makaaa3

Phachara Suites are GF, I never got to the pool or gym. I stayed there about a year ago and enjoyed it. The buffet breakfast was pretty basic, I've had a lot better.

I've tried a few Pharmacies around Nana and haven't had any problems getting the generic brands of V and Cialis. However one batch of Apcalis didn't work but thats been the only bad batch so far.

I did a couple of tours a few years ago and enjoyed them. The first one was down to the floating markets then over to the river Kwai with a few stops on the way. It lasted all day and there was a fair bit of time in the bus but I enjoyed it. The other tour was to the floating markets by bus then we caught a very large boat back to BKK. This was the better one as you got lunch on the boat and you weren't sitting in a bus for a lot of the day. Sorry I can't remember the tour companies.

The last time I was in BKK I went to Pinkys Tailors. He's more expensive than a lot of tailors but the quality of the fabric is very good and the service is good. Here's his website with the shop's location; http://www.pinkytailor.com/

I used to go to the pharmacy near Robinsons but the last trip they didn't have the generic brands and they wanted a fortune for the real stuff. I then went to the pharmacy near the Nana Petrol station and bought some Apacalis which is the Cialis generic, I've also bought Kamagra from there in the past. Walk past the Nana Soi towards the Marriot on Sukhumvit Rd and you'll come accross the pharmacy about 50 to 100 metres from the Nana Soi. I can't remember the price but I think it was around 300B for 4 tablets.

I'd also try Wotif.com, its got a lot of mystery deals at the minute for around 1400 to 1600B. I've taken up these mystery deals a couple of times before and haven't been disaapointed.

Avoid the place like the plague if a Tuk Tuk driver suggests where to eat, they are usually overpriced and have pretty ordinary food and they pay a hefty commision to the driver. I got caught once on my first trip to BKK, I wanted to go to the Harmonique Restaurant so I got into the TuK Tuk and the driver said he knew where Harmonique was. The place I ended up at had the name of the restaurant in Thai so none the wiser I went in and had the most expensive and shithouse Thai meal ever. Even a few rats put on a show by ducking out from their burrow and scurrying into the kitchen. I vowed I would never take recommendations from this internet site again, but this changed because walking down near thew river I came accross the proper Harmonique and had a great meal at about a third of the price. It turned out that this is a widely practiced scam where some taxis and Tuk Tuk drivers will take you to this restaurant claiming its the place you asked for and the restaurant goes along with the scam as they make it very difficult for you to find out the name of this restaurant.

Just a warning about some metered taxis as I've been caught twice with taxis which had dodgy meters. The first one involved the driver using a switch on the right hand side of the steering wheel located on the dash. I was looking at the meter and it was clicking over really fast then it slowed down. After this I paid close attention to the meter and noticed that everytime the meter clicked over quicker the driver was fiddling with some kind of switch on the dash and evey time he saw me looking he would stop. I told him the meter was going too fast and asked him why he was touching the switch, he pretended to not understand me and the smart ass still tried to use it every now and then. By this stage I had had enough so I told him I knew what he was doing and I was going to report him, I then recited his taxi number and name, gave him the fare and got out of the taxi whilst it was stopped in traffic. The driver was a real smart ass and probably only 20 something, every now and then you get into a cab with these young guys and you get the feeling that they really resent Falangs and will if possible try and rip you off. The next time was when I was travelling with friends and we needed to catch 2 taxis from the airport to the hotel in Sukhumvit. We got 2 taxis and one followed the other. It was Sunday so there wasn't much traffic on the freeway so I sat back enjoying the view. Still on the freeway and past the first toll I looked at the meter which showed just over 300B. I knew that was too much unless the fares had gone up so I started to look at the meter more often and by the time we had just got off the Freeway and onto Sukhumvit Rd the meter showed over 400B. I wasn't that worried because I was going to go over to the second taxi once we got to the hotel and look at his meter to compare fares. However, whilst I wasn't looking the guy turned off the meter and when I asked what happened he said it was broken. I didn't want to argue in the Taxi as I was tired from the trip and I wanted to get to the hotel. When we got to the hotel I jumped out and went over to the second taxi to see their meter only showing 300B, so I went back to our driver and said I'll pay him 300B. Once we had all our bags I told him that his meter was dodgy and I don't like being ripped off and that I'm going to get the hotel staff to report him. He just pretended he didn't understand and left us pretty quick.

I agree with the 2 posts above, If you want P4P stick to Phnom Penh rather than Vietnam, Both places are not as good as Thailand and IMHO the girls on average aren't as stunning as Thai girls. Cambodia is a third world country so don't expect all the trappings available in Thailand to be there. Easy to get a visa, you get it at the airport on your arrival. Ho Chi Minh has great food, more modern than Phnom Penh and some stunning women but the P4P scene is difficult and you would have to spend some time there to sus it out. If your'e not worried about P4P and can get a visa from the embassy before you go then I'd recommend Ho Chi Minh. One thing I have found difficult in Ho Chi Minh is getting the 3plus and 4 star hotels at a reasonable price, its definitely more exspensive for hotels in this range but if you just want a very basic hotel and a very small room then Ho Chi Minh has heaps of these at pretty good prices.

I stayed there several years back and found the room pretty tired especially the bathroom. At that time the hotel was GF. For the price I would look at the Darjelling or the Swiss Park Hotels

The Dynasty Inn is close to Nana Hotel.

It looks like opening in August 2010 but its been delayed so many times I wouldn't be suprised if this date comes and goes. I would still catch a metered taxi into BKK, just because its cheap and you get dropped off at your hotel so you don't have to drag your bags around. I'll start using the rail line when the expressway gets so choked that it resembles a parking lot. The way BKK traffic is going this might be sooner than I think.

Last time I was in BKK they were finishing off the renovations to the Phachara Suites opposite the Dynasty Grande where I usually stay. I'm going to be in BKK in April and would like to stay in a 1 bedroom apartment around the 4 star class, so I was thinking of booking into the Phachara Suites. I had a look on Wotif and they are charging 3,500b for a one bedroom suite. Has anyone stayed there and is it GF?

Your question on where to stay is a bit too vague because what you want to do in BKK will play a big role in where you are going to stay. For example if its only for a short holiday and you want to be near the action then in the Sukhumvit, Nana area. If you want to be away from the action and in a quieter area but still have easy access to the main shopping and party areas then look at the areas surrounding the MRT and Skytrain. Once you decide on a couple of areas look at sites like Agoda, Wotif, Hotel.com and Trip Adviser to see if there are any specials on apartments and to get an idea of what other people say about the place

Next trip I would like to try some new places to eat so I would like to know your favourite eating places. I really like seafood but I haven’t found any places with decent prices and a great selection yet. Also a good place to have breakfast. A couple of mine are: Harmonique, Thai food. An old wooden Thai house located in a an alley off Silom Soi 34 near the river. Fuji, located in most large shopping centres, great Sushi. Not much atmosphere but good for a quick meal. Thai Restaurant opposite the Siam Novotel, I can’t think of their name, it’s and old 2 storey Thai house. Hard Rock Siam, western prices but I had a great steak last time I was there. Gullivers, Thai food. Good pub food at a decent price.