Cindy and Mark's Visit: Bangkok, Phuket, Koh Phi Phi, and KL

Cindy and Mark were arriving from Canada – seemed like so long ago when Cindy and I had first talked about her coming for a 3 week visit and now here it was, mid-March already! They arrived tired, very white, and happy after their 22 hour flight from Toronto.

Ian and I ushered them off to the hotel for hopefully a good night’s rest and we spent the next few days showing them a wee bit of Bangkok: the market, Grand Palace, Wat Arun and Wat Pho. Here’s me umbrella in hand and borrowed sarong  ready to walk the palace grounds in the hot sun.

 We did the dinner cruise with Shangra-La again, only this time the water was low enough for the boat to journey past the Grand Palace.

Here’s Mark, Ian and I full and happy after our super meal on board.

March 25^th we headed off to Phuket – a popular tourist spot known for its clean beaches, hot weather and great diving off the Andaman coast. Cindy got us a great deal with Marriot in a two bedroom condo complete with living space and kitchen. Ian and I felt like we were in heaven having a table, chairs and couch and kitchen!  It was the closest thing to a house we’d been in since the place we’d stayed in October in Bangkok.

The weather was hot so it wasn’t long before we headed to the pool with a stop at the dive shop. Cindy and Mark signed up for a scuba diving course the next day. This could be extended to an open water certification which Cindy was determined to complete while on this trip.  Later that evening a shuttle took us to a tiny market where we bought some food and Ian and I grabbed a meal at the pub.

The next day, while Cindy and Mark did their course, Ian and I lounged by the pool.  All the sun beds were at the pool to preserve the beach for the turtles so it was pretty well deserted by the ocean. The resort owned two small elephants that looked very well cared for and they went strolling by a couple of times before going down to the beach for a bath.

 The days were very lazy for Ian and I but not for Cindy and Mark who had to study and practise their scuba skills in the pool.  After a few days, we headed to Koh Phi Phi, a tiny island that is absolutely gorgeous with white sand and the clearest blue water ever. After an hour ride on road, we boarded a tiny fast boat that got us to the island in about an hour and a half –

The resort was quite secluded and they treated us like royalty.  A staff member greeted us with a hose to wash the sand off our feet! Nice.

The usual cool cloths and welcome drinks were offered (yummy!). Best yet was the free upgrade to a pool villa! This would free up two bungalows for the resort while giving us one villa. We happily agreed to that arrangement and were soon taken in a golf cart to our two story private villa in the hills. It was gorgeous!

Ian and I took the spacious top floor with lovely bedroom while Mark and Cindy took the bottom with a walk out to the pool.

The pool was fantastic – refreshing, large, and deep.

The villa included internet and breakfast that was delivered in the morning off of an extensive menu where we could order as much as we wanted. The food arrived hot. There was a lovely porch with swinging couch and ceiling fan where we could sit and chill OR we could have a bath in the outdoor cement tub.

The villa compound was walled with a wooden door. Ian and I went to leave for dinner only to discover we had been accidently locked in! Just as Ian was about to climb the fence, some Brits happened by. We called to them and asked if they could let us out which they did oblige.

We felt absolutely spoiled staying there – golf carts and drivers were available to drive us anywhere we needed and turn down service came every night with fresh towels and a home-made snack.  Cindy looked up the villas online and we were shocked to discover they went for over 1000 dollars a night. They were not perfect mind you – Cindy found a spider as big as her thumb in the shower but the sound of the Gibbon monkeys every morning and evening more than made up for a few insects.

Our first order of business was to arrange diving. Cindy and Mark had to do their dives with Sea Bees located at the Holiday Inn a short boat ride away, whereas Ian and I chose to dive with the resort. It certainly wasn’t the cheapest diving but it was splendid.  We suited up in the morning and watched as the truck with all the equipment on it drove onto the sand left bare from the low tides.

Divers followed suit – first on the truck, then into a smaller boat before stepping carefully into the larger dive boat. We were only doing two dives with a lunch on the boat. I cannot remember exactly how long it took to get to our first dive spot but the areas we dove in vaguely resembled Halong Bay, only on a much smaller scale. Large rock islands towered over us as we dove. It was quite brilliant.

The dives went well – a little shorter than we would have liked since we dove with an air hog (someone who goes through their air a bit fast) – but overall, they were highly enjoyable. Maximum depth ranged from 18 to 19.5 metres with an average of 11 to 12 m. Visibility was 7 to 10 metres.

We saw quite a few Hawkbill turtles,  porcupine, boxer, and trumpet fish, leopard shark, blue spotted rays, and schools of snappers.

Lunch was yummy with chicken rice and the company good as we made friends with our dive companions.  It was fantastic not having to clean the equipment on our return at 2:30 and Ian and I hurried off to our villa for a dip in the pool and a report from Cindy and Mark on their own dives.

Dinner was the buffet down at the beach and it was lovely with fresh sushi, pasta, breads and cheese, etc. Next day was sadly our departure day but we were headed back to Phuket to say good bye to Mark and squeeze in another day of diving with Cindy who was completing her open water course.

I can honestly say, I’ve never been on such a fancy dive boat before. It was huge with the bottom level housing the gear, washrooms, two showers, and kitchen. On the second floor there were cubbies for your stuff, sitting area, and a bathroom that actually flushed! Upstairs there was a bar, tables and chairs and a hot buffet breakfast and lunch. Towels were even provided – what a luxury!  Cindy would be diving with her instructor while Ian and I had one other person joining our group.

The dive was great – we saw moray eels right out of the coral and a huge stone fish. At the artificial reef we saw baby puffers, mantis shrimp, school of barracuda, flounder, lion fish, etc. 

We soon said good bye to the beach and once again boarded Air Asia for a quick visit to Kuala Lumpur. We landed at the Low Cost Carrier Terminal, took a shuttle bus to the larger international airport and then onto the train into town.

We stayed at the Renaissance a 5 minute walk from the Petronas Towers which I have to say, looked brilliant when lit up at night.

The next day we went to hear the Philharmonic Symphony play Oscar favourites and we disappointed that it wasn’t just the orchestra playing but a lounge singer 'entertained' as well. A couple songs would have been okay but he did too many and soon grew tiresome. They played theme songs from Jaws and Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon and those were my favourite. It was fascinating watching them play Jaws – having heard that song so many times, I had no idea how hard it was to play.

Speaking of Jaws, no visit to KL is complete without a trip to the aquarium so off we went to see the fishes – it’s amazing how these piranhas look like animatronics –

They had a petting tank where we got to pet a small shark and hold a starfish . Here’s Cindy trying to get a shot of the tuna in the larger aquarium–

That afternoon, Ian took Cindy to Batu caves while I stayed in and did some research – booking flights etc. Ian and I had visited Batu caves on arrival so long ago and had been overwhelmed by the people And the monkeys. This time, Cindy was lucky to have the place almost to herself.

 Macaques were about as usual and Cindy got this great shot - .

On our final evening  we strolled along Butik Bintang, a popular shopping area in the city. In front of the large mall there is a gorgeous water fountain that changes colour -

After a wonderful meal of tapas and sangria, we visited a fish spa where Cindy had her feet cleaned by fish. This spa was more upscale than the one Ian had used in Cambodia – here you started small with tiny fish and then progressed to larger ones – and I mean large! I couldn’t even imagine having my feet nibbled on by some of these fellows!

 The trip was short but enough to give Cindy a taste of the city – since Ian and I had such a great time in Chiang Mai, we decided that should be our next destination.