relaxed and we decided to see some temples there as well.
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| Before we left we went to our favourite little spot while we were there. The food was fresh and the restaurant was clean. It was nothing fancy but it was always packed with locals. This was one of the best noodle soups I ever had. |
Our final stop was Krabi and we chose this area since it wasn't too overcrowded with tourists. We had planned to just sit back, relax and enjoy our last days in Thailand and soak in everything that we did, saw, ate and it was a good time to get a massage!
Where we slept: Nakamanda Resort and Spa
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| The pool, the beach and the restaurant area. |
Island Hopping: If you're ever in Krabi make sure to book a trip to see the islands nearby, since we were there during the monsoon season we had to reschedule our trip. When we did go we were able to see Chicken Island, Phi Phi Islands, have a buffet lunch and go snorkelling too.
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| Chicken Island |
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| Even though it was raining I decided to jump in |
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| Our stop to go snorkelling and see the fishes! |
Hot Stream and Emerald Pool: This was probably one of the sunniest days in Krabi so we booked an excursion to take us to the hot streams and emerald pools. It was nice to see local people and tourists enjoying some of Krabi's nature.
Tip numero 6: when you book excursions make sure that there is food and transport included since we nearly got ripped off.
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| I fell into the tourist trap with my shorts and top! >.<' |
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| Emerald Pool, it took us about 20 minutes to walk here but it was a reward seeing this beauty. It was very slippery though! |
Cooking class: It was another rainy day and since we stayed in the day before we wanted to do something despite the weather. Our hotel was lovely enough to invite us and do some cooking lessons with them but it just wasn't the same. My honey got on his phone and booked a class for us that same day. We got in our car and drove there since it was starting in 30 minutes! We booked our class with Ya's cooking school and it was fun experience learning how to cook Thai food. We made 8 dishes including Tom Yum, Pad Thai, Papaya Salad and Morning Glory which all turned out delicious! If you're in Krabi I highly recommend this one, you don't only get to do it near nature but you also get to do it with the actual chef. Ya was lovely enough to gift us our own souvenirs since we were on our honeymoon and she also catered to vegetarians which was nice of her.
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| Pad Thai, Green curry, Panang curry and veggies! |
Our time in Thailand was one of the best experiences ever. We still talk about it to this day and plan on going back one day. We came across people from different walks of life, we learnt so much about the thai culture, we met the nicest thai people ever and everywhere we went was a new experience for us. If you ever have the chance to go and visit Thailand I recommend you do. So many times while we were there we couldn't believe we had flown all the way to Asia just for our honeymoon. I hope this post makes you want to visit Thailand and you get an idea of what they have to offer.
I also have two videos up on my channel and as I'm still getting into the whole Vlogging mode they are quite long but you'll see the majority of the things here! I captured a lot of shots so I hope to get them up ASAP!
Thanks for stopping by!
Karla, x
