Elephants and Tigers, Oh My!

We left the beaches of Phuket and flew north to the hills of Chiang Mai. Just a 2-hour flight but a world away as far as the terrain goes. On the flight I had Khao Soi served from the flight attendant's cart, it was surprisingly good which made me even more excited to eat it in the city which is known for it.

We took a cab from the airport to the 3 Sis Hotel, this hotel is in a great location for exploring Chiang Mai. There is a beautiful, airy lobby, breakfast is included at the connected cafe (which also has a great patio perfect for drinking beers on), and the rooms are clean and spacious, if a bit on the basic side. The Sunday Market sets up on the street right in front, it's a HUGE street market with everything from clothing, live music, touristy stuff, and of course food. Lots and lots of delicious food!!

Of the three night markets we went to-- Wualai Road Saturday Market, Sunday Market, and The Night Bazaar-- my favorite was the Sunday. Whether you go to one or all, you will see a lot of the same stuff but they each have a different vibe. And each of them had outdoor massage chairs so Forest and I could continue with our hour-foot-massage-a-day routine.

The two main ways to get around in town (besides walking of course) are tuk tuks or red trucks. Both should be negotiated before riding! In red trucks you just climb in the covered back where there are bench seats. It may stop and pick up others along the agreed upon route as you go. Tuk tuks can be a bit dangerous for four people as someone will have to ride up front next to the driver, where there may or may not be a seat, as Thibault found out one night. He had to perch precariously!

Chiang Mai has a lot of wats (temples), monks, and Buddhas. The wats are everywhere with many of the locations having multiple temples. Sometimes it is hard to figure out which was which. We visited quite a few; 6 of the most well known ones. You remove your shoes before entering and make sure shoulders are covered and well as your legs to the knees.

There are Buddhas housed in wats and others that are outside. There are huge ones, reclining ones, crystal ones, ugly ones, the list goes on.

The temples were mysterious places to us, there are so many ways that people are worshipping; leaving money, paying for gold leaf and affixing to a Buddha, buying ribbons, leaving food. We even saw at least one wat that did not allow women!

And then there were the statues of monks, some so realistic they look like they had been mummified. Who knows, maybe they were!!

Next to Wat Chedi Luang there is an area called Monk Chat where you can sit and talk to the monks, we didn't do this but it seems like it could be interesting. And the only way women would be allowed to interact with monks.

It seems that everyone who goes to Chiang Mai takes a cooking class and we were no exception. We booked a half day course with Thai Kitchen Cookery Center, which included being picked up from our hotel, a trip to a food market and then cooking instruction, and lunch of our dishes. We each got to pick different items to make and then taste them all which was fun. Although we all had a good time, and got a cute little cookbook to take home, I don't think any of us thought it was a 'must-do' on limited time.

Our favorite day in Chiang Mai was the day we had booked with Blue Elephant Camp. We did a lot of research on excursions as we were really interested in interacting with the elephants but we didn't want to spend time at a camp where they are treated badly, forced to put on a show, worked by people who weren't concerned about elephant welfare, etc.

We were picked up before sunrise and had quite a long drive north towards the mountains (the camp is actually quite close to the boarder of Myanmar). Right at sunrise we stopped at a large food market to pick up things for both ours and the elephant's breakfast. Our guide was great as he also showed us many fruits and vegetables that we weren't familiar with.

After a quick stop for coffee (thank god!) we continued on, finally arriving in the most beautiful river valley. We changed into our mahout outfits (elephant trainers) and while eating fried chicken and fruit had a lesson in giving elephant commands in Thai. Blue Elephant works with different camps and we were at Bobby's Elephant Home. The owner of the camp was very serious about us being able to command the elephant with words, the handlers here did not use hooks on the animals. I can not recommend this camp more highly. It was amazing! After our breakfast we were introduced to the elephants and fed them in order to get them familiar with us. Our guide took our cameras for us so that we could enjoy the experience but still get great shots.

After introducing ourselves to these giant creatures we each had to use our newly learned commands to have the elephant help us up, then move about forward and backwards, left and right. As you can see we chose to go with a bareback camp as the chairs you see are really awful for the animals. It was scary to be up so high!

After class we rode the elephants for a while, through a river and some forest land. I'm not gonna lie, it is not the most comfortable way to travel! On our way back through the river we got to bath them, which was fantastic!

