Bob you win on the laundry question. There is a laundry in the lower parking garage for the Marriott - they use the same service as the Marriott, but charge less. We have a big bundle to take there tomorrow morning.

Ate at Nahm today. Yes, there is a prix fix menu - 1500 baht per person. The food is amazing. The Guinea Hen Larb, however, was so hot we could barely eat it. We enjoyed our meal there.

More tomorrow....

"Guenmai, Cheryl had her eye exam done at Paris Mikki where she bought her glasses. No extra charge. If you would use an optometrist in the US, the exam at the store in Bangkok would be just fine. Cheryl said it was a very thorough exam. If you have eye problems that require an ophthalmologist, then I'd make an appointment at Bumrungrad."

Thanks. I'll probably go to Paris Mikki in Paragon and have the eye exam done. However, I don't need frames as, this past summer, I bought two new pairs of frames in Italy and two in Paris at Mikli (Alain Mikli), not Paris Mikki, a different company. So, I just need to have the eye exam and lenses put in all four. I hope it's not going to cost a fortune. Here at home, my lenses usually run about $99.00 at See Eyewear as they're cheaper than my optometrist.

Glad you got to Nahm and enjoyed it. I hope they have several fish dishes on the menu as I don't eat meat/poultry.

Take care

Guenmai, sounds like you are back to your normal travel routine. I wonder if we were in Paris and Italy around the same time? August is when DH and I did our 50th anniversary trip there. Right now I am on my way over to Zurich for 3 weeks in Switzerland and Germany.

Kathie, how was the market shopping in Myanmar? A friend from Chiang Mai suggested going to the Thai/Myanmar border for some good markets, but we didn't ever get there.

I am curious to read about your river cruise. Hopefully you will have lots of pictures!

Safe travels to everyone.

Simpson: I was in Europe in June/July.

I just noticed that I didn't end my above post with my signature of over a decade, "Happy Travels!" I guess that's what happens for posting at the time that I did. LOL!

"Glad you got to Nahm and enjoyed it. I hope they have several fish dishes on the menu as I don't eat meat/poultry.

Take care"

Yikes, no wonder it took me a while now to find my post as I jump to the bottom of threads and quickly scroll up and can spot mine by my "Happy Travels!" signature.

Happy Travels!

Guen, at least you remembered to post in paragraphs...:-)

I've been posting in paragraphs for many years, since I got my own computer in 2007 and was no longer on crappy borrowed computers, as in ones that charge per minute. No time for paragraphs as they cost more money. LOL!

Happy Travels!

Guen, there certainly are fish dishes on the menu at Nahm. I don't remember whether you eat shellfish, but we had a wonderful crab dish there. Cheryl bought very expensive lenses at Paris Miki, as she opts for the best Hoya lenses. For less expensive lenses, you might be happier elsewhere.

A couple more comments about Nahm... when they say a dish is spicy it means it is "burn your mouth out hot." The Larb we had was so hot, we each ate only a few bites. Some of the other dishes were spicy - but not like that! I thought the prix fix menu was a lot of food (Cheryl disagrees) because I was thinking of it as a tasting menu.

Carol, there are interesting markets in Burma, though I don't know if they would be what you are looking for. And I wouldn't cross the Thai/Myanmar border to shop as the markets there are mostly full of Chinese-made poor quality items. If you wanted a short shopping trip to Myanmar, you could fly to Yangon and visit markets there. I will have a detailed report on the cruise, and believe me, Cheryl has LOTS of photos.

We are basking in being back in our favorite city. Staying on Sukhumvit is getting mixed reviews from us so far, but we will re-appraise at the end of the trip.

I find it is fun to be over on Sukhumvit for a few days. Certainly easier to go shopping, but there is no relief from the constant hubbub of commotion . In that respect, the river is more peaceful.....not that the river traffic isn't very busy at times. Each has its merits. Enjoy

"Kathie on Nov 19, 15 at 4:50pm
Guen, there certainly are fish dishes on the menu at Nahm. I don't remember whether you eat shellfish, but we had a wonderful crab dish there. Cheryl bought very expensive lenses at Paris Miki, as she opts for the best Hoya lenses. For less expensive lenses, you might be happier elsewhere."

Good to know that there are fish dishes. I also eat shellfish.

As for the eyeglass lenses, I don't want to pay more than the equivalent of $99.00 per pair for lenses. I'll check out Paris Mikki, but will also shop around.

Happy Travels!

We went to Emporium and to EM Quartier, located directly across Sukhumvit from Emporium. EM Quartier is another shopping center with lots of restaurants.The restaurants are located in a building called the Helix. It has a long, spiraling ramp (like the Guggenheim Museum in NYC), so you start at the top (9th floor) and stroll down to the 6th floor, there are restaurants on both sides. We chose a Thai place and had a good lunch. There are more Japanese places than Thai and plenty of other options. Before we left we stopped for a scoop of ice cream to share (not Hagen-Daz, Carol, but I think it would meet with your approval).

