Humpday Holiday: Bangkok, 1961

My uni work is all finished for the semester and I now have all of June freeeee! This week I’m busy preparing for a multi-person garage sale that Xanthe is hosting on the weekend. If you’re local and want to come and get some bargains let me know. Fingers crossed the rain stops.

I have lots and lots of blog posts swirling around in my head and I’m even thinking of updating the header and buttons, but for now I thought I would dip back in with a Humpday Holiday post.

Welcome to Bangkok in February 1961. These photos were found at my Nanna Gwen’s house while it was being cleaned out and my brother and SIL scanned them. When my mum was 7/8 her family went on a big overseas trip and Bangkok was one of their stops.

Here is Nanna at the Emerald Buddha Temple. Look at her gloves! So stylish.

This is the view from their hotel, the Erawan Hotel. I believe it is now the Grand Hyatt Erawan Bangkok. Certainly fancier than our Bangkok accommodation. Look at the cute buses. And hardly any traffic. And a kombi!

This is the family (and some extra) at the Grand Palace. That’s my mum at the front.

I had no idea when I took this photo below that mum had stood right there all those years ago.

Next time we make it to Bangkok I’m going to recreate that photo with a family picture in the same spot.

 

On (some) Wednesdays, for a bit of mid-week escapism, I go on a Humpday Holiday. Guest posters are always welcome! Where would YOU like to escape to?

Humpday Holiday – Koh Lanta

The wind is howling and the rain is pouring – it’s definitely time for a little humpday holiday somewhere nice and warm. Koh Lanta is the place I think of when I think about taking the kids to Asia. We were there six weeks before the tsunami in 2004 (you can read my original post from then here) and obviously did not have kids with us, but a family staying at the resort planted a seed in both mine and Dave’s heads. We could do that some day.

They had travelled all the way from Sweden with a toddler and a baby and settled in for a month long stay. The resort we were staying in was not particularly fancy, but it was comfortable, had a pool, a great restaurant, a bar, was right on the beach and the kids were doted on by the friendly staff.

Who wants to come with us?

Decisions decisions

We’re trying to decide whether or not to have a stopover on the way back to Australia and if so where/what/how long. I’m assuming we’ll be flying back via Bangkok because we usually seem to go that way.

The options are:

1. No stopover head straight back all in one go.
Pros:
- more time in Australia before Dave starts work.
- gets the flight over and done with.
- cheap
Cons:
- looong flight with baby.

2. Short city stopover of 2-3 nights.
Pros:
- A few days to rest up before the last long flight leg.
- shopping time
Cons:
- I imagine our bags will already be right on the weight limit so shopping not so good.

3. Longer stopover of 5-7 days with most of it spent on a beach somewhere. Top contender is Phuket because it is easy to get to from Bangkok and has plenty of facilities.
Pros:
- beach
- relaxing
- might not have a chance for a proper holiday again for a while
Cons:
- will cost more
- more flights to get there
- will Lillian handle the heat/humidity? (being a Scot and all)

Anyone want to meet us in Phuket in the last week of March? That could sway the decision. Of course, if the best flights back are via somewhere else all this could change.

1490 photos

Now that we have our very own computer we’ve been able to finally get a good look at all the photos we took on the trip. There are too many to put on this site but I have uploaded them to another site and you can view them on the links below. Be warned – there are a lot and this is the good, the bad and the ugly. If you’re game, I would suggest settling back with a nice cup of tea and viewing the slideshow option.

Thailand the first time round.

Vietnam

Cambodia

Laos

Thailand the second time.

Bye Bye Bangkok

We have checked out of our hotel and have a few hours to fill in before we head to the airport. Luckily the hotel has an internet cafe right downstairs!

We’ve had a fun five days in Bangkok and Dave excelled himself with shopping patience and stamina. Unfortunately all that stamina meant that our bags were too heavy and so we posted a parcel onwards today (care of you, Richard) to free up some space for my new tailor made suit. Bring on the job interviews.

Also this week we both got a new pair of glasses. I made every optometrist we visited (and there were quite a few) fall over or gasp when I showed them my prescription. Yes, I really am that blind.

Our UK plans are shaping up and we are very grateful to Dave’s aunt and uncle, Elaine and Mike, for offering to pick us up from the airport and for housing us for the weekend. We are also grateful to Rob and Ross (also Dave’s aunt and uncle) for allowing us to stay in their unit in London which is for sale. It will certainly make the first couple of weeks easier.

Dave has just returned from his last street food meal of papaya salad and sticky rice. Our Asian adventure has certainly been a gourmet treat!