After we returned to camp we had some refreshing coconut water and fruit and then fed the elephants the leftovers (they love whole tamarind pods and also will crack a coconut in their jaws!). We had some more photo ops and also got to hang out with the pregnant elephant, who we could watch the unborn baby moving around from side to side in her belly! Finally we said our goodbyes and thanked the camp owner who you can see really loves his elephants!

Next up was a visit to the Tiger Kingdom. Tiger Kingdom breeds and raises tigers in captivity. Because the tigers are raised and trained to be around humans from birth you are allowed to interact with them. When you buy your ticket you choose if you are going to visit them all or just a certain size. We chose Smallest and Biggest. While we waited for our timed entry we strolled around and saw the nursery where the tiger cubs were just a few weeks old as well as some that were maybe a month old being fed by a trainer. We also so some of the really big cats watching the raw chicken truck arrive from their cages. Amazing animals!

And then we got to snuggle with cubs!!

There were about 8 cubs in a playroom type area and each has a handler. Some were snoozing in the heat of the day while others were running around and playing. Look at the size of those paws!

After we went to visit the Biggest. Holy shit that is crazy to be next to such a large animal, even though they are use to people I have a cat and know she goes from deep sleep to swiping at me in a minute!

I know some people think the cats are drugged but I have to say that I really just feel that they are so use to this and they also get disciplined when they get aggressive. We saw many tigers being taken out of the common areas after their appointed time. This felt like a petting zoo, with tigers.

We absolutely loved our day of elephants and tigers, we couldn't stop gushing about it for the rest of the night!

As I mentioned in the very beginning of this long post, Chiang Mai is know for the noodle soup dish called Khao Soi. We had a few bowls in various places but the best two were the very authentic one served at Lamduon Fahrm which has been dishing it up in the original location for over 70 years. This restaurant is bare bones and Khao Soi is pretty much all they serve, it was delicious!

The other one was at Khao Soi Nimman which is in the trendy Nimmanhaemin Road area, full of hip cafes and shops. Nimman serves 9 variations on the classic, like mine which included duck breast, in a more modern style restaurant that has a great outdoor patio.

Our other favorite meal was at SP Chicken, I'd recommend getting there early before they run out of things! And we found some pretty decent cocktails at the DeLanna Hotel, where we were able to sit outside under trees lit with lanterns (I'd also think to check this hotel out if you might like more swanky accommodations!)

We packed a lot of stuff into our 3 1/2 day visit to Chiang Mai, we could have easily spent another few days! But it was time to pack up so we grabbed a red truck to the train station and boarded our overnight train back to Bangkok.

All Chiang Mai photos here.

Sun and Sand in Phuket

We had a night flight from Bangkok to Phuket on AirAsia that left from the smaller Donmueang Airport (DMK). Forest and Thibault met us at the gate as they had just flown into BKK from Paris and had to rush to make it to the airport in time.

It was 1 1/2 hours to Phuket and we arrived about 10:30pm. We then picked up our rental car and drove what was suppose to be about an hour to the southern most town of Rawai. Unfortunately it was quite dark, there were few if any street lights or signs, and no one we stopped to ask seemed to either understand us or know where we were headed. We finally found the Modern Thai Villas and thank goodness they were even lovelier than we had hoped for!

Our villa was in a little community, each one gated and fenced off for privacy. The house was an L shape with two spacious bedrooms and ensuite bathrooms at either end, and a big living room and kitchen in the middle. Outside was a beautiful lap pool and covered gazebo. Breakfast was included and was held just across the street from our villa, buffet style featuring both Thai and American style options. There was also a mattress store and buses of Japanese tourists arrived daily to shop at it. We never could quite figure that one out.

After a morning swim we drove to the area of Chalong Pier to explore and have some lunch at Fon Fon restaurant, randomly picked but very good. We just got a peak of the long boats coming in from the bay and of the Big Buddha on the hill before a huge storm came through. I am talking monsoon style rain storm.

We took advantage of the weather to do a big shopping trip at the local grocery store Tesco. Grocery shopping is one of my favorite things to do in foreign countries as there are so many things that I see and have no idea what they are, as well as the way stores display their items can be disturbing to say the least. Like this meat section where it was just out in the open and you scooped up what you needed. Pass.

Booze, snacks, and pool toys acquired we headed home, waited out the storm, had aperos, and headed to the Rawai Beach area for dinner. Toes in the sand, breeze off the ocean, outside on wooden tables and benches. Perfect.

We spent the next few days doing what you do on Phuket; we sunbathed and went swimming in the warm lovely waters of Nai Harn and Kata beaches. We explored the Gypsy village and fish market in Rawai. We took in sunset at Phromthep Cape lookout (along with a couple getting their wedding photos). 

