Thailand and Cambodia – Golf and Culture
Bangkok
Our group first got together in the scenic lounge bar at the Avani Riverside Hotel in the heart of Bangkok. We began with various shopping and sightseeing visits in this amazing city, hosted by our Bangkok residents Iain and Fon. The shopping is truly incredible and quite literally you can buy a Bentley (which btw was not housed on a ground floor car lot but on the 5th floor of the shopping centre), a Rolex (or a very good copy) and clothing galore. As we had a slightly more modest budget Jennie and I opted to have some DSG hats made which took approximately 2 hours from design to delivery.
A couple of nice meals out got the trip going with a swing. Firstly at the riverside with a restaurant that had an excellent covers band who were delighted our group could sing Sweet Caroline so tunefully… They also had a splendid concept of a tower of beer (and a BOGOF deal too) served by a nice lady dressed as Changcetta the goddess of beer. Suffice to say we all received some hop based enlightenment.
The following evening we visited a Bangkok specialty restaurant with amazing views of the city and we were treated to a light show too in aid of Chinese New Year.
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Both evenings we managed impromptu walking tours of Bangkok, as although it is a city that never sleeps, clearly Tuktuk and Taxi drivers are tucked up in bed by 10pm.
Iain also arranged a nice long boat tour of the city followed by a civilised afternoon tea, a splendid massage, then a visit to my favourite Sky Bar in Asia, Cielo which has great views in and out of the bar and an impressive array of cocktails. The day was rounded off with a tasty spiced water melon, a concept that none of us had contemplated before.
Our opening round of the tour was at the excellent Nikanti GC just outside the city. We had a wonderful time and first day winners were Barbara, Jennie and Denise (on her first DSG Tour) with 83 points in our 2 out of 3 format. On the food front the Golf Club did us proud with lunch before and dinner after. Suffice to say everyone slept well on the coach back to the hotel.
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Cambodia
The following day we made the short flight to Cambodia and had our first experience of the brilliant Park Hyatt Hotel in Siem Reap. In terms of hospitality it is without doubt one of the best hotels any of us have had the pleasure of staying in. Their mission statement must be “The answer is yes, what is the question”. Breakfast there was an event in itself with an opportunity to sample some local art, have a massage, waffles, local coffee all before contemplating the superb buffet.
In the evening the “gratitude moment” with candle lighting was to reflect on the beauty of the here and now, which as they reminded me is why it is called the present. The wonderfully named Oasis of Enrichment followed this, with the ancient Aspara dances elegantly performed to bring the audience good fortune, prosperity and happiness.
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Our opening round in Cambodia was at Angkor GC designed by Nick Faldo who I’m sure when he began his golf journey did not envisage it including designing a golf course in Cambodia. It was a great layout and enhanced by our caddies all having our names on their bibs. The last time I had that privilege was just 44 years ago in the B&H Open! There certainly was plenty of sand and winners on the day of the Bedouin Trophy were John, Steve and Jennie on 75 points.
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The next day we explored the magnificent Angkor Wat the largest religious site in the world. It was a fascinating visit with history and photo opportunities galore. The tour included a super lunch and half of our party decided to end their cultural viewing there and the others went to Angkor Thom, where we had a spot of temple climbing, which in 30 degrees plus heat certainly got the heart pounding.
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We had our second game in the Kingdom at the Phokeethra Country Club which has a thought provoking saying on the score card “Tee off in the 11th Century and finish your round in the 21st century”. We have all had games like that where you’re losing the will to live, however we had the course virtually to ourselves and started and finished in the same century.
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The visit to Kampong Phulk a floating village of some 3000 people was an illuminating one. Homes are built on stilts for the wet season and their economy is built around fishing and now taking tourists around by boat. Their market was really rustic with the usual fruit and veg augmented by eels, turtles and molotov cocktails. Yes they really do sell bottles of petrol to people for their motorbikes.
Hua Hin
The final leg of our holiday was in the marvellous seaside setting of Hua Hin at the wonderfully located Hilton Hotel, just a hop and a skip down to the sea.
Our golf began at Black Mountain Golf Club which regularly vies for the best course in Thailand honour. A challenging layout to play on and equally challenging was not buying anything in their amazing pro shop!
Our middle two games at Springfield and Majestic Creek brought the closest competition with both days being won by a single point. The common denominator was Charlotte who triumphed first with John and Barbara and then with Dipti and Steve.
Sandwiched between the golf was a visit to Hua Hin market (no molotov cocktails here), train station and their beautiful Huay Mongolg temple. On the day off some brave souls opted for some more golf and half a dozen of us partook of the Hua Hin Cookery School. This was a great day out, firstly shopping for the ingredients, with our lovely hostess Ya Ya at the market. Billed as cookery for all levels myself and John were glad as we came in at the below basic one! With her expert tuition and guidance we made Papaya Salad, Thom Yum Soup, Green Curry, Massaman Curry and an excellent Pandan Curry by now no longer a novice John. It was a wonderful experience and we all left with a greater appreciation of Thai food and the culinary culture.
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All good things come to an end, however we finished on a high with our last game at the beautiful Pineapple Valley Golf Course, built in a former pineapple fields. This thoughtful layout not surprisingly now voted the best golf course in Thailand in 2023. On the 7th hole my caddy gave me I think my favourite golf instruction for a shot ever, when she said “your line is on the temple”. Golf wisdom and enlightenment in one instruction.
The scoring was close again in our 2 from 4 team format with John, Barbara, Dipti and Denise just pipping Charlotte, Ali, Mohini and Steve with 92 points to 89.
On reflection this was such an intriguing and enjoyable few weeks and we all made some lovely memories. We ate some wonderful food and visited some great Sky Bars with the odd tipple along the way. We will be back!
Barney
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