Travel

Saturday, November 23: A last day, then homeward bound

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The first leg of our journey home started Saturday evening with a 7:30pm flight. Since you normally have to check out of your hotel much earlier, we had booked an afternoon walking tour of Siem Reap. But this plan had some problems. First, touring in the afternoon in the heat and humidity would mean we would be dressed for the tropics, and both tired and sweaty by the time we got to the airport. Not the way I want to travel for 36 hours. We also took a look at the itinerary, and it included the local market, some street food, a temple, etc. We are seriously temple’d and market’d out. After our second day of temples here, we asked Sunny to drive us through town on Thursday, and that sealed the deal. So we cancelled the tour.

That left the problem of what to do all afternoon. We asked the front desk at the hotel if we could get late checkout, and they responded (the next day) that we could stay until 3:00pm. Problem solved! Enjoy the room (and backyard) and pack all day, leave our room at 3:00, a late and slow lunch in the restaurant until 5:00, then off to the airport.

Here are a few more scenes from around Phum Baitang.

That’s how you do it, November 2019

The hotel has its own rice paddies and water buffalos to work them in the traditional manner, and we got to see the tilling and seeding the other day.

Beer kept cool in an ice bucket, November 2019

The main restaurant is outdoors, and has the same peaceful and calming atmosphere as our room.

So Saturday changed from having to pack and get out before lunch, to being a leisurely day. We got to spend some more time in the nice restaurants at the hotel, some time in our backyard and pool, and some time enjoying the grounds.

All in all, a great trip.

Friday, November 22: A day of rest

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Ed. Note: I know this is out of order, but I wanted to get it out today.

In some of our earlier trips, we traveled with other couples. On the two Mediterrainian cruises, it was our friends Laura and Rob on the first, and on the second, Zelda and Matteo. I’m sure you remember them fondly; I do (1). Anyway, by sheer coincidence, today is both Rob’s and Matteo’s birthdays.

Happy Birthday, Rob and Matteo!

We’re not doing anything today, just hanging out. Let me give you a tour of our villa here at the Pham Baitang in Siem Reap, Cambodia. You’ll understand why we’re just hanging out.

Do you know the way to Villa 2?, November 2019

Backyard, November 2019

Entrance, November 2019

Bath, November 2019

Bedroom/sitting area, November 2019

Any questions?

(1) Both the cruises, and the couples.

Thursday, November 21: The Bassman and Sally’s final tour

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We’ve taken more than a few tours during this trip. But you know that; you’ve been reading all of these posts. Each place had a guide:

Bangkok – Moo

Chiang Mai – June

Luang Prabang – Oudune

Hanoi – Sunny

Ginger – Minh (Minny Minn)

Saigon- Thuy, Henry

Jahan – Tri

Phnom Penh – (we don’t remember, and don’t want to)

Siem Reap – Sunny; The Professor (at Angkor Wat)

But today was the final tour. Sunny, our guide here in Siem Reap, picked us up to go see the “other” temples here. While Angkor Wat is massive almost beyond comprehension, and also in pretty good shape for an 800 year old structure in this climate, the other sites are all ruins.

The Bassman and Sally go to temple(s), November 2019

I mentioned that Angkor Wat was less crowded than we expected, perhaps just because of its scale. But the sites today were more crowded. There were allegedly more than 1,000 temples in the Siem Reap area. Most of them were abandoned over the centuries. We went to visit a few of the more interesting ones (1).

Tourists?, November 2019

And as always, there were monks. And tour groups.

Miles of smiles, November 2019

The architects were pretty amazing. They would design these structures with repeating elements – figures, towers, columns – that visually line up. This helps to create the beauty that must have once been here.

Angelina was here, November 2019

One of the ruins, Ta Prohm (the so-called Banyan Temple), was used in a scene in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider. There’s a scene where she stands by a particular root system, and there were hordes of women lining up (2) to have their picture taken where Angelina Jolie stood.

After we finished the temples, we asked Sunny to drive us through Siem Reap proper. We have a walking tour of the city scheduled on Saturday, but weren’t sure if it was worthwhile. So we drove around for about 15 minutes and decided we would cancel the tour. The rest of the day was in the pool, lounging in the shade, eating a couple of meals and watching another sunset from the bar.

(1) According to Sunny.

(2) It wasn’t really a line, more of a mob crush. Sort of like getting on the subway at rush hour. We didn’t even think about getting a picture.

Monday, November 18: Another river day

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Monday was our second and final full day on the Jahan. Unlike the disaster last week that was the Ginger, we’re not anxious to get off. In fact, we’ve gotten even more friendly with Elizabeth and Andy, our new Swiss friends. We’ve had our meals with them, talked with them over drinks and exchanged impressions and photos from our outings.

This morning was the third of the three excursions via launch from the Jahan as we make our way up the Mekong. We’re still in Vietnam, but only a few miles from the Cambodian border (1). Tri (2), our guide, announced this morning that the guides and Captain – who are Vietnamese – would be leaving the ship at the border, and Cambodian guides and a Cambodian Captain would be boarding.

Everybody got a cyclo, November 2019

First on today’s agenda was a visit the town of Tan Chau. We motored to shore in the launch, and then we each boarded a cyclo for a ride around town. These are small carts pulled by a bicycle. We each got our own, but the guide insisted that regular Vietnamese would ride four or even six at a time (3). With only one passenger, some of the drivers were racing with each other, passing on the straightaways and laughing.

The cyclos dropped us at the local market, where we tipped our drivers more than the suggested $1/person.

Only the healthy stuff, November 2019

Sally and I walked around the market, which by this point in our trip was no longer remarkable. There was a section of fresh meat and fish, all laying out without refrigeration in the heat (4). Not what I would want to eat.