Forest and I had hour long foot massages every chance we got. We visited the Chalong Bay rum distillery. We swam in our pool. We had lunch on an uninhabited island and celebrated New Years Eve.

And of course we ate lots of delicious Thai food in all sorts of environments.  In Phuket Town we had dinner at the modern fusion restaurant Suay which was ok but not a must visit. In Rawai we had beautiful green mussels and green papaya salad with raw crab al fresco at Nikka restaurant. We also had a fantastic dinner outside at Sa La Loi farther down on the waterfront, some of the spiciest dishes were here! 

We had an incredibly unique lunch near Chalong Bay at MoMu Dong, a collection of private and communal huts set over mud flats. Even with one of the very few English menus we really had no idea what we were ordering but our server helped us the best she could and we had a phenomenal meal. This was some of the most authentic regional cuisine we ate.  

We also discovered the incredibly delicious banana roti (or pancakes) served with condensed milk and sold by street vendors. Heaven. 

On our last full day on Phuket we booked a tour through Asian Dolphins to visit the famous Phi Phi Island area. The trip was an 8-hour excursion that included multiple stops.

It didn't start out well unfortunately as they never showed to pick us up. I get a little cranky when I have to be ready for something at 7:30am and then it doesn't happen. After some tense phone calls we hurriedly drove ourselves to the marina and just made it in time. They did comp us each 5% off the price.

We took a large speedboat out to our first stop Pi Leh Lagoon, about an hour and a half trip across the bay. The limestone cliffs that circle the lagoon are incredible. And the color of the water was just amazing. And the number of other boats and tourists made me wish I had visited this area about 20 years earlier. 

We all jumped in and had some time to swim around and enjoy the scenery. Photos really do not do any of these places justice. 

Next we headed to Maya Bay, this is where "The Beach" was shot and tourists flock to it. In fact when we arrived there were so many tourists on the beach that no one could sit, they were all just packed on it, standing. Our driver offered us the choice to head to a little different spot where we could enjoy some beach time which we all happily agreed to!

Next stop was Monkey Island and just as the name implies the place is over run with monkeys. They were funny and cute to watch, which is way more than could be said for the tourists who fed them sugary drinks and people food instead of fruit just to have a "funny" picture. 

We continued to pass beautiful rock outcroppings and small islands as we headed towards Phi Phi Island for lunch. We stopped just outside for some good snorkeling; warm water and lots of fish. Lunch was a big buffet set up for all the tourist boats, nothing even remotely unique or authentic. We finished quickly and grabbed a drink while taking in the view. 

Our last stop of the day was to Bamboo Island for more beach time. It was a lovely beach that wasn't very crowded. Although the water was warm and gorgeous there was too much coral and it was too shallow to snorkel. But it was perfect for a sand siesta!

It was a full day and the sun was getting low in the sky as we headed back to the marina. We drove home to our villa in Rawai to pack, make some pool drinks, and take a last swim. That night we ordered dinner from the resort and it ended up being up there with some of the best food we had had in Phuket! An added bonus and a great way to wrap up our time on the island.

All Phuket photos here. 

More Than One Night in Bangkok

Now that I've got that song stuck in your head...

It takes a long time to get to Thailand, no one really talks about that. I left on noon on Christmas day last year and landed midnight on Dec 26th. In fact by the time I got to the hotel ( I hired a car from the hotel to pick me up for $50) it was just after 1am on the 27th. That damn dateline!

Everyone suggested that I get in and out of Bangkok relatively quickly during my Thailand vacation, but I ended up being disappointed that I was only there two days in the beginning and two days at the end. If you love big cities I'd suggest planning a few more days if you can. There is so much to see and do there!

For this first leg, I stayed at the Chatrium Hotel Riverside, where they upgraded me to an executive suite because I asked nicely. The room was huge with a separate kitchen, living room, balcony, and had amazing views of the city. When the smog wasn't hiding it. The hotel is at the southwest end of the river, you have to take their boat one stop to the main express river boat stop, but it was easy and free so no problem.

Thank god for 24 hour room service, cold beer, and comfy pillows. When I woke later that morning I headed down to the pool to relax, unwind, and soak up some sun and river views.

