An Independent Trip To Northern Thailand & Vietnam, Part Nineteen: A Final Full Day & Then Part Of A Day At The Rayavadee In Phra Nang, Before Returning Home, 31 March & 1 April 1996

Believe it or not, the above picture shows the Rayavadee jacuzzi

Finished watching Indochine – pool – canoed round rocks fun – swam a bit – had better Beach Bar lunch – swam/sunbathed/siesta/swam

I finished Brownout [On Breadfruit Boulevard] – had sauna/Jacuzzi/massage…

Prasert explains the barbeque sauces etc. to us

…private barbecue in evening.

I think I had the measure of it. That barbeque was an absolute highlight for us. I remember a Scottish head chef who had looked after us well there, coming down to supervise Prasert and make sure it was all really well arranged for us. Perhaps he did that for all the guests. Still a highlight for us.

I watched Trading Places (Janie mysteriously watched highlights)

Partly the film didn’t please her, partly the exertions of the previous day got to Janie, I suspect.

1 April 1996

Snorkelled Phra Nang beach rocks – swam & sunbathed.

We wanted to enjoy every last minute of that place. In future years, we would probably not have done the “swimming until the last minute” thing as it is so difficult to transport wet cossies all the way home!

I made no notes about the journey home; I suspect it was relatively problem free and therefore not note-worthy. Certainly not memorable…in a good way.

It had been a fabulous journey all in all.

All the photos from the part of the journey that featured Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam & then Thai resorts can be found through the Flickr link here or below.

=01 24 March 1996 - Saigon River from Floating Hotel at dusk 061

An Independent Trip To Northern Thailand & Vietnam, Part Eighteen: Dangerous Hiking & Relaxation In Phra Nang, 30 March 1996

I can safely say that Janie took this picture on the dangerous hike

Went to pool early – set off on trek – Janie completed/Ian gave up

We both did this early part of the trek. Then I took one look at the required hiking in the heat and gave up, while Janie went on with some sweet and friendly Thai Air folk who were staying
Janie made it down into the lagoon despite the heat. If you think she looks red in the face in the picture, you should have seen her when she got back to the pool with those kindly Thai Air staff, who had helped her to complete the hike “safely”.
Before returning to poolside, Janie took this shot from a high point of the hike

Janie returned to pool – noodle lunch – siesta watching Last Tango In Paris – returned to pool – quick aborted snorkel at Railay and then Thai starter dinner at Thai Restaurant, then watched most of Indochine.

A few memories to accompany this. Janie realised she had bitten off more than she could chew with that lagoon hike and was most grateful to the Thai hikers who kept an eye on her and helped her out.

I recall that the afternoon sun was simply too hot for us both, pretty much every day, so we needed to siesta every afternoon and chose to watch the odd movie from what seemed to be an excellent video library, not least with films like Indochine, which helped to reinforce what we had just seen on our touring. Interesting choice of movie there in Last Tango. Neither of us had seen it before so we thought we’d give it a go. I suspect that Janie had seen enough steamy hot scenes for one day exploring that lagoon so probably now claims to remember little of it.

We loved the little villa we called our own for those few days at Rayavadee. They also had an excellent collection of CDs and I recall listening a lot to several there which I subsequently bought, including a Best Of Van Morrison. Funny what sticks in the mind.

All the photos from the part of the journey that featured Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam & then Thai resorts can be found through the Flickr link here or below.

=01 24 March 1996 - Saigon River from Floating Hotel at dusk 061

An Independent Trip To Northern Thailand & Vietnam, Part Seventeen: Chicken Island, Poda Island & Relaxation In Phra Nang, 29 March 1996

Why do they call in Chicken Island?

On our way to the islands

Went to Chicken Island/Poda Island snorkelling – superb morning trip.

Snorkelling with the fishes
Feeding the fishes by Poda Island
Beautiful vistas on return boat trip

Had sandwich lunch at Beach Bar – watched Indecent Proposal over siesta, played briefly with canoes, had seafood meal at the Thai/Seafood Restaurant and early night.

(I finished The Professor of Desire)

All the photos from the part of the journey that featured Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam & then Thai resorts can be found through the Flickr link here or below.

=01 24 March 1996 - Saigon River from Floating Hotel at dusk 061

An Independent Trip To Northern Thailand & Vietnam, Part Sixteen: Princess Cave & Relaxation In Phra Nang, 28 March 1996

Entering Princess Cave (Above). Nam Mao Beach on the way (below)

Latish up – went to see Princess Cave…

Inner Princess Cave

…had a light lunch of noodles and rice (aborted lunch at beach restaurant) – after swam – played with snorkles – had sauna, jacuzzi and massage.

Then got lazy, ate in from private dining and watched An Autumn’s Tale on video.

All the photos from the part of the journey that featured Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam & then Thai resorts can be found through the Flickr link here or below.

=01 24 March 1996 - Saigon River from Floating Hotel at dusk 061

An Independent Trip To Northern Thailand & Vietnam, Part Fifteen: From Phuket To Phra Nang, Thailand, 27 March 1996

Arriving at the Dusit Rayavadee in Phra Nang, near Krabi.

Early up and walked around [Phuket Laguna] resort.

Transfer to Phra Nang – Dusit Rayavadee.

Settled in, got bearings, swam, ate noodles, swam…

Sunset on Railay Beach

Ate in main restaurant and watched The Lover.

All the photos from the part of the journey that featured Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam & then Thai resorts can be found through the Flickr link here or below.

=01 24 March 1996 - Saigon River from Floating Hotel at dusk 061