Fish food, November 2019

The final stop before we returned to the launch and the Jahan was a fish farm floating in the river near the banks. These are all over the place; we saw them two days ago way down in the Mekong Delta nearer Saigon, and along the river. It’s basically a floating structure, perhaps 50′ along each side, that uses nets draped from the outer perimeter to contain tilapia (5) that are raised from fingerlings to about 3 lbs. Two men can operate the farm, which consists mostly in this case of mixing feed and feeding the 100,000+ fish swimming beneath us.

Washing the deck, November 2019

It’s obviously hard work, as these two guys were chiseled.

On the way back to Jahan, we said goodby to Tri in the traditional way: with a tip.

Cambodian river bank, November 2019

Around 2:00pm, we left Vietnam and entered Cambodia, our last stop on this journey. Nothing immediately changed on the river, but gradually the river banks became less industrialized. Cambodia is much smaller, less populous and poorer than Vietnam.

(1) Sheen’s Willard was searching for Brando’s Kurtz in Cambodia.

(2) Pronounced tree.

(3) For what it’s worth, I saw no one but tourists in a cyclo while we were here.

(4) I chose to show you pictures of pretty fruit rather than rotting meat. You’re welcome.

(5) And some other similar fish whose name I never really understood.

(6) Cambodia’s per capita GDP is $1,600, Vietnam’s is $2,740 and it has 6x as many people.

Sunday, November 17, Part Deux: More on the Mekong

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This cruise on the Jahan has some similarities to our trip to Africa: each day you’re up early (1) for an excursion, then come back to the ship for lunch, and continue with an afternoon excursion before returning in time to clean up and go for dinner. And you need to clean up; after a full day wearing sunscreen, the heat and the humidity, a shower is definitely on order.

Industrial fishing, November 2019

The afternoon outing took us out in the launch again up a channel that was fully dominated by the fishing industry. Not just the fishing boats, but fish farms in the river, and processing plants along the banks.

Fisherman, November 2019

The fishers range in size a single guy in a small boat pulling in his nets with a dozen or so fish to large farms with were raising tens of thousands of fish.

Men eating, women doing dishes, November 2019

But the highlight of the afternoon was a stop at Thanh Island.

Smoking, November 2019

The village there is about as “authentic” as you can find while on a tour – the only westerners were our group, and there were no gift stops, souvenirs for sale, street beggars or any of the usual trappings tourists see.

Preparing for the feast, November 2019

Instead, we saw people doing what they might do if we weren’t around.

Elders, November 2019

Towards the end of the walk we sat in a multi-purpose building where an elderly man and woman sat and talked with the group. It was staged, of course, but their comments were real and they answered questions from the group.

Sunday, November 17: A very full day on the Mekong

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After two relatively quiet days, Sunday was chock-full of activity. Like any cruise worth it’s fare, the Jahan has lots of activities available. Tai Chi at 6:30am, breakfast starting at 7:30am, and the first of the two included tours at 8:30am.

Breakfast was a lovely buffet in the comfortable dining room, complete with an omelet bar. Like dinner last night, they offered both Western and Vietnamese style food. We met a lovely couple from Switzerland yesterday as we were waiting to board the bus, and we’ve now had two meals with Elizabeth and Andy. Most of the tables in the dining room are for more than two people, so it’s great to find people you like to be with.

The ship holds up to 52 people in 26 rooms, and there are 43 on this sailing. They divided us into two groups and assigned each of us to a guide (in our case Tri) and a local launch for the day’s activities. We were issued radios so we could hear the guide without him having to shout over the launch’s engine roar.

Going upriver, November 2019

As we motored away from the Jahan across the width of the Mekong to a smaller branch leading to town of Cai Be, I couldn’t help flashing on Martin Sheen motoring up the river in the patrol boat in Apocolypse Now, looking for Marlon Brando. The thrum-thrum of the motor just triggered me …

Fishing, selling, carrying cargo, November 2019

Life on the Mekong River, and the tributaries and channels that make up the Mekong Delta, revolves around everything the river has to offer. We passed fishing boats and farms of all sizes and types. We stopped at a floating market, where the dealers act as intermediaries between the nearby farmers and merchants who sell the produce in town.

Three places to live and work, November 2019

Many of the boats are also homes for their owners and families, at least part time. We frequently saw boats with hanging laundry and outdoor kitchens, and a man, woman and child moving up the river.

Cai Be itself wasn’t that exciting. We landed at a small area where there was a factory that made coconut candy, rice paper and other items and watched some demos. Typical group tour stuff: Tri led us from place to place and explained what they were doing, while we all crowded around. Or, in my case, took a couple of pictures, then wandered away to look at other stuff.

Back at the Jahan, lunch was another excellent buffet. I’m beginning to get comfortable with this ship (1), overcoming the bad feelings from the Ginger.

To be continued …

(1) Good thing. We’re aboard for three nights.

Saturday, November 16: Back on the Mekong

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This morning we packed for a two stage transfer to our next accommodations, which was also a transfer: the Jahan, a cruise ship that sails up the Mekong River from a point 40 miles south of Saigon to Siem Reap, and back. That voyage takes seven days, but we’ll only be aboard for the first three, disembarking at Phnom Penh.

You’ll recall that we were on the Ginger overnight last week, and it didn’t go so well. Ginger is operated by Heritage Lines, which also operates the Jahan. So you can imagine that we were a bit nervous as we set out.

Jahan, November 2019

The first part of the journey was a transfer from our hotel, the Park Hyatt, to the meeting place at the Renaissance Hotel. That piece was handled by Tours of Indochina, our outfitter. As usual, they sent a guide and a driver. The transfer was less than a half mile and it took more time to load and unload the car than to drive over. Really, we could have managed a taxi ourselves. But that’s how TOI rolls.

The second part was two buses transporting about 30 of us the forty miles. Our bus was escorted by Tri, who will be our guide during our stay on the Jahan. The good news is that this was well organized – they knew who we were, gave us clear directions on where to wait, etc. The bad news is that this was beginning to feel like what we hate about group tours: everyone lined up and moving as a group.

Cabin 207, November 2019

In any event, by 2:00 we were in our cabin and by 3:00 the ship departed. Then came an info session and safety information, with a complementary welcome drink of champagne (1).

