jbr

hello..well its been nearly 3 months but finally got round to doing our jbr..flew out to our first thai holiday with singapore airlines on the 22 may this year..wow..this airline is the best longhaul flight we have done..the service was wonderful and the food was nothing like we have had on any flight..the inflight entertainment kept us both amused for the 12 hours we were on the plane..i even managed to get some sleep which is a first for me.( iam one of those fliers that think every time the plane makes the slighest dip or turns sharpley something terrible is about to happen..)..we had short transfere from singapore to phuket..i missed the drive to our hotel as soon as i got in the car i fell asleep and missed it all..we were staying at the horizon beach phuket..we werea bit nervouse about staying here as we had read some very mixed reviews on this place..check in was fast and smooth and we were taken to our room. stayed pool side on the ground floor..room was big clean and very nice..spent the next couple of days relaxing and getting over our jet lag..pool area was nice and the drinks and food were great with wide selection on offer..one thing i will say as this was the only thing that put a big dampner on our holiday..after a couple of days a large group of three familys arrived from oz..now we usually make friends pretty quick but it was made plain from day one that we were not welcome at this hotel..as one of the women so nicely put it..who the *';:* started letting the brits in..the next 10days were awful..from snide comments as we walked passed to silence and sniggering..one of the younger chaps hit a ball into us as we passed the pool with cheers and a ';good on ya jordan'; from the parents..anyway we just made sure we spent as little time in the hotel as poss..which turned out well because we met some wonderful people while we were in thailand..from all the people who go into scruffy murphys to the bar girls down bangla road..we had so much fun and had so many laughs we can honestly say this is the best holiday ever..we had booked to go on the elephant treking with richard we arranged this prior to leaving uk and it was booked about two months in advance..we checked our emails at singapore airport and richard had left a mobile number to call him on when we had settled in but when we emailed him from our hotel we never recieved anything back from him..did try ringing but no answer so we booked through a shop which was just outside the hotel..we went to pang pa waterfalls first then we where taken to a gibbon rehab(this was a proper rehab centre) we where not allowed near any of the gibbons and asked to keep as quiet as poss..next we set off to the elephants which were a short drive from the gibbons..i was very anxious about doing this as i am an animal lover and couldnt have coped if i saw any miss-treatment of any animal..we climbed up the tower and sat aboard this amazing animal..now i dont know why but as we set off on her i became so overwhelmed with this creature i actually creid a bit?? dont ask me why i cant explain it..now we did try to introduce ourselves to the manhoute..he wasnt in the slightest bit interested in me or paul which at first i thought was very rude but as our journey went on we witnessed the most amazing bond between these two...he never talked to us once but he never once stopped chattering to his elephant..he constantly stroked patted and even when he noticed a mosquito had biten it he gently lent forward and wipe the blood away and rubbed his salavai into it..he did get down to take our camera and take some photos for us..he briefly went out of the elephants site..well you should of heard the noise she made when she couldnt see him..he came back to her side and she trumped her trunk at him and then gently brought it down to rest on his shoulder..amazing..he never once raised the stick he carried or in anyway raised his voice..magical and i will never forget the bond between them..we gave him the biggest tip we gave anyone while we were there..拢1000.00 baht..lovely man..next few days we went shopping and bought loads..spent time relaxing on the beach and just having the best time ever..now before we left for thailand i had booked a surprise trip for paul..a days sailing with captain mark..now both paul and i agree this was the best day we spent..because paul didnt know anything about this we had a bit of a night out the night before and we woke up with the most amazing headaches..so when he found out we were going on a sailing boat for the day he did change a very funny colour..we were met by marks driver at our hotel..there was an other couple with us called joe and chrissy who are friends of marks and visiting him from ozz..what a lovely couple they were..with mark they made our day very special..we saw some wonderful sights and had a wonderful lunch on a secluded beach cooked fresh for us with prawns that where bought fresh from one of the local fishing boats..thankyou so much to mark and his crew you gave us some wonderful memories that will always be with us..you are a credit to thailand..we had booked to do the friday night bqq..we spoke to richard to confirm our booking but we got an email at our hotel to say it was cancelled..so we never got to do the friday night bbq either..all in all thailand is a wonderful place with wonderful people..shame that some people abuse that when they are over there and take advantage..cant wait to go back and see the people in the land of a thousand smiles..

jbr

Hi guys,

Thanks for your detailed report. Bit of a pity about the other hotel guests, we struck the same from other countries, not sure why people have to behave this way.

Lee

jbr

Hi there, nice report, certainly a shame about the feral Aussies though, but at least you didnt let them ruin your holiday.

Cathy

Hi there great report. I hope you don%26#39;t think all aussies are rude unfortunately it only takes a couple of obnoxious people to give all of us a bad name. It must have been wonderful to see the bond between the mahout and elephant at least you got some lovely memorys. Bez

Hello theakos,

That was a lovely report, I too am surprising my fiance Paul in two weeks from today with a sail with Capt. Mark I can hardly wait..Sorry to hear you did not make the BBQ that is what I myself am looking forward to. All in all it sound that you had a great trip with many cherishable memories.

Hello theakos

I was wondering what had happened to you, I ve been waiting for a long time for this report

Im sorry you had a rough time at the resort, Im a little surprised as i have been to many resorts in bali malaysia fiji and others and have never experienced what you have, and I hope I never will

Im glad it didnt stop you from having a great time.

What a wonderful experience you have had with the elephants

something to remember for a lifetime

Im going in 68 days Ive starting counting down now

cheers julie

Hiya THEAKOS

Great report. Can you remember the name of the trip you booked, was it all inclusive of the Waterfall, gibbon rehab and ele ride.

Hi There,

What a fantastic JBR!!!!

I am an Aussie and I am ashamed to think you were treated

so badley by my fellow Aussie%26#39;s!!!!

I know we can have a bad reputation overseas and we are not all like that.

Anyway it looks like you had a great time.

Thanks Lindy.

thanks for your replys..we had such a wonderful time in phuket i still look at the photos and wish i was back..its the first holiday that i really wish i could have stayed there..i usually start missing home after a week..we are both totally smitten..we did so much i could';nt write it all down..even had an other tattoo done while i was there as wanted a lastng reminder of my first trip,,,sweet talking our boss for some more time off to go back november time..i still have the leaflet we were given when we booked the elephant/waterfall trip so i will let you know who it was..

oh forgot to say about the people at the hotel..just so unfortunate they were that way..my partner paul has family in oz so we know that not everyone is like that..but you meet good and bad werever you go..some very rude brits where over there and the way that they spoke to the thai girls and people in the restaurants made us feel so ashamed...we met some wonderful people from all over and had so much fun in places like scruffy murphys and bangla road..

That%26#39;s terrible!

Hello Jane and Paul, if that happens again you are to tell me immediatley and I will go and punch the people concerned on their noses. Or have someone else do it for me. Or keel haul them or something. I clearly remember the day we had together, and what very, very nice people you are. I like you and Paul a lot. I am glad you don%26#39;t think we are all like that.

Anyway, rising above their miserable behaviour as you have done, apart from showing a nobility of spirit, would also have ensured you had a better holiday than the mean spirited guttersnipes. So you won, anyway. Ha!

I am glad that you remember us as well, even if the beginning of the day was a bit foggy for you. I still remember Joe%26#39;s performance in the bat cave when he was convinced that a bat had peed on him. What a sook.

I hope we see you again here sometime. All the best to both of you, I remember you as really special people.

Mark.