Thailand, Laos and Cambodia Trip Report

Old Feb 23rd, 2008, 07:29 PM
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Kristina,

Yes, that tent/canopies are that you see from the ROS is the market. The food stalls are further ahead (farther from the water) and I don't think you can see them from the ROS. What you see are mostly stores that sell clothing, handbags, shoes and such. There were hardly any tourists around and mostly local people. We did not think anything was worth buying really, but it was a different and good experience.

-Rahul
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Old Feb 23rd, 2008, 07:42 PM
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November 20, 2007: We were up by 4:45 (see the trend? I wish I could do that at home!), got dressed, grabbed a couple of pieces of bread as breakfast and headed straight to the airport. The check-in for Bangkok Air was painless. We headed to our gate but were an hour early before check-in. So, we went to the Bangkok Air lounge. There were complimentary snacks in the lounge: cheese and cucumber sandwiches, sticky rice in banana leaves, pastries and coffe/tea (iced and hot)! Awesome! I love this airline already. My wife sat and read her book, while I updated my journal.

Bangkok First Impressions: We are in love with Bangkok! We felt very comfortable and very much “at home” in the city. Learning a few words of Thai definitely helped. For me, it was like Bombay, just simpler. Like most large cities, people here seemed busy, but we also got the feeling of a relaxed pace in their stride. Most interactions we had were very polite.

I did feel that we did not venture out at night and experience the “night life” of clubs/bars/lounges (not the sleazy types that Bangkok is infamous for). However, we’re not quite into the clubbing/bar scene, so we did not feel so bad about it after all. Besides, it was worth waking up to watching the sun come up over the river.

Overall, Bangkok felt like a perfect blend of east and west: Asian markets, great food (spicy), good public transit, good hospitality, nice people!
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Old Feb 23rd, 2008, 08:13 PM
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sorry you did not like harmonique...it remains one of our favorites....it does not tend to be overly spicy however so that may have detracted from it...

i have often sat in that same table...i usually choose that room because it is one of two that have a/c.....it might be fun to sit out in the alley however, unless it rains...
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Old Feb 23rd, 2008, 08:46 PM
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rahulm, perhaps we'll run into each other next time in Bangkok.

I have found you have to ask for your food to be spicy at Harmonique. We like some pizzaz to our food, so ask for spicy at many places. SInce we are obviously visitors to Thailand, I think most places tone down the spice, as they feel westerners don't like spicy food. In Sri Lanka the restaurant staff at a resthouse were astounded that we wanted Sri Lankan food and we wanted it spicy. We were quite the topic of conversation!
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Old Feb 23rd, 2008, 09:46 PM
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Yeah, I felt bad we did not enjoy it as much.

Kathie: I can imagine you being the topic of conversation. I remember when we used to have my dads friends from abroad visit us in India, we all used to marvel at how they ate Indian food and attempted to eat with the hand, Indian-style
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Old Feb 23rd, 2008, 09:54 PM
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November 20, 2007
Chiang Mai, Thailand

The flight from Bangkok to Chiang Mai was on time and in a small little Boeing 717 plane. For an hours’ flight we were still served snacks (vegetarian hot noodles - mmm!). It almost felt as if we took off, reached a decent height and then flew back down. I got some cool photos of the sky above the clouds. Bangkok Airways, though pricey, was worth the money.

We landed at 10:30 AM and took a taxi from the airport to our hotel (B140), the Baan Orapin. It’s a bed and breakfast place and we had a really nice room, with a sitting area and a porch! The property is lush green and extremely beautiful. (well that menas mosquitoes as well - but that comes later...)

After settling down, we were famished and so we headed into the city to get some lunch. We were in mood for some Indian, but the LP-suggested place did not exist where it should have. No one on the street had even heard of it. Instead we stumbled upon the Gallere Restaurant (no spelling mistake here, that's how it was spelt) by the river and they made some tasty green curry and fried rice for us. It was REALLY good. We really enjoyed lunch overlooking the Mae Ping river. Life, after a long time, felt slow and relaxed.

We walked back to our hotel and on our way back wife picked up some bottled gourd snack from a street vendor and we also got an ice-cream (the weather was hot) from a 7-11. The street vendor had attached his display case to his motorbike and carted it around. Smart idea.

