Reflections on our Recent Trip: Siem Reap, Bangkok and Luang Prabang
Mar 8th, 2006, 08:16 AM
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Reflections on our Recent Trip: Siem Reap, Bangkok and Luang Prabang
Hopefully this won't be too repetitive. There is already a thread with the report that I did while we were on our trip. Here's the link, if you would like to read it:
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34756780
I have had about 4 days to think about our travels. I will post these new thoughts here as time permits, starting with Siem Reap:
SIEM REAP
For us, the highlight of our stay here (and our entire trip for that matter) was our trip with Ponheary to the Kong Moch Primary School, just outside of Siem Reap, to present uniforms and supplies to 130 kids. It was truly a great experience seeing the wais and smiles each time we handed something to a child. The temples were pretty spectacular but the two hours we spent at the school were amazing.
During our travels we found that we were not the only tourists that had some sort of school visit as part of their itineraries. These visits are occurring not only in Cambodia but Thailand and Laos as well. This leads me to wonder what happens if school visits become over-commercialized? What effect will frequent visits have on the children? I'm not really referring to what we and other Fodorites are doing with Ponheary where we are completely outfitting kids with uniforms, shoes, books and other supplies. I am referring to the tour groups that simply take pens and other small items to schools for a photo opportunity. I think if this happens too often at a particular school, it is going to be disruptive no matter how well-intentioned it might be. We observed that there was no teaching going on when we were visiting �our� school. All of the teachers were helping distribute the supplies.
I should point out that between morning and afternoon classes there are 500 kids in the Kong Moch school. Ponheary had asked the principal in advance to pick out the 130 poorest kids to receive supplies so there were many kids that did not get anything. We were concerned about some of the looks of sadness and disappointment we saw on some of the children. Fortunately, we knew that Ponheary would be returning with Joyce and Don from this forum in a week or so with supplies for 135 more kids.
There was a recent post about nightlife in Siem Reap. Maybe at 48 I�m just an old fogey, but we were so beat up by the end of the day that having dinner and going to bed were pretty much the extent of our nightlife. However, our dinners were excellent. We had two wonderful meals at Meric, the restaurant at Hotel de la Paix. Both nights we had the 7-course Khmer set menu. It was not too much food and had many interesting selections such as a salad with dried snake as one of its ingredients. The restaurant has a three �swings� (suspended platforms) that you can sit on and eat your meal. This is definitely the way to go � very relaxing, but you must reserve in advance. We also had a wonderful al fresco meal at Abacus, a short tuk-tuk ride from the hotel � very tasty continental cuisine. We were planning to eat at Khmer Kitchen also but did not get there. It has had good reviews and is a less expensive way to sample Khmer cuisine than Meric.
Hotel de la Paix is a really nice hotel. Our room was a huge deluxe suite and our rate included daily breakfast and one dinner. Once it gets established, I predict it will cost an arm and a leg to stay there. With tax, it cost us about $250/night which was an excellent deal, even in Cambodia. The attention to detail in the hotel�s décor is amazing. The shower is the best I�ve ever experienced. The pool is beautiful � lots of shade and never too crowded. I fail to see the need for the infinity part of the pool to drop off into downtown Siem Reap though � I can�t imagine what the architect was thinking.
Will we return to Siem Reap? My heart says yes � to go back to the school. My gut however says no � we�ve had our fill of the temples. We went to Siem Reap to see them � it was great to do that and appreciate the sophisticated society that existed there long ago. Our favorite was Ta Prohm, the �jungle temple� � it was absolutely magical when we visited it early in the morning. We totally enjoyed the tethered balloon ride for the terrific view of the massive Angkor Wat and its moat set against the surrounding countryside. However, the stories that played out on almost every structure seemed endlessly repetitive and confusing to us � we lost interest fairly quickly. We feel we now have sufficient knowledge of Khmer architecture with the small taste we acquired. Siem Reap itself is kind of a dump � I don�t think I�m the first on this forum to say that. It is just not a nice place to walk around. The markets have limited appeal and the area surrounding the town is not pretty. However, there is one shop that was a definite highlight � Artisans d�Angkor for high quality Khmer arts and crafts. Items purchased there support young Cambodians learning traditional handicraft techniques. We bought a 4 foot high Buddha and had it shipped to the US � it was already here when we returned.
