We will break this down into four parts –
Travel experiences going on Aeroflot and traveling through Moscow
Mai Khao, a quiet beach boutique resort we stayed in 15 minutes from the Phuket Airport
Elephant Hills, an elephant sanctuary funded by tourist visits
Patong Beach – Decadent and dirty but our resort was beautiful
We are living in Valencia Spain and decided we wanted to visit Thailand to work with refugee elephants and to hang on the beach. It’s never really cold in Valencia, but February is one of the chillier months. We researched the most expeditious while still being reasonably priced routes and settled upon Aeroflot. Husband did the research and they have one of the newer fleets and a great safety record. That being said we had to switch flights in Moscow, which had us a bit apprehensive, as US and EU citizens cannot leave the airport without a special pre-approved VISA (our same experience in China).
We took an early morning train from Valencia to Barcelona, as VLC is a rather small airport, there are not many international flights from there. We travelled light with just one roll aboard each, a backpack and our laptop. The flight from BCN to Moscow was full of Europeans, many of which were also headed to Thailand. The food on all legs was akin to prison food. The entrees were wrapped in foil and the contents were a mystery. The salad consisted of a piece of meat (not sure what kind of meat) and two wilted lettuce leaves. Then there was a piece of stale bread. That was the fare the whole way there and back. Although on the first leg we were given “one” cup of wine in a paper cup, but not a second and there was no other alcohol served on any of the flights.
We landed in Moscow and it was -8C and for some reason, we were met by stairs and busses to get to the terminal – brrrr, as we only had on our Spanish light weight jackets. Once inside there was the typical passport control. Long lines, but fairly organized. Only to find on the other side was a single room where all the lines poured into leading to one door with two security scanning devices. There were no queue guides to help form lines, it was a free for all, and there were all the languages of the world, asking the same thing, how we all are supposed to fit through there and the passport control lines kept sending more and more passengers. We were like sardines packed into the room. We were lucky as we had a three hour layover, but we would of used every minute had our next flight not been delayed. We finally made it through the security checkpoint and then started our one hour walk to the next terminal. On the surface, the airport looked fairly modern (my old US airports were LGA and JFK, so I had no place to complain) with lots of shopping and a glitzy interior. The next leg of our trip was over nine hours, so we got some sleeping tablets from our Farmacia in Spain. They advised us to take it 30 minutes prior to boarding so we would be awake and alert when we landed. We dutifully took our pills, boarded the flight and went promptly to sleep. Then we were awoken by a flight attendant, which I promptly said, “Are we in Phuket?” No she replied, we never left due to engine troubles and we have to disembark. We had been parked on the tarmac for about an hour and forty-five minutes. So again with the stairs and busses and -8C, we trucked back to the terminal. The gate personnel said to check back in two hours to get our new departure time. We were so out of it, but decided to find a place and grab a bite to eat. This is where we started to notice the real state of the airport. Shiny on the outside, shitty and old once you peel it back a bit. The bathrooms were old and many people had been smoking in them, so there was a fog when you went in. The restaurants all had different themed names, but carried the identical food, all of which was shrink wrapped and microwaved.
We returned to the gate after two hours and found out we were delayed another two to four hours. As a side note, there are hotel rooms in the airport within the international terminal, but because we kept getting delayed incrementally and it was an hour walk back to them, we did not get a room. Had we known we would be spending ten hours, we would have definitely gotten a room. At this point I can’t keep my eyes open, but Gary was worried about the bags, so he kept watch and I crashed for a few hours. Then finally we got on our flight and off to Phuket we went.
The return trip had its share of delays and the same crappy food, but was nowhere nearly as bad as the way out. And a shout out to all the Aeroflot staff, as they were kind, most spoke some English and they were as attentive as they could be with the limited amenities afforded to us.
Mai Khao - Coriacea Boutique Resort
Upon arrival in Phuket, luckily our trip to the first resort was a 15 minute cab ride. We changed some money in the airport to buy bhats, the Thai currency. $3.50USD is 100 bhats, which by the way is about what everything costs. We picked this resort, because it was close to the airport, right on the beach and would be close to Elephant Hills. We arrived and the staff could not be nicer and eager to serve. We had all our meals at the hotel as the chef is quite well known and the food was delicious and also included a breakfast buffet.
