ABC's Bachelor: The Winner is...Thailand
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Dude, where's my shirt? -- Image courtesy ABC[/caption]
The season is finally over and who's the big winner? Sorry Sean Lowe, hot and shirtless as you often were...it's looking a lot like Thailand topped you. From the trips our blonde bachelor took earlier to the secluded beach, to the finale with Catherine and Lindsay on elephants -- Thailand has upstaged everyone. Yes, yes, Sean is smokin' hot, but doesn't he seem a tad dim? And Thailand with or without him in board shorts, looks pretty damn fantastic.
If you want to know where they were...it was all based out of the Anantara Si Kao resort in southern Thailand. The truth is, this is a lovely resort, but as you'll see from their site, it's fairly family oriented. So what if you wanted to do Thailand and not bring the kids? Well, we have some other -- possibly better -- ideas for you.
1. Phi Phi Island
You saw that ridiculously romantic beach Sean and AshLee had to themselves? There's a better version of that near Phi Phi island. And the best resort on that little island -- Zeavola -- will take you to that beach, no problem. The resort itself is pretty spectacular, with a smattering of luxury villas sporting their own private pools. This is that perfect seaside Thai beach resort that's worth traveling across the planet to get to. It's not cheap. If you're going all the way to Thailand, do you really want to go with the "affordable" option. Thought not.
2. Bangkok
This is a phenomenal city that they don't bother with on the series, but honestly, you have to go through here to get in and out of the country, and it's worth a day or two. Maybe even three. The place to stay when in Bangkok -- again, we're talking spurge -- is the Oriental on the river. There are cheaper places in town, but this is the Oriental of the Mandarin Oriental hotel group, one of the original Asian old school hotels with history, incredible service and views that you can't get anywhere else. It's a perfect spot from which to see the entire city, too.
3. Chang Mai
Finally, you've seen the BIG city, been down to the south for that unbelievably romantic seaside Thai experience. What's left? The best food and -- arguably the most interesting part of this specacular country -- the north. This is where you can amble around the grasslands on elephants and have the most mind-blowing regional Southeast Asian dishes. The idea here is to base yourself at the Four Seasons Tented Camp. It's just as insane as it sounds. Not cheap, but this is not that trip. This is the BLOW IT ALL on an amazing vacation you'll never forget trip. Which will be, by the way, far better than the stuff Sean and his harem got to do while in filming in one corner of Thailand.
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