Next post: Bangkok�
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34756780
I have had about 4 days to think about our travels. I will post these new thoughts here as time permits, starting with Siem Reap:
SIEM REAP
For us, the highlight of our stay here (and our entire trip for that matter) was our trip with Ponheary to the Kong Moch Primary School, just outside of Siem Reap, to present uniforms and supplies to 130 kids. It was truly a great experience seeing the wais and smiles each time we handed something to a child. The temples were pretty spectacular but the two hours we spent at the school were amazing.
During our travels we found that we were not the only tourists that had some sort of school visit as part of their itineraries. These visits are occurring not only in Cambodia but Thailand and Laos as well. This leads me to wonder what happens if school visits become over-commercialized? What effect will frequent visits have on the children? I'm not really referring to what we and other Fodorites are doing with Ponheary where we are completely outfitting kids with uniforms, shoes, books and other supplies. I am referring to the tour groups that simply take pens and other small items to schools for a photo opportunity. I think if this happens too often at a particular school, it is going to be disruptive no matter how well-intentioned it might be. We observed that there was no teaching going on when we were visiting �our� school. All of the teachers were helping distribute the supplies.
I should point out that between morning and afternoon classes there are 500 kids in the Kong Moch school. Ponheary had asked the principal in advance to pick out the 130 poorest kids to receive supplies so there were many kids that did not get anything. We were concerned about some of the looks of sadness and disappointment we saw on some of the children. Fortunately, we knew that Ponheary would be returning with Joyce and Don from this forum in a week or so with supplies for 135 more kids.
There was a recent post about nightlife in Siem Reap. Maybe at 48 I�m just an old fogey, but we were so beat up by the end of the day that having dinner and going to bed were pretty much the extent of our nightlife. However, our dinners were excellent. We had two wonderful meals at Meric, the restaurant at Hotel de la Paix. Both nights we had the 7-course Khmer set menu. It was not too much food and had many interesting selections such as a salad with dried snake as one of its ingredients. The restaurant has a three �swings� (suspended platforms) that you can sit on and eat your meal. This is definitely the way to go � very relaxing, but you must reserve in advance. We also had a wonderful al fresco meal at Abacus, a short tuk-tuk ride from the hotel � very tasty continental cuisine. We were planning to eat at Khmer Kitchen also but did not get there. It has had good reviews and is a less expensive way to sample Khmer cuisine than Meric.
Hotel de la Paix is a really nice hotel. Our room was a huge deluxe suite and our rate included daily breakfast and one dinner. Once it gets established, I predict it will cost an arm and a leg to stay there. With tax, it cost us about $250/night which was an excellent deal, even in Cambodia. The attention to detail in the hotel�s décor is amazing. The shower is the best I�ve ever experienced. The pool is beautiful � lots of shade and never too crowded. I fail to see the need for the infinity part of the pool to drop off into downtown Siem Reap though � I can�t imagine what the architect was thinking.
Will we return to Siem Reap? My heart says yes � to go back to the school. My gut however says no � we�ve had our fill of the temples. We went to Siem Reap to see them � it was great to do that and appreciate the sophisticated society that existed there long ago. Our favorite was Ta Prohm, the �jungle temple� � it was absolutely magical when we visited it early in the morning. We totally enjoyed the tethered balloon ride for the terrific view of the massive Angkor Wat and its moat set against the surrounding countryside. However, the stories that played out on almost every structure seemed endlessly repetitive and confusing to us � we lost interest fairly quickly. We feel we now have sufficient knowledge of Khmer architecture with the small taste we acquired. Siem Reap itself is kind of a dump � I don�t think I�m the first on this forum to say that. It is just not a nice place to walk around. The markets have limited appeal and the area surrounding the town is not pretty. However, there is one shop that was a definite highlight � Artisans d�Angkor for high quality Khmer arts and crafts. Items purchased there support young Cambodians learning traditional handicraft techniques. We bought a 4 foot high Buddha and had it shipped to the US � it was already here when we returned.
