Cruise baby!

Cruising is not for me. Or so I thought. I was convinced cruise ships were the equivalent of five star resorts on land. A place you go to be served and pampered – and equipped with blinkers for what goes on in the outside world. I also had vivid images of people stuffing themselves with too much food, drinking too much wine, and generally acting as ignorant as only a certain type of tourists do.

Much to my surprise, I was invited along on a press trip by the Azamara Cruise group. And even more surprisingly, I accepted. People that know me, had a hard time believing it when I said I was going on a cruise… but after all, you don’t turn down an invitation to cruise the Med for one week, all expenses paid, right?

To my relief, Azamara believes in a casual approach to cruising. There’s no formal dress code, and the staff are as delightful as they are top notch.

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Waitress: Would you like some more wine, ma’am?

Me: No thanks (it was lunch time and I was planning a run on the treadmill in the afternoon).

Waitress: Why? Are you going to drive?

Me: Ehhm… no.

Waitress: Go on then. Enjoy yourself!

Me: Alright then! (Needless to say, I never made it to the treadmill)

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I spent seven days aboard the Azamara Quest, and I can honestly say they were the most relaxing days of my life! No exaggeration. I did my fair bit of sightseeing when we were docked, and I did stop by their fitness room almost every day. But still, it was such a smooth, relaxing way to travel that I would easily do it again. In fact, I’m off on a journey with the Norwegian Epic this May. And who knows, maybe I will just have to become a travel writer specializing in cruises from now on!

Not a bad place to wake up!

I was proven wrong on three of my biggest misconceptions:

1 – Only pensioners go on cruises

The majority of my fellow cruisers were in fact pensioners, however, some couples in their early thirties were on honeymoon and quite a few couples in their 40′s were just enjoying time off.

2 – You end up in a great big line whenever you want to eat or get off the ship.

This very much depends on the size of your ship. The Quest only has 694 passengers, and consequently, I never had to line up for anything. The only time I found limitations in the offers on board, were the day we had scheduled at sea. I would’ve wanted to indulge in a deep tissue massage that day, but of course, so did most others. I had to settle for having my massage on another day. Life sure is hard, eh…

3 – You don’t get to see anything

As a traveler being used to exploring to my heart’s content, traveling on a cruise ship can quite easily let you down. You are always on a time limit, and you will have to settle for exploring the places dictated by the itinerary. In other words, don’t expect to unleash your inner adventurer. On the other hand, you are free to explore during the hours the ship is docked, and whether you decide to follow the footsteps of the masses, or go off on a mission of your own, is totally up to you.

I saw corners of Malta that left me in awe, I discovered the sweetest little shoe shop in Sorrento where they sell handmade sandals to DIE for, and I woke up one morning to see Mount Etna covered in snow. It took my breath away…

Valletta, a Mediterranean gem.

View from my stateroom...

The cutest little, Italian shoe shop.

Here is one of the articles written about how cruising is so me now!

 

Khao San Road – again…

Family friendly Khao San Rd

If you have found this post, you will most probably already have heard about Khao San Road. It’s the backpacker ghetto of Bangkok, a place to immerse yourself in chaotic shopping, endless haggling and of course, the continuous display of Western tourists having had too many Chang beers.

Inevitably some of the locals also end up having too many chang beers...

Everything you have heard about this road is probably true. However, what you may not know, is that the road is only a little snippet of a side street. 350 meters long, that’s all. In return, these 350 meters are jam packed with… well… I suppose you could call it entertainment.

Here are some of the family friendly things to do along this mythical road:

Fried banana - or flied banana as the vendors call it.

Actually, these are not like the deep fried bananas you may get in restaurants. This is simple street food, and a better way to describe it is grilled banana, or ‘gluay ping’ as the Thai call it. In the picture you can see the woman pressing the grilled bananas together. It is served with a sugary sirup (palm sugar I believe), and will have you craving for more in no time!

Make believe Ray Bans are a must in Khaosan Rd!

Ay Ay Pirate! Khao San Road is the mother of piracy… whether you’re dying for a Louis Vuitton suitcase, Armani underpants or like me – a classic pair of Ray Ban pilot sunglasses – you’ve come to the right place! Be prepared to bargain hard though. Prices have shot up in the last five years, so don’t expect to pay less than 100 Bahts for a t-shirt, 150 for a pair of ‘designer’ glasses and another 150 bahts for a pair of Havaiana flip flops. Our football crazy son stocked up on all his favorite football strips for next to nothing, and I have rarely seen him as happy!

Add some buddhism to your life...

Buddha is ever present in Thai life. As a tourist in Bangkok, you are likely to visit more temples than you are capable of absorbing, and the image of Buddha will eventually remind you of these serene places of peace, meditation and harmony. It’s a great place to start teaching your kids about world religions, as they will be able to get up close and personal with the standing buddhas, the lying buddha and maybe even adorn them with the gold leaf you can purchase at the temples.

Eating STRANGE things!

The insect cart hits Khao San Rd at around 7 pm every evening. It’s as exotic as it gets, so prepare yourself for some seriously crackly snacks… We tried the deep fried scorpions (like the one our son holds up in the photo), frogs, grashoppers, crickets, silk worms and the plain old normal worms. Or to be honest, I stuck to the plain worms while the rest of my family indulged in the whole menu. Their favourites were the scorpion and the crickets, whereas the silk worms left them all gagging and reaching out for the water bottle…

Natural pedicure Khao San Rd style.

Baby feet! It is no secret that backpacking can leave your feet in a right mess. Well, fear not, because in Khao San Rd. there is a very entertaining cure for rough skin. My son found it hilarious, and giggled all  through the ten minutes he had his little feet in the fish tank. The feeling? Well, according to him it’s like a light electric buzz, and at one point we had to fish him out because he was on his way in with his whole body.

Food, glorious street food!

Thai tapas is the only way I can describe hitting the food stalls along Khao San Rd. You pick up a tasty satay skewer, shop a bit more, stop for a corn on the cob further down the road, bargain for a hammock, indulge in a chocolate pancake, and so on… it seems to be the way to do things around here.

The food is ridiculously cheap – we never paid more than thirty bahts for anything (70 pence), and although food critics claim that the street vendors use soy sauce rather than the more authentic tamarind sauce, I say that the experience of eating in the street tastes so authentic that it more than compensates for the inferior ingredient. Oh, and no upset stomachs afterwards!

Once you’ve endured Khao San Rd, you may want a dose of beach life. Why not check out our secret beach on the island of Ko Chang?