Yes, yes, I'm working on my trip report as I can.

Today we had reservations for Bo.lan, another Thai restaurant on the top 50 list of best restaurants in the world. They have a prix fix menu for 980 baht. The food was very good and even the dishes described as hot, we were able to eat (our server said those dishes she would describe as medium hot for herself and that is how I would describe them). I'll report in more detail on all of these places later.

Kathie--

As you know from another thread, I am thinking about Myanmar. We have never done a river cruise, but I actually looked at the Pandaw site. Of all on offer, the cruise that would be most appealing to us is the one on the Chindwin. Can you give just a brief rating and synopsis before you really get into the trip report?

The itinerary sounds like what we would very much be interested in. But, one hesitation I have is that we are not top-of-the-line luxury travelers. While we could afford it, we are not 5* hotel people and very, very rarely choose these. We choose smaller local restaurants rather than fancy ones, we don't feel comfortable with a lot of obsequiousness, we are quite active, and we are pretty independent not needing a lot of hand holding. I just don't know if a river boat cruise is for us. So, I would be very interested to get just a paragraph or two about the overall experience and itinerary without you having to go into detail.

This reply is directed toward julies. While it is not my intention to be an interloper on Kathie's blog, I do want to alert you to a lengthy trip report that I wrote on this site in September, 2014, after a twenty night trip aboard the Pandaw II on the upper Chinwin and upper Irrawaddy. I probably do not answer all of your questions, but I believe that you will find some useful information. ZZ

Zambezi--

Great! Thanks much. I'll look for it.

Julies - we took the 7 day Chindwin cruise. I thought about Zambezi while we were on the cruise and thought that while we absolutely loved the cruise, I would have gone crazy with 21 days!

The crew were warm and helpful, but not obsequious. While this would be described as a luxury adventure cruise, the ship is by no means over-the top luxe, instead it is polished teak and brass, very pragmatically designed.

The itinerary had a good combination of relaxing on the ship, watching the countryside go by and twice daily stops at villages, monasteries, temples.

I highly recommend the cruise. I'm not sure what it would be like as an introduction to Burma. We had been twice previously as had all of the other passengers. You might want to visit some places like Bagan and Inle before you board the ship.

The other people on our cruise were very down-to-earth - no travel snobs. We traded travel stories and we got some good ideas for future trips. All of the other passengers had been on three or more piers Pandaw cruises, all thought the Chindwin was the "best."

More details will follow when we get home and I get my report finished. If you have other specific questions I can answer before my actual report, let me know.

Zambezi, you are not an interloper, glad you responded to Julies question.

Kathie, we've decided to miss Hsipaw this trip, DH isn't keen on the 4 hour plus drive, will visit another time.

So, looking for something else to do in Mandalay region. Did you enjoy your visit to Kyauk Se ? How long did it take to get there ? And, do you have the guides contact details ?

Sorry about all the questions !

Our driver/guide was Pho Se, [email protected]. It took about an hour an a half to get there. We visited Kyauak Se and some surrounding places, din;t get to other places we wanted to see.

Just back from "Brunch" with Bob and Karen and Hanuman - wonderful brunch with free-flowing champagne at The Europe at Siam Kempinski. A good time was had by all.

Kathie--

Thanks for interrupting your trip to answer my questions. When you get a chance, can you tell me, on average, how many hours per day were spent doing the village/monastery/temple stops? We have never done a cruise of any sort and question whether there would be enough activity for us on a trip of this sort. OTOH, I do realize that if one wants to visit this particular region of Myanmar, this is probably a really good option. And, we would not worry about choosing a cruise to some of the lesser-visited areas even though it would be our first trip to the country. We very frequently choose the less trodden path when visiting new countries.

What a fun read! I'm off to Burma (first time) in just under 4 weeks! Your trip reports have brought the country to life for me, and I'm so excited to visit.

abby, I'm glad my trip reports have been helpful. Have wonderful time in Burma!

julies, I'd say on average the stops were an hour and a half morning and afternoon. At some stops, passengers could take bicycles off the boat. Also, you can go off on your own, as long as you are back when the ship leaves again. For instance, one night we moored over night at a village we visited one afternoon and returned to the next morning for the morning market. Passengers would be free to go off on your own for this time.

I'd say that the time on the ship was relaxing but not boring. I found observing life along the river to be endlessly fascinating. On the other hand, observing might not feel active enough for you.