The safety briefing was given by a crew member, who also introduced the ship’s officers: the captain, the chef, the food service manger, the cabin service manager. It was straightforward. The information piece, which described how our itinerary would work and the first day details was given by Tri. We realized that he was both very competent and entertaining. He would interrupt himself to tell a personal story, a joke, or give some insight into how Vietnam has been recovering from the war. The jokes were usually pretty corny:

“A man walks into a bookstore and asks for The Man Is Master Of The House. The shopkeeper, a young lady, replies “Fiction and comedy are upstairs, sir.””

This was all a good uptick from the Ginger. As was dinner, which was a delicious compendium of Vietnamese and Western dishes. I think we’re going to like this one.

(1) Or at least some sparkling white wine; we never saw the bottle, but that’s what they called it.

Tuesday/Wednesday, November 12/13: The Ginger Cruise

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Warning: this s a bit long, and a bit of a rant. But once I started, I couldn’t control myself.

Tuesday morning we left our Hanoi hotel for a two hour drive to Lan Ha Bay, where we boarded the Ginger for an overnight cruise. Lan Ha Bay is a newish part of Ha Long Bay, where day trippers and overnight trippers go to see fascinating islets which dot a large area. We saw advertisements for excursions to this area all over Hanoi, most offering a round trip bus combined with a several hour cruise.

Ginger, November 2019

At the advice of our travel consultant, we elected to stay overnight on the Ginger, a luxury boat with twelve spacious cabins. We wound up getting the largest cabin on the boat, a suite with wrap-around windows and a forward facing deck. Decadence strikes again.

We had assumed that we would be picked up by a driver Tuesday morning for the two-ish hour drive, and also on Wednesday to return to Hanoi. But as I alluded to in the last post, our expectation that we wouldn’t see Sunny after Monday was wrong. Sunny and our driver would accompany us to the Ginger, then hang out overnight in a nearby hotel, and take us to the airport the next day. So we needed to plan for four days worth of tips for them rather than two. Not that it’s that much money, and they’re both very nice, but I didn’t really see the value in having a guide sitting in the car with us and spending the night in a hotel. All of which we paid for, of course.

At least our luggage made it, November 2019

Anyway: we boarded the tender at the check-in dock around 12;10, and 10 of us (1) motored out 15 minutes in the drizzle to board the Ginger.

Our suite, November 2019

The Ginger is about a year old, and is really nicely furnished. In addition to our spacious suite, there’s a very roomy dining room, an open foredeck with tables, lounges and a jacuzzi, and a small library. The lousy weather made all of the outside stuff pretty useless.

Welcome drinks, November 2019

The first order of business was an orientation session, where Minn (2), the cruise director, outlined the safety procedures and our schedule for the next 23 hours. Lunch would be at 1:00, followed by our afternoon excursion.

Lunch was pretty mediocre, but turned out to be the best meal we would have.

For the afternoon excursion, we read in our itinerary that we would “disembark at Viet Hai Village, a small village on Cat Ba Island, where we hop on bikes (electric car available) for a tour along small paved roads towards a quiet village nestled in a valley. Meet and greet local villagers and see their daily routines at homes, school, and work.”

Okay.

We paid good money for this, November 2019

We didn’t disembark at any village, but past the end of a road being paved, forcing us to walk in the rain along the side to where our vehicle was waiting.

There were no bikes there, which is just as well. It was raining.

If the open vehicle was electric, it was the first one I’ve seen that emitted carbon monoxide from an exhaust pipe.

The road was small. And paved.

The road to Viet Hai, November 2019 (7)

When we stopped after about 30 minutes, we were all lead into a covered area to sit on small plastic chairs while Minn explained the geology of Lan Ha Bay. In heavily accented English. To an audience of four Germans, two Belgians, and four Americans (3).

The cultural portion of our voyage, November 2019

We then were moved about ten feet to a second set of small plastic chairs while Minn showed us various whiskeys and brandies made locally, including one aged with a cobra in the bottle. And another with scorpions. Exciting!

On the way back in our stretch golf cart, we stopped a couple of times to take pictures of ourselves in front of cloud-obscured hills.

And that wasn’t even the worst part of the trip. When we got back, Sally and I went for the complementary massages that came with our cabin. Mine was good. Sally got the trainee, who gave a unbelievably terrible massage. Sally was afraid that the masseuse was going to hurt her.

Because of the massages we didn’t have time to go to the cooking class that the other eight guests seemed to enjoy.

Karsts and fisherman, November 2019

Then there was a mediocre Pina Colada, followed by a mediocre dinner. After dinner we had a choice of activities: squid fishing in the dark and rain, or watching a BBC movie about two guys trying to get to Ha Long Bay from Ho Chi Min City. We passed on both.

Wednesday’s schedule was also interesting. Tai Chai at 6:30, followed by kayaking at 7:30 (4). Three people attended each. Then back to the cabin with time to shower and pack, as you needed to have your bags in the hall by 9:30 when breakfast was served (5). Breakfast itself was terrible – cold French toast, horrible coffee that actually never came, and white bread toast that wasn’t ordered.

Around 11:15 we were back in the tender, heading back to shore.

The rain stopped.

Floating village, November 2019

So: this mini-cruise had all the things I hate about cruises: mediocre food, lousy excursions and activities, being herded around in a group like sheep, being on someone else’s schedule and no ability to go and do something on your own. The cabin and ship itself were great, and the crew were pleasant (6) and helpful. And of course they’re not to blame for the weather.

As we were waiting for the tender, Sally filled out an evaluation form. Being the nice person she is, and liking the staff, she gave the Ginger mixed but basically positive ratings. My evaluation would have been less positive. But you know that by now.

(1) The boat has 12 cabins, and was apparently full yesterday. I guess no one wanted to cruise with us. Or they read the weather report.

(2) His name tag said Minnie Minn.

(3) Minn is a really nice guy. It’s not his fault we don’t speak Vietnamese.

