Happy Honeymoon Clients - Thailand

Hi Debby!

Everything went smooth as silk -- flights were basically on time, they picked us up for tours, the tour were well run with guides that spoke excellent english ... we had a blast.

Phuket --

we picked Kata beach to be out of the hustle and bustle. It was still plenty busy with lots of stuff to do. We did not venture to Patong (supposedly the crazy area) so we cant compare. Had an excellent massage at Kata day Spa. Really liked Metadee Resort. We saw some of the other options while walking around and we were happy with our choice. The front desk was helpful, breakfast was plentiful with a lot of variety. It is not on the beach (which was fine with us - they have a shuttle) - but you'd want to warn your clients.

Phi Phi Island Tour - highly recommend. Take a speed boat to the islands. See viking cave, monkey beach, the beach from the movie "the beach"  have lunch on phi phi, snorkel, see bamboo island, swim in a lagoon. Really couldnt have made this trip any better.

Sea canoe -- defn recommend the lunch and dinner time cruise. you get to see some lagoons in daylight, you get to make an offering to the water spirits (really pretty), go in the caves at night and see the water light up (bioluminescence!). Food was great for lunch and dinner. Very well run. All the guides said it is way better to do afternoon cause the lagoons are really crowded in the AM.

Chiang mai - our favorite (and everyone else that Ive talked to's favorite)
Its hard to explain why its everyones favorite. its a slower pace, more in the countryside. no one is in a hurry. We only had a 3 days there and 2 were with the elephants. Night market was awesome - make sure all travelers are there for a sat or sunday night (we just got lucky!). The elephants were my favorite part and not just cause I got to ride elephants. The guide was great, by staying overnight you get to talk with him and really hear about life in Thailand. We also heard about the Burman's that handled the elephants and what their lives were like. They have a surprise camp fire, lantern release, made sticky rice, just went above and beyond to make it a wonderful experience beyond anything I expected. If ppl have time have them stay the night. 2nd day -- hiking to waterfall, rafting, seeing a Thai village -- packed day!

Joys house - great place. Feel like we didnt really get to know everyone cause we were in and out. They treat everyone like family. I would recommend it if ppl are up for a B&B type place.


Bangkok - its like a big new york city. 2 days was plenty for us

tiger temple -- very good cause I touched and walked tigers. They do NOT limit the AM breakfast tour to 12 ppl (would be soooo much better if they did). We prob had 40 ppl there. We felt pretty rushed -- they would drag you next to a tiger and then start snapping pictures. They had to cause they had to get everyone through but I just wanted to pet the tiger and sit with him for a sec ;) overall have everyone do the am tour. You have to drive 2.5 hrs to get there - might as well stay a few hrs. you get to see babies, play with teenage tigers and then see the handlers play with the big dudes.   I was hoping for more out of the tour because i thought it would be more intimate. From a vet perspective I think someone is going to get hurt one day. They promote it as a sanctuary, i think they do care for the tigers but not as more as the elephant folks cared for the elephants. Just felt rushed -- they need to limit the ppl and make it a little slower paced and more safe.

That's it for now -- trip of a lifetime -- thanks for all your help.