Day 11 - Thailand - Koh Samui


To be honest, I may as well have been in Outer Mongolia today. The weather has been superb outside and I have been stuck in my suite glued to my laptop! There is just so much to do in the next few weeks and I needed a day of emails, photograph maintenance, proposals, planning ... 


I am in an enormous, impressive and FABULOUS two-bedroom suite here at the Four Seasons Koh Samui. I have two swimming pools - both overlooking the Gulf of Thailand ... the main one being so inviting that I HAD to dive in fully clothed! It was calling me ...


There are two bedroom villas with pools and a main villa with dining & lounging facilities.


Last night the Moon was spectacular ...


Anyway, I have had enough of being cooped up - I am off to the beach for dinner ... 


It's the weekend - enjoy my friends ... wish YOU were here!

 Ha! Happy Me in the Pool

 The main villa ... my fabulous butler - Ford - is in there somewhere!

 My view ... tough! 

 The Moon ... 

James sent me this ... a photo from 2010... me & Yuki ... she is JUST so gorgeous! Also John Roberts - The Director of Elephants for the Four Seasons! Ha!

Day 10 - Thailand - Koh Samui


So we are on our final leg of the "Tour of Thailand".


We are here on the tourist island of Koh Samui.


The flight from Chiang Mai to Samui passed incident-free ... in fact the only thing worth mentioning is that Bangkok Air is actually rather good - punctual and polite ...


We arrived at the cute little airport and were met by little ticky-tour buses that ferried us to the terminal and then it was just a 25-minute drive to the Four Seasons Koh Samui.


Erm - I am in a rather nice suite ... will show photos and describe tomorrow. For now ... some sleep or a swim in one of my two swimming pools!

 My new home - Koh Samui - white sandy beach, turquoise sea and blue sky! Fabulous!

 I know - why? But I thought the fish tank above the No. 1 was fun! (Samui Airport)

 Erm!

Really?

Day 9 - Thailand - Chiang Mai


On the 29th March 2009, I was filming in Singapore:


After being beaten into a sweaty frenzy by the club pro (tennis), I headed up to the 20th floor of the hotel for a quick neck and head massage from Sumittra - one of the sweetest people you will ever meet. She is here for a few months from the Chiang Mai property in Thailand. She is small and shy BUT she has the power of 12 rampaging elephants. She removed the knots in my shoulders in just minutes and I feel relaxed now!

This morning I visited the enormous Spa here and enjoyed a thoroughly wonderful 90-minute massage - arguably the most soothing & effective massage of my life! Ahhhh ... I am still chilled out from it ...


What was wonderful was that Sumittra remembered who I was. So, elephants, water buffalo AND massage therapists have long term memories. Good news.


While the boys were out filming today, I have been doing loads of work! I am now ahead of the curve.


Tonight we celebrated a birthday and the evening culminated in the release of lanterns ... it was just such a lovely way to end the day ... and indeed the end to our stay here in Chiang Mai. Tomorrow we are off to Koh Samui ...


If you ever get the chance to release lanterns into a beautiful sky - do it - it's just so ... thought provoking ... hmmmm ... ahhhh ... 

In front of the rice paddy fields ... and lake ...

The lantern is lit

Into the sky ... with a couple of wishes ...

Tim at work

Day 8 - Thailand - Chiang Mai


I take complaints seriously ... and yesterday I was accused of posting too many gratuitous photographs of gorgeous, sweet, delightful, dreamy and beautiful elephants ... so today I have - sadly - dispensed with any elephants photos and have instead moved on to ... water buffalo!


Here at the Four Seasons Chiang Mai (opened in 1995 and set of 32 acres of land) there are rice paddy fields ... and two resident water buffalo - Tone and Tong ...


Now, you cannot "mount" (thank you Charles) a water buffalo but cuddling is allowed ... and I did get to cuddle both my old friends.


The property has just 98 guestrooms, suites and residences ... spa, swimming pools, gym ... cooking school ... and of course restaurants. I learnt how to prepare two tasty authentic Thai dishes with the Executive Chef Rewat Srilachi ... one fishy (sturgeon) and one chicken ... 


The cooking class was held overlooking the paddy fields. The resort does not "produce" rice, just grows it and offers guests the chance to learn all things rice and pick the stuff themselves.


The two buffalo - one pink (who does get sunburn) and one brown ... are delightful creatures ... VERY, VERY clean & looked after and are delightfully friendly. One licked my leg ... it was weird but apparently the sign of affection.


