Best Short Break From Taiwan

Who is Martha Stewart?

She’s got a marketing deal with Kmart. (And that’s one theory on why Kmart went bankrupt–from lending her too much money.)
http://www.marthastewart.com/

In Krabi province, Thailand, is a little town called Ao Nang. It’s just starting to be discovered and is situated right on the water. I stayed at a place about 300m up the road. There are lots of interesting shops, restaurants, bars, and more to keep you interested. The Thai food is excellent of course and the atmosphere is very laid back.

What I liked a lot was that you could island hop from here. Just walk down to the beach, wade into the water and climb into a long boat. One excellent island you can get to this way is Railay. There are cheap places to stay there, less commercialism, good restaurants, good parties, fabulous swimming. It’s only accessible by boat thus fewer people inhabiting the island.

From Ao Nang, you can go on a one-day elephant trekking trip, see James Bond Island, “The Beach” from the movie, explore stunning lagoons and even take a Thai cooking course! All this is set amidst the most stunning scenery I have ever seen. It’s a mix of jungle and steep rocks jutting straight up, some from the sea, some from the land.

Now for the price. You can fly to the relatively new Krabi Airport with a stop over in Bangkok. The cost was approx. $16,000 NT. We stayed in a five-star resort that was about 1200/B per night. That was expensive for what you have to pay but still quite a deal. You can pay far, far less for a good place. One thing to know is that the resort, Somkiet Buri, http://www.somkietburi.com
is a Muslum place. We didn’t know that until after arrival. No booze but they don’t object to you buying something at the local store and bringing it back. So really, you get your drinks with dinner at a far lower cost than if you’d been served the booze. Of course, there is also no pork. The food was delicious without it.

I preferred it to Phi Phi Don, although that place was pretty good, too.

I’ve been to Ko Phi Phi too, and it’s a real paradise. We’ve got a bungalow at the top of a mountain (vith a splendid view!) for nothing (I don’t remember exactly hao much, but it was less than 30$US for sure and we were 3 to share the cost). Beaches around are just perfect. Too many people usually, but it’s not easy to keep paradise for yourself!!! If you walk around the island, you can also find the “other side” of thai life, far from the tourist luxury.

Don’t expect to see the beach where they shot the movie “The Beach”: it’s a National Park. You can go to see the island (one day boat trip including snorkling), but personnally, I’ve been really disapointed cause for the movie, they add palm trees and “rearrange” the beach.

MJG: I have to agree with you about “The Beach”. I saw it from the boat as we passed by. It’s just one more lovely island in that area but all the effects brought in for the movie have, indeed, been removed.

On James Bond Island, the boat drops you off where the helicopter was blown up. The big disappointment, initially, was all the vendors with their tongues practically hanging out when more tourists arrived. However, once you walk beyond them, it’s a truly beautiful place with stunning scenery.

On Phi Phi Don, I stayed at the P.P. Princess in a bungalow on the beach which was great. For lunch and dinners, we walked to the other side of the island and walked through the narrow streets choosing to eat in those wonderful restaurants. We got much better food for at least half the price. There are several pubs in that area, too, which were packed with people watching World Cup at the time.

I thought I’d died and gone to heaven on that vacation. We went at low season and Phi Phi Don was fairly crowded with Europeans, far more than Ao Nang.

If you’re OK with the language, there are actually places in Taiwan that aren’t city-like at all.

And Ko Pha Ngan, less than an hour from Ko Samui, is really pretty. Ko Tao, which someone mentioned, may actually be more expensive than KPN.

For pictures:

community.webshots.com/user/shimmertje

Samui pix, taken during Chinese New Year this year, on page 3.
Taiwan pix, look for albums listed “O/s TPE…”

[quote=“wolf_reinhold”]There are no direct flights.
If you need more info (I’ve been there three times), send me a e-mail at wolf_reinhold@hotmail.com[/quote]

There is a direct flight to Chiang Mai which flies on Wednesdays and Saturdays. The north of Thailand is my favourite place for a short break.

my wife and i got tix to siam reap for ~13K NT$. if that hadn’t worked out, we were looking at phuket for about 16K each or bali also around 16K/ea.

phuket and bali were both package deals, which is fine for just getting away and splashing around at a nice beach. cambodia isn’t (a package) but with guanxi from siam reap hotel it shouldn’t be too bad. and on the +side we’ll get to see angkor!

