I am writing this “officially” as Mrs Carlson!
I can’t wait to share our special day with you. It was everything I imagined it to be and more! It really was the happiest day of my life! I felt and still feel like the luckiest girl in the world to marry Jake! The day was just perfect! So much to share with you all…the first being our amazing honeymoon trip to Thailand!
I cannot express how happy I am that we decided to go on a long honeymoon immediately after the wedding. Thailand was incredible. A few friends of ours have been to Thailand and it’s somewhere we have always wanted to go. Everyone made suggestions on where to stay and what to eat so it was great to get the low down before we went. We went for 12 glorious days, we split the trip into three portions. Two nights in Bangkok, four nights in Chiang Mai and then five nights in Phuket. What we loved so much about our trip is that the destinations we went to felt like three completely different vacations. The landscape, food, culture and activities were totally unique to the three places we visited. It felt like such a bargain getting three very different holidays in one vacation! The whole experience was out of this world! I would highly recommend Thailand if you are looking for a vacation/honeymoon that is both adventurous and relaxing.
First stop Bangkok! We arrived at the hotel and after a quick bite to eat we then caught up on some much needed sleep. We woke up to a glorious morning, went for a yummy breakie and a quick swim, we were ready to do the one thing we had planned to do in Bangkok and that was SHOP! And boy did we shop!...so many shops and stalls and lots of labels that I hadn’t seen since our O.E. in Europe. I was like a little kid in a candy shop! Everything was so much cheaper than New Zealand. We shopped until our feet hurt. Believe it or not, Jake brought more than me!
You can’t go to Bangkok without doing one of the roof top restaurants or bars. Veritgo is nested on top of the Banyan Tree Hotel. It over looks every other skyscraper in Thailand. It was a very romantic dinner with my hubby!
Next stop was Chiang Mai! Northern Thailand is beautiful and the people are just so lovely. We stayed at the The Imperial Mae Ping Hotel as soon as we arrived we were greeted with a welcome drink, a refreshment towel and our stay also included a big buffet breakfast. We spent most of our mornings out exploring and then in the afternoon would retreat back to this pool for some relaxation.
We went off adventuring but not before catching a traditional Tuk Tuk!
We found this adorable tea house and garden which made the perfect spot for our first lunch in Chiang Mai.
Our hotel was really close to the night markets, "Night Bazaar”. The colours and atmosphere were tantilising with rows and rows of brightly coloured lights strung together lighting up the night market stalls. I really got into the bartering and brought a few souvenirs. There were lots of food stalls and we found one particular one that did the best pad thai I have ever tasted! Once we were full and shopped out we parked up on one of the foot massage stalls where we were pampered and people watched.
Chiang Mai is full of hundreds of Temples. The Wat Chedi Luang temple is beautiful and very historic and is worth visiting. Built about 600 years ago, this temple once housed the precious Emerald Buddha. My favorite part was "Monk Chat" where you can sit with monks and ask them anything. Very interesting!
Jake being the “master chef” was keen to do a Thai cooking class! Even though I am not the keenest chef myself, I loved the class and really got into it. We went to Yui’s (celebrity chef) cooking school called “A Lot Of Thai”. You may have seen her on the food channel. Yui opened up “A Lot of Thai” with her family over 10 years ago. Not only does Yui cook up some insanely good Thai food, but she was very informative about the history and cultural significance of the dishes. Yui was also extremely funny and a fantastic teacher! I loved her personality! We cooked a total of six different meals and they were all delicious! I'm looking forward to having a few dinner parties and trying out the dishes on friends and family!
Yui also took us down to the local markets. It was so interesting. Thai people eat a lot of different food…like grasshoppers and 100 day old eggs! Unfortunately I did not try any of this cuisine....
After cooking we went back to the hotel and spent the afternoon relaxing by the pool.
Phuket!! Aaahhhh bliss! Our resort was amazing, we stayed at Merlin Resort. Our room was overlooking one of the three pools they had there! When we entered our room we were surprised to find our bed had been decorated and a bath full of petals and a bottle of champagne too!
The pool had a bar in the middle of it so you could swim up and get a cold drink or order some food. Our resort also had it’s own private beach so there was no need to go down to the over crowed beaches.
We had the full honeymoon package so we got a four hour spa and also a candle lit dinner on the waterfront. Very romantic! There actually wasn't any need for us to leave the resort....
But Phuket would not be complete without a trip to Phi Phi Island! We joined a tour and visited Maya Bay where the movie "The Beach” was filmed. This was a very touristy destination and was very crowded. After “Nemo” snorkeling at Phi Phi Don Island, we had a lunch buffet before heading to Monkey Island. Finally we headed to Bamboo Island for some sunbathing and swimming. This was such a fantastic tour and a must do!
We also spent an evening at Fantasea it's a cultural theme park. Which is a must do in Phuket!
To sum up our Thailand trip in three words I'd say: Best holiday EVER! Or...if I wanted to be all fancy about it I'd say: Luxurious, Tropical and Paradise. I also I haven't even shared all of our trip yet! Keep an eye out for our trip to Patara Elepant Farm coming to the blog soon!