For those who don't believe that buffalo have long memories - well - they do. And both Tone and Tong remembered me from two years ago ...


In the afternoon, I was given a tour of Chiang Mai by lovely Nicola. It's the largest city in northern Thailand and once capital of the Lanna Kingdom. The centre piece is the "Old City" which is surrounded by a moat. We had foot massages as well as looking at old historic temples and buildings ...  Actually the massage parlour has a story ... all the (female) therapists were once criminals in jail ... who got trained in massage while incarcerated and now have jobs in this special spa! I HATE my feet being touched ... but I endured the torture (I giggled a lot) and now have smooth and soft feet to show for it!


Fabulous day ... still missing those elephants though ... :)


Tonight is the last episode of Inside Luxury Travel Series 5 - airing in Europe ... It's the "look back" show ... hosted from the (new) Hotel Bel-Air in Los Angeles ... ahhhh ... anyway - new series starts filming ... in 2 weeks! Yippeeeee!

With Tong .... gorgeous!

Chef and I create by the lake and paddy fields ... 

That's around FOUR British Pounds - SIX US Dollars!

I am not happy one bit!

But my feet are!

Nicola enjoying her foot rub!

Day 7 - Thailand - Chiang Mai


Greetings from Chiang Mai!


I am not an particularly emotional fellow but I have to admit to a quiet tear as I left The Tented Camp to come here. 


We were all up early again this morning for an early gallump ... and bath with the elephants.


I was sitting atop Yuki by 7 am ... and we first wandered through the jungle stopping only for breakfast ... well, she did! I just sat and watched as she munched through pounds of lush grass. We then ambled towards the Mekong River and before I knew it, I was in there ... the water was cold but in the end ... I didn't care.


We packed and left ... after saying a genuinely sad farewell to Yoni & Brigitte and the staff of the Tented Camp - surely one of the nicest bunch of people ever assembled in one place. I was at the camp in 2012 ... and thought then it was one of the most amazing travel experiences on earth ... this visit just enhanced that ...


Some think that elephants don't remember repeat guests ... but I am 100% sure they do (no arguments there) ... Yuki has certainly a place in my heart ... and one day I will be back to see her again. The old wives tale that elephants have long memories is true - by the way! An elephant told me ... !


The drive from Chiang Rai to Mai is 4 hours ... there is a light aircraft flight but we have too much equipment ... I was last here 2 years ago as well but I am now staying in a new suite with my own pool - how I wish all my friends & family were here. I suppose Tim and Nicola are here so that's a plus ...


Bed now - filming tomorrow ...

Our Morning Bath!

Tim films the day's events ...

Day 6 - Thailand - Chiang Rai


Sadly my last full day here at The Tented Camp.


Did not sleep well ... it was quite chilly last night and although I had a hot-water bottle, my feet refused to warm up! Grrrrr!


Up for 0600 as a herd of elephants needed to be fed!


As the mist rose, 10 elephants of all ages ... adults to babies wandered up to a breakfast station to gorge on every kind of fruit and vegetable available. These lovely animals must eat 10% of the body weight every day ... and if you have the mass of around 1 TON, that's a lot of food!


Of course, I spent much time riding Yuki ...


Basic commands to an elephant (if you happen to meet one on Madison, Oxford Street or the Champs d'Elysees!):


Go forward - pai, turn - baen, stop - how, go backward - soak, to get on (lift leg) - song soong, to get off (leg lift) - hub soong, lower head - tag long, sit - map long, stand up - look, trunk up - bon soong, slow down (!) - goy and finally drink - bong!


After this we headed down to meet the Chef of the Camp, Chef Pisan ... who showed me how to make a soup and a Thai curry - which cooked in bamboo stems on an open fire. Yum.


The boys headed to Laos for the afternoon while I sat miserably in my tent - working! Actually, I am in heaven - how can I be miserable? Ha!


Tomorrow - Chiang Mai ...

 I was kissed by an elephant and I liked it ... Aam ... 

 Tea for one ... with added baby elephant ...

 Little piglet!

 My sweet Yuki

 With mate John Roberts - Director of Elephants - awesome job title

 Chef Pisan cooks - I goof!

The guys (sans moi) in Laos

Day 5 - Thailand - Chiang Rai


There is something quite lovely about waking up in a tent. My first real luxury tent experience (glamping) was in Marrakesh, Morocco ... where I lived in this amazing canvas-covered suite complete with birdcage circular bath ... and a dictator-sized bed. The problem was that there was no view ...


