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The Mystic East - a tale of hot food, hot weather, airmiles and imodium.

The Mystic East - a tale of hot food, hot weather, airmiles and imodium.

Old Dec 5th, 2016, 01:16 PM
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The Mystic East - a tale of hot food, hot weather, airmiles and imodium.

Just back from three and a bit weeks in Thailand and Vietnam enjoying temples, street food, tropical beaches, cocktails, coffees, puppet shows and a lot of internal flights!

Fellow Fodorite Uruabam/Weegie/Stilldontknow (aka Tommy) organised this trip and will feature as co-star.

Nb. I am posting this TR in the lounge and Europe (in addition to the Asia forum) as I am not known outside of Europe really – I saw someone else do this earlier this year so hopefully that means it is allowed/and/or no-one hits the triangle. If you do santa will probably bring you coal!

Pictures to be uploaded in sets for each destination – here’s Bangkok to get you started.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/494523...57677450924765

Day 1 and 2 – Heathrow, Dubai and Bangkok.

Tommy and I were fortunate enough to have PPI refunds this year so the trip we’d started planning to South East Asia for Nov 2016 was suddenly upgraded to business class. I flew from Heathrow to Bangkok via Dubai with Emirates, which was almost as exciting as the holiday itself – a chauffeur picks you up and takes you to the airport, you can trough in the lounge (I had smoked mozzarella salad, then saddle of lamb stuffed with pine nuts and spinach served with roast root veg, plus a fair bit of champagne), and then you have a big seat on board that goes completely flat for sleeping, 1000s of telly channels and appropriately obsequious serfs. Despite the lounge scoff I managed to find room for artichoke soup with sumac cheese straws, Arabian spiced cod, and then chocolate delice with mango once airborne. I also had a breakfast martini (marmalade, gin and Cointreau) and a fair bit more champers. Tommy flew from Glasgow, also with Emirates. I can’t remember what he had to eat but he did show me photos, and I also recall he had a bit of red mist over the fact that you didn’t get amenity kits on the UK-Dubai leg as it wasn’t considered a night flight (despite getting in after midnight).

Dubai airport was vast, and unlike Heathrow, where you had the not insignificant luxury of boarding direct from the lounge, it was a 20 minute hike between gates. There was a lot of quite blingy décor in the lounge (ibex heads in ebony and rose gold and ornate fountains), but also good stuff like free ice cream, wifi, juice bars etc. On the second leg (Dubai to Bangkok) I only had breakfast as I was a bit stuffed. The all-important amenity kits finally arrived, full of Bvlgari goodies and I took everything out and admired it on my tray table about half a dozen times. The flight was smooth and uneventful and landed roughly on schedule.

Emirates car service efficiently picked me up right outside the main terminal then equally efficiently deposited me at the wrong hotel in Bangkok city centre. (I got dropped off in a kind of underpass, so it was impossible to spot the mistake until the driver had left.) Tommy, who had arrived first, came to rescue me in a taxi and I finally got checked into the correct hotel – Golden Tulip Mandison Suites - around 4pm. We were a 5 minute walk from the busy Sukhumvit Road, and about 10 mins from the nearest Skytrain stop. The hotel itself was very good value with big rooms in restful dark oriental colours, picture windows, a nice pool and good breakfasts (egg station, pastries, Asian congee type dishes, tons of fresh fruit, pancakes, and waffles).

After comparing flights and Tommy demo-ing the minibar etc we headed out for a bite to eat and to locate a suitable place to watch the sun go down. Our watering hole of choice was Above 11 – a rooftop bar with pink tree-shaped parasols. I had something with pomegranate in and it came with angel wings carved out of fresh ginger mounted on the rim of the glass which tickled me a bit.

We next moved on to Chinatown, grabbing a taxi from an array of bubblegum pink cars at the stand. Bit of a rude awakening here – our vehicle had no seatbelts and the driver drove like a maniac. Tommy found my consternation amusing and commanded me to abandon all notions of health and safety for the duration of our trip.

