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.