After a 2 hour minibus transfer to Phuket Airport and a near 7 hour flight we touched down in Dubai around 4.00am. Most of the people on our flight were going to other destinations so only a few of us were collecting bags and staying in Dubai. We were amazed how quiet the airport was at that time of night. Quick visit to the ATM for some local currency and we were off. Arrived at our hotel about 5.30am, checked in, shown to our room ( which has an amazing view of the beach and skyline). We had slept a little on the plane so decided it was not worth going to bed and missing some of our first day here. Dubai is big! - it's not somewhere you can walk easily to see everything, they have open topped tour buses which you can hop on hop off. Also taxis are widely used here to get around. After a quick look at the beach in front of our hotel, we decided to start our time in Dubai visiting the historical area around the creek. We made a bit of a mistake by allowing our persuasive Indian taxi driver to take us on his own mini tour before taking us there which was not particularly good value for money. He whisked us on to Palm Island giving us a bit of a running commentary on the properties there and pulled up outside the Atlantis Hotel for pics (sun in wrong place unfortunately). Once at the Creek we spent time walking around the Spice Souk looking at the colourful shop displays and then moved on to the Gold Souk which was nearby. Then we crossed the Creek on one of the old Dhow Boats for 1 Dirham each and walked the short way to the Dubai Museum which was fascinating and showed the incredible transformation of the Country over the last 50 years. Then, having hardly slept for 48 hours, we were tired so caught a taxi back to our hotel.
Today is our last day here in Thailand. Everyone we have spoken to has really loved Railay Beach and it was one of the beaches on our must do list! So we took a quick 60 baht Tuk Tuk (here they are a bike with a sidecar type unlike Bangkok) down to the Longtail Boats and 10 minutes on the boat and we were there. Beautiful white sand, lovely water and not too busy. We explored a little then found a good place for lunch. We stayed until 4.30 as we had to pack for our flight to Dubai. We have really enjoyed our 5 weeks travelling around Thailand, it's a great country and there is so much to see and do here. The Thai people have been so friendly and welcoming. We would love to come back sometime! Now for the next stage of our adventure.
Wow what an adventurous and fantastic day we have had! After being bounced around for an hour and twenty minutes in a pick up truck we arrived at the Canoe Centre at Thalen Bay. After a quick lesson on paddle technique we had to walk across slimy mud to get to our canoes (Kayaks). Then off we paddled around the mangroves and coves of the bay stopping for a while for photographs on a sandbank where we saw starfish and we were able to hold them. We were paddling for around two hours and it was pretty tiring particularly on the way back against the wind in places. After a rather nice Thai lunch it was off to the second part of our trip which was a visit to a natural spa for swimming and relaxation before our elephant trek. We didn't swim here but took some pics and got chatting to an English couple. After about an hour we were off to 'Nosey Parkers' for our elephant trek. Unlike our Chang Mai experience, there were only a handful of people at this one and it took just a couple of minutes before we were called to the platform where we would mount our elephant. We had to take our shoes off on this ride and Steve noticed there was no safety rail on the front of our chair to stop us falling out! We made our way to a small river where we had to cross. This was scary as Won Ton as she was called didn't seem to want to cross and as she hesitated on the steep bank we felt as though we were being flung forward. Mahout reaches round to grab Steve's leg to make sure he doesn't slip off! Half way through our hour long ride, Mahout dismounts and beckons me to slip forward onto Won Ton's head (for photos I thought). Mahout then started taking photos from every angle! Then Mahout starts making his grunting noises to encourage Won Ton to move forward and before I know it we are off with me riding the elephant and him walking! After a while we reach the river crossing. Steve said they won't let you cross the river but Mahout continues grunting and Won Ton pins her ears back holding my legs and picks her way carefully across the rocky river bed and then up the bank and into to elephant camp. "Very good madaaam" says another watching Mahout, as all other returning elephants seemed to have had their Mahouts in charge. After dismounting we were allowed to feed her with cucumbers and bananas, a lovely end to a fantastic experience and fulfilling one of my dreams. Then it was back to our hotel for showers and gin & tonics and to write this blog. Now we are off for our evening meal and drinks.
Bamboo Island today on a speedboat. It is a small atol North of Phi Phi Island. We were picked up from our hotel in a rough old open pick-up for the short ride to Noraprat beach and boarded the boat after a short trek through a National Park. The trip was surprisingly smooth and took just 45 minutes. Everyone got out of the boat with snorkel kit supplied but only us and half a dozen others were staying on Bamboo Island - the rest continued on to Maya Bay. Bamboo Island is a very beautiful Island with wide stretch of white sand crystal clear water and a forest of trees in the centre. We had 5 hours before the boat with the Maya Bay people returned at 3.15pm to pick us up so we had plenty of time to snorkel, sunbathe and take pics. We decided to go snorkelling before our packed lunch - lots of colourful fish swarmed around us (as people were feeding them with bread and scraps). We took lots of pics including a cute hermit crab who was slowly making his way across the beach. We had a brilliant day it was very hot 35 degrees. We arrived back about 5 o'clock so came back to shower and have a gin and tonic before going out to eat. Had some sizzling steaks in a restaurant on the Ao nang beach road - reminded us of 'hot stone steaks' we used to have on our Portugal holidays in the 80's!