Next post: Bangkok�
Mar 8th, 2006, 12:21 PM
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Good job Craig. I hope your Rotary Club will be sufficiently inspired by your report to continue to support the school at Kong Moch.
When you hand those poorest kids their uniforms and school supplies, you are handing them the ability to imagine a future of opportunity and equality.
We're going back in August to help Ponheary get the school year started. Just in case you change your mind about returning......
When you hand those poorest kids their uniforms and school supplies, you are handing them the ability to imagine a future of opportunity and equality.
We're going back in August to help Ponheary get the school year started. Just in case you change your mind about returning......
Mar 8th, 2006, 01:22 PM
#5
I loved reading your impresions and appreciate your honesty about getting "templed out". I didn't feel that way but everyone is different and it's nice to read different views. When we were in Siem Reap 6 years ago, we didn't know about going to schools to donate supplies but I will keep this in mind for a future trip there. Cant wait to read the rest.
Mar 8th, 2006, 01:51 PM
#6
Craig - haven't had time to read your full report yet, but am very much enjoying your impressions. I feel very much the same about the school visits and was planning on writing about the same issue in my own trip report. I'm glad we did it, but I had very mixed feelings about it later - the impact on the kids, whether we were being "just tourists," and so on. Will write more later. But yes, keep your impressions coming! Thanks for sharing.
Karen
Karen
Mar 8th, 2006, 04:45 PM
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BANGKOK
This was our second trip to Bangkok, not counting overnight stays at the Amari Airport Hotel en route to Bali in 2003 and India in 2005. On our first trip to Thailand in 2000, we spent only 3 days in Bangkok and on one of those 3 days we took the day trip to Ayuttya and the summer palace. On that trip we spent the rest of our time in Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai (golden triangle) and Koh Samui. Needless to say, we knew we had to come back and spend more time in Bangkok. On this trip we spent a total of 8 days in Bangkok and although we did not accomplish everything we wanted to accomplish, we feel that we have now “done” Bangkok.
We spent our first 4 nights at the Peninsula in a Grand Deluxe Room. Before I go on, I should mention that all of our reservations in Bangkok were arranged through asiarooms.com. This included the Amari Airport for our first night before flying to Siem Reap, the Penn and the Plaza Athenee for 4 nights later in our trip. There were no problems at all and I truly feel we got the absolute best rates through asiarooms. For example, the nightly rate paid in advance for the Grand Deluxe room at the Penn was $243 including breakfast and tax.
Having stayed at the Oriental in 2000, we are happy to say that we can now participate in the ongoing Oriental versus Peninsula debate on this forum. For us it is no contest - the Penn beats the Oriental hands down. Our Grand Deluxe room was huge and had every convenience you could ever want and yes, the remote controlled electric draperies are very cool. Our 23rd floor room had wonderful views of Bangkok and the Chao Phraya River. The riverside buffet breakfasts were fabulous. There was little or no wait ever for the Penn’s shuttle boats to the Peninsula pier on the other side of the river and the Taksin pier for the skytrain. The boat to the Peninsula pier stopped at the Oriental Pier if we asked. The elevators in the hotel are lightening quick and the sound insulation of the rooms is almost perfect. I should point out that while the dress code at the Oriental has been mentioned frequently on this forum, there has not been much mention of the dress code at the Penn. I don’t know how much they enforce it but the Penn says they prohibit “beach” sandals and shorts in the restaurants and in the public areas after 6 PM.