Our room was spacious, clean and well appointed. We did a long walk on the beach (sorry for the cliché) where I said to my husband, let’s head towards those shiny objects that look like planes (it was the airport, right at the end of our beach). The beach was clean and the water looked great (we opted to go back to the pool where they had loungers and cocktails). But in retrospect, I wish we had gone in, more about that later…
We also ventured out on bikes to pick up a few things we forgot to pack. The bike ride out was cool, came across a herd of water buffalos and really got to see the local culture. But on the ride back, Gary’s chain came off. Usually not a problem, but the chain compartment was covered and inaccessible. We started to walk our bikes back the five mile route, when we passed by some yellow tape used to cordon off an area on top of a trash bin. So we fashioned a tow rope, switched bikes, and Gary towed me the 2km back to the hotel. The only drawback or plus depending on your point of view, is that the resort is off the beaten path, so there were no walking options for bars or restaurants. To leave you would have to take a cab and unlike PaTong, there wasn’t a huge tourist area that we saw.
We stayed two nights in Mai Khao and were picked up early that morning and drove about 2 hours to Sok National Park where Elephant Hills is just outside. The ride was interesting as it was our first daytime ride. The roads are set-up with a scooter lane on the outside and in the main areas two to three lanes each way. But once we started heading inland, it went to narrow two way roads. Passing was the harrowing part, as our guy always liked to do it on a blind curve. And it was pretty much like that every other ride we took. The ride back from EH to PaTong was four hours…
Upon arrival we were met by our excellent tour guide Saow (pronounced Zaow). She explained our next excursion, meals and how to get to our tent. Our tent was glamping. It has a king sized bed, an oscillating standing fan, a place for your clothes and a huge bathroom with a walk-in shower. The only downside to the bathrooms, was you could not flush TP. You could use the hose next to the toilet and/or place the paper in a receptacle that was emptied on a regular basis. Our tent was on the outskirts of camp and our first night we heard this visceral growling just outside our tent. It was the equivalent to our Bob Cats and he howled most of the night. The tent is just canvas with screened in sides, not very reassuring, but he did not bother us again.
Our first trip was to meet the elephants. We took a short bus ride to the elephant area which is 60 acres next to the National Park. To help fund their feed and care, they bring them to a reception area where we were able to interact with them. I opted to care for an elephant they called Yay (grandmother) who is 74 years old. She worked most of her life in logging camps until 1998, when Thailand outlawed logging and made National Parks to preserve the land and trees. This made many elephants refugees, as they had never lived in the wild and would die if simply set free. Elephant Hills has about 15 female elephants they care for and again financed by the tourist visits. We first watched them as they roamed around the area, then as they played in the pool area (hole with water). Then, as small groups we each took an elephant to give them a skin treatment and bathe them. After that we prepared them special treats – pineapples, sugar cane, bananas, tamarind balls dipped in salt and wrapped in banana leaves. The average life expectancy for an elephant in the wild is 70 and my girl was 74. She had lost most of her teeth and because EH provides her a special diet she is still alive. She would have died in the wild. So I just fed Yay Pineapples and Bananas without any stems. I could have gone back every day and just took care of Yay, but we had other excursions planned to see the beautiful Sok National Park.
Our day two we took a speed boat ride down a river where there were mangroves. Our guide took us through the mangroves where we saw three deadly snakes and a group of monkeys playing alongside of our boat. It was very cool seeing the snake, except when the monkeys came out to play the boat guide kept maneuvering to get us a better view of the monkeys and one of the poisonous snakes was always overhead and made more never wrecking when the monkeys were jumping around the tree the snake was in. For lunch they took us to two old ships moored together in the middle of a lake where we had a great meal and went swimming off the back of the boats. We also did a kayaking adventure through the mangroves as couples. That water was full of snakes and I don’t know what else, so I kept having to remind my husband not to joke around and rock the kayak – yuk.
On our third day, we went to the heart of the National Park to a large lake. EH also has floating tents there, but we just stayed for lunch, swimming and kayaking for the day. The mountains were something out of King Kong when they went to Skull Island. The mountains were formed from volcanic eruptions under the sea that quickly cooled from the ocean water. They look like sheared rocks jutting up from the ocean floor (or lake floor where we were).