I have found that my travels in Burma have benefitted from my extensive reading on Burma. I do have a reading list somewhere here "Kathie's Burma Book Shelf" I admit I have not kept it current as I'm forever buying new books on Burma.

Ok, Back to the Bangkok portion of my report.

Yesterday, we met up with Hanuman and Bob and Karen for a fabulous brunch at the Cafe Europa - free-flowing champagne and wonderful food - lobster, fois gras, dim sum, salads, fruits, etc, etc. What a wonderful time we had!

Today we headed across the river to visit Wat Kanlayanamit which has the largest seated Buddha in Bangkok. It was a lovely, quiet place with few other visitors.

I note that staying downtown makes visiting wats (which are mostly located along the river) much more difficult. But if you are coming to Bangkok for shopping, then staying downtown makes sense.

Kathie--

Your comments about the bicycle availability (something I had seen on the Pandaw's website) helps because this is something I know we would be interested in doing. The comments that you can stay longer off the boat if you wish is also helpful since what I had envisioned was something similar to the small group of tourists following their tour guide for 1.5 hours and then being safely herded back on to the boat where they would then set sail until the next stop where they could get off and walk and observe for another 1.5 hours before once again sailing away and being confined to the boat. We are the people who have no fears or problems just wandering around a totally untouristed area on our own, just taking in everyday life.

Your comments on Bangkok are also useful. I know it is your absolute favorite city in the world. However, for people like us who aren't shoppers and who don't like huge, noisy, modernized cities, I just don't know how much time we would devote to it.

Thanks again.

In that case stay along the river in one of the better hotels

julies - some good choices along the river - including budget options (e.g. Ibis Riverside). I am not a fan of BKK but seem to wind up there a lot as it's such a transport hub - see https://mytimetotravel.wordpress.com...ay-of-bangkok/

I want to follow up on Kathie's information about passengers being able to go off on their own during village visits, as long as they get back to the ship at cast-off time. I confess to being a maverick whom no tour guide can herd. It was often my practice to escape the group the first moment I could when we went ashore. If it turned one way, I turned the other. I had great experiences meeting people, particularly women and their families, and although we did not share a language, we communicated. What I found, however, was that usually there was a crew member from the ship shadowing me. It was a little eerie. I'll mention, also, that we had one passenger who had made her own arrangements to have a crew member as a private guide when we went ashore. Additionally, she was the one passenger who had her private table in the dining room and almost always ate by herself. Same menu, though. ZZ

My riverside hotels in order of preference: Anantara riverside, peninsula, chatrium riverside, shangri-la, Royal orchid Sheraton, Hilton. Ibis does not interest me because they do not provide boat service to the sky train.

A couple on our cruise regularly parted from the group and did their own thing. I was not a problem, but ZZ is right, the crew will keep an eye on you to make sure you don't get lost if you stray too far. Others of us went off in a different direction from time to time or stayed back to see/do something else from time to time. As someone who prefers to travel without a guide, I did fine with the cruise.

Alas! Our Bangkok trip took a bad turn. I got intensely ill after lunch yesterday. We were supposed to go to Gaggan last night, but had to cancel. I always carry medicines with me, but I was so sick I couldn't keep down water, let alone medication. Kudos to the Marriott staff who were attentive and helpful. Once Cheryl insisted we go to the hospital, they took us in a hotel car. After a couple of hours at Bumrungrad, I was better and came back to the hotel. The staff were very supportive and helpful. They all wanted to know how I was doing this morning and whether they could get me anything. Not exactly how I'd planned to end this trip... I will say again that I am very impressed with Bumrungrad.

Later today, I plan to write up my conclusions about the Bangkok portion of the trip. I expect the Burma report won't get posted until I get home.

The Ibis provides a free shuttle to the Sky Train. Can't see that it makes much difference whether it's a boat or a shuttle.

Kathie, sorry to hear about the unfortunate turn at the end of your trip. Hope you are feeling better as you're reading this. Safe travels to you and to Cheryl back to the States.

So sorry to hear you got sick! But sounds like you picked a good place to do it. Hope you are really feeling better before the flight.

Kathie: Hope you're better. What in the world did you eat and where? I always figure that I'll eventually get some kind of stomach upset in Bangkok although I was fine, this past trip for about 6, straight weeks throughout S.E. Asia. I hope for the best on my upcoming trip. Smiles.

Happy Travels!

Bad news about the sickness, I know how it feels. Last Friday, the day before the wedding we attended, I worded up DH on evacuating me to Bangkok for Bumradgrad. Fortunately it passed.

Great to hear you're feeling better.

Sartoric, so sorry you were sick - I'm glad you didn't have to evacuate to Bangkok!