Bangkok Restaurant Reviews (First 4 Nights):
Biscotti (at Four Seasons) – other than having to take the shuttle boat and the skytrain to get there, there is no downside to dinner at Biscotti. This is an excellent Italian restaurant with a great wine list. The soft shell crab salad is divine.
Thiptara – The Penn’s Thai restaurant is pleasantly situated by the river. The menu selection is huge and there are also 2 or 3 set menus. I enjoyed the duck curry but thought that for the price the experience was a bit disappointing. The food presentation was uninteresting.
Tongue Thai – We did not need a reservation for this excellent, inexpensive Thai restaurant behind OP Place. We had a great meal here, splitting orders of chicken & cashews and pineapple & fried rice.
China House – If there is one reason to stay at the Oriental, it is because you don’t have to travel far to sample the unbelievable Peking Duck for 2 here. Jeane enjoyed a wonderful birthday dinner – the staff brought her a cake and sang “Happy Birthday”.
After China House, we had a very short walk (5 minutes) to Sky Bar at the Dome. The views there are the best in Bangkok in my opinion, and the band at the bar was quite good – it was a wonderful way to finish off Jeane’s birthday.
Bangkok Sightseeing (with Ratt) and a Klong Tour:
Although there are some on this forum that have not had good luck with her, our two days with Ratt were great. We had made it very clear in advance what we wanted to do. On our first day, we got off to an early (6:45 AM) start to visit the floating market. Ratt was actually supposed to arrive at 6:30. She forgot that she had changed the departure time – our only problem with her. Just before we got to the floating market, we stopped at Pinsuwan Benjarong, a place where we observed Benjarong china being hand painted with intricate designs. They had a shop there with with some very nice pieces for sale but I felt that we were running late and asked Ratt if we could come back after the floating market. After a bit of deliberation she said yes and we moved on.
We got some good photos at the floating market but the whole ambience was quite disappointing. While it is relatively easy to ignore the numerous sellers of tourist junk, it was almost impossible to ignore the noise of the large motorized long tail tourist boats. At least now we can say we went.
After the floating market we visited a large wood carving factory and shop. They had some truly awesome pieces – works of art really – I wish we had more room in our home. Next we returned to the Benjarong place. We really like the Benjarong style – we bought some pieces at the Imperial Porcelain shop in River City back in 2000 and bought more this time at Pinsuwan. Pinsuwan reproduces the original antique styles of the porcelain. The word “Benjarong” means five colors, by the way. We special ordered some pieces and purchased a few that were in stock. Their prices are excellent, about 50% less than prices elsewhere in Thailand. Ratt said she would help us arrange shipping the special order pieces when they are ready in August.
We returned to Bangkok, arriving at about 1:30 PM. We wanted to go to some of the out-of-the-way places listed in the “Pleasures and Treasures” book and had given a list of these to Ratt in advance. Looking back on it now, it turned out to be pretty much a waste of 3 hours since we made no purchases. We were first going to a place on Surawong Road called Elephant House but Ratt said they were out of business. The rest of the places we wanted to visit were off Sukhumvit – Gifted Hands off Soi 23, Rasi Sayam at its new location off Soi 33 and Somjai Reiss Gallery off Soi 49. Rasi Sayam had some nice things but nothing that interested us.
This was really our first experience being driven around Bangkok – we wasted a lot of time sitting in traffic but we never would have found these places on our own. It must have taken ½ hour to get from Sukhumvit to that gallery – the traffic on the soi just would not move. The gallery is owned by ½ Thai, ½ Chinese impressionist artist Somjai Reiss (whose husband is German, hence the surname). She is quite a character and talked our ears off for about 30 minutes. Unfortunately, we didn’t care for her work so it was a bit of an awkward exit for us.
Now somewhere in the vicinity of Soi 33 there is supposed to be a place called the Fatima Shop which is affiliated with a Catholic clothing workshop that provides training and employment for girls from poor families. We never found it even though Ratt gave it her best shot – she absolutely refused to give up. We went driving up and down the soi and in and out of subsoi’s while all along she’s asking people where it is. Finally it was getting late so I asked to her to return us to the hotel. I was amazed that she could get from Soi 33 to the Penn in a half hour during rush hour. She really knows her way around the city.