We were glad when we got back to our hotel, since it just started to rain for a bit; which was good since it cooled things down a bit.

In the evening, we headed towards the night market. It was nearing dinner time, so we got some Indian food, Noodles (bleh) and Felafel (really good) at the night market food stalls. Afterwards, I mostly followed my wife around as she made her round of the stalls. She was so happy bargaining and checking things out. I was in no mood for taking any photos so I just walked about soaking in the place. It’s quite touristy, and so were the prices. Fun, nevertheless.

Around 9:30 pm, I was bored and started complaining. So we made our way back to the hotel. On the way we saw a lot of people bursting crackers by the river. They were doing it right by the firecracker vendors and some power cables - isn't that smart?!?

Got home, watched some Indian Music Channel (I watched more Indian TV on this trip than I have in the past 5 years) and fell asleep almost instantly after that. Isn't life good...

Initial Chiang Mai Impression: Our first impression was that we like Chiang Mai. People were friendlier than in Bangkok. Even the style in which they say “Sawathee kaa” was so sweet. There was a touch of true hospitality and welcoming. During the day, it felt quiet, but at night, life starts and it’s market is buzzing with activity. There was also a lot of activity near our hotel due to Loy Krathong and the fact that it was the "hip" street in town with a lot of upscale restaurants and bars.
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Old Feb 24th, 2008, 01:47 AM
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Taxis from Bangkok airport - you need to go to level 2 to get one. As rahulm says there is/are one or 2 ladies sat at a desk and you tell them where you want to go. They then write that down, and will tell you how much it costs. You give this to a man stod near the desk, who directs you to a taxi and tells the taxi driver where you're going - you get a carbon copy of the paper.
For us we twice paid 400 baht, including tolls - this is not metered, but now seems to be what they have agreed is the rate. This is different to before when there was still a desk there, you paid them 50 to get the taxi and write the destination and then what it was on the meter.
This time when we left from the hotel to go back to the aiport it cost just under 200 baht - so the 400 well covers the journey and is "marked up" if you want to put it like that.
In the airport on top of all the luggage conveyor belts are big signs to say take a yellow taxi (this is the limo as rahulm says) so that you get a real taxi and are not ripped off (the wording isn't quite like that, but thats the gist!). So before you leave this area there is a desk where you can order the yellow taxis - (which are really the limos and will be much more expensive). You wonder who has given permission for a company to be based in this area?! Interesting!
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Old Feb 24th, 2008, 02:48 AM
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Keep it coming. Watching the river awaken from the ROS is one of our favorite things. I get up very early in Thailand as well. I go to the gym, when it opens at 6:00 a.m..

I checked and we were briefly at the ROS at the same time as you. We were not in the Towers.
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Old Feb 24th, 2008, 05:57 AM
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the advantage of the limo are a couple....many taxis have no idea where locations in town are and often get briefly lost looking for even big hotels....limos rarely get lost and are more professional, except when carting around pandas...

but the really big advantage is a decent trunk/boot to hold all of your suitcases...
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Old Feb 24th, 2008, 06:22 AM
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I did 4 trips from/to the airport/ROS using metered taxis each time this past December.
Yes, there is a 50b surcharge from the airport. And yes, they will try to get you to do a flat rate, but if you ask for the meter, they must use it.

The tolls are 65 baht. The meter was 220-300 baht depending on the trip. So, 400b flat isn't bad, but it does bug me by principal.

BTW, the metered taxi "desk" is more like a card table set up on the sidewalk in front of the terminal.

Something we uded to do years ago at the old airport was go up to the departure level and grab a taxi from someone just arriving. No 50b surcharge that way! Don't know if they allow this now...
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Old Feb 24th, 2008, 06:33 AM
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Yes - its a funny little desk set up isn't it!!!

I did ask about the meter but the driver said that was the agreed rate - as you say maybe there isn't lots of diffence and such a long journey in London by taxi would cost a small fortune I'm sure.

Bob - I'm sure you're right that the yellow limo drivers are more knowledgable etc and boot (trunk) a better size.