(4) We were still experiencing periods of drizzle and heavy rain mixed with a bit of brightening.

(5) The only food available before then was a bit of fruit, reheated croissants and perhaps the worst coffee either of us ever had.

(6) Excepting the killer masseuse.

(7) These are approximately all the local people we saw.

Saturday, November 9: Leaving Laos

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Last night, while we were in the room house relaxing after dinner, we got a phone call from Mr. Something-or-other (1) who introduced himself as the country head for Tours of Indochina for Laos. TOI is the outfitter who actually booked all of our arrangements here, although we worked with them indirectly through Kelly, our travel advisor based in California. Sally found Kelly great to work with, and all of the arrangements made by TOI have been both what we expected and well executed. Mr. Something wanted to know how everything was going during our stay in Laos, which of course was going well. Then he suggested that he have our luggage picked up early in the afternoon, about four or five hours before our flight, so we just would need to deal with our hand luggage from then on. He said it would simplify our check-in as the luggage would be checked in early.

Trails of Indochina, November 2019

Now this all sounded very strange. First, since we were on the only flight from Vietnam Air that afternoon or evening, check-in wouldn’t start until 5:15, about two hours before the flight. Second, I can’t imagine how the airline would allow some random person to drop off two bags to go in the luggage hold. And of course, there’s no chance I was giving him our passports as ID. Finally, the idea of sending our luggage off ahead when flights can be delayed or cancelled seem way to risky.

So we declined.

Luang Prabang departure gates, November 2019

We took the luggage with us when we traveled to the airport, but of course never touched it. The hotel staff carried it out to the van, and the TOI guide wheeled it 30 feet from the van to the check-in. Where we waited about two minutes for the passenger ahead of us to finish. Checking in took about five minutes total. Security line was non-existent. The airport is tiny, with less than ten gates total. We were seated by our gate 25 minutes after boarding the van at the hotel.

All very strange.

But back to our last day in Laos. Normally, checkout time at a hotel is 11:00am. On occasion, when we’ve had a late flight or just don’t want to leave that early, we’ve asked to check out at noon or even 1:00. Often (but not always) the hotel will accommodate us. Of course, if they’re sold out and need the room for an arriving customer, they’ll say no. All very reasonable. And we were planning to ask about it for today.

Sally asked Avna, the front-of-house manger, if we could have late check out. She said it’s already been arranged. Sally said we weren’t leaving until 5:00 and asked how late. To which Avna replied: as late as you want. So we stayed in the room house until 5:00. No charge.

After a late breakfast, we went out for a long walk and went all the way down the main drag, further than we had gone before. Came back, packed, cleaned up. Lunch.

As we were loading into the van (2) at 5:00, the entire front-of-house staff came out to say goodbye. Avna, Jovan (the Executive Chef), the waiter and other staff who greeted us each time we left or returned to the hotel (3). The Amantaka was truly a great experience.

—-_——————

(1) I apologize for not being able to actually understand his name, which is Laotian, between his English accent and the lousy cell phone connection.

(2) With our luggage!

(3) Wish I had a picture.

Thursday, November 7: Cruise to the caves

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Thursday started early. Really early. While we’ve had to set alarm clocks any number of times on this trip to ensure that we got our included-in-the-price breakfast before a morning tour, today we were to see the monks walk asking for alms. And provide them with said alms. This is an 800 year old tradition whereby devotees and now tourists place sticky rice in bowls carried by the monks. This provides food for the monks (although they have other food as well) and, at least for the devotees, shows respect for the monks.

A young monk collects sticky rice from Sally, November 2019

So we arose at 5:00, met our host at the front of the hotel at 5:30, and sat on cushions he had placed along the street in front of the hotel with bowls of sticky rice. We had to don sashes properly wrapped around us. About 40 monks passed us in four or five groups (1). While I got the picture above, I was mostly busy digging handfuls of rice out of my baskets to drop into the bowls carried by the monks. Also, it was still before sunrise, and pretty dark (2). Most of the images I shot didn’t come out.

By 6:15 we were back in our room house. Sally went back to sleep, while I caught up on the blog.

Taking the kids to school, November 2019

We had a late breakfast and then I walked into town to see what it looks like during the day, with no guide, and no night market. It’s a pretty sleepy town. There are extremely few regular cars here. Traffic in town and the surrounding area is dominated by motorbikes and tuk tuks. The tuks here are different than those we saw in Thailand. At least in Bangkok and Chiang Mai, they are used for short trips and mostly by tourists. Here they’re a major form of transportation, and so they are bigger and more robust.

Our Captain & crew, November 2019

Our main activity for the day was a river cruise on the Mekong. We really had no idea what to expect other than sitting in a boat all afternoon with our guide and having some snacks while we looked at the scenery and made of couple of stops. I think we were both a bit afraid that we would be uncomfortable in the hot sun and bored. It turns out we were anything but uncomfortable, and we weren’t bored either.

The Mekong Queen, November 2019 (3)

The boat was a big surprise. It was extremely long and narrow for its length, and setup up to accommodate maybe six guests. We, of course, were only two. There were two king-sized day beds separated by a bar and serving station. We were outnumbered by the waiter, the captain and our guide.

Dove Mountain, November 2019

The scenery was beautiful. We’re just at the end of the rainy season, so everything is still lush and green. And with the boat moving and creating a breeze, and being shaded from the sun by the roof and some clouds, the temperature was about perfect.

Whiskeytown, November 2019

We made two stops. The first was a little village where they distill whiskey, which was cute. The second, our endpoint, was a cave where 2,000 Buddhas sit looking down (4).

River life: even monks have to work sometimes, November 2019

Along the way we saw that the Mekong is still a river where some people have not moved into the 21st century.

Stairway to wisdom, November 2019

The last stop was a pair of caves which rise above the river which house hundreds (5) of Buddhas, reportedly placed there by local villagers over hundreds of years. The lower cave is a couple of steep flights up, and the upper cave is a couple of hundred steep steps up.

