The day after the Wedding, Ruth and I headed off down to London for a couple of quiet days to recover. Well rested, we then headed off for 4 hectic days in Bangkok seeing the sights before heading to the island of Koh Samui in the Gulf of Thailand for a slightly more relaxing 10 days...
We had a fantastic time, Thailand is a wonderful country. Here are some of the photos we took to remember our Honeymoon - we hope you enjoy them!
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While in London we did the tourist thing. Bus tour, river cruise, seeing the landmarks.
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We also took a tour of BBC TV Centre which was interesting and fun.
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Ruth got so used to being the centre of attention at the wedding, she thought she deserved a BAFTA....
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The lounge of our hotel suite in Bangkok. Very comfortable.
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The bedroom - they scattered fresh rose petals on the bed for us each evening!
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Strange sort of open air bar / concert at San Luam night bazaar.
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Our hotel - the Banyan Tree Bangkok. That gap about 50 stories up (just above our room actually) is an open air pool and jacuzzi deck. There is a restaurant right on the very top too - more on that later.
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On our first day we went to see the Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaeo (the temple there)
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The colours are so amazing photos can't do them justice. The building behind Ruth is made entirely from gold leaf & glass tiles...
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Me looking like a tourist!
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Spectacular Chedi.
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The hall of the Emerald Buddha (which confusingly is actually made of Jade)
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Monkeys and demons supporting a Chedi
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Ruth surrounded by sparkly things.
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Guard at the entrance to one of the Grand Palace's throne halls.
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Dinner at Vertigo, the restaurant on top of our hotel. Right on top. 70 stories up. The red light you can see is an aircraft warning light just below our heads!
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Demonstration of martial arts art at one of the palaces.
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Thai dancing...
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.. this time with a fishing theme (I think)
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The Vimarnmek Palace, made entirely of Teak.
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This is probably our favourite palace - it's so light and airy inside.
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Ruth on the Khao San road (haven for travellers, and portrayed in the opening sequence of the film "The Beach".
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The red cross snake farm. Note the snake handler only has three fingers left on his right hand...
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Cobra hissing at us...
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... before being milked for venom. This is the reason the red cross run the farm - the venom is used in the manufacture of anti-venom for treating those bitten by snakes in the wild.
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Ruth at the Jim Thompson's house museum...
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... it's a collection of traditional Thai houses on stilts.
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A busy weekend market at Chatuchak
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Ruth and I recover in the club lounge at the hotel!
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Rama VIII Bridge seen from the water.
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We went on a dinner cruise to see the city by night.
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The grand palace looks spectacular.
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Ironically the Wat Arun (temple of the dawn) looks just great by night too!
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Our room at the Royal Meridien Hotel Baan Taling Ngam, our home while on the island of Koh Samui. More rose petals!
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Welcome cake and wine - this is the life!
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Ruth enjoying the rose petals close up.
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The beach at our hotel...
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...and the swimming pool.
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This is the restaurant and pool down by the beach.
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Here is the other swimming pool, which looks inland over forest-covered hills. Here there's a little band of mist after some rain.
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Thai music and dancing in the hotel restaurant.
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A lizard guarding our room for us!
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The pool in the rain - some evenings we had tropical rain storms.
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It got pretty windy when the rain came, with lots of fruit and coconuts falling from the palms.
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Ruth looking a little pink, too much sun I think!
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Elephant trekking! The elephants are so gentle and intelligent, it's amazing!
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We just wandered through the jungle...
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...and a river...
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... and more jungle. It's so beautiful and peaceful, and the elehant's motion is quite relaxing.
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We met a baby (4 years old I think) elephant.
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When we were done we fed our elephant bananas to say thank you.
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A cat feeding her kittens in the shade!
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Waterfall in the jungle. We didn't swim because the water was a but murky and apparently there are lots of hidden rocks to cut yourself on!
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Thai cooking lessons. Come round sometime and find out if we actually learned anything!
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The fruits of our labours. Soup, curry, and lemongrass chicken and prawn skewer things which were just out of this world.
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The hotel by night.
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Mango Bay on the island of Koh Tao...
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... where Ruth and I first scuba-dived in the sea.
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Here we go!
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Getting used to breathing underwater and communicating with hand signs!
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Oops! Drifting off there...
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Sargeant major fish next to some coral.
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Snorkelling...
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...with the fish
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A shoal of barracuda captured by some of the other folk we were diving with. Now, what is special about the hunting habits of the barracuda????
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Our diving instructors, who were very kind to us. Ruth insisted I include this picture...
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On the way back after our first day diving. We look more relaxed than on the way out...
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These are at an aquarium, but we saw ones just like them in the ocean...
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...but not like these thankfully. Not ready for that yet.
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We ate one of these...
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... but not one of these. I believe elephant is quite indigestible.
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A mountain waterfall.
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The elephant that took us up to see the waterfall getting a wee drink.
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Our other steed, a rented Suzuki Carribean "sporty". With a 1.3 litre engine it was the least sporty car ever, especially on these steep mountain dirt tracks.
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Palm trees everywhere!
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This is a large religious statue intriguingly called Big Buddha...
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View from the Big Buddha across the bay (scroll across to see more...)
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View from the fantastic restaurant "Coffee & Starfish" in Bophut.
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Our hotel seen from the sea - yes, we're off diving again.
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The site of our dive - Sail Rock. Apparently it was shaped like a sail until the Thai Navy used it for target practice.
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Ubiquitous purple flowers - very beautiful.
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Dinner in Chaweng.
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Dinner in Chaweng.
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The main drag in Chaweng, the tourist centre of Koh Samui.
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Ruth getting in some shopping.
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View from the pool deck at the hotel (scroll to see more...)
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The pool bar, complete with stools built in to the pool.
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Ruth hiding from the sun!
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I just loved the view from the pool.
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The Koh Samui airport check-in building. Bit different from Heathrow.
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The main terminal building. Reminds me of Luton. Not!
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