Its just all a bit of a funny set up - the yellow limo company allowed to set up in the baggage reclaim & other taxis and the card desk!!!! I don't think any other airport would have this funny little combination.
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Old Feb 24th, 2008, 07:04 AM
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no one has mentioned that the limo desk (AOT) is a sub division of the airport authority and thus has all the rights in the world....the airport no longer allows private limo companies to have a desk or presence at the airport without a prior reservation
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Old Feb 24th, 2008, 07:58 AM
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Bob's quite right. At the old airport, there was a whole line of limo desks, so there was price competition and choice. Alas! AOT has a monopoly now at the new airport. However, you can pre-arrange a limo from another company. That's what we do.
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Old Feb 24th, 2008, 08:17 AM
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Kristina, I tried the same thing too Getting a taxi that was dropping someone off. All the other cab drivers (including the one that I asked) asked me to goto the taxi counter. I just feigned ignorance and kept walking
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Old Feb 24th, 2008, 08:28 AM
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November 21, 2007.
Chiang Mai, Thailand

We woke up to a lot of rain. It was pouring like it was going out of style!

We had to change our plans of going to Doi Suthep, since the rains created and overcast in the sky. One of the attractions of Doi Suthep is that you get panoramic views of the city. Instead, we decided to visit other Wats around the city and just have fun.

Wat U-Mong: We started off with Wat U-Mong. This is a Wat situated just outside of Chiang Mai in the forest. Its in a very beautiful setting and the Wat is different in the sense that it’s inside a cave. The stupa of the wat is above the ground, so when you look at the Wat from above, it seems that there is only a stupa and no shrine. The Wat also has a statue of the Buddha in an emaciated state where he must have meditated for a long period as you can see his veins and bones.

Behind the main Wat, there is a forest conservation area and we stumbled upon it. In the forest is the hut of a monk who has been living there for 23 years. We spent some time chatting with him about his life in the jungle and he also gave us some of his writings and drawings. We also saw some of his drawings that he had hung up on the wall and they were really lovely.

We then proceeded to visit the main Wat. There was a little kid over there who, made himself our guide and was showing us around. He was really sweet and gave us quite a bit of information about the place (although, I haven’t verified the accuracy of the information, I’m just going to trust him). Outside the wat, we saw an "Ashoka Pillar"

To get to Wat U-Mong we got a "taxi" (which in Chiang Mai looks like a Bangkok Tuk-tuk).

We headed back to the city and went to Wat Prasing. It’s beautiful and we saw some locals doing a ceremony with a monk. You bow to the monk and he sprinkled water on you and recited some prayer and finally tied a white thread around your wrist. He tied it around my wrist but for my wife, asked me to do it, since Buddhist monks are not allowed to touch women. I still have that thread around my wrist.

We spent some time sitting in the Wat and it was past 1 pm. Across the street was a Thai place (called Henry's Thai or something) and we just walked in and ordered some Khao Soi and Fried rice. Khao Soi is a Chiang Mai specialty: coconut curry with noodles. The food took almost 45 minutes to come. I was really tired for some reason and took a good 20 minute nap while we waited for the food (I think it was the heat since I was not wearing any sunglasses and the heat was strong). The wait for the food was well worth it since it was delicious and not at all oily.

After lunch, we had some really good coffee across the street. The girls/ladies who ran the coffee place said "Sawathee kaa" so sweetly that my wife kept trying to imitate them and say it like them. (We're still at it)

We then walked across the main street of the city and saw a saloon and I decided to get a haircut (actually, my wife decided I should decided to get a haircut - you know what I mean…). Its one of the best I’ve have in years. No kidding. She thinks it was Thai style and now I look more Thai - even better, I felt I was blending in!

After the haircut, we went to Wat Chedi Luang. The main building is closed since it was damaged in an earthquake and is unsafe for people to go inside. However, there was a place where people can talk to monks and we talked to a monk for a while about his life and why he wants to be a monk and so on. It turns out he was from Luang Prabang (our next destination) and eventually wants to go to India to get a masters in Buddhism. It was really nice to talk to him and learn about what hardships monks face and their outlook to life. It is something I will not forget for a long time to come.