Billions of Buddhas, November 2019

We just visited the lower, which contains most of the Buddhas (6).

Afternoon catering, November 2019

The cruise home was peaceful. In fact, the current was strong enough that the captain slowed down so we wouldn’t get home too early – this was supposed to be a sunset cruise. But we enjoyed our afternoon snacks (7). Unfortunately, the sky clouded over before sunset so it just got dark.

(1) There are more than 1,000 monks in Luang Prabang.

(2) 1/13s, f/1.8, ISO 3200 dark.

(3) Not really it’s name, which was written in Lao script. Which I can’t read.

(4) Buddha’s eyes are almost always shown looking down as he meditates.

(5) Our guide said there are thousands. I’m not sure that’s true, nor am I sure about the provenance of the statues. The information I can find all seems pretty sketchy.

(6) Apparently the local villagers are no more energetic than we are.

(7) There was enough food that Sally didn’t need dinner.

Wednesday, November 6: More temples, more markets, more food

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Breakfast room at the Amantaka, November 2019

So I’m beginning to develop a sense of how this vacation is going to look. After breakfast Wednesday morning our guide, Oudone, met us at 8:30 for a “Temples of Luang Prabang” tour. Luang Prabang is much smaller than Chiang Mai, and also much poorer, so there are fewer temples of note.

Which Buddha is this?, November 2019

But the drill is the same: out of the van (1), walk around the grounds a bit, guide buys tickets, shoes off, wonder at the Buddha, shoes on, off to the next stop. The temples are nice, and the statuary and decorative arts are often beautiful, but it’s kind of like the 58th church you’ve seen while touring Italy.

Which is scarier, King or monk?, November 2019

We also saw the former Presidential palace. Before the communist Pathet Lao took over the country in 1975, two successive Kings lived in this large building, which is quite simple by Western standards. We had to do the shoes-off thing here as well, even though it is neither a temple nor a home (it’s now a museum). There are lots of era-appropriate artifacts in the palace, per our guide, but I’m skeptical that they were originally from there (2).

Either 300 steps uphill, or a telephoto lens, November 2019

 

Another activity that was part of this tour was climbing a hill to a temple at the summit. But it was pretty warm, and the climb was more than 300 steps, so we decided to bail. I could do it any time on my own, anyway.

Around 11:00 Oudone asked if we wanted to see more temples, and we declined. So the four hour tour was over in 2 1/2. The way I look at it, we already paid, and we would be happier back in our room house than taking our shoes off and on again.

Lunch at the Amantaka: inside or out?, December 2019

We decided that we would try lunch at the hotel, giving them another chance, and then go out for dinner. Since we had so much fun at the Thai cooking class a couple of days ago, we had Lao-style food for lunch and booked a reservation at a Lao restaurant (3) for dinner. Turns out that this restaurant, Tamarind, also runs cooking classes. One of the people serving us had a name tag saying “Trainee”.

Luxury tuk tuk, November 2019

The Amantaka has a pair of luxury tuk tuks, so they drove us over to the restaurant, probably saving us $3. The restaurant manger was very attentive; the hotel had given him the garlic speech and he spent a lot of time working with us on ensuring our selections were safe. Which they were.

Preparing for the night market. November 2019

After dinner we walked over to the night market. It’s obviously much smaller than the ones in Chiang Mai or Bangkok, stretching over 4-6 long blocks. From there is was a 10 minute walk back to the hotel.

(1) The four of us – Sally & me, guide, driver – are covering basically no distance in a 13 person van.

(2) No pictures were allowed inside the palace.

(3) There is plenty of Western-style food in town, but I suspect it is as tasty as what the hotel served us.

Sunday, November 3: Chiang Mai

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We settled into our hotel yesterday and I gave you the early read on what we think about it. To be fair and balanced, the staff here is great: friendly, accommodating and efficient. We have a butler here (Ray) as well, although we only saw him at check in. Since then, he’s been texting me to get updates on whether we need anything, but certainly has not reached the level of Bright from Bangkok.

Today’s office, November 2019

And as I said, the place is quite attractive. I’m writing this sitting on our expansive veranda, all done in teak and tile, with a daybed and a rocking chair.

Chiang Mai flower market, November 2019

Sunday started early: June (our guide) picked us up at the hotel at 8:30 for a four hour city tour. We drove a short way to the flower market, where we walked for a while. Then we got in bicycle rickshaws for a ride around the perimeter of the old city. The moat which once provided part of the defense against invaders is still there, and a tiny piece of the wall stands as well.

Rickshaws, November 2019

Chiang Mai temples, November 2019

From there we did the temple thing in the city, and then drove up Doi Suthep mountain to a famous temple at 1,055m (3,461′). Wat (1) Phra That Doi Suthep is traditionally thought to be located where a white elephant died. It contains both Buddhist and Hindu aspects, and June explained some of the relationship between the two great Eastern religions (2).

Wat Phra That Doi Suthep, November 2019

Hand-made jade, November 2019

On the way down we stopped at a jade factory. Not just a tourist shop, this place actually makes lots of jade items from small pieces of jewelry and figurines to very large sculptures. Sally bought a bracelet, which they were happy to resize for her on the spot.

Let a smile be your umbrella, November 2019

Next door was an umbrella factory. They make all kind of umbrellas, from very small ones for fancy drinks to very large one to be used for decorative purposes. Sally decided to have the appliqué they were using on the umbrellas applied to her bag.

By the time we got back to our hotel, it was mid-afternoon and we were starving. The hotel restaurant offered to make a special garlic-free sauce for Sally, so we had pizza for lunch.

Chiang Mai Walking Street: Crowds & music, November 2019

Many Asian cities have a walking street(s) and night markets. The walking street is pedestrian-only either some or all the time; the night markets are bazaars that set up late in the day and run till the wee hours. They mostly sell merchandise of all sorts, but also have music and food. I decided to go to the walking street here to see the crowds and find some dinner, while Sally stayed behind and relaxed in the room. After a quick discussion with the hotel staff, I installed the Grab (3) app on my phone and ordered a car to drive me over. The 10 minute ride cost me $2.75.

