Hello, hello, I hope you are all doing well where ever you are reading this in the world! Thank you to all of you for your lovely comments on my last post and encouragement to Wander on Wren!
I'm glad you are happy to travel vicariously through me, I know some of you are in deteriorating situations with COVID-19. I am forever grateful that my Bangkok life enables me the freedom to travel the country - at the moment. So with this, I will bring you some Vitamin Sea from Phuket, Thailand.
The weather was feisty and rather moody this past weekend in 𝐏𝐡𝐮𝐤𝐞𝐭, but we didn’t care. It’s always like this here in 𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐧 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝 in August as the strong 𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝗪𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 gathers pace. I love the rainy season and the cooling air it brings!
We’ve lost power, we’ve lost water supplies, but we know we are the lucky ones. Turn on the news, speak to our friends and family in far off places, and we know how lucky we are in Thailand.
The ocean is cross too. It spews out trash onto the beaches, old fishing nets tangled in branches, plastic bottles & old suntan cream tubes litter the sand... A sign of the past, days of busy beaches. Some thoughtless people leaving their rubbish for the wrath of the sea.
In the meantime Phuket waits, the sun loungers are stacked up hoping for sunshine & people. An old coffee sign barely visible starts with a faint happy & ends with free WiFi!
Yachts yield and boats bob bravely as the storm winds gather. Locals scurry home on their motorbike sidecars.
Who loves to travel solo? What do you like about it?
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| Street Art in Phuket Old Town |
I am not a natural solo traveller but I did relish having time all to myself. I bought a dress! I'm known as 5 Frocks Wren here in Bangkok as I arrived here in Thailand with five dresses which I live in... I don't spend much money on my clothes as I would rather spend money on travel.
I would rather do than have!
Does that resonate with you?
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| Street Art Phuket Old Town |
I am following the brilliant guide book on solo travel called Me, Myself & Thailand. You might remember I was invited last year for the final product test before the launch... and I got to the To Buy pages and ended up at a shop called Ban Boran Textiles which the book called affordable hippy-chic look! I'm not sure I quite carried off that look, but here I am!
And the reason I am sharing the picture of me in my flowery dress is to show you my fascinator. The sad thing about our lifestyle is that friends come and go and I have just said goodbye to Libby, who I will miss so much.
Libby has been the bringer of elegant cheer to my Bangkok life. On the days when I master being the Zen Wren that I so aspire to, it's because of the gentle yogic influences of Libby, who just loved Thailand.
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Libby invited me to parties that I'd never heard of, like a Sip & See when her adult kids came into town. When she left last week, we were invited to her Pantry Party! This was an altogether more solemn affair as she opened the doors of her pantry and cupboards full of things that she could not take back to the US, which included her delicate fascinator.
Well, here I am! As outings and social events have not returned to what they used to be, I doubt I'll be wearing my new fascinator to the Bangkok Melbourne Cup day. I thought an orchid festival was the perfect way to go - thank you, Libby, and to my encouraging photographer Julie!
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| Photo credit: Julie Hedge |
Here is the floral fun ( at least I kept my top on!) of the annual orchid extravaganza "Siam Paragon Bangkok Royal Orchid 2020" This great show contains more than 880,000 orchid species to mark the occasion of Queen Sirikit's birthday, 12 August 2020.
Byeeeee Libby, missing you already but I promise to party on in style and we will catch up somewhere in the world. Don't know where, don't know when!
On a note about face masks, here in Thailand, we wear masks as a matter of course. This is one of the reasons they suggest that Thailand has done so brilliantly with its COVID-19 response.
My silk mask was given to me by my friends at the Tourism Authority of Thailand. I only popped in for a few guide books and one thing led to another, and well I just love my mask. Thanks, Guys!
If you would like to read more on my recent travels around Thailand, please see Weekend Wanders: Cycling Sukhothai We really enjoyed our recent road trip to the first ancient capital of Siam.
Would you be up for some air travel these days? We have just bought an unlimited Air travel pass within Thailand! Click here for my Air Asia Unlimited Pass Review.
Comments
Nice reading of your post along with the photos.
The mask look good.
Take care.
Intriguing to see photos of very touristy areas without the tourists a very different world. B x
I have heard Phuket is a pretty place to visit. Except for the monsoon season,the photos look beautiful. I love the street art and the flower mosaic. The orchids are gorgeous. I would much rather spend my money on travel. I have not traveling solo, hubby goes everywhere I go. Take care, enjoy your day!
I loved to travel alone when young. The feeling of freedom do whatever I wanted and meet interesting people to join for a little while.
Love seeing Thailand where I think I will probably never get to be. Glad you are still able to travel. I like traveling solo. I'm good either way. On my own, I do what I want at my timetable and don't feel like I'm slowing anyone down or keeping them from what they want. But I always miss being able to share the day's stories with someone who was with me. Rick and I do fairly well together. We're both pretty good with "You want to do this and I want to do that, so see you at this spot at this time for lunch/dinner/whatever."
It's awesome to see you at 'My Corner of the World' this week!! Thanks for linking up.
I love the fascinator although I'm sorry your friend has left. It's a gentle reminder of her and it really looks lovely on you! So nice to see those smiling eyes above the mask--I don't think I've seen a picture of you before. And the five dresses? I would be called Bangkok Jane of 1000 dresses!
I've never travelled alone, I have no doubt I'd be fine. I do savor my time at my little cottage in Michigan, lake and country life, a break from the city, hubby, and a whole lot of things. I was a secret loner, but I've finally learned to listen to myself, observe others, and wake myself up if I need to reply! Ha!!
Love and blessings to you,
Jane
Stay healthy and well.
Happy MosaicMonday
Such a shame your friend had to leave, she sounds like a lot of fun.
Enjoy your solo travels, (brave girl) not sure I'd be up for a solo trip any more although I've done a few in my time. But that's another story.
So glad that you stopped by my blog last week, it's always nice when an "old" friend comes to visit.
Happy MM
Much🌻love
Love the street art.
Dawn aka Spatulas On Parade
Love the new dress and fascinator Wren :) and the murals are great too.
Like others have commented - I too like your dress.
Take care, stay safe and well.
All the best Jan
Amalia
xo
It is like -i want to go there right away!
gorgeous flowers and really pretty street art, something i always enjoy seeing!!!