Chinatown was everything I had hoped it would be – an explosion of neon juxtaposed with silk lanterns, people tucking into bowls of rice at tiny zinc tables whilst seated on even tinier plastic stools, hawkers pulling carts, tuk-tuk drivers touting for business, scrawny cats and dogs begging for scraps. Down a side street we found a massage parlour offering hour long foot massages for 200 baht (circa £5). Our feet were washed in petal strewn tubs of water, then lotion massaged in with varying degrees of force. Tommy’s masseur was a ladyboy and he pronounced her to have very good firm hands. Mine an older women who chatted non-stop in thai with the other spa staff. We left refreshed and fragrant, to hunt out a late night eating spot, bypassing the fish stalls and settling on roast duck with rice (me), noodles (Tommy), Asian greens (both). Back to the hotel for a decent night’s sleep once we’d mastered the aircon.
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Old Dec 5th, 2016, 04:39 PM
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Love the photos so far-lots of variety. I will love following you and you are lucky to have a "co-star".
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Old Dec 6th, 2016, 05:59 AM
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Day 3: Bangkok

Our first full day in Bangkok and we decided on a trip to Wat Pho temple for a bit of culture. This necessitated taking the skytrain down to the Chaopraya river, then hopping on a boat to the Phra Nakhon district. Frankly, our walk to Asok BTS was a bit of an assault on the senses - in addition to the teeming traffic and its constant blaring of horns there was a cacophony of smells - durian, mango, chargrilling, raw sewage, diesel, incense, jasmine and fish sauce - and a blanket-like humidity wrapping itself around us. I can easily see why many people find Bangkok a bit full-on, but once you've acclimatised to the heat and noise and mastered the art of crossing the road (just go for it - cars and motorcycles weave round you effortlessly) - the chaos is magical.

The sky train ticket purchasing system is a bit daft - they have staff in cubicles but all they are allowed to do is give out change, and then you queue a second time at the ticket machine to actually buy your ticket. The Silom line is quieter than the Sukhumvit line. Sadly we needed to spend more time on the latter than the former for our trip, so found ourselves standing rather than seated most of the way (albeit in relative air-conditioned comfort), watching the little in-car tvs, playing solemn music and showing pictures of the recently deceased king.

At Saphan Taksin we boarded an express ferry (rather than one of the tourist boats or junks) and sped off up the muddy brown channel, passing giant riverside chain hotels and rickety houses on stilts over the water, greenery hanging from narrow balconies. Every now and then the boat would stop at piers for passengers to embark or disembark, the arrival, departure and mooring of boats controlled by agitated marshalls blowing furiously on whistles.

The walk from the river to the temple wasn't that long but we struggled a bit to find the entrance (canny touts try to redirect you to their stalls and shops, though Tommy was fairly wise to this having visited before). Once inside we wandered the courtyards in scorching midday heat, taking off our shoes to nip in and out of temple buildings, admiring gold buddahs, lacquered columns, gilded panels, knobbly spires, and rooflines edged with dragons. Sitting on the edge of a carp pond we rubbed our blisters and gave thanks for the occasional cloud intermittently relieving us of the tropical sun.

Outside the temple we found a small cafe serving iced coffees and sat slurping noisily on our drinks. There were some lovely leather goods - wallets, purses and bags - on sale in the coffee shop, but Tommy ruled it too early in the trip to be looking for souvenirs, so we carried on our way back to the ferry terminal without any purchases but full of caffeine. The walk talk us past a number of stalls set out along the road, which we'd obviously also passed on our way down, but had not really taken in at the time. When we looked closer we saw that the stalls were in fact manned by various national organisations - naval cadets, scouts, nurses and so on - who were giving out free food and drink to any and all passes-by as alms to honour the dead king. We were both really touched by this simple act of generosity. The food was delicious and varied - all home cooked. Bowls of curry, grilled meats, and wanton-like dumplings filled with pork and lemongrass. There were also sugary doughnuts, ice-creams and lollies, and bottles of water and fruit juice - all chilled on ice, and all free for the taking.

Once off the boat, we retraced our steps to the BTS, spotting chickens and a cockeral strutting round Saphan Taksin station(!), and a bizarre sign proclaiming 'No balloon!' There are a lot of things you can't do on the BTS, apparently, apart from 'no ballloon', including eating, drinking, leaning against pillars and talking loudly - all verboten. On the way back I kept an eye out for infringments but everyone - school children, office workers, and tourists - were all remarkeably compliant, glued to their phones or e-books.

