moremiles

Bangkok Nov. 30th(2am arrival)-Dec. 3rd
This part of the trip was not solo.

This was my first trip back to Asia for 20+ years-we did a lot of traveling to this part of the world when we were quite young, so I was really looking forward to seeing Bangkok again! My husband has been traveling there on business this past year so he was quite familiar with the city, but this was the first opportunity I had to accompany him and we had 3 days to ourselves before he had to go to work and I left for Chiang Rai. We flew NWA from LAX-NRT-BKK in biz class and it was quite comfortable upstairs on the 747 with the angled, almost flat seats and the AVOD system. Service left something to be desired but that seems to be the case with most airlines these days, other than Asian carriers. Our flt out of NRT was delayed by an hour so we had a longer layover than usual, although having to go through another full security check on a transit took up some of the time. We ended up arriving into BKK at 1 a.m. and luggage retrieval didn’t take too long and our car service was waiting for us(AAC). The weather upon arrival was unbelievable-I had no idea it ever got that comfortable in Bangkok-must’ve been in the 70’s with low humidity. Of course, there was no traffic at that hour and we headed to the Pen which I was really looking forward to after reading so much about it here and on flyertalk! I had booked this hotel online-my next 3 hotels had been booked thru a Virtuoso agent for the perks-and had just booked a deluxe room/spa package which included a scrub/massage for each of us and buffet breakfast. They upgraded us to a balcony room only on the 7th floor but it was nice and quiet, with a great view of their lawn and terrace restaurant with the Oriental directly across and boats going to and fro. There were two weddings held there on the lawn with bands and reception following and the room was still very quiet, although everything always ended by 10pm. We really didn’t use the balcony much, although for this first visit back when the weather was great, it was nice to have. When you sit down, you are eye level with the edge of the balcony(or at least I was at 5’6”), so the best view was when standing. I’ve since been told by my agent that the square footage is the same in these rooms as the deluxe but there are fewer windows. We loved the Pen although it is quite Western, but the rooms are extremely comfortable with double sinks in the bathroom and every amenity you can think of. Service was incredible and anytime we called for something(corkscrew, etc.) it arrived within 3 minutes. Buffet breakfast was delicious-great selection and the setting next to the river couldn’t be better.
Since my husband and I had done most of the major tourist sites back on our first visit, we really didn’t do much sightseeing. This time we had appts. at Bumrungrad on the first morning so, after breakfast, headed over there. From the Skytrain stop, we walked to the hospital and it was nice to be out and about in comfortable weather rather than in the over-air-conditioned train or taxi. After a couple of hours there, my husband wanted to show me the shopping area and do an errand at the phone store in Siam Paragon, so that’s where we ended up and I was just amazed at the wonderful food hall section of SP-that whole mall puts our malls here in L.A. to shame. We stopped at one of the Japanese restaurants for a bowl of soup and wandered around a bit then decided to go over to MBK to buy another suitcase. I don’t know what I was thinking with just bringing one small suitcase with very little extra room, although I knew I was not going to be able to lift anything heavy while traveling alone, so wasn’t quite sure how this trip was going to work out. MBK was lots of fun, a totally different experience from SP and kind’ve like one big bazaar, and I stopped at one stall and bought 3 scarves/wraps after a bit of bargaining, then we kept looking for luggage. Don’t know if the place has any real organization to it or we were just tired, but I finally just asked someone passing by with a new suitcase where he had found it. We found one of the luggage stores or rather, booths, and decide on a large hardback piece and my husband then starts to talk price-well, next time I’ll do the bargaining because as soon as we left with it, we passed a larger luggage stand and there was the exact same piece with a marked price of what we had just bargained ours down to! Now that we were wheeling a large suitcase around, we decided to go back to the hotel so got a cab to the boat dock. By the time we got back, about 5pm, we had emails to return(love the comp wi-fi) and then decided to just eat at Thiptara, the Pen’s Thai restaurant. This place is lovely and we sat right next to the river and there was traditional Thai music being played-you couldn’t ask for a better setting but the food was a bit bland. I wouldn’t hesitate to try it again on our next visit however, which will be in January for another 4 nts. The next day, I really wanted to see the Jim Thompson house and outlet so we planned our day around that-again, the weather was pretty comfortable, although it was heating up a bit but not sweltering. I really enjoyed the tour of the house and so did my husband, and we finally saw more water! Last time we were in Bangkok together, there seemed to be water everywhere and there was even some flooding during our visit which was in Nov. during Loy Krathong. Don’t remember all those taxis either as we only used tuk tuks back then-no Skytrain. After checking out the shop at JT house, we had a drink in their café then went back to the Skytrain for a ride out to the On Nut station, then walked to the outlet from there-not too hot for walking, which was great! I found quite a few gifts there, including cosmetic bags and pillow cases-there was not a great selection of scarves, but we each bought a linen shirt for ourselves. Also found a duvet cover that I liked so we had two full bags to carry back to the Skytrain station and never broke a sweat! We had booked our scrubs/massage for that afternoon so got back in time for that and what a gorgeous spa they have-my husband wasn’t crazy about the scrub part although I thought it was quite gentle-I was soon to experience a more abrasive scrub at the Anantara. That night we took a concierge recommendation for a restaurant and went to Baan Kranitha which was just ok food-seemed quite touristy and we would not go back. I understand more now about the Pen’s location because after being out and about all day, fighting traffic, and it taking quite a bit of time to get anywhere sometimes, by the time we got back to the hotel, we just wanted to eat someplace close –by.
Our final day involved a couple more errands and we walked more around the shopping area and took a look at the Erawan Shrine then just went back to the hotel and I had another massage since for that one day, they were offering 30% off treatments. No major sightseeing for us this time-maybe next trip we’ll make more of an effort for it. I’m always happy just to walk around a city as much as possible. We did go over to the Oriental one night and it has got a very different feel to it-more tropical and Asian, but it was so crowded at the main riverside restaurant that it didn’t feel as luxurious as the Pen-just a first impression. That last night we made the mistake of eating at Jester’s at the hotel because once again, we didn’t feel like fighting traffic again to go to a restaurant. We were the only patrons which should’ve been a warning right there, but the setting was again lovely and the weather was perfect-in retrospect, we should’ve just eaten at their casual riverside restaurant which seemed popular. The meal started out well with a delicious amuse bouche but then it was downhill from there. Our poor waitress came over to pour us both a glass of wine from the bottle that she was carrying on a tray, and it came crashing down right behind me-wine and glass were everywhere and she was mortified(and hopefully, not fired). We had to change tables and there were many apologies-no big deal, no one was hurt. Our entrees arrived and they were pretty bad but we just didn’t have the heart to say so to our waitress-she was trying so hard to make up for the wine. After eating what we could, they sent over dessert complimentary, which was excellent and very nice of them, so at least we weren’t hungry when we left! I did leave a comment re: the meal on the form in the room and the manager emailed us soon after apologizing and offering to completely “oversee” our next meal there-don’t think there will be a next meal there, regardless. For our next trip in January, I will try to plan out meals better but after that big breakfast at the hotel, we aren’t too hungry for lunch until about 3 or 4pm-maybe we can find restaurants to eat a late lunch before we head back to the Pen, then just have drinks/snacks later at the hotel in the evening.
That is the Bangkok portion of the trip-it doesn’t sound like we did much but it was lots of fun. Next, it’s on to Chiang Rai(Anantara), Chiang Mai(Four Seasons), Siem Reap(La Residence) and back to Bangkok(Hyatt) for one night, and this portion of the trip I was alone.