Chiang Mai Walking Street: goods & services, November 2019

The place was packed, and huge. It was many blocks long along a wide avenue, and extended into the side streets as well. It’s hard for me to estimate how long it was because it was so crowded I couldn’t walk very quickly, or indeed at any sustained pace.

I spent a couple of hours walking around not just the walking street, but also passing the night market and eventually walking back to our hotel.

(1) “Wat” means temple

(2) He also explained Buddhism is not actually a religion; there is no god.

(3)Very similar to Uber, but offers a cash payment option as well.

Saturday, November 2: Bye bye Bangkok

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We are making eight stops on this trip, and we completed the first one Saturday. We left Bangkok to fly north to Chiang Mai (1).

We were concerned about packing for this flight, as Bangkok Air has a reputation for good service and strict baggage limits. According to their website, you are allowed 20 kg (44 lbs) checked and 5 kg (11 lbs) hand luggage. I wasn’t worried about the checked limit, but 11 lbs. carry-on is really tight. Sally’s rolling carry-on case is 6 lbs. empty; my cameras, critical meds, batteries, iPad and iPhone are around 9 lbs. without a bag.

So Sally packed into a soft bag for this flight, and we carried everything “lightly”.

Turns out no one ever looked at the hand luggage. They weighed our checked bags, which came in at about 38 kg in total (2). But I’ll take it. We have another flight with them to get back to Bangkok on our way home; now we can relax a bit more for that one.

The flight itself was short (1:10) and uneventful. We were met at the gate by our escorts, who collected our luggage and handed us over to June, our guide for our stay in Chiang Mai.

Pretty grounds, November 2019

We’re staying at another boutique hotel, 137 Pillars. They have less than 20 rooms. The public spaces and building are beautiful: teak structures, a lot of open areas. Our room has a huge balcony. But the room itself is weird.

Attractive, but dysfunctional, November 2019

First: no drawers to unpack in. As in, none. I mean, this is a comfortably sized room. It has a good sized dressing area with plenty of hangers and two little drawers full of the hair dryer and laundry bags. They found room for a full sized rocking chair. There is no dresser. There are no drawers in either night table – one is just a small table, the other is full of the minibar and coffee maker. But it does have room for a bar cart with lots of glasses and drinks for sale. So our stuff is spread out all over the room on any flat service: under the bathroom sinks, in suitcases lying open, etc.

Second: the bathroom is lovely, all glass and chrome. A huge free-standing tub in the middle, shower and toilet on either side. Both with clear glass doors. Yes, the water closet has a clear glass door. Not that I’m overly modest, but I don’t get the point of a door that offers no privacy. There are both indoor and outdoor showers. The vanity also has no drawers, and the counter is filled by the two sinks.

There are other random items in the room taking space that could be better served by storage: a large tv standing on the floor (not wall mounted), a Bionaire air filter, a Lucite magazine rack with advertising stuff, the bar table.

The balcony is beautiful, but the mosquitos are everywhere. We’re both wearing DEET now.

Anyway, we scattered our stuff around and went for dinner.

(1) “Chiang” = city; “Mai” = new; we’re going to New City LoL.

(2) Amazingly they allow a family to pool their luggage allowances.

Friday, November 1: Transportation Travails

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Friday was our last full day in Bangkok. As we had deliberately limited our pre-booked tours here to only one on Thursday, we had to find something to do. We had extensive conversations with our butler, Bright (1).

Bright the Butler, November 2019

A butler at the Siam Hotel is unlike anything I’ve experienced before. He is a combination personal concierge and personal customer service representative to the hotel. He will make dining reservations at the hotel or elsewhere, make suggestions for tours and arrange transportation, get housekeeping to bring towels, etc. Bright was an engaging and friendly young man who seemed to unobtrusively follow us around. In fact, he always seemed to appear whenever we were somewhere in the hotel. Late each day, he would talk to us about our plans for the following day, making suggestions and discussing alternatives.

Long-tail boat, November 2019

After deep discussions, we agreed that a long-tail boat ride down a canal to an artists’ area would be just the ticket, and so he booked a boat. Long-tail boats are long, narrow boats with an eight cylinder car engine mounted above the stern driving a propeller at the end of a long exposed driveshaft. They are loud – very loud – and go fast. Unfortunately when we came down to the dock to meet our boat, the wind was making the river too choppy for us, so we cancelled the boat ride (2).

Jim Thompson House, November 2019

We developed a backup plan, which was to take a taxi (3) to the Jim Thompson house. Thompson was an American OSS (4) operative during World War II who worked in Thailand, and who decided to stay after the war, and developed the Thai silk industry. After he disappeared while vacationing in Malaysia in 1967, the home he had created was turned into a museum. It’s quite nice, with a number of buildings he relocated to the site, reconstructed and furnished with Asian antiques. Unfortunately pictures are not allowed in the main building, so you’ll have to look elsewhere (5).

From there we walked over to an the Bangkok Art & Culture Center, but first went to find some lunch. We found that unique Thai restaurant, Jamie Oliver’s Italian Bistro. Pizza and pasta! After lunch we went back to look at the art, which was okay, but not great. A bunch of the pieces looked like parent visiting day for second grade.

How do I find the Siam Hotel?, November 2019

Getting home was an adventure. I stupidly decided to try a tuk tuk (6), although a 25 minute ride in one is probably not a good idea. But the driver I chose not only had no idea where the hotel was, but couldn’t understand the printed direction card I gave him, use Google Maps, or get directions from his friend – another tuk tuk driver he flagged down. So after 10 minutes of driving aimlessly, we bailed out (without paying) and found real taxi.

Street food in Chinatown, November 2019

We had dinner (for the second time) in the hotel restaurant, then afterwards I went down to see Chinatown. Chinatown in Bangkok is several blocks of street food. I mostly wanted to see the crowd and the action, as I had already eaten and wasn’t really interested in trying the boiled squid with egg and other delicacies on offer. And crowded it was.