On our second day with Ratt, she picked us up at the Peninsula Pier on the other side of the river at 8 AM. Our first stop was the Grand Palace. Ratt works with 3 different guides there and she said she thought “Jackie” would be the best one for us. It was essentially a one-hour tour with an emphasis on photography. Jackie being a photographer herself really knew what she was doing. We moved around rather quickly but in between photos, she refreshed our memories on the history and function of the Grand Palace and the Temple of the Emerald Buddha. This was our second visit so what she did was perfect. By the end of the tour, the crowds had started pouring in so there wasn’t much purpose in staying any longer. We sent Jackie on her way and Jeane stayed to take a few more photos.
We caught up with Ratt sitting in traffic outside of the Grand Palace. From there we went to the flower market, the Teak (Vimanmek) Palace, Marble Wat (Benjamabophit) and Suan Packard Palace. We caught up with the English-speaking tour at the Teak Palace – there is not a lot of signage or instruction as to where to go and what to do there but somehow we figured it out. The tour was about 45 minutes and well-worth the time. You are not allowed to bring cameras into the Palace area itself but Ratt walked us through the security area and convinced the guard that we be permitted to take a photo of the outside of the palace. After the tour we walked around the complex and checked out the throne room and the carriage museum. There were also a couple of shops. In one of them, Jeane purchased a pair of very elegant, intricately carved small elephants. We thought it rather bizarre that such a high-end place would only take cash, no credit cards. Marble Wat was a brief stop – Ratt did not come in with us. At Suan Packard Palace we were greeted when we arrived and were given a ½ hour private tour by a very charming Thai lady who spoke perfect English. There is no a/c there so they give you little fans which you can wave back and forth to keep yourself cool. I didn’t think they did much good but the tour was fairly interesting.
We had one more shopping stop that day – Bangkok Dolls, which is close to Suan Packard Palace. This is a little factory and showroom where they make and sell these perfect little ornate Thai dolls – a worthwhile stop where Jeane made a couple of purchases for her two nieces. As it happens, the actual Fatima training center was also supposed to be in this area and I gave Ratt the address. This time we found it but as soon as we arrived we knew we would not be buying anything – time to return to the hotel. We told Ratt she could drop us off at the pier but she had no problem quickly getting us right to the hotel during rush hour again.
The next morning we arranged our klong tour at the Penn dock – I think it was something like 1200 Baht for 2 hours. My instructions were that it was to be for photography only – no markets, no snake farms. We left the dock at 8 AM which turned out to be too early. It was pleasant enough but very little human activity in the klongs. We did get some good photos but next time we will go in the afternoon.
Next – Having clothing custom-made in Bangkok
This was our second trip to Bangkok, not counting overnight stays at the Amari Airport Hotel en route to Bali in 2003 and India in 2005. On our first trip to Thailand in 2000, we spent only 3 days in Bangkok and on one of those 3 days we took the day trip to Ayuttya and the summer palace. On that trip we spent the rest of our time in Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai (golden triangle) and Koh Samui. Needless to say, we knew we had to come back and spend more time in Bangkok. On this trip we spent a total of 8 days in Bangkok and although we did not accomplish everything we wanted to accomplish, we feel that we have now “done” Bangkok.
We spent our first 4 nights at the Peninsula in a Grand Deluxe Room. Before I go on, I should mention that all of our reservations in Bangkok were arranged through asiarooms.com. This included the Amari Airport for our first night before flying to Siem Reap, the Penn and the Plaza Athenee for 4 nights later in our trip. There were no problems at all and I truly feel we got the absolute best rates through asiarooms. For example, the nightly rate paid in advance for the Grand Deluxe room at the Penn was $243 including breakfast and tax.
