Weekend Getaway in Phuket

Phuket, a lovely island on the South of Thailand, is one of the most popular resort destinations for those of us in HK who wants a cheap but luxurious weekend getaway.  One of the great thing about Phuket is the lovely resorts and great services offered by the local Thais. We stayed at the Anantara this time and they upgraded us to their Laguna Pool Villa. The hotel is lovely and all rooms have private pools. Although the pool is a bit small, it was great to have a private pool where you can enjoy a dip any time of the day. Food at the Anantara is quite good but expensive. So we ate out at the local Thai restaurants on most nights. If you want night life and shopping, Anantara is not the place for you. It's situated at Mai Khao (15 mins from the airport) which is far from all the happening places like Patong (1.5 hours from Patong).

We truly enjoyed our stay at the Anantara so if you are looking for a romantic and relaxing getaway, I would highly recommend it. We also tried their in villa BBQ. Not cheap (around HK$600/person) but was quite fun and food was good.

We were blessed with great weather during our stay and look at the lovely sunset....the colour of the sky is amazing ....

Chiangmai

Chiangmai is situated in northern Thailand and has lots of beautiful mountains, fields and waterfalls. I visited Chiangmai for 4 days and mainly to visit the Elephant Nature Park. The park is established by a very kind-hearted lady, Lek and has provided a sanctuary for over 34 distressed elephants from all over Thailand.  I signed up for a one day volunteer visit where I learned about reality of how elephants are (mis)treated in Asia (particularly Thailand) and spent a day with the elephants.  I have never been so up close and personal with elephants. After a day at the park, I absolutely fell in love with elephants. It was sad to learn that many places like Bangkok, force train elephants by poking their eyes and stabbing the elephants in order to force the elephants to do tricks. 

Unlike other elephant farms/parks, do not expect to see elephant shows or go on elephant rides but at the park. On the contrary, at the Elephant Nature Park, you can see the elephants roaming around freely and you get to feed and bathe them which was much more enjoyable than seeing elephants dancing in tutus.  

I highly recommend the Elephant Nature Park to any of you who plan to visit Chiangmai. It was a great experience and I will hope to go back one day.

Here are some pictures I took of those cute elephants...

We love to bath....

We are family...

Another highlight of our trip was the hotel. We stayed at the Veranda Chiangmai which is part of the Small Luxury Hotel Group. The hotel is very far from town but that was what we liked about it. It was very exclusive and service was great.

Our Room