48HRS IN BANGKOK with Holiday Inn Express

Earlier this month I had the absolute pleasure of travelling to Thailand for the first time to experience a stay in Bangkok thanks to Holiday Inn Express! I had 48 hours and a jam packed itinerary so location of my hotel was of optimum importance! Luckily Holiday Inn Express Siam had me covered being situated right next to a sky-train station and only a short taxi ride away from both the old quarter and the major shopping districts!

Basically what Holiday Inn Express is about is providing a comfortable and convenient stay without all the extras you don’t necessarily need removed in order to reduce the cost for travellers. They have free breakfast, fast internet and, probably my favourite thing, your choice of (firm or soft) pillows!

So what did I get up to in 48hours in Bangkok? Of course, I started with the ‘Must Dos’ for Bangkok and took a taxi out to the Grand Palace & Wat Pho (Temple of the Reclining Buddha). I would definitely recommend visiting both of these spots – the detail in the temples is beautiful! Although it can get VERY hot and crowded here so I would recommend heading out there first thing in the morning. After a quick lunch by the river I visited the Snake Farm at the Queen Saovabha Memorial Institute. I arrived in time for the handling demonstration which was very interesting – it was a little worrying to see some of the more dangerous snakes had been defanged in order to be handled however that was my only issue and I was delighted to be able to cuddle a python after the demonstration – holding a massive snake was on my 2016 bucket list!

That night I took the sky-train from just outside the hotel to catch the sunset at Sky Bar (aka The Hangover 2 bar & the most expensive beer I’ve ever had) before catching a free ferry to the Asiatique night markets for a bite to eat and a little shopping! 

The next day I started Day 2 with a visit to the Jim Thompson House which is located right behind the hotel. Jim Thompson was an American businessman who helped revive the silk industry in Thailand before his mysterious disappearance in 1967. At the house you are offered information about Thompson’s work as well as a tour of his stunning house – I was so captivated there and left wanting to actually live in that beautiful house. I then took a short walk across the canal to have lunch at the Caturday Cat Café! I’m going to let the photos & video speak for themselves with this one – all I’m saying is that they are so so cute and well cared for at Caturday! I spent my afternoon exploring the extensive shopping district in Bangkok – some of the malls there are just like eBay in real life! Pretty much anything you can imagine, you can find in these massive shopping centers.

I had a massive 2 days in Bangkok thanks to Holiday Inn Express and IHG and I would have not changed a thing – what an amazing city! I thought I would also mention that Holiday Inn Express will be opening it’s doors to Sydney in Maquarie Park this April and will launch the brand in Australia!  Holiday Inn Express Sydney Macquarie Park provides guests with everything they need and nothing they don’t for a smart and convenient stay, including free and fast Wi-Fi and free Express Start™ Breakfast or Grab & Go. You’re able to book a stay now at  http://www.ihg.com/holidayinnexpress/hotels/us/en/sydney/sydmp/hoteldetail

emma

CRUISE // Lifou + Mare

There were 4 stops on our cruise over 10 days (the stops were in the middle of the journey with a few days out at sea either side leaving/getting back to Sydney). I have to say that I think the water and beaches in Lifou were the best of all of them! Crazy blue and a lot of sea life around. While in Lifou we also went on a tour of the forest and a grotto where we were able to see a coconut crab (pictured above). For your information, the coconut crab is the largest land-living anthropod in the world and it's basically a massive hermit crab that stops wearing a shell once it reaches adulthood. 

Mare is another island in New Caledonia and it was our last island stop on the trip - we had an absolute blast with a solid beach crew - more of our antics can be see in the video I made (here) on my youtube channel. 

emma

CRUISE // Mystery Island

While on the cruise we also visited a tiny island off one of the south islands of Vanuatu called Myster Island. They call it that because it's kind of taboo to actually live on it but it's absolute paradise for the day. We went snorkelling which was stunning - the most amazing fish, rays and all kinds of sea life. See heaps more of that in the video I made from our trip (below). 

As you can probably see from these photos, the sunsets from the ship were unreal. I'm a sucker for sunsets but there's nothing like a sunset as your ship sets off for a whole other paradise. Although it can be a little tricky to get a good photo ... yep, all in the face.

emma

CRUISE // Noumea

Alright, it's time for a catch up! Late last year Alyse (you guys know my sister Alyse? If not, click here and get to know her - she's my best travel-buddy/assistant/photographer/everything) and I went on a 10 day cruise through the Coral Sea. We were on the voyage thanks to Student Flights who hired us to create some video content for their social media channels and such. I've always loved creating videos while travelling and it's so crazy/amazing/dreamy to have people appreciate them so much that they hire us to do the same for them. I love it! 

Anyway, we were on a 10 day cruise and first stop was Nouméa in New Caledonia! Once we had docked we immediately got on another boat (a little speed boat) and drove over to Duck Island to spend the day soaking up the sunshine and snorkelling. Just the beginning of what was a killer trip! So much more to come!

emma