Having stayed at the Oriental in 2000, we are happy to say that we can now participate in the ongoing Oriental versus Peninsula debate on this forum. For us it is no contest - the Penn beats the Oriental hands down. Our Grand Deluxe room was huge and had every convenience you could ever want and yes, the remote controlled electric draperies are very cool. Our 23rd floor room had wonderful views of Bangkok and the Chao Phraya River. The riverside buffet breakfasts were fabulous. There was little or no wait ever for the Penn’s shuttle boats to the Peninsula pier on the other side of the river and the Taksin pier for the skytrain. The boat to the Peninsula pier stopped at the Oriental Pier if we asked. The elevators in the hotel are lightening quick and the sound insulation of the rooms is almost perfect. I should point out that while the dress code at the Oriental has been mentioned frequently on this forum, there has not been much mention of the dress code at the Penn. I don’t know how much they enforce it but the Penn says they prohibit “beach” sandals and shorts in the restaurants and in the public areas after 6 PM.
Bangkok Restaurant Reviews (First 4 Nights):
Biscotti (at Four Seasons) – other than having to take the shuttle boat and the skytrain to get there, there is no downside to dinner at Biscotti. This is an excellent Italian restaurant with a great wine list. The soft shell crab salad is divine.
Thiptara – The Penn’s Thai restaurant is pleasantly situated by the river. The menu selection is huge and there are also 2 or 3 set menus. I enjoyed the duck curry but thought that for the price the experience was a bit disappointing. The food presentation was uninteresting.
Tongue Thai – We did not need a reservation for this excellent, inexpensive Thai restaurant behind OP Place. We had a great meal here, splitting orders of chicken & cashews and pineapple & fried rice.
China House – If there is one reason to stay at the Oriental, it is because you don’t have to travel far to sample the unbelievable Peking Duck for 2 here. Jeane enjoyed a wonderful birthday dinner – the staff brought her a cake and sang “Happy Birthday”.
After China House, we had a very short walk (5 minutes) to Sky Bar at the Dome. The views there are the best in Bangkok in my opinion, and the band at the bar was quite good – it was a wonderful way to finish off Jeane’s birthday.
Bangkok Sightseeing (with Ratt) and a Klong Tour:
Although there are some on this forum that have not had good luck with her, our two days with Ratt were great. We had made it very clear in advance what we wanted to do. On our first day, we got off to an early (6:45 AM) start to visit the floating market. Ratt was actually supposed to arrive at 6:30. She forgot that she had changed the departure time – our only problem with her. Just before we got to the floating market, we stopped at Pinsuwan Benjarong, a place where we observed Benjarong china being hand painted with intricate designs. They had a shop there with with some very nice pieces for sale but I felt that we were running late and asked Ratt if we could come back after the floating market. After a bit of deliberation she said yes and we moved on.
We got some good photos at the floating market but the whole ambience was quite disappointing. While it is relatively easy to ignore the numerous sellers of tourist junk, it was almost impossible to ignore the noise of the large motorized long tail tourist boats. At least now we can say we went.
After the floating market we visited a large wood carving factory and shop. They had some truly awesome pieces – works of art really – I wish we had more room in our home. Next we returned to the Benjarong place. We really like the Benjarong style – we bought some pieces at the Imperial Porcelain shop in River City back in 2000 and bought more this time at Pinsuwan. Pinsuwan reproduces the original antique styles of the porcelain. The word “Benjarong” means five colors, by the way. We special ordered some pieces and purchased a few that were in stock. Their prices are excellent, about 50% less than prices elsewhere in Thailand. Ratt said she would help us arrange shipping the special order pieces when they are ready in August.
We returned to Bangkok, arriving at about 1:30 PM. We wanted to go to some of the out-of-the-way places listed in the “Pleasures and Treasures” book and had given a list of these to Ratt in advance. Looking back on it now, it turned out to be pretty much a waste of 3 hours since we made no purchases. We were first going to a place on Surawong Road called Elephant House but Ratt said they were out of business. The rest of the places we wanted to visit were off Sukhumvit – Gifted Hands off Soi 23, Rasi Sayam at its new location off Soi 33 and Somjai Reiss Gallery off Soi 49. Rasi Sayam had some nice things but nothing that interested us.