When I got hungry I walked down Chan Road and picked a random noodle stand/stall which was busy with locals. I literally had no idea what the woman was serving except there was broth and there were noodles. As I stood there pointing she thought maybe I wanted it to go and started to fill a plastic bag. I waved that off and then she tried to find out which color bowl I wanted; did it matter? They looked the same except for one was blue and one was pink. I shrugged and pointed at her and smiled. Then she added noodles and again tried to find out which choices of additions I wanted. I recognized the fried pork skin and then just randomly pointed at some other things, reading her face for approval as I went. She ladled on the broth and another woman took my bowl and led me to a plastic table. Seeing that all the locals were drinking a mysterious beverage from communal Tupperware pitchers I asked for a dietCoke. Then I dug in to my first delicious bowl of noodles in Thailand. I had done it! I had ordered lunch! I had no idea exactly what I was eating but it was good and the locals were watching me slurp and they were nodding and smiling.

When I was done I made the international sign for "check please" and stared blankly at the man who told me the price in Thai. I held out my smallest Baht currency, a 1000 Baht bill which is about $25. The man looked at me, I made the "I'm sorry" face and he left to cross the street where he entered a flower shop. Shortly after he returned with my change, which I then figured out my entire lunch had cost the equivalent of $1.50. Note: change to small Baht!!

Dayne arrived later that day and in the evening we took the express boat to the flower market, Pak Khlong Talat. It was absolute mayhem! Food stands everywhere selling things that we couldn't always figure out; a maze of flower stalls with amazing arrangements; smells of exotic blooms mixed with gasoline, food, and people; and more marigold leis, called phuang malai, than you can imagine. Everyone buys these daily as symbols of luck and a form of protection, so they are the biggest seller at the market. Add to all this a dizzying number of motorcycles, scooters, cars, and tuk tuks driving wildly. Lanes? Who needs them!

I loved it! I have never seen anything like it! The market is pretty much open 24 hours a day, I hear it is busiest pre-dawn so if you are up around that time in Bangkok go take a look!

We grabbed a tuk tuk and after a lot of misunderstandings found the Amarosa Bar which sits on the rooftop of the Arun Residence. There is nothing special about the bar itself, certainly not the drinks or the service. I was there for this absolutely outstanding view of the Wat Arun.

Drinks drunk, we grabbed a taxi, negotiated an off meter price of 250 Baht (about $7) and headed across town to Soul Food Mahanakorn. This place serves contemporary Thai food (like this crispy fried morning glory & squid salad) and fantastic cocktails. It's definitely more spendy than what you get on the street but we both thought it was really, really good.

The next morning we had planned to visit the floating market but for reasons I still don't know it was closed. We hired a longtail boat for a shared 2 hour tour of the canals for 2000 Baht (about $55) from our hotel pier. Our first stop was the Wat Arun where we could go off on our own to explore the grounds and climb the outside of the temple. I hadn't planned for a temple visit that day so I had to buy a sarong to wrap around my shorts and rent a scarf to put over my bare shoulders. Coupled with the broken china tiling of the temple there were a lot of patterns happening!

The canal tour was cool as we got to see lots of little "neighborhoods", scores of smaller temples, floating houses, water moniters, and even went through the locks.

We were hungry when we were dropped off at our hotel pier so we jumped in a cab and headed to Soi Covent, which is a street littered with all kinds of food carts, for lunch. We had an absolutely delicious meal of fried fish, spicy green papaya salad, and rice while sitting on tiny plastic stools on a side street.

After exploring more food stalls, we grabbed another taxi down to the river and took the express boat to the Amulet Market. The streets here are lined with vendors selling everything from cheap touristy amulets to very rare and expensive ones. Each Buddha brings a different kind of luck; romance, wealth, health, etc. Men perch with magnifying glasses to search out the authentic and antique, and haggle over prices.  

There is a large food market at the express boat ramp so we explored that before heading back to the hotel via the river. We'd have to wait a little more than a week to see more of Bangkok, for now we had just enough time to catch sunset and a cocktail before heading to the airport to meet Forest and Thibault for our flight to Phuket. 

Bangkok photos here.

Exit Thru Barcelona

Our ship The Wind Surf had pulled into Barcelona early in the morning while we slept.  We had one last breakfast outside on deck in the sun and and by 8:45am we had disembarked and were headed to the Hotel Majestic via taxi. After a lovely 8 days our cruise was over.

It had been ten years since I had been in Barcelona, and it was Matt & Jen's first time. I couldn't recommend this hotel more for its location (practically across from the Gaudi house), service, and just the touch of swank that you need after being on the road (and/or sea) for 10 days.

It was a gorgeous day so we dropped our luggage and headed out to explore. We strolled down the Ramblas and had chocolate and churros at Cafe Opera (where they weren't as good as they had been in the past) and then walked to the Basilica de Santa Maria del Pi- which means Saint Mary of the Pine Trees- and on to Barcelona Cathedral.