Posing, November 2019

The main part of the area runs along both sides of a wide boulevard. The crowds significantly overflow the sidewalks onto the street.

Food for sale, November 2019

Some of the vendors apparently are renowned, as the lines to buy their take-away food, or sit at tiny plastic tables on plastic stools, was very long.

Crowded streets, November 2019

Getting home was again an adventure. The first two taxis I tried (no tuk tuk for me this time) wanted double what I paid to get there. After futilely bargaining with each, I finally found a driver who (a) was willing to run the meter, and (b) could find the hotel. Twenty minutes and $3 later I was home.

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(1) I’m pretty sure “Bright” is not what his mother named him. Yet that’s what his name tag said. All of the butlers (there were several) had western names on their tags.

(2) Bright negotiated a big discount on the cancellation fee with the driver.

(3) I didn’t know what to expect, as there are three levels of taxis: cars, tuk tuks, and motor bikes. The 25 minute car taxi ride cost about $3 on the meter.

(4) OSS: Office of Strategic Services, the WWII predecessor to the CIA. Yes, he was a spy.

(5) You can look here: http://www.jimthompsonhouse.com/

(6) Tuk tuks are motorized tricycles. The front looks like a motorcycle with a windscreen, while the back is a canopied seat for two that occasionally holds up to four. They don’t appear to be equipped with mufflers.

Thursday, October 31: All that glitters

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Our guide, Moo (1), picked us up at 8:00 this morning for our half day Temple & Palace tour. Meeting at 8:00 means getting up before 7, which seems very un-vacation like, but we’re 11 hours ahead of EDT and still jet lagged anyway. We were a bit late, but light traffic enabled us to recover the time and we got to the first stop before it even opened at 8:30.

I can’t even tell you what we actually saw, at least not without doing a lot of research from guide books. It felt to me like we ran for three hours straight, visiting temples and palaces built by various kings over the last hundreds of years. Between Moo’s accent, my unfamiliarity with anything to do with Thai history, and the seemingly endless number of Kings named Rama (2), I quickly lost track of who built what.

Not that it mattered.

Can you say “glitz”, children?, October 2019

Everything was covered in gold and jewels. I don’t mean swords, crowns and furniture, I mean entire buildings. And statues of angles, Buddhas, devils, and monkeys.

Monks, a guard and us, October 2019

By shear luck, we came to a temple built by someone or other where a group of monks were chanting and blessing people. We got sprinkled with holy water, were given string bracelets and apparently were blessed. He didn’t say much (that I could understand).

More glitz. And us. October, 2019

There were an endless number of statues of angles, devils and monkeys. And lots of gold leaf, except for the stuff that was solid gold. And Buddhas.

After three hours of this, we were ready to retreat.

Siam Hotel, October 2019

We came back to the hotel around noon, where we had lunch. We spent the rest of the day at the hotel, getting massages, lounging around, using our private pool, and just generally relaxing.

The spa at Siam, October 2019

(1) She told us Moo is the nickname her mother gave her as a baby. Confusingly, it means “pig” in Thai. Which is not considered an insult.

(2) Rama IV was immortalized by Yul Brenner in The King and I

Tuesday, October 29: Here we are

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The flights from home to Dubai, and then from Dubai to Bangkok were uneventful but long. The first and longer flight was on a 777, and had nice but pretty standard business class with all the usual amenities: big screen tv, power outlets, lay-flat seats for sleeping. The second flight was on a 380 and we were on the upper deck in the newer and more luxurious “pod” style seats. On both the Emirates attendants were excellent.

Sky Pod, October 2019

After landing in Bangkok we found our airport escort who guided us through the maze and crowds that is Bangkok’s airport, put us on the Fast Track passport control line, collected our luggage and took us to our guide, Moo, and driver. The ride into the city was okay until less than a mile from the hotel, where it took us 20 or so minutes to go one block. Moo chatted for the entire 1:15 trip. I know she was just doing her job and trying to entertain us, but neither Sally or I were in the mood.

Antique horns in the bar, October 2019

We’re staying at the Siam Hotel, which is furnished with antiques of all sorts. Our room has the usual chests and accessories, but one bar has 20 or more tubas, French horns, etc. hanging above the bar.

I did take pictures of our room (of course), but it was dark already when we arrived. I may try again later. Suffice to say that it’s quite spacious with a private pool and roof deck, where one can sit in the heat and humidity.

Monday, October 28

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So here we are in the Business Lounge at the airport. It’s nice, and empty.

Just us, October 2019

The security line, however was not so empty. We waited about 20 minutes despite having TSA-Pre and Business tickets. They only had one scanner open.

Anyway, we board soon for a twelve+ hour flight. And then another six+ hour flight.

Strange stuff to pack

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Years ago Sally and I would travel with suitcases filled with clothing and books.  If we were going to a resort or traveling by air, the books would cosume both a big part of my suitcase and my carry-on.  Technology and age have changed these priorities, especially for me.

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Keith and Kindle, July 2017

I haven’t actually carried a real physical book on an airplane in years.  The first practical e-reader, the Kindle, was released in late 2007, and I believe I purchase one shortly thereafter.  Since then, I’ve purchased and downloaded almost every book I’ve gotten as a Kindle book (1).  In 2011, I bought my first iPad (an iPad 2), and installed the Kindle app.  I never replaced my original Kindle device, and it is now long gone.  So my reading library – especially while traveling – is now my iPad or even my iPhone.  Since I carry those whenever I travel anyway, this is a 100% weight and space savings.

The iPad and iPhone are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to electronics, of course.  Sally does use a real Kindle device, which requires it’s own micro-USB cable.  All of these devices will charge using the same USB wall plug.  And I have my cameras, which use two different batteries, and thus require two different chargers.  The newest addition on this trip is the backup disk drive I bought, but this also charges using a USB wall plug, although again with a unique cable (USB 3).  Any I always take two of everything critical that could fail.