This was really our first experience being driven around Bangkok – we wasted a lot of time sitting in traffic but we never would have found these places on our own. It must have taken ½ hour to get from Sukhumvit to that gallery – the traffic on the soi just would not move. The gallery is owned by ½ Thai, ½ Chinese impressionist artist Somjai Reiss (whose husband is German, hence the surname). She is quite a character and talked our ears off for about 30 minutes. Unfortunately, we didn’t care for her work so it was a bit of an awkward exit for us.
Now somewhere in the vicinity of Soi 33 there is supposed to be a place called the Fatima Shop which is affiliated with a Catholic clothing workshop that provides training and employment for girls from poor families. We never found it even though Ratt gave it her best shot – she absolutely refused to give up. We went driving up and down the soi and in and out of subsoi’s while all along she’s asking people where it is. Finally it was getting late so I asked to her to return us to the hotel. I was amazed that she could get from Soi 33 to the Penn in a half hour during rush hour. She really knows her way around the city.
On our second day with Ratt, she picked us up at the Peninsula Pier on the other side of the river at 8 AM. Our first stop was the Grand Palace. Ratt works with 3 different guides there and she said she thought “Jackie” would be the best one for us. It was essentially a one-hour tour with an emphasis on photography. Jackie being a photographer herself really knew what she was doing. We moved around rather quickly but in between photos, she refreshed our memories on the history and function of the Grand Palace and the Temple of the Emerald Buddha. This was our second visit so what she did was perfect. By the end of the tour, the crowds had started pouring in so there wasn’t much purpose in staying any longer. We sent Jackie on her way and Jeane stayed to take a few more photos.
We caught up with Ratt sitting in traffic outside of the Grand Palace. From there we went to the flower market, the Teak (Vimanmek) Palace, Marble Wat (Benjamabophit) and Suan Packard Palace. We caught up with the English-speaking tour at the Teak Palace – there is not a lot of signage or instruction as to where to go and what to do there but somehow we figured it out. The tour was about 45 minutes and well-worth the time. You are not allowed to bring cameras into the Palace area itself but Ratt walked us through the security area and convinced the guard that we be permitted to take a photo of the outside of the palace. After the tour we walked around the complex and checked out the throne room and the carriage museum. There were also a couple of shops. In one of them, Jeane purchased a pair of very elegant, intricately carved small elephants. We thought it rather bizarre that such a high-end place would only take cash, no credit cards. Marble Wat was a brief stop – Ratt did not come in with us. At Suan Packard Palace we were greeted when we arrived and were given a ½ hour private tour by a very charming Thai lady who spoke perfect English. There is no a/c there so they give you little fans which you can wave back and forth to keep yourself cool. I didn’t think they did much good but the tour was fairly interesting.
We had one more shopping stop that day – Bangkok Dolls, which is close to Suan Packard Palace. This is a little factory and showroom where they make and sell these perfect little ornate Thai dolls – a worthwhile stop where Jeane made a couple of purchases for her two nieces. As it happens, the actual Fatima training center was also supposed to be in this area and I gave Ratt the address. This time we found it but as soon as we arrived we knew we would not be buying anything – time to return to the hotel. We told Ratt she could drop us off at the pier but she had no problem quickly getting us right to the hotel during rush hour again.
The next morning we arranged our klong tour at the Penn dock – I think it was something like 1200 Baht for 2 hours. My instructions were that it was to be for photography only – no markets, no snake farms. We left the dock at 8 AM which turned out to be too early. It was pleasant enough but very little human activity in the klongs. We did get some good photos but next time we will go in the afternoon.
