andy---anxious to hear how krabi is??? also how son liked the dreaded CM....

keep it coming...

hi to miss beth!!

happy new year

Its a large tethered helium balloon - it goes up about 200 metres and has a platform that you can walk around - holds 30 people max at a time. You can get a good view (when not overcast) of Angkor Wat and to the west, West Baray (the man made lake) and generally of the countryside. For the price (I checked it was then $11) it was a good view but its only 10 minutes. Still I saw bits I wouldn't have otherwise.

Andy, Mary - thanks for the info.

Andy, when do you go to LP?

Bob, I won't be selling any bonds on Monday since the markets are closed but we will be doing the balloon ride in spite of the enormous $11 expense.

Craig - hope that balloon hasn't gone up!!!! Maybe you should sell a bond or two just in case its now $15.

Just a guess---but wondering if people are confusing the hot air ballon ride at Bagan, which I have read is untethered and $300, and the tethered shorted ride at Angkor?

cruise---when i say the posting about $11, my thought was well maybe it is bagan and not SR....so you have solved my problem...thanks

Gpanda-
Thank you for the daily postings. It snowed here in New England on New Years Eve, so I have enjoyed reading about warmer climes.

Bob-
Sad to say, but I am a sucker for a hot air ballon ride...even if it is $300. Did one on our honeymoon in Tuscany and it was amazing. Still kicking myself that I did not cough up the $ to do it in the Masai Mara. But I am sure the $11 option will be just fine for our May trip to Angkor.
PS... I hope Boblax will chime in again soon about details for a CT GTG ...looking forward to meeting you, Karen, Panda, Craig et al. Happy New Year!

cruise...maybe you have told me before but where do you live?? more snow tomorrow, butr i think 3-6....

I live near Westport, CT, between Stamford and Danbury (kind of...)

The SR balloon is not really a "balloon experience" at all - just a way of getting you up 200 mts - good outlook and worth going but I'd love to do something like that in a real balloon - I love them.

i do know westport---do you live next to martha??

we are having lunch with craig in about two weeks and i will see if anything is brewing for a GTG...hope so....

andy---i've asked gloria the same thing...could you check out the new hilton across the river in bkk if you have time??? restaurants and rooms??

Gpanda
Loving your report, can't wait to hear more. Hope you enjoy Krabi and that the weather has picked up.
Jane

i think the giant panda (wimp) must be hiding in the bamboo patch...

Out from the bamboo.

Everything went smoothly in our switch from SR to Krabi. Following normal procedure, we got to the SR airport 2 hours early. Security, check in and immigration took about 25 minutes, but there was almost noone else there.

Into BKK on a prop. Took about 1 hour. Immigration, baggage and customs took 1/2 hour. Check in at Thai air was smooth. Why is it so much easier to do these things in Asian airports than in the US. At Logan in Boston, there is always the possibility of a serious wrinkle.

Met S and S's W at gate 64 for Krabi flight. The K airport is also tiny. The baggage is essentially right there when you go up the stairs in the airport. Our tranfer arranged through Gregg at Innovasian was ready with a "Mr. Andrew Levine" sign. We could have gotten 2 taxis, but I like the smooth transfer, even if it costs more ($40). The 25 minute ride was uneventful.

We are staying at the Sheraton Krabi. We like this property a lot. We're using Starwood poits to stay in Superior rooms. These rooms are quite nice; large and well appointed. It's a slight walk to the beach, but this is true of almost all the rooms. No view of the water from our room, but the balcony is nice. As an aside, S and I smoked cigars on the balcony and Beth said there was NO smell leaking into the room whatsoever. Coming from an 80 year old house in Cambridge, this bespeaks good construction quality.

The beach is very nice. There is a stand on trees that provides shade throughout the day. being OCD, I get down to the beach at 7:30 a.m. to reserve good lounge chairs. A 40 Baht tip eases my conscience for obsessive Americanism. Also, by the time we get down there after breakfast, the good lounge chairs have been scarfed up by others who are not yet present. In other words, this reserving,lounge chairs is a common practice.