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Meds, eyeglasses and a lens, July 2017

Another class of item that’s been growing for us over the years is our medications.  The good news is that we’ve actually lived as long as we have, and that there are pills to help us feel better every day.  They also help us try to preserve our general health and fitness for the future.  In my case, I have a slew of pills I take everyday to treat my arthritis.  I put the pills into these daily organizer strips that help me ensure that I take all of them everyday.  And I need almost three weeks supply for the trip, plus extras in the event we’re delayed returning or I lose or damage some.  So I’m taking four weeks worth.

Related to the meds are eyeglasses.  Sally and I both wear eyeglasses, of course.  She uses progressives, while I have bifocals.  We each will take a backup pair, as it will be hard to see if we lose or break our primary ones.  We both will take presription sunglasses, as we hope to be in the bright sun a good part of every day, looking for wild animals.  We also both are taking sunglass clips, that attach to the frame of our primary glasses for casual or city use.

The image above shows most (but not all) of my meds and packed eyeglasses. All of this stuff has to be in my carry-on.  I’ve put my largest lens there for size comparison.  I’d rather be able to take another lens.

 

 

(1) The only hard cover text I’ve bought in years was Keith Richards’ memoir, “Life”.   I’ve also acquired a number of photography books in paper form, as it’s pretty hard to appreciate the photos in a Kindle book.

All aboard!

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Yesterday we boarded the cruise ship Silver Muse to begin our journey around the Mediterranean Sea.  The first stop will be Monte Carlo, where we boarded.  Yes, that’s right – we moved from our lovely hotel in the city to a lovely hotel floating at a dock in the city.  We spent last night on the ship, but remained at dock in Monte Carlo.  I’ll get to “why” in a bit.  

The check-in process seemed well organized, if a bit over-complicated.  We had to stop at three different desks to complete the process, and it’s not clear to me why the three stops were the plan.  It seems to me that whatever it was they did at each stop could have been accomplished in one stop.   As it was we waited on two short lines, and it moved along well.

After the third stop, when we were officially “checked in”, we made our own fourth stop to chat with the head of the restaurant, Mr. Gilbert Lanza, about food allergies and our reservation for this first night.   See, the first night was “special” on this cruise.   It was added to the schedule after we had booked the trip, and we understood that the ship planned a special celebration in honor of its maiden voyage – parties, music, dignitaries, etc.   But they also seemed to have no way to allow you to make dinner plans for that night(1).  

Chatting with Lanza, April 2017

So we stopped to chat with Mr. Lanza and found out a few things.

1. He was mystified by some of the decisions surrounding the festivities, like how they randomly assigned people to tables for this evening.

2. He and his assistant would move us to Zelda and Matteo’s table, and somehow notify the displaced people that they were sitting somewhere else (we if fact all did sit together, so this worked).

3. He would arrange for Sally to receive a menu each evening for the restaurants so she could select a meal which would be garlic-free and tasty (2).  

The cabin is nice, which is not a surprise since it’s pretty much the same as the one we had two years ago.  There are a few minor changes in the layout, none of which matter a bit. 

Cabin with a view, April 2017

After checking in and unpacking, we toured the ship, checking out all a bars, restaurants, the spa, the bars, another restaurant, the game room, a bar, the fitness center, etc.  Sally decided to do some more unpacking while I went to the gym.  While I was working out, they made an announcement about the evening’s events.  There was a talk about the cruise industry starting shortly, and a big-deal christening of the ship on the dock adjacent to the ship in an hour. 

The christening ceremony was setup with folding chairs for 400 people, a small classical orchestra and speeches by Silversea executives and Prince Albert II of Monaco.  Champagne, tv coverage, very posh.  Unfortunately, only 150 passengers actually went down as we watched from our balcony, then then the weather turned.  

Sparse, umbrellas and then inside, April 2017

First the blankets came out as the temperature dropped, then the umbrellas as it started to rain.   Finally, they gave up and moved the whole thing into the theater in the ship.  That’s Albert’s bald spot sitting in the chair in the middle of the aisle.   Finally, we watched the christening on the video screen in the theater as they broke a bottle of booze on the hall of the ship.

But dinner was nice, and we had a good time catching up with Zelda & Matteo.
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(1) You’ll recall that, unlike our last cruise on a sister ship, is ship has no open seating restaurant – you need a reservation every evening.  

(2) We never got a menu last evening, but found Lanza at breakfast and got it all arranged for tonight.

Ready to go, but … 

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A few years ago we went away for a month.   As always, we made a reservation with a car service to take us to the airport.  I always worried about these guys showing up; I had occasionally experienced no-shows or late arrivals.  So I was grew nervous as the pickup time approached.  

I grew very tense when the pickup time passed with no driver. 

Tedd of Uber, April 2017

I grew extremely tense when my call to the dispatcher went to voice mail. 

At 10 minutes past the pickup time, and with no answer at dispatch, we loaded our luggage into the car and drove to JFK long term parking.  The parking fee for the month was $16/day, or $480.  

Last year I started using Uber (like so many of you).  Mostly, it’s been a good experience, with lower costs, clean cars and pleasant drivers.   On our last trip I had trouble getting a ride; apparently none of the drivers in the area wanted to make the 1:30 trip to JFK.  

So this time I decided to try Lyft.  I had been told that many drivers were abandoning Uber for Lyft, so we gave a try.   I even used the scheduling feature to set the pickup for 4:00pm.  Sure enough, a few minutes before 4:00, I got an alert that a driver had picked up the call and would be there in 14 minutes.  Cool!

Except that I watched as he drove in the wrong direction, the arrival time stretched to 23 minutes, and then the car icon stopped moving.  After a text and voice call yielded nothing, I cancelled the call and switched over to Uber.  Tedd (pictured above) immediately grabbed the call and was at our house in 7 minutes.  

So now we’re on our way to the airport, with an ETA of 5:40 for our 8:07 departure.  Plenty of time.