For a short break, Macau can be done in a weekend. Fly to HK then take the hydrofoil to Macau. Cars are cheap and easy to rent and you can see virtually everything there is to see on both islands in a weekend. There are only two beaches, primarily geared up for drinking beer and jet-skiing, but that doesn’t sound so bad does it?
Never been to Guam, but comparing tales with those that have, I’d go for Macau any day. And the eats there are kind of cool if you’ve never had the chance before to indulge in Portuguese food and wines.

You know, I really can understand why many people would choose places like Thailand, Malaysia, Macau, etc. over Guam. It really isn’t a place that can be appreciated in just a few days, and most trips to Guam by Asian tourists average about 4 days.

If you buy one of the packages, you can get hotel, transfers and breakfast for less than US500/person. Car rentals are about 40-50/day in the tourist district, but there might be specials now that the economy is so lousy.

Most of the nicer restaurants can be found in Tumon (the tourist district). They aren’t cheap but they’re no more expensive than Dan Ryan’s or Chili’s. Our favorite restaurants before we moved here a few years ago were Roy’s (fusion) at the Hilton; Al Dente at the Hyatt; the Westin’s Sunday brunch and Japanese restaurant; Sam Choy’s at the Outrigger; Outback Steakhouse; Capriciossa, and probably a few others I’m forgetting.

There are also the typical American restaurants, like Fridays, Planet Hollywood, Hard Rock Cafe and I think now Chili’s.

There’s pretty good golf, but at tourist rates. Locals golf for $35 to $75; when we were there in '99 tourist rates were $140. I was never even a decent golfer, but dh would go as often as 3x a week–he’s only played once here :frowning:
The most popular courses are Mangilao Golf Course, Talofofo Resort and Manengon Hills. Asian PGA was held a few times at the Leo Palace Resort/Manengon Hills which is supposed to be the most challenging on the island.

There’s watersports (not cheap), Underwater World (awesome!), Gameworks (like Dave & Buster’s in Taoyuan), DFS Galleria, outlet stores from the US, and don’t forget Kmart–where you can stock up on stuff like toiletries and other favorites you can’t find here.

Even if you’re on a budget, if you’re American and like fast food, there’s Carl Jr’s, Wendy’s, and this stall that sold these awesome pretzels… can’t remember the name but I Loved those pretzels. There are also mall food courts, and all-beef hotdogs. My favorite food court was the one at Guam Premium Outlets; korean bbq, burgers, pizza.

I really should put up a simple page titled “Guam… it’s not so bad!” Maybe the visitor’s bureau will send me some of their modest marketing budget for Taiwan, because the commercials I’ve been seeing are L-O-U-S-Y.

Later,

Jennifer

… DFS Galleria …

No need to fly to Guam, Regent Hotel on Linsen North Road has one, too. :wink:

Sure, but some people only have time to shop when they’re on vacation.

Jennifer

Ah, but does Guam have Dunkin Donuts? That’s the real point, innit?

Gawd! Dunkin’ Donuts? K-Mart? Sounds like Taipei to me.

Alright, when it itches ya have to scratch…

EVA have regular direct flights to Phnom Penh (defintiely - had one booked and cancelled it after a papper scissors victory with the nearest and…), and by the sound of an earlier thread to Siem Riep (though I’ve never asked).

Koh Lanta’s also a nice place to hop to from the earlier mentioned step off into southern Thai islands, Ao Nang - Krabi. Fly tpe-bkk and then domestic to Krabi, then bus it to Koh Lanta (there’s a bridge and a car ferry). The corals bleached, just like Australia’s barrier reef!! But it’s a cool place to chill out after a day tracking the TECO office in Bangkok.
Cheers,
GC