Walking down Sukhumvit 20 alley back to our hotel we noticed numerous stalls set up cooking lunch for local shop staff and construction workers, so purchased some chicken skewers and grilled pork which were neatly bagged up in polythene for us (like funfair goldfish!), and took them back to the hotel for a nibble. After our portable lunch we headed down to the pool for a bit of a chill out. I swam, catching my feet and knees on a number of hidden ledges (I told you health and safety was not a thai strong point), whilst Tommy mostly sunbathed - he'd burnt his chest the day before so needed now to burn his back to match .

Evening activities started with a visit to an IT mall to try to find a cable for transfer of photos from camera to tablet, since Tommy's transfer app and wifi wasn't working properly. Unfortunately the mall (which was vast) seemed to consist of kiosk after kiosk of mobile phone cases sold by teenagers, and it's not very easy explaining 'USB to micro-USB' in thai to someone who thinks you probably want to buy a pink Hello Kitty iphone 6 cover. We left without a cable (which seems only fair considering I didn't get a bag from the coffee shop-cum boutique earlier - ha!) and headed for a district known for its street food.

There's been a concerted effort to clear up roadside traders and stalls recently in Bangkok and when we found the area (sorry, cam't remember the exact Soi) there wasn't as much choice as we'd been hoping, so we passed on eating and headed for a bar instead. I think the place was called The Rock Pub, and it didn't initially hold much promise, being half empty and with the barman struggling to assemble anything that didn't come straight out of a bottle, but first impressions can be very wrong indeed and ours certainly were. First off, although my cocktails and mocktails took an age to make, they were delish when they were finally served up, and as we were imbibing, a band came on stage who were so good that we revised our 'one quick drink then home' plan and spent the entire night there. The band were thai, performing a mix of punk, rock and indie classics (The Clash, Chilli Peppers, Rolling Stones) and were frankly, utterly brilliant. Great vocals and very tight instrumentals, blowing all the X-Factor type crap out of the water. After settling the bar bill (they had slightly reproachfully lined up all of Tommy's empty bottles by way of a tab!), we headed back to the Asok area for some late night eats.

Our destination was a tiny alley Tommy had visited before - possibly off Soi 18? - I'm not 100% sure - really no more than a narrow passage lined with tables and stools and woks over gas burners, though the occasional motorbike or scooter did thread its way through. The heat was fierce in the constricted space, smoke laced with chili catching at the back of our throats. We definitely ordered omelette and pork belly and probably two other dishes - possibly morning glory - and maybe some fish - which was all cooked to order and utterly delicious. Tommy showed me how to use the condiments provided to spice or freshen everything up - wedges of lime and chili flakes, and my favourite - vinegar loaded with mustard seeds - which I soaked the whole omelette with. We drank cokes from the fridge buzzing noisely beside us, eventually heading home for bed full of chili heat and hoarse from shouting in the pub.
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Old Dec 6th, 2016, 09:02 AM
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Though I'm not sure that you are actually selling a visit to Thailand to me so far, I'm enjoying this very much.

Keep up the good work!
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Old Dec 6th, 2016, 10:03 AM
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Thank you for the kind words, Stitchintime and Annhig.

Ann - I have Chiang Mai coming up next which is a bit less hectic and might be more to your taste!
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Old Dec 6th, 2016, 10:11 AM
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looking forward to it, RM.
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Old Dec 7th, 2016, 03:36 AM
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i read your whole blog it was really nice . nice information you have in it .looking forward to hear more topics from you like this
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Old Dec 7th, 2016, 04:06 AM
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Beautiful photos, RM! Enjoying seeing places through your eyes immensely!