It started to rain and so we took shelter at a café. When the rain subsided it was getting dark but we really wanted to finish seeing the last Wat on our list: Wat Chiang Man. By the time we got there, it was dark and so we could not take any photos. We still walked around the place and it was really quiet and hence very peaceful. We loved it. However, I could not help noticing that it would have been lovely in the day to photograph.

Afterwards, we decided to go to a LP-recommended Indian Vegetarian place. At this point, I have to say, LP has been disappointing when it comes to restaurant recommendations. We could not find it and instead ended up at some other place that advertised Indian food, but cooked not-at-all-Indian style. It was alright - I mean edible. Nothing like real Indian food though. After this, no more listening to Lonely Planet suggestions again. These people don’t understand food at all. As I write this, I'm thinking why did we not eat Thai food? Maybe we wanted something different since we had Thai for lunch and

After dinner, we took a tuk-tuk back to the hotel. Outside the hotel, we saw a fruit vendor and bought a really huge papaya which we cut and ate in our room. Fruits there are so good, that you can actually taste the flavor and not the pesticide.

We spent the rest of the evening watching TV (mindless Indian songs) and just talking.
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Old Feb 24th, 2008, 08:35 AM
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Just a quick update to my previous post. Once you get to Wat Pra Singh, you can walk to all the other wats from there. The walk is along Chiang Mai's old city's main drag so its fun. Lots of cafe's and shops. If it's a Sunday, this street that the Chiang Mai Sunday market which we sadly missed.
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Old Feb 24th, 2008, 03:14 PM
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November 22, 2007.
Chiang Mai, Thailand.

Cooking Class:

We had an amazing cooking class with Yui at A Lot Of Thai. We were picked up at 9 AM by Yui’s husband Kwan, in a matador (remember those?) and taken to their house. It’s a traditional style house and actually reminded me of homes in smaller cities in India. The class was held outside in their compound. They had fans and shade to keep the heat out.

In the morning, We cooked Pad Thai, Green Curry and Tom Yum Soup. During what would normally be lunch time, we took a break from cooking and eating to visit the local market and look at the various Thai vegetables and fruits (we skipped the meat section since we're not accustomed to the smell). At the market, Yui showed us her favorite place to get iced coffee and we got one for ourselves too. It was delicious and probably the best we’ve had, ever.

After we got back, we cooked some more: Sticky rice with mango, cashew nut tofu, spring rolls. We had a lot of fun all day long. Thai cooking is easy, uses fresh simple ingredients and you can whip up excellent dishes in almost no time!

After we've come back, we must have cooked cashew nut tofu at least 5-10 times and we tried Pad Thai a few times and got it right the last two times. My wife tried the red curry and it came out pretty good as well. One downside of visiting Thailand, and having cooked some food ourselves, is that we find all the Thai food here sub-par.

In the evening, we went to the local market (not the night market, but this market is right along the river and one of the oldest markets in Chiang Mai) and my wife did some shopping. We got some nice silk scarves to give as gifts to friends and family here.

In the evening, we decided to go to the night market again. On the way, we saw a lot of festivities for Loy Krathong and we stopped on the bridge to watch people bursting fire-crackers. I tried to take some shots, but the lighting was too low. I really regretted (more than once) not having brought my tripod.

Initially, I had thought I’d take part in bursting crackers with the locals, but my throat had started aching. I felt a cold/sore throat coming. Those are never good...

We had skipped dinner. After a day of eating, who wants to eat dinner! We relaxed in the hotel and just talked about the day and how much fun it was.
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Old Feb 24th, 2008, 05:12 PM
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enjoying all the details...thanks so much...
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Old Feb 24th, 2008, 05:13 PM
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Forget the Matador, Hold out for a Gremlin. Now those were great cars.
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Old Feb 24th, 2008, 05:29 PM
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That's great your wife liked your thai haircut! My wife loved mine the last time we were there also! I personally liked the 10 to 15 mins the woman took to wash my hair! Way better than any I have had here in the states!

Your string you still have on your wrist reminds me of my wifes ritual, she always gets a pedicure the first day in bkk and keeps the paint on there as long as she can after we get home! I swear they use some kind of paint because she keeps that on there for months!

Im so glad you liked your trip!
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