Thailand 2004 travelogue BKK & USM

Travel time: April 2004  |  by steve bowles

Ang and I are off to Thailand for 2 weeks hard earned R & R.

overtures & Beginners

Why are we going.

Friends have raved about Thailand and I face a millstone birthday. Sorry it should read milestone but feels like a millstone. Celebration time and a time of life to see the sights before my wreck of a body decides to revolt too much. We chose a two centre holiday Bangkok and Koh Samui. Koh in Thai means island. So I have dropped it in the travelogue.

Choices
I looked at the net for inspiration and ideas to book this holiday. From past experience booking over the net is easy. There is no doubt it is holidaying without a safety net of ABTA /IATA bonds but then you book your important links with rocks to cling to in case it all goes a haywire.

So the most important link is getting to Bangkok (airline city code BKK) from Heathrow (LHR). Direct or indirect you are spoilt for choice from the UK. All of the Far East carriers offer links. You pay your money and take your choice. We chose BA for a direct link 12 hours enough for me in a plane without sniffing the air. Their web site was quick easy and painless. The painful bit was the expected bill on the credit card. Ouch! But then again at least you are starting to knock it out before the holiday.

Bangkok Airways was the next section to book as flights were going to be busy because holidays, Easter in Europe and Songkran in Thailand. Again it was easy a little slow, even with Broad band, but it can be done.

And finally what ever the budget get the best insurance cover available. Sickness in a foreign country is bloody expensive and if you are ill you don't want to spend your time lying next to some poor soul, with his head hanging off crying out for water, giving you more than you can in with in the first darn place.

So onto Hotels.
There is a mountain of web sites for hotels any where in the world. Caution is always in my opinion the better part of valour. So I brought Lonely Planet for Thailand and used their experience to get web addresses of hotels etc. I then read an article in The Times about Samui. That article sold us on the island and the hotels to book.

Luckily Bangkok was easy on account we have mate over there. He gave us the name of a couple of 4 star hotels and a few minutes later everything was sorted, booked and confirmed.

Jabs
We had them. Tetanus, Polio,Thyphus, Hep A. Those are the recommended ones. I know there are others but then again we ain't going to rumble in the jungle. Take advice from your quack before doing any long distance travel. The NHS gave them to us as a going away pressie;

Thanks to Lou Lou & Rick we have been given a mountain of flyers and freebie travel guides to give us ideas on what to do etc.

We will continue... Now we cross off the weeks, days, minutes and seconds to take off.

© steve bowles, 2004
You are here : Overview Asia Thailand Thailand: overtures & Beginners
The trip
 
Details:
Start of journey: Apr 03, 2004
Duration: 16 days
End of journey: Apr 18, 2004
Travelled countries: Thailand
The Author
 
steve bowles is an active author on break-fresh-ground. since 20 years.
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