We were in Bangkok in 2014 during the period of the BKK shutdown, so missed out on visiting some of the areas that you visited, so it's great fun to finally see them!
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Old Dec 7th, 2016, 11:46 AM
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Hello RM67. Another fun TR, yours always make me smile. And they are always mouth-watering. Not to mention the booze. I was last in Bangkok in 1976 and I wonder how much of it I would recognise now.
Looking forward to Chiang Mai. There were no paved roads back in the day!
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Old Dec 8th, 2016, 06:39 AM
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Looking forward to Chiang Mai and Vietnam. Very fun report so far. Thank you.
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Old Dec 8th, 2016, 07:41 AM
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Day 4: Chiang Mai

After 48 hours in Bangkok we headed north to Chiang Mai, Thailand's second city. Our flight took only 50 minutes on one of Air Asia's red and white Airbuses, leaving from Don Mueng late on Sunday morning. Our cases fortuitously appeared seconds after we made it to baggage reclaim so we were almost first in the queue to grab a taxi from the well organised rank, which transferred us to our next base - the Thannattee Boutique hotel - around a 15 minute drive from the airport.

Chiang Mai, although fairly sizeable (population 150,000) has a very different vibe to Bangkok. It nestles at the foot of the mountains, surrounded by national parks replete with waterfalls, elephants and tigers, and the air is clearer and cooler. The city itself is bounded by ancient walls and a moat system. Our hotel was just outside the city centre in a residential area of houses with walled gardens, and small local shops and cafes. As in Bangkok, overhead was a mass of tangled cables and wires supplying homes with high speed fibre optic despite their antiquated telegraph looks. The hotel building was lanna style - a lot of dark wood, the bathroom with a beaten metal sink and turquoise tiling. We had a small balcony that we never used, and at the back was a sheltered swimming pool. Whilst nice enough, we felt that our accomodation wasn't that well located as we had to cross a busy road every time we wanted to get into the city centre, and although probably no more than a 10 minute walk to the ancient walls, anyone who has visited south east asia will know that that's plenty long enough to be dripping with sweat on a hot day.

We decided that we'd laze by the pool for a bit before heading into town for the night market. Unfortunately there were only a handful of loungers and these were all taken, so we sat at a small table with low wooden stools, baking in the midday heat. Tommy attempted and failed to put up a parasol, so to evade the sun I decided to have a swim instead. Navigating the narrow ledge along the edge of the pool I managed to lightly brush the parasol holder and the brolly tipped over and fell in. Tommy pretended he didn't know me while two Aussie girls swimming in the pool helpful rescued the parasol and fished it out. We left it dripping against a wall and pretended nothing had happened, doing comedically short lengths that consisted of about 4 strokes and listening to the thrum of insects. When it became clear no-one was going to vacate a lounger any time soon, we cut our losses and got dried off in the room before heading into town.

I think our first port of call was an ex-pat bar called John's Place. I'm not normally a fan of anywhere full of middle aged men whinging about home from 5000 miles away and demanding egg bacon and fried bread, but this was actually quite a nice spot, on a corner, so good for people watching, and open to the elements. We ordered Khao Soi (chicken and noodles in a coconut broth with chili and coriander, with more noodles, fried and crispy on top). Tommy was mildly outraged that our khao soi came without the correct final layer of crispy noodles but despite that it was delicious - just the right level of (medium) spicing for me. I can't remember what we drank but unless I say otherwise you can take it that typically any imbibing session consisted of fruit juice, beer and cocktails. The bar girls, in between orders, tonged their hair with implements plugged into massively overloaded sockets on the wall by the bar like a scene from a health and safety video (the 'do not do this' version, obviously). We also watched as some idiotic french men tried to drive off on a scooter under the influence, and listened to gasps and honking of horns as they nearly came to grief.

Next on the agenda were foot massages for both of us. These were similar in price to the Bangkok ones (in the 200-300 baht range) and decent enough, but probably not quite as stellar as the Chinatown rubbing. I don't think it helped that we both had blisters - or that I'd worn capri pants that didn't roll up far enough for my masseuse to get as high up my legs as she would have liked. But they were perfectly ok massages and its always good to get away from the bedlam of any asian city centre for an hour or two. A nice touch was the ginger tea we were given to drink afterwards.

