Banyan Tree Bangkok

I have just recently returned from The Banyan Tree Bangkok and it was magnificent.

The hotel is located in the central business and embassy district on South Sathon Road, the hotel is 40 minutes' drive from Suvarnabhumi International Airport.

As you arrive at the hotel you are welcomed by a fire pit in the court yard, and staff dressed in traditional Thai attire. The hotel has a grand reception, along with a fantastic bar and 12 different restaurants.
I booked into a deluxe room and it exceeded my expectations. The room had a spacious bedroom, en-suite bathroom, adjoining living room and fully equipped work station and had lovely touches such as the aromatherapy burner with daily selection of essential oils, as well as the incense burner.

After familiarising myself with my room I then spent the afternoon by the roof top pool, which had panoramic views across Bangkok.

I then spent the evening at Vertigo- One of the top ten roof top bars in the world. This bar/ restaurant was one of the best places I have ever had a drink in, you need to visit it to believe all you read about it. After travelling in the elevator, you arrive at Vertigo 61 floors later to an absolutely stunning view of Bangkok.

I only had a few drinks here, as they were fully booked for dinner (you have to book in advance). A lot of people on various travel review websites say it is overpriced (I paid about £6 for a Vodka Lemonade, which is the same as in the UK) but I would say you pay for what you get and that is a stylish, sophisticated roof top bar.

If you are planning a trip to Bangkok, then this is the place to stay.

General information:

Taxi from the airport to the hotel £15
Evening meal with drinks at the hotel (2 courses) £15
Taxi to MBK £2

Other places I visited whilst in Bangkok:

Longtable Bangkok

This is a Stylish restaurant that offers a stunning 25th floor view and trend-setting interior featuring the 25m long table and contemporary video art. You can enjoy cocktails round the roof top pool before enjoying the fabulous Thai cuisine on a 25m long table.

Jim Thompson’s house

Jim Thompson House is the home of James H.W. Thompson, a self-made American entrepreneur who was the founder of the world renowned Jim Thompson Thai Silk Company. I would definitely recommend spending the afternoon wandering around his house admiring the traditional Thai buildings and experiencing the restaurant which as excellent.

Candida Diet

Since my late teens I have continually suffered with Candida. For those of you who don’t know what it is, it’s a fungus/yeast infection. Candida yeast is a part of the gut flora, a group of microorganisms that live inside your intestine.When the Candida population starts  multiplying, it weakens the intestinal wall, penetrating though into the blood steam, and spreads throughout the body causing many undesirable systems such as fatigue, bloating, weight gain and joint pain, to name a few.

These symptoms are normally a lot worse when you eat foods that contain yeast, such as bread.

For years I went backwards and forwards to my doctor, explaining these systems but there was nothing they could really do about it, one even thought it was depression!! After years of suffering, I finally decided to try alternative therapy and went to see a holistic therapist. We sat down and I went through my symptoms and my day to day eating habits, and she finally said ‘I think you may have Candida’. Her saying those words to me was such a relief I can’t tell you, I thought ‘finally someone understands me and it’s not all in my head’. After a serious of natural test, she told me I did have Candida present in my body.

To combat Candida, she outlined a diet plan for me. I won’t lie it was VERY tough to begin with as you don’t realise how many foods and drinks contain yeast. Furthermore, having a lot of sugar will encourage the growth of yeast in the body so I had to cut out sugar.

The diet works in two stages; the strict Diet, and re-introducing foods.

The strict diet, consisted of eliminating anything that contained yeast or encourage yeast to grow in the body so, for the first 4 weeks you are encouraged to only consume ‘allowed foods’.  As I had this diet written for me so long ago, and it’s part of my daily routine now, I do not have the exact copy for you but a brilliant website has been developed called The Candida Diet, which gives you so much information and has the diet on there for you to follow- this is like a bible for Candida suffers and I refer to it on a daily basis.

To start to diet, refer to the section ‘Foods to avoid’ and ‘Foods to eat’- believe me you will be surprised at how many foods contain yeast-some fruits are a real no no, during the strict diet!

Once you have completed the first stage, you are allowed to re-introduce food. The idea of the diet, is to remove all traces of Candida and start again but no reverting back to a diet that contained yeast and that was high in sugar. This stage will be what your diet should consist of, on a day to day basis.

When I started the diet, about 10 years ago, there was not much out there to help me with it, and I found it hard to substitute products that I loved such as French stick with cheese mmmmm, I still dream about that now! So I thought I might share with you some of my substitute products….

Bread- substitute with Ryvitas, or Tortilla wraps

Cheddar cheese- Soft goats cheese or Mozzarella. Although you are not allowed cheese on the strict diet, you can eat this when you are ‘re-introducing foods’.

Snacks- substitute chocolate cravings for nuts or a Plain Yogurt. I know this may not sound a ‘treat’ but believe me you will have a lot more energy from a handful of nuts compared to a chocolate bar.

I normally have a bowl of plain yogurt with some Linseeds sprinkled over the top. I will do a post on Linseeds soon as they have a variety of health benefits.

Tea/Coffee- substitute for herbal teas, especially green tea. See my post on the benefits of green tea

White rice- substitute for brown or wild rice. Since making this change, I would never go back to white rice as it makes me so bloated, and has much less taste than brown rice.

Alcohol- now you can’t drink alcohol on the strict diet, but when you do re-introduce food, substitute a glass of wine which has so much yeast in it for a vodka and soda water.

Please please please preserver with the diet as it has the most amazing effect on your body and has literally made me a new person. Not only does it eliminate or control (in my case) Candida, but it educates you on eating healthy and really makes you want to eat all natural products. Since the diet, I have not touched a microwavable meal, and only eat natural fresh products.

I know this may all seem very daunting but believe me it’s worth it. By eliminating these foods form my diet, I am no longer bloated, I do not suffer from yeast infections and I have so much more energy it’s unbelievable.

If you decide to give it a go, please get in touch if you have any questions or need some advice as I know how you feel!

Good Luck x