Kathie

While the Pen gets good reviews, it sound slike you understand about the disadvantage of being on the "wrong" side of the river. If you are tired, it is ahrd to convince yourslef to cross the river and take a taxi somewhere.

Enjoying your report - looking forward to more!

Tim_and_Liz

I am also enjoying your report! Thanks for sharing, and I look forward to future installments!

moremiles

Thanks for reading-it's a pretty un-exciting report since we weren't good tourists! T & L-didn't I just miss you at some spots? How was your trip?

simpsonc510

more
Enjoying your report. Thanks for taking time to share. I traveled to BKK twice last year, alone. It was a wonderful experience for me. I'd been 9 times prior to that, with DH and DS, in the past.

I have stayed at the Pen twice and really do like it. Glad your experience was mostly good there. I too love breakfast along the river. No one there to rush you away... I sat and read my BKK Post and/or Nation for a relaxing b'fast every morning.

Next time, try the regular room at Pen. Better view of the river. When you have a balcony (whice we did once) you are in the center part of the building and the two outer wings block your view a bit.

Anyway, your kind of BKK trip is very similar to MY kind of BKK trip. Not heavy into the sight seeing, more interested in walking the neighborhoods, looking in the malls, shopping in the markets, eating at Greyhound Cafe and Food Loft at Central Dept store, and the SP food court (fab!), and seeing my many Thai friends.