Here is my summary of Bangkok: (I will post my Burma report on another thread when I get home) Bangkok 2015

After two weeks in Burma, we flew to Bangkok. What a pleasure to be back in our favorite city! Our flight was late, meaning that we arrived right at evening rush hour. It took an hour and a half to get to the JW Marriott, where we have a free week. It reminded me how much I like arriving at midnight! Our mission was to eat at all three Bangkok restuarants listed in the top 50 in the world: Gaggan, Nahm, and Bo.lan.

Here are the restaurant reviews:

Nahm: Located in the Metropolitan Hotel, the décor is Asian minimalist. They have a prix fix menu at 1500 baht per person. You start with an amuse bouche, then move on to two canapes - perhaps the most interesting and inventive food of the meal. Next comes the salad, soup, curry, stir-fry and rice – all at once. While the food was very good, two of the dishes were so spicy we couldn’t eat them. The guinea hen larb was the hottest Thai dish I’ve ever been served. The hot and sour soup was so hot as to be unpleasant to me. While it may be that Thais would consider this to be authentic Thai food, for many of us the food is just not accessible. There was also a dessert course which combined fruit, crushed ice and coconut milk For me, it felt like a lot of food, I would have preferred smaller portions. You each choose a soup, but all of the other courses are shared. We chose a chicken curry that is similar to the Guinea Hen curry they are famous for. The flavors were lovely. The crab and mushroom stir fry was very good. We spent a bit over two hours here.

Bo.lan, located in an old Thai house on Soi 53, the house and small grounds are very atmospheric. There is a prix fix menu for 980 baht per person. Each person chooses from two options for each course. Again, we started with an amuse bouche. Next, the soup, salad, curry, stir-fry and rice were served. They offer both white jasmine rice and a brown jasmine rice. I would say that the food here was more accessible. What they said was spicy, was spicy but still edible but Cheryl thought some of the dishes were blad – no spiciness at all. We both had the chicken salad with banana blossom, I had a coconut milk-based seafood soup, Cheryl had clear soup with seafood. We both had a prawn stir-fry; for the curry, I chose the pork rib curry and Cheryl chose the chicken curry. For dessert, again there was a curshed ice, fruit and coconut cream dish. This meal was only an hour. Again, the food was excellent.

We did not manage to go to Gaggan this trip, as I was very ill that day. We have eaten at Gaggan previously and it is wonderful: molecular cuisine with an Indian accent. We were very disappointed that we had to cancel our reservations.

One other place I’d like to highlight: Café Europa in the Siam Kempinsky Hotel. They have a Sunday brunch starting at noon that is the best brunch I have eaten. They have free-flowing champagne, and endless options of things to eat. The seafood was exceptional. We had a wonderful time catching up with Hanuman and Bob and Karen.
We stayed at the JW Marriott, located on Sukhumvit, Soi 2. This is in the middle of downtown. While the service at the hotel was excellent, I didn’t like the location. It is perfect for shoppers, but not so much for those of us who are more interested in the temples. I found I missed the river and the slightly cooler air and breeze from the river.

We always like to visit a “new” wat each time we are in Bangkok. This trip, we headed across the river to visit Wat Kanlayanamit which has the largest seated Buddha in Bangkok. It was a lovely, quiet place with few other visitors.

While I stayed at the hotel and rested today after my illness, Cheryl went out to a favorite wat of ours, Wat Suthat. It’s only a few blocks from a favorite hole-in-the-wall, Chote Chitr. Cheryl ate lunch there and reports it is not as good as it used to be.

AAC Limo, the service we have used for getting to and from the airport for over a decade is now ACC Limo, email: [email protected]

We mostly used the skytrain in the city, with the occasional taxi as needed. We found the traffic in this area of Sukhumvit to be just terrible, so the skytain was always the better option.

<<<Our mission was to eat at all three Bangkok restuarants listed in the top 50 in the world: Gaggan, Nahm, and Bo.lan.>>>

Apparently the Top 50 List is "rigged", manipulated by an "important international food company" in order to "cause damage" to the Michelin Guide.

Quite an interesting, enlightening and amusing link about the Top 50...

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/20.../whos-to-judge

Sorry you got sick...no fun. How is Hanuman? I don't see him posting which is too bad since he always gave such great advice. I was so pleased to be able to meet him in BKK.

Sorry you got sick. Hope you are feeling better.

I've enjoyed your TR. Looking forward to the details on the Burma part of the trip.

Ugh - Not a great ending to the trip. What do you think was the guilty establishment?

I too read the New Yorker piece about the 50 best. The selections do indeed seem arbitrary. Would you agree that the two you went to in BKK belong on the list?

Hanuman no longer posts. The editors made him feel unwelcome, even called him a "troll"...

For the record he gave better info on Thailand than anyone else. Sad to say but he was not the only one no longer posting.