Tentatively easing our shoes back on, we headed for the Sunday market on Walking Street, starting out at the food stands, passing vendors juicing sugar cane, gutting fish, ladling out curries and bagging up sticky sweets. We tried coffee ice cream - sold in little blocks wrapped in waxy paper, dispensed into a paper cone when you purchased and a somewhat dodgy version of the famous banana pancake, in which a raw banana was wrapped in a crepe and smothered in nutella (the inside is meant to be cooked too!). The sign over the stall pronounced 'Only Banana in Chiang Mai!' and this became a standing joke for the rest of the trip whenever we saw a banana pancake vendor elsewhere in the city. Tommy bought a coconut to drink the water from and some thai sausage which was meaty and coarse. We tried to look at the stalls of silk goods and lacquer but the street was rammed here, and we ended up ducking out to go to a wine bar, sitting on a balcony at first floor level, watching the street below. My tummy wasn't feeling great at this stage so we headed back to the hotel, which I felt bad about as I know how much Tommy loves night markets, but as it turned out, similar venues would figure later in our trip, so it wasn't the end of the world. 'I told you to take Imodium' was Mr M's one and only comment as I nipped in and out of the bathroom at regular intervals during the night!

And photosbr />
https://www.flickr.com/photos/494523...57673541563414
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Old Dec 8th, 2016, 11:18 AM
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Thank you everyone for your kind comments
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Old Dec 9th, 2016, 05:30 AM
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I love Chiang Mai! Even though I go there twice a year, I love "getting back to the city I love" by hearing other people's experiences. The Saturday and Sunday walking markets have been so crowded. The Art in Paradise museum is reallllly fun-not your normal museum. Try River Market restaurant. It's a beautiful, relaxing, peaceful setting with great dishes. Even though it's more expensive, it's worth it.
http://therivermarket.com/wp-content..._menu_2015.pdf
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Old Dec 10th, 2016, 12:09 PM
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Day 5: Chiang Mai

After a mediocre breakfast at the hotel I took a prophylactic Imodium, and we made our way back to the city centre to explore further. We were planning a temple fix, visiting Wat Chedi Luang, and the adjacent Wat Pan Tao. Wat Chedi Luang reminded me somewhat of an Aztec pyramid with almost impossibly steep steps leading up the sides, and impressively large stone elephants looking forbodingly down from the middle tiers. Huge stone snakes guarded the staircases. Although the temple dates to the 14th century a certain amount of restoration has been carried out in the last couple of decades with UNESCO funding – the level of restoration has been somewhat contraversial. Just next door we found Wat Pan Tao, completely different in style, this time recalling a Norweigen stavekirk with its staggered rooves and dragon like prows. In and around Wat Pan Tao, banners and lanterns were being erected in soft pastels and pale golds. These flapped gently in the lightest of breezes, as tuk-tuks queued in the courtyards and feral but benign dogs roamed the grounds.

We left the temple complex and found a small café – Jario Coffee – on Prapokklao Road – very modern in design, with a good choice of cold drinks and smoothies, and techy types sat at a long bar by the window gawping at their Macbooks. I had a blueberry smoothie and got lots of seeds in my teeth which Tommy didn’t tell me about, but luckily I needed the loo so was alerted to my purple mouth in the bathroom mirror. We then headed to the north of the city, looking for (another) IT mall to continue the cable search. This was again unsuccessful. Tommy bought some sort of hard drive storage thingy instead which was also not quite the right thing as it turned out when we checked the connections, but I soothed him with promises of beer later.

Because of my dodgy tummy we had western food for lunch just to be on the safe side – I think some sort of club sandwich and fries which was ok but felt like a cop out with all the great thai food on offer. Then back to the hotel, passing interesting looking shops and eateries that we mentally bookmarked – for example a great little gift shop full of tiny earthernware cups and teapots, plus a number of café come art galleries – café/coffee culture is huge in Chiang Mai.

We got back to the Thannattee mid to late afternoon for a brief rest – this would become standard practice on our trip, allowing us to cool off a bit after the midday heat, and recharge any electrical devices that were flagging using Tommy’s ‘Tower Of Power’ – a gadget that had about half a dozen USB ports. Sitting in our underwear(!) to chill a bit quicker we’d compare photos and post updates to Facebook to torture colleagues at work back home.

We had big plans for the evening as our trip to Ching Mai coincided with the Loi Krathong festival, in which lanterns are launched into the sky, and krathong (little floats made of flowers and candles) are set adrift on the river. As soon as it got dark we headed back into town following the crowds thronging down the main street as they turned west toward the river. Stalls were set up along the road selling krathong, trinkets and food. As we got closer to the river the crowds got denser and denser, until we could barely move. Luckily, at the this point we were able to break off to the left and head down some steps to the river bank. From here we could see many krathong already floating along with the current and hundreds of lanterns being launched into the night sky from a bridge over the river. The krathing and lanterns illuminated against the dark water and dark sky looked magical.

