Going gaga for Yaiya

This has to be one of my most favourite places in Thailand! Yaiya Resort in Hua Hin. My friend, Kath and I, booked a one bedroom private villa, twin share.

AMAZING!

We had a beautiful roof top plunge pool and pavilion with day bed, bar, sun bed. A massive marble bath and walk in robe... It was incredible. The beds were comfy and had private netting (although it wasn't needed, ore for show) and the daily room service was spot on!

The owner of the hotel, personally greeted us, I even did some yoga classes with her. All the staff were amazing and friendly. They went out of their way to make sure our stay was amazing... I really mean that too. We may have had a small episode of too much sun ( OK we got fried when we went out on a day trip to an island...) the staff went out of their way to get us painkillers and after sun lotion as well as giving us a special aftersun day spa treatment. I couldn't fault the service - which is why Im heading back there next year with the rest of my family.

Hua Hin is a beautiful part of Thailand. Its not over populated with travellers and it has a really laid back vibe to it. I have been told it is where the Thai royals go to holiday - so there are a few upmarket hotels, just outside of town, but there are also cheaper options in town.

There is always a night market on with massive a mounts of food and trinkets to collect. The town is great to explore, I felt very safe and I found it very easy to get around!

Can't wait to go back next year!

 

Shanghai and magnetic levitation

3am wake ups aren't foreign to me. I do this on my normal Monday to Friday working week. Today, I got a 30min sleep-in, the struggling fight to wake up seemed easier. I put this down to the fact that I know in 5hrs I'll be boarding a plane, and not going to work. Don't get me wrong, I love my job and I love going to work...but I love vacation time more. I packed the night before so I just had the odd thing here and there to add to my very small rucksack. 

The flight left early, boarding the plane at just after 8:30. So naturally we thought that breakfast would be served (along with lunch and dinner), but as the hours clicked over and we got closer to our destination, it was evident we would have rumbling tummies until lunch.

The flight from Sydney to Shanghai is around 10 1/2 hours. It's not too bad of a flight, as far as flights go. Just enough time to churn through a few movies and a couple of TV episodes.

We arrived in Shanghai, happy to be off the plane and stretch our legs. Our friend who we were traveling with, Jarreth, was meeting with one of his friends who lived in Shanghai, Emma. This was perfect! After a long flight, we had someone who could point us in the right direction and translate our crucial first few hours.

We took the Maglev bullet train to the city centre (this is super fast - we clocked 301kmph and apparently this train will clock a max of 400-450 during peak transit hours.) There are cheaper options to get into the city centre - but this is fast and fun. Standard fare is 50RMB (about $8.50 AUD)  but if you present you boarding pass you can ride for 40RMB (about $6.50AUD).

Finding our hostel shouldn't be too hard, we were giving clear instructions at the time of booking... Well, it wasn't that hard...but we did go on small adventure - walking the wrong way down the street for a good 1km. Pointed in the right direction by a tuk tuk driving, we finally found the Blue Mountain Bund hostel.

It's a small hostel, but it is super clean. The rooms are a decent size (we were in a 4 room dorm) and the price is reasonable. For 3 nights 2pax we paid 351RMB (that's about $10AUD per night per person!) not bad!!!

I'm am quickly learning that my Aussie 'she'll be right' attitude to finding vegetarian food I can eat is just silly... Well at 10pm at night it is anyway. On a chipper note, the street food looks amazing. So many different meats on offer all served on convenient sticks - the ultimate fast food!