Near by is the Mercado de Santa Caterina which is easily spotted by its colorful and wavey roof. We had a fairly good tapas lunch at Cuines Santa Caterina outside, in front of the market. Nothing better than eating and drinking al fresco!

The highlight of my stay in Barcelona this time was our afternoon spent in Park Güell (the last time my highlight was climbing up the Sacrada Familia). We made our way up the steep hill via escalators and stairs and entered one of the free areas of the park. The views are absolutely outstanding and I would have been more than happy to have packed a picnic and just have spent the day gazing at the city and the Mediterranean (we could even see our ship still in port).

But we had come to see the works of Gaudi so we followed along the windy paths, enjoying some really cool sculpture and more views, until we got to the main ticketed zone. This is where we found out that we needed to a buy ticket- no big deal- but that they were timed tickets and we would have about an hour and a half wait before we could enter. Not the worst thing as we were able to wander the free area some more, and then snagged a table at the outside cafeteria and cooled off with some beers and sangrias. The wait was worth it but if you book in advance you won't have to!

If the weather is good, I would highly recommend the park!!

We started our evening with drinks at our hotel's rooftop bar, which had fantastic views of the city including the Sagrada Familia. Then we headed out for a proper martini at the aptly named Dry Martini Bar. I'm not the first to say that this is a fantastic spot for a cocktail, you should absolutely go while in town! The service is old school proper, the decor has a great throw back feel, and the drinks are top notch.

We then walked to the very popular Cerveceria Catalana at Calle Mallorca 236. After putting our names on the list we grabbed a couple of glasses of wine and waited out on the sidewalk along with everyone else. There is always a wait here as it is very good! The food is outstanding and combines traditional tapas dishes with plays on contemporary items (like mini hotdogs!)

The next day we started with an early lunch at Bar Pinotxobar which is one of the first bars as you enter the amazing La Boqueria market. This place is also very popular, they serve fantastic food (especially the chickpeas with squid) and the owner is a hoot!

La Boqueria is closed on Sundays and the fish stalls are closed on Mondays so I'd suggest to plan your visit Tuesday thru Saturday.

After lunch we strolled through the market, shopping for saffron and tins of tuna and sardines to bring home. Then continued down the Ramblas to the waterfront and into the gothic quarter. Barcelona is incredibly easy to walk around.

That night, after some wine at our rooftop bar to grab some last views of the city, we headed to another old school haunt, Boadas cocktail bar. It is hidden in plain sight, right off the top of the Ramblas, and has been serving classic cocktails since 1933.

And for our last meal we had an absolutely delicious dinner at the one Michelin starred restaurant Hisop where the 8-course tasting menu WITH wine pairings was 90Euro. I think one-starred restaurants are really overlooked and they almost always impress me more than the three-starred!

Not only was the food and service stellar but the space is fantastically designed. It is quite small and very modern, with smart touches like these cupboards which store glasses, service ware, and a cheese drawer!

Highly recommended!

The next morning we took a cab to the airport (30 minutes and 26 Euro) and flew home. The sadness of saying goodbye to a great vacation was somewhat eased by the fact that I had cashed in miles and we were in 1st class, on a British Air 747 with just 20 total people in the upstairs section. And lay-flat pods.

All Barcelona photos here.

Mallorca Round 2

Our last port of call on our Windstar cruise was on the island of Mallorca. Originally the ship was to anchor in Soller, where I had stayed the year before and was excited to visit it again. The weather didn't cooperate however and the ship had to dock in Palma. We decided to take the narrow gauge train that runs from Palma to Soller, rather than stay in the big more touristy city, which was fun and offered some great scenery as it climbed through the mountains.

We arrived in Soller and their weekly market was in full swing so we did a little browsing and shopping before settling into lunch at Cipriani's which we discovered the year before. They specialize in Mallorcan cuisine and are right in the town center.

 After lunch we boarded the trolly down to the Port. The weather was beautiful; sunny, warm and perfect for a lovely gintonic outside at Cava. This entire menu is just gin and tonic combos!!

After a relaxing afternoon by the sea we took a taxi back to Palma and enjoyed the gorgeous scenery while sailing towards our final stop where our cruise would end, Barcelona.

It was the last night on board, one last in-room apero was had, one last dinner, and one last night in the casino.

Windstar is still a choice I'd recommend, I may even try one of their other ships some time!

Mallorca photos here.