Carol

moremiles

Chiang Rai-3nts


I left the Pen hotel in a taxi enroute to the airport and as soon as we pull out of the drive-way, the taxi driver starts with the 500 Baht set price routine. I, of course, said “use the meter” and then he tried again for the 500 Baht and I repeated myself-it was actually all good-naturedly and he then turned on the meter and helped me get my luggage onto a cart curbside upon arrival. I had booked Thai Airways Biz class for the two legs BKK-Chiang Rai and then from Chiang Mai to BKK since it was not much more than economy. I also had pre-booked the SGA flt from Chiang Rai to Chiang Mai but received an email from them while in Bangkok that they were no longer flying this route due to fuel costs. Shortly thereafter, I received an email from the Four Seasons concierge in CM that this flt had canceled and asking how would I be getting to their resort now-their service is so great-he emailed me with the cost of hiring a car/driver either thru them or thru the Anantara and it was quite a bit less thru the Anantara so that is what I ended up booking. I am not going to attempt to spell the BKK int’l airport but it was easy to get some exercise there and lots of shopping, eating for those long layovers. I found it pretty easy to navigate other than looking for airline lounges since there would be signs going in all directions that just said “airline lounges” but never specified which ones. Passport control takes a fair amount of time and it seemed unusual transiting from a domestic flt to an int’l flt since I had to go down to baggage claim and exit out to the main check-in area in order to get a boarding pass for my BKK-Siem Reap leg-thankfully, my bag had been checked all the way thru using first Thai then BKK Airways.
After getting my bag at Chiang Rai airport, I was met by their hostess and driver with a cold towel and cold bottle of water for the drive to the resort-this trip was feeling more decadent by the minute and I felt SO pampered. The drive seemed to take about an hour and it was about dusk by the time we arrived so all the lanterns were being lit-it’s quite a romantic place. I was upgraded to a suite, maybe because I booked thru a Virtuoso agent where this was one of the perks(if available) but we’re also SLH members. The hotel was only about 60% occupied so maybe the beginning of Dec. is a good time to go since the holidays get really busy. My suite was lovely, with a large terrace that looked out to the casino in Burma and over the pool area. It was cool and damp in the evening but comfortably warm/humid during the day and the air smelled of smoke a lot of the time, not overwhelming though. I kept my bags shut tight while in the room after another report of bugs seen-luckily, no bugs for me although a good sized snake slithered across the walkway one afternoon on my way back to the room! My one critique of the room is that they need to re-do the bath/shower since they are really showing their age-there is no way I would’ve taken a bath there. That first night I just went to the Elephant Bar and sat next to a roaring fire for drinks and some satay-chatted with one other guest(who commented on how dirty and crowded they thought Bangkok was-this seemed to be a recurring theme with other tourists I talked to-must say I thought Bangkok was great but then I like cities, even Jakarta and Mumbai) then called it a night. The next day I walked down to see the elephant camp and fed them all, including a beautiful two month old who was adorable. Also was able to go watch the bathing of the elephants by the student mahouts later who looked like they were having a lot of fun but trying hard to avoid that dirty water! I also went over to the Hall of Opium museum which had about 3 other tourists in it so was uncrowded and very impressive, then came back for a 2hr spa treatment called a Revival Ritual. This ritual involved way too much time in the private steam room for me-I lasted about 15min. max. and the therapist returned about 15min. after that. First she had done a salt scrub which involved a fairly abrasive salt and even though she was smoothing it on me gently, it felt kind’ve harsh and I was checking my elbows for blood after! They ended up looking like they had rug burn but the massage part of the treatment was great and the spa is gorgeous-they always seemed to be giving me ginger tea at all of the spas which is spicy-can’t say I took a liking to it. That night I had dinner in the small Italian restaurant which was somewhat expensive but the food was good-at least the prawns in a balsamic red sauce with risotto, and the place felt European with a very polished wait staff and Seal playing in the background. I really didn’t want to be spending a lot on food this trip since eating alone was always quicker than dining with someone and most places were too dark to read!
I had signed up for the cooking class at this hotel but no one else had signed up for it so I opted to do something else. Instead, I took a longtail boat on the Mekong to enjoy the scenery and then walk around Chiang Saen. We first stopped at a touristy island that technically was in Laos and this is where there was a little excitement. It was the day of the King’s birthday so almost everyone was in yellow shirts and shortly after I got off my small boat and went up the bank, a Thai(I think) middle-aged tourist attacked another younger (also Thai, I think) man with a hammer. The younger man went tumbling down the bank a bit and scrambled back up and the older man went after him again. My boat driver went to intervene and then two policemen showed up of very small stature but this middle-aged man was strong and hefty looking so they all had a problem subduing him. I was so curious as to what the story was with these two but no one else around spoke English so it was impossible to find out-maybe a woman? Anyway, this island was just a tourist trap of sorts so I quickly got back into my boat and we headed to Chiang Saen. My driver dropped me off here and I had plenty of time to wander around before the shuttle driver from the Anantara showed up to take me back. This is a historical small town once ruled by the Burmese, very low-key, and I was able to take a look at the market that I would’ve gone to with the chef if I had taken the cooking class.
My last night at the Anantara was a real treat. This was the evening of the King’s birthday and the hotel was having a cocktail party and small ceremony in his honor. On the terrace of their Elephant Bar, workers had been setting up and decorating most of the day, and there was a large painting of the King surrounded by elaborate decorations, and about 12 or 15 stations had been set up for appetizers. Everything was complimentary for the guests but you had to eat and drink fast-it was only for ½ hour and then the ceremony began. Two adult elephants and one youngster were also in attendance with their mahouts and a screen had been set up for slides of the King’s life. After the cocktail half hour, the staff sang a traditional song and then we watched the slide show and were given individual candles that were lit and then set down up near the photo. The last thing that was done were the large lanterns that are usually used for Loy Krathong were lit and released-it was so spectacular and we all felt extremely lucky to be there at this special time. This was the perfect ending to my stay at the Anantara. Tomorrow the drive to the Four Seasons Chiang Mai and 3nts there.

Kathie

Glad you enjoyed the Anantara. We really liked Chiang Sean, the ruins, the museum and the market there.