Phuket – Surin Beach

Welcome to paradise!

We stayed at Surin Beach in Phuket and it was simply amazing. Great beaches, delicious food and fantastic weather!The local fruit stall.Yummy vegetarian spring rolls.What better place for an afternoon nap.A lovely beachside bar.Early morning at Salt on Surin Beach.We stayed at Surintra Boutique Inn which was very nice.
A little bird having a bath.Before the crowds arrive for the day.Beautiful Surin Beach.A day on the beach under an umbrella – pure bliss.Job listing Thai style.

Chiang Mai

After the hectic vibe of Bangkok it was lovely to change when we arrived in Chiang Mai. We stayed at the wonderful Galare Guesthouse. With lovely gardens, big verandahs and a fantastic restaurant it was the perfect place to relax. It was lovely being able to sit in the garden by the river while eating at the great restaurant at our hotel.Cute little cafe in Chiang Mai.Beer truck!Minding the store…Chang in Chiang Mai.

We dedicated our stay in Chiang Mai to food!

On our way to our first cooking class with Thai Farm Cooking School.Safety first!Our lovely teacher 🙂Learning all about the rice varieties.Sweet eggplants.Coconut!Veges at the market.Chiang Mai cab.Delicious ingredients.Vegetable soup.Tasty noodle dish that I cooked.Chillies and my thai green curry paste.Another visit to the local markets.At the markets we spotted these pink eggs. Our cooking teacher explained that they’re duck eggs which are soaked in horse urine for 3 months until the inside turns black and jelly textured. Why you ask? Thai people believe eating these makes you live longer. I’m not sure I’d ever get through enough of it to get the benefits!Funny signs at our second cooking class.Trays of ingredients.Making our curry pastes.Penang curry paste.Massaman curry, fried rice and pad thai – YUM!We came away from the two cooking classes with some fantastic recipes! I can absolutely recommend Thai Farm Cooking School to anyone who visits Chiang Mai 🙂

Bangkok

Next stop – Thailand! When we arrived in Bangkok we were very eager to dig into some amazing Thai food and experience the renowned hustle and bustle of the Thai capital.Not sure how safe this is…Or this actually.Restaurant on wheels – go where the business is!Our hotel – Amber Boutique Silom.We caught the local boat along the river to visit one of the temples.I will never again say anything about the Brisbane River looking dirty!It was obviously high tide when we got off the boat as this lady’s little shop was well and truly flooded.Wat Pho.The giant golden Buddha is so impressive.It’s difficult to show in photos just how huge it is!Young monks at Wat Pho.Delicious grilled squid from a street vendor.The fruit stalls everywhere are great. Pomegranate juice and dragonfruit are my new favourites!
Typical Bangkok scene – busy, dirty, crazy and somehow endearing.The tiniest McDonald’s ever?We went searching far and wide for the best street food in Bangkok and were lucky enough to have an amazing street only 5 minutes walk from our hotel in Silom. We tried almost every place on the street at least once.Our fave street food vendor!Yummy seafood pad thai and chicken panang.
On Saturday we paid a visit to the famous Chatuchak Markets. It was insanely busy and already 40 degrees by about 9:30am so our shopping didn’t last that long. You simply can’t believe how big this market is unless you see it for yourself. It covers over 35 acres!There’s something for everyone at Chatuchak Markets! There’s food……and feather dusters……flowers and knives…
 …and a lovely cafe to escape from the heat!