The first three nights in Bangkok were staying at The Montien Hotel Bangkok, which is located directly across the road from Patpong. This is approximately 45 minutes from the airport depending on the Bangkok traffic, which can be horrific.

I found the Montien hotel to be great value for money; the rates include full breakfast daily. The hotel itself was nice, with a good restaurant, decent pool and the shops located in the hotel were reasonably priced. The Rooms are spacious the twins have 2x double beds with plenty more room, the large bathrooms have bath and shower. For shoppers it is in a prime position, directly across the road from the Patpong Markets, 10 minute drive to the MBK centre and a short walk to Silom Road.

After Bangkok we moved south for a little relaxation...we travelled 2.5 hours south to a place called Hua Hin, which is located on the coast. What a place.... I stayed at the Sofitel Central Hua Hin, and I would have to say that it is one of the most beautiful resorts that I have stayed in, even though it is the oldest in Thailand.

The room we had was a deluxe Garden View Twin Room (2xDoubles) on the first level with direct access to the Garden pool. The Garden Wing of the hotel is a new section that has slightly larger rooms than the deluxe overlooking the ocean however both are beautifully designed and decorated with a Thai feel. The deluxe Room has a separate dressing room & walk in robe, with separate bath and shower. The Sofitel has several outstanding restaurants, which include Thai, Seafood and Japanese, which are all of a very high standard. The gardens are also spectacular.

There is elephant trekking, snorkelling adventure, horse riding and also day trips to the Sam Roi Yod National Park, where you journey through pineapple and coconut plantations and also stop at a local fish village for a boat ride. For those people who are game you could hire a motorbike or car and make your own journey, the roads are not as hectic as Bangkok or even Phuket.

For those who love a relaxing holiday laying by the pool The Sofitel Hua Hin is the place to go, it would have to be one of the best places I have been and stayed!!

We then went back to Bangkok for another 5 Nights, This time staying at the Amari Watergate Hotel. For Bangkok it is one hotel that has a very large pool area, with a bar & light snacks available + gym and squash courts. The Silva Spa has also just opened on the same level as the pool with great affordable treatments. The Amari has 4 restaurants on the premises, Thai, Italian, Chinese and The Henty J Bean steak house with a bakery in the lobby all allow for charges back to your room.

We did one full day trip on our stay in Bangkok. It included The Bridge over the River Kwai, Elephant trekking and The Tiger Sanctuary Temple. I have to warn you it is one long day and we even skipped activities so that we could spend more time at he Temple. Pick up by private van @ 0700 for a 3 hour drive north to the Death Railway and Bridge over the River Kwai, first stopping at the Jeath War museum. Here you are given a first hand look in the death railway, which was strategically built between Thailand and Burma in 1942. This museum is open air; its structure is a realistic reconstruction of a prisoner of war hut. It was established to collect various items connected with the construction of the Death Railway by POW's in WWII. An emotional look into the devastation of war.

After the museum we made our way to the Bridge, we were able to walk over it and take in the sights of the area, then stopping at local village for lunch.

The best was next to come....The Tiger Temple in Kanchanburi!! This is a well reported by many international and local media for its challenging ‘tiger conservation project’. Most of these rescued tigers are well taken care of by the Buddhist monks and their followers led by the abbot Phra Acharn Phoosit Khantidharo who also works in collaboration with some other organisations to run the newly established tiger conservation project.

It is really amazing to observe the Buddhist monks walking the tigers around before letting the tigers enjoy themselves in the pound. We observed the tigers from behind a rope, a very small one at that. You are able to go into the pound one at a time with a keeper, they place you with a one tiger at a time to get a photo and touch the tiger. Its really al blur to me thinking back at it, I was petrified, but it was truly amazing to get in with 10 nearly full grown tigers, one weighing nearly 200kg!! CRAZY. Due to the peek hour traffic, which continues well into the night, we arrived back to the hotel at 10pm; so beware of the long day. It’s well worth it though!!

Our holiday sadly came to an end, just watch your excess baggage if you are going over there and planning on doing a lot of shopping, they are very strict. Plus have an extra 500 baht for your departure tax out of Bangkok.

Until next time..

Hayley