The main krathong launch point – a wooden pier leading out into the river - was about 100m to our left. Most people were releasing their krathong from here. However, a few intrepid (read ‘daft’) individuals had chosen to launch their krathong directly from the river bank, and these were now trapped in weeds by the bank, unable to get out into the main navigation. One guy was teetering on the edge of the riverbank, using a long stick to try and free his krathong. We waited gleefully for him to fall in though sadly it never happened. Equally daftly, a small group of westerners were trying to launch a lantern from more or less the same spot down at water level, rather than on the bridge. A combination of tree branches overhead and inexperience with how long to allow the lantern to warm and inflate before launching meant it came plunging back to earth almost immediately, initially accompanied by giggles and then screams as it disintegrated showering everyone in the vicinity with embers. We enjoyed the more successful lantern and krathong launches for a fair while, before slowly heading back into town.

Our late evening entertainment was a trip to the ladyboy cabaret, located in a building tucked round the back of Anusan night market. Truth be told we weren’t expecting a lot from this, having heard the shows can be short and badly choreographed, but it was absolutely brilliant - 2hrs of bird of paradise-like costumes, music and dancing. All lip-synched/mimed but this didn’t matter one little bit, as it was all about the colour, energy and camp. Think Abba, Rhiannon, Patti Labelle. There was a fair bit of audience participation, for the most part with volunteers rather than ‘victims’, and ‘spare’ ladyboys served as waitresses during the show, fetching drinks and snacks for nominal tips. Tommy tipped quite well so I got a lot of candid shots of the ladyboys as they came in and out of the dressing room or bar area. We had a great time here and so did the rest of the audience judging by the noise level!

On our way back to the hotel we grabbed kebabs from a street vendor and they were honestly the best kebabs I have ever eaten – chicken rather than the more usual unidentifiable pinkish brown lump of flesh, with tomato, great Asian coleslaw and mayo. The roti type wraps were flamed briefly before the meat and other goodies were encased, then handed to us perfectly folded like origami. We ate as we walked, passing rowdy bars with hookers perched on stools or leaning against pool tables, massage parlours, restaurants and bars with customers seated outside in the humid night air, and residential properties – a little thai girl of no more than four or five years of age putting down a bowl of food for her cat in the open garage, batting away flies before she’d let him eat. There were stil thousands of lanterns in the sky, even at this late hour, and the city was bewitching.
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Old Dec 11th, 2016, 07:09 AM
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oh, RM, how the phrase "prophylactic Imodium" resonates with me!

lovely descriptions of the krathong which I'd never heard of before - thank you.

As for the cabaret - like you I'd have had qualms but you've converted me!

keep it coming.
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Old Dec 11th, 2016, 08:40 AM
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I'm not sure I would have risked kebabs while full of immodium... but they sound good! As does the street theatre you walked through.
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Old Dec 11th, 2016, 11:38 AM
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Stichintime - the Rivermarket looks really good - I wish we'd known about that when we were there.

Thank you again Ann and Gertie. I ended up using the Imodium as a bit of a security blanket tbh - taking one most mornings before we went out, for most of the Chiang Mai portion of our trip and into Vietnam, though eventually managed to wean myself off them. Since I never had any nausea or stomach cramps, only mild diarroeah, I think the heat was the culprit rather than the food or water. Imodium figures again in Hanoi so stand by for that exciting episode
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Old Dec 11th, 2016, 02:13 PM
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Enjoying and learning from you!

What is a PPI refund?
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Old Dec 11th, 2016, 02:42 PM
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PPI is payment protection insurance. A lot of UK banks miss sold it when people took out loans with them. The banks have been made to pay back the PPI, in some cases with many years worth of interest on top.
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Old Dec 11th, 2016, 09:45 PM
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Great trip report. I am really enjoying your perspective on CM, a place that many here Are not that keen on. I like the place a lot. Looking forward to reading of your experiences in Vietnam, probably my fav, country in SE Asia. Keep it coming!
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