The fourth and final day was a hike through the jungle. It was the hottest and most humid day, so it took a toll. And I managed to slip and catch my hand on a rock and was bleeding. Not worried about the wound as I was about what might get into the wound. But our guide had her first aid kit and patched me up. I also leaned back on a plant that stung like a Jelly Fish for two days. There was a guide waiting for us who made us a jungle bbq with pork, curried chicken, rice, hot sauce and coconut water.
I would have really liked another day with Yay and would have gladly paid more to do so. But this was a special part of our trip and definitely a bucket list item. If you go to see elephants, make sure you research where you are going. We saw too many places that keep their elephants in chains and offer tourist rides during the day.
Patong Beach – Holiday Inn Resort
After going back to EH camp and showering we were off to our resort in Patong. Unfortunately we were the last ones to get dropped off, so was a 4.5 hour trip. We stopped a few times so not horrible. We got to the resort at dusk and checked in. We are both Priority Club Members with IHG, so this leg of the trips was primarily financed through points. When we checked in we were told we would upgrade rooms in a few days, but we could use the pool for IHG members right away. The pool was gorgeous, with elephants that would spout water every half hour and the pool was designed to look like a Thai garden. This is where we spend much of time.
The first night we decided to venture out. And not twenty feet past our resort entrance was the first of hundreds of “massage” parlors we saw with very young ladies scantily clad outside on plastic chairs playing on their iPhones waiting for the late night action to start. We started out walk down the main drag when a truck came up behind us with mixed martial fighters promoting their events. The streets were packed with scooter cabs, motorcycles, cabs and coach busses. If you weren’t passing a massage parlor, then it was a tourist souvenir shop, tailors who will make you suits for $20USD (hmmm), nail salons (I can’t even imagine putting my feet in a fish tank and the lack of cleanliness of their nails tools), restaurants, etc. We had a beer in a bar with a pool table where a sex worker was playing pool with her client. Then we found a restaurant that seemed to have locals eating there. The food was good, not great. Gary had spiny lobster and I had a spicy noodle and fish dish. We continued down the main drag and found a Beach Bar with good music and was packed. Had a few drinks and did a lot of people watching. I gave a mom who was selling roses with her toddler a few hundred baht in hopes she would go home with her baby and put her to bed. She at least left where we were sitting. The bar was fine and we went back a few more times.
The next day we decided to check out the beach. It was super crowded, but we made our way through the souvenir selling people to the beach. The water was brown and dirty looking (I read somewhere that there are biting bugs in the water), we took a pass. We walked around a bit and had lunch out, again nothing special. Decided to go back to our hotel and check out the pool, the spa and the on resort restaurants.
We lucked out with the restaurant, Sam’s Steakhouse. We ate there three times. All their meat is flown in from Australia and as we have mentioned good steaks are hard to find in Valencia so we feasted on steak and they had a great wine list too. Padook is the manager and took extra special care of us. If you do go to Patong, we can’t recommend this restaurant enough. Every dish was excellent and we are particular about giving out great reviews.
We did buy tickets to see the Lady Boy Show. Unfortunately for me, I had eaten something off property and a stomach problem was brewing. The show was just okay. The costumes were good, but the performers lip synched all the singing and most were not professional dancers and consistently fell out of time. We bought VIP tickets for $35USD each so not a huge expense. I don’t think it was worth seeing, but will post pictures for you to decide yourself.
The balance of the Patong trip was spend on resort, which was quite lovely. I used the spa for a facial and pedicure, about a two hour pampering session. The hotel had a display in the lobby of when the tsunami hit. They had not casualties (they are a 6 story building), but were out of commission for about two weeks to get one wing open and another month to get the whole resort back open. The devastation from the Tsunami could still be seen on many buildings as you could see the water line where it had flooded. There was also a population of Gypsy boat people that were virtually wiped out during the tsunami as they live 9 months of the year on the water.
All the staff were extremely courteous and helpful. My biggest suggestion is to always have ten 100 baht bills on you for tipping. Tipping is expected for everything and like I said the service was always good.
So overall, it was a good trip. A great trip if you just count Elephant Hills. I’m not sure if we would go back, but if we did, it would be to Chiang Mai to the north and I would spend more time at an elephant refugee center.
I will post more pictures in a separate post.