Next – Having clothing custom-made in Bangkok
Mar 8th, 2006, 05:48 PM
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great report of course as i would expect!!
for others....the fatima shop is directly in front of the villa supermarket in the road way leading to the market from sukhumvit....it is near to soi 33 as i remember...it is on the right side of the small roadway/entry way....
curious what turned you off at the factory? they used to have a big stock before they opened the sukhumvit shop, but when we were there last there was almost nothing, other than you get to see the ladies working on stuff...
elephant house....strange...i can't imagine it is closed....maybe ratt does not get commissions there?? it is the bkk branch of the yangon shop and factory...it is near to the ramada hotel, just down a soi there off of suriwong...near jim thompson mini outlet??
for others....the fatima shop is directly in front of the villa supermarket in the road way leading to the market from sukhumvit....it is near to soi 33 as i remember...it is on the right side of the small roadway/entry way....
curious what turned you off at the factory? they used to have a big stock before they opened the sukhumvit shop, but when we were there last there was almost nothing, other than you get to see the ladies working on stuff...
elephant house....strange...i can't imagine it is closed....maybe ratt does not get commissions there?? it is the bkk branch of the yangon shop and factory...it is near to the ramada hotel, just down a soi there off of suriwong...near jim thompson mini outlet??
Mar 8th, 2006, 05:54 PM
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Fatima - it was obvious that they had nothing there at the factory so we left. Don't know why we couldn't find the shop near Soi 33. Also don't know the deal on Elephant House - maybe since it was so far out of the way from the other places Ratt didn't feel there was time to fit it in - it seemed pretty clear where it was - or maybe it is really closed...I really don't think commissions would be a factor with Ratt.
Mar 8th, 2006, 05:55 PM
#13
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forgot to add that i thank you for your honesty in reporting on gifts to the schools....i too am wondering if it may become too routine and disruptive within the school....also what happens in 2 years when funds dry up?? don't get me wrong and don't write tons here how i am wrong, but i am just trying to be realistic....
i do like the idea of direct giving however with no middle man...100% direct to needed source...
i do like the idea of direct giving however with no middle man...100% direct to needed source...
Mar 8th, 2006, 06:02 PM
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Bob, you are not wrong so I can't write tons about that (I wouldn't anyway). Hopefully, with efforts like Lori from Texas' Ponheary Le Foundation and Ponheary's persistent efforts (Ponheary assurred me that she would be e-mailing me for more money), we won't have to worry what happens in 2 years. For those that are unfamiliar with the situation, the whole idea of the Foundation and dealing through Ponheary is to avoid corruption and the middle man.
Mar 8th, 2006, 06:30 PM
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Craig & Bob,
Since you have been to Bali,BKK, Siem Reap, which one is your favorite destination? Would you say, Bali is the most romantic place. Currently I have Cathy/FF miles holding tickets for us from DFW - LAX - HKG - DPS and coming back BKK - HKG - LAX - DFW (Bob's & Craig's suggestions). will I be missing anything by skipping SIN or Kuala Lumpur or Langkawi? OR stay with this route and visit 11 nights in Bali and 5 nights in BKK is good enough. Please share your thoughts.
Since you have been to Bali,BKK, Siem Reap, which one is your favorite destination? Would you say, Bali is the most romantic place. Currently I have Cathy/FF miles holding tickets for us from DFW - LAX - HKG - DPS and coming back BKK - HKG - LAX - DFW (Bob's & Craig's suggestions). will I be missing anything by skipping SIN or Kuala Lumpur or Langkawi? OR stay with this route and visit 11 nights in Bali and 5 nights in BKK is good enough. Please share your thoughts.
Mar 8th, 2006, 06:34 PM
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i do not have a favorite....SR is unique and could save itself for another trip honestly...and same for sin and K/L...
bali and bkk will make an excellent vacation
and they are totally different...
a week in bali is very nice and the same in bkk...
bali and bkk will make an excellent vacation
and they are totally different...
a week in bali is very nice and the same in bkk...