As with many resort hotels, there are a few stores just off the property that provide services to hotel guests at reasonable prices. We got some laundry done for 60 Baht per Kilogram. Also, we've eaten dinner twice at a restaurant directly across the road from the Sheraton. It's called The Teraace. The food is quite good. The Deep Fried Fish with Chili Sauce is exquisite. The blue crab is very good as was the Green curry. For breakfast (not included with our Starwoods reservations) we ate at The Cafe, La Terrace, a sister restaurant. It was solid and better than paynig the $14 per person, plus 17% that the breakfast buffet at the Sheraton costs.

Also, I arranged transport on Thursday to the Phuket Airport (to use the third leg of our BKK Air Discovery Pass) for $50 for a minivan. The hotel charges $75.

Now, for the good part. Every day at 9:00 a.m., the hotel has RaRa the baby elephant appear at the front of the lobby. The children go gaga. Being an experienced elephant person, I went to a local store and purchased a bunch of bananas. The kids went crazy feeding these to RaRa.

Even better, RaRa goes for a swim every day at 3:00 p.m. at the beach. This is a total blast. First, we feed him the additional bananas I purchased and play with him on the beach. Then he goes into the water. A few adults (mostly my son and I) attempt to clamber up on to RaRa and ride her. This met with very limited success. She bucks and squirms and generally rids herself of adult riders. We were undeterred (sp?). However, she was very gentle with children. She would allow them on the crux of her trunk as well as letting them ride forever on her back. I suspect that she is weight sensitive (as are we all). This went on for about an hour.

At the conclusion, RaRa went up onto the beach and purposefully destryed a sand castle complex. She walked into it and then began rolling around to squash down every tower. It's a good thing she does not live near Angkor Wat.

I'm going to write a separate detailed post on Ponheary when I get back. For the moment, suffice it to say that I strongly recommend that anyone going to AW try to get her for a guide. She is very competent and can save $ on the hotel.

Andy, When will you be back at Gaysorn for a cigar?

i can only imagine what an 80B (least amount which would be acceptable to workers) tip, by you, would have gotten the long suffering ms beth...

btw, that was me in the elephant suit...i totally fooled you....next time i will sit on your chair or do something worse on your towel...

and btw those bannanas were very green and my stomach is in an uproar.... you must have got them cheap too....

Andy - fab report! Would love to take my daughter to swim with RaRa but we are not heading Krabi way this time!

Here in the Phuket airport. I'm in the Bangkok Airways lounge across from Gate 1. Free internet, coffee and snacks.

As noted above, we really liked the Sheraton Krabi Resort. Very pleasant. There were kids around, but they were mostly at the pool and all very well behaved.

Seth and Liz (son and wife, I decided S and S's W was a stilted form of reference) took a cave tour obtained through the tour booking/ laundry place next to the Sheraton. They loved it. Sounds like a slightly scaled down version of the Phang Nga Bay seacanoe tour. Less expensive and not so much time travelling in a boat. Their description included the cave/kayak exploration. They pais 1300 Baht per person. Others on the tour only pais 1100 Baht.

The last full day we were there, it was pouring rain at 9:00 a.m.. Beth was worried that she would be spending an entire day trapped in a hotel room with me. Fortunately, tyhe day cleared and it became quite nice.

Seth and I got massages on the beach for 250 Baht for an hour. One actually needs to reserve these in the restaurant next to the resort that is associated with the massage. It was a decent massage, but not as good as Wat Pho.

All 4 nights, we ate dinner at Le Terrasse, directly across from the Sheraton. The food, as noted above, is superb. Try the Deep fried fish with chili sauce (NOT TOO HOT), STIR FRIED MORNING GLORY AND THE bbq pRAWNS.