This morning was just stunning. Due to the paddy-field fires (mostly in Myanmar), until around 7.30 am, there was a thick haze through the trees below my tent (as far as the eye could see) ... through the jungle ... fighting with the sunshine to dominate the landscape.


So - the boys - as ever - have been awesome - filming away with ... elephants ... and after a fabulous massage ... (yes, another one) ... I went to visit my favourite pachyderm in all the world - Yuki. Yuki (snow in Japanese) is just the most gorgeous four legged - with trunk - creature in the world. On my first visit here in 2010, she became my friend ... and as we know, elephants have looooong memories, so she obviously remembered me ... and we gallumped about today ... with much more to come! whoo-hoo!!


My home here in The Golden Triangle is "The Burmese Tent" and is one of the 15 on property. Mine is different because it has a jacuzzi on the terrace ... and sitting in there looking out over the world ... is just ... sensational.


One ... and I mean another ... thing we did that was rather fun today was to take boats down the Mekong River to get shots of the Camp. My fellow passengers were Nicola (PR) ... and Yonatan (Yoni) & Brigitte Kachko - the Camp Manager and his wife. Wonderful, adorable and delightful people ...


The river is VERY low at the moment ...


Tomorrow - more elephants! HEAVEN!!!!!

Yuki

Yoni and Brigitte

The Boys in Burma (Myanmar) ... 

DAY 4 - Thailand - Chiang Rai


Greetings from Chiang Rai ... and the Four Seasons Tented Camp where the elephants roam freely (almost!) and from my tent I can see both Myanmar and Laos ...


I am just SO happy to be returning here. I have visited well over 700 luxury hotels ... and there is a fairly clear "Top 5" ... and an ever-changing "Top 10" ... this property is definitely in my Top 5 (which includes Sonora in Canada, Royal Malewane in South Africa and Skibo Castle in Scotland) ... yes - the area is stunning ... Thai jungle ... but it's the experience here from the elephants to the bedroom slippers - unique and truly memorable.


So left Bangkok this morning and caught the Air Asia flight to Chiang Mai ... a packed flight which lasted just over an hour.


At the moment, the rice paddy fields are being set alight up North and it's quite hazy ... which actually leads to amazing sunrises and sunsets.


There's an hour car journey (75% new highway) to a jetty, then we took a boat down the Mekong River for the 10 minute zip to the camp.


I was met by Yuki ("snow" in Japanese) who I befriended last time I was here. After several kisses ... and several more ... I finally moved into my tent ... photos to come ... but a jacuzzi overlooking the jungle below is a highlight! The next few days are going to be ... FABULOUS!!!!!

An ellie-welcome

Yuki kisses!

Happy?

DAY 3: Thailand - Bangkok


It's been a fun - albeit tiring - day here in sunny Bangkok.


My sleep pattern has been wide and varied since arriving here and today was no exception. After a crazy night watching Law & Order, snoozing and chasing the sunrise with my Leica ... I had a quick breakfast before dear Nicola stuck me in a tuk-tuk for a tour of the city - while the boys filmed on-property.


My cough had not improved overnight despite the introduction of antibiotics and the dust of Bangkok did not help matters. Wow though - a tuk-tuk tour ... maybe a bit basic but great fun. Zipping through the traffic ... sitting right next to the exhaust pipes of 30-year old buses ... jumping off & on at will ...


Bangkok has a wide & varied collection of aromas ... many of them, truly ... truly ... awful.


We also went on a trip on the Chao Phraya River ... darting in & out of the watery streets of the city ... stopping outside temples and feeding the enormous & ever-hungry catfish ... ah ... what a great few hours ...


Back at the hotel it was time to cook with Chef Ann - who is the Executive Chef at Spice Market - here in the Four Seasons hotel - one of most acclaimed Thai restaurants in the city. She taught me how to prepare two authentic dishes including Pad Thai ... so delicious ... the next series of Culinary Travels will be rather "spicy" ...


Went for a quick visit to a couple of local hotels this evening - wow - Bangkok is changing! Lots of shiny, new boutique and "grand" hotels are popping up everywhere. This city is a MUST-see, MUST-stay, MUST-explore travel destination....


Our hectic tour of the country continues tomorrow as we head to one of the greatest travel experiences in the world ...


March 1st - already - REALLY?

 Tuk-tuk-tastic

 The crew filming Chef Ann

 So - what's the best beer to drink with Thai cuisine?

 Nicola gets eaten by a shark

 I fight back

 The reclining Buddha

 Bring on the dancing girls

A statue of me?