A Week in Bangkok - Part 4 - The End

Technically speaking, our week in Bangkok was not all spent in Bangkok. We spent 3 days (2 nights) in Cha Am Beach, a quiet beach about 2.5 hours from Bangkok. Renting a car through the hotel would have costed us 2.500 Baht so we decided to go by a taxi who quoted us 1,800 Baht. The taxi driver offered to make a stop at a floating market, which he said was on the way to Cha Am. So we agreed to it. It turned out that we had to go off our route for about 20 minutes to get to a place where we were supposed to rent a boat for a ridiculous price of 1,000 baht. What a rip off and a waste of time! We said no to the boat and told our driver we wanted to continue straight away to Cha Am. I am pretty sure that the taxi driver was hoping for a cut of that boat rental. Well too bad for him. I was unhappy! We finally arrived at Cha Am beach and we went straight to Cher Resort I already booked through Agoda.

The resort was small but nice and clean, with a pool and restaurant right by the beach. They had a shuttle to take the customers to the main road, which makes it easier to get around, though there weren't many things to see in Cha Am. We had a room on the 4th floor with beach view, which was nice, but they didn't have any elevator at the resort. Very close to this resort, there was Novotel Cha Am that used to be Courtyard Marriott Cha Am. In retrospect, the Novotel would have been a better choice for families with small children, simply because they have a larger pool and more facilities for children.

At the restaurant at Cher Resort

At the restaurant at Cher Resort

View from the restaurant

Calamari

Spaghetti 

Fun at the pool

Reflection

Since our booking didn't include breakfast, we went out in search for a breakfast place the next morning. Several were recommended by people whom DH met the night before. Sadly, because it was low season for the beach, they were all closed! We ended up going to Novotel for breakfast. DH and Miss Kiki had sandwiches, and I decided to try out the Thai boiled rice (porridge) with pork meatballs. The porridge was actually really good, but in Indonesia or in Chinese cuisine, that would not really qualify as a porridge. I would describe it as rice in soup. The broth was tasty, and they served it with ginger slices, green onions, and chili. Yum yum.....

In front of Cher Resort

Novotel Swimming Pool

At Novotel

Cafe at Novotel

After breakfast

Kids World Novotel

Kids World Novotel

Beach at Novotel

Novotel

Cha Am Beach

After breakfast and a little bit of time spent at Kids World Novotel, we headed to The Village Massage, next to The Village Bar. The owners are husband and wife that DH got acquainted to the night before. They spoke English well and are very nice and friendly. If you are ever in Cha Am, we would highly recommend you to make a stop there. The Village Bar has very well priced beer, and very good Special Coffee. I had one that was coffee with Jamieson and Kahlua with a dollop of whipped cream on top. Massage was great, and here is the lady owner entertaining Miss Kiki with foot massage and nail polish. They have a son about the same age as Miss Kiki and they played well together even though they didn't really speak each other's languages. They joy of being kids....

At The Village Massage

Jenga with the bar owner

Motor bike ride with the bar owner

Beware... On the other side of the Village Bar there was a restaurant and bar called GOLD, I think. They sold delicious shrimp cakes for 100 Baht per portion. We had some the night before for take out, and we wanted some more. So we decided to have dinner there. When we got our bill, some 200 Baht extra appeared in the total out of nowhere! The dishes we ordered were listed with the proper prices and what was supposed to be just over 500 Baht suddenly became 790 Baht! They thought I wouldn't notice that, huh. Well what did I get a math degree for if I couldn't calculate a simple bill! Grrrr.......
She did apologize that evening saying that it was an honest mistake, and I gave her the benefit of the doubt and ordered 2 portions of shrimp cakes the next day. Then she came with the cakes and said the prices went up and they are now 140 Baht each. Oh I was so very tempted to just send it back! But I gave her 260 Baht and told her I am not giving her more than that. Bah!

Strange fruit by the road

Marching Band

Procession

Going back to Bangkok, we didn't use the same taxi driver even though he offered. I was still not too happy about the floating market. We got a taxi from Cha Am through The Village Bar owner and the driver was nice enough to match the other taxi driver's price. The trip back was very smooth, in a much nicer vehicle, so in the end, we gave this driver his asking price rather than what we agreed upon. We felt that it was well worth it! 

We had one more night in Bangkok and I had booked the Courtyard Marriott Bangkok. It was a nicer hotel than the Park Plaza Hotel, but we were happy with both. The Courtyard was walking distance from the Central World shopping centre as well as the Platinum wholesale fashion mall. So we went there and bought a few things.

Note to self: 

• Good quality kids dresses: Golden Baby on the 5th floor, Soi Orchard 9, Room 1259/2, Platinum
• Silk and souvenirs: Sudjai Thaisilk, 3rd floor, Soi 12 Nathan, No. 697, Platinum

Hello Kitty Donut

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I am impressed DH bought these matching T-Shirts himself.

Papa also likes to match....

Last day in Thailand, with the Hotel tuk tuk

At Central World

At Central World

Bangkok trip was fun, but too many people on the street and at the stores pay no respect to personal space or privacy or whatever it is called. They kept touching, pinching, and calling Miss Kiki left and right. Who knows where their hands had been?! Lesson learnt: we shall travel more of south east asia when Miss Kiki is older.

At the Airport

Waiting and waiting

So long, Bangkok! Until we meet again....