My pending departure from Asia has motivated me to try and sum up a bit of my experience in a 'guide-esque' documentation of some of my favorite places, things to do, and foods to eat so that those of you who have the opportunity to visit this incredible region might benefit from my travels here. Plus I have a bit of free time....
Showing posts with label thailand. Show all posts
Showing posts with label thailand. Show all posts
Sunday, November 22, 2009
travel advising continues... THAILAND
THAILAND
BANGKOK ('Bangers,' 'KOK')
Loud, modern, huge, overwhelming at first. Most backpackers end up being spit out into the bowels of Khao San and the 24 hour honkey circus which is perpetually in motion. I struggle with Khao San, it has a lot of convenient aspects to it, but it also kinda sucks. Some might say it 'isn't Thailand' which is kind of like saying a tomato isn't a fruit. Regardless you should give the whole thing at least a gander, it is an amazing tribute to all things traveler oriented. The whole swirling chaos exists for a reason and if you can learn to exploit it for what it is good for Khao San can be a kind of fun quirky experience. I higlighted a couple of my favorite spots here in an earlier post.
Of course Bangkok is much much more than Bagalamphu. My favorite thing to do in Bangers is to head to Siam Paragon, which is a big mall. I don't typically find myself wanting to spend a lot of time in malls but this one has a number of things in its favor: 1. air conditioning that allows you to forget about crippling heat and humidity 2. hands down the most amazing supermarket I have ever seen 3. movies (PONYO!!!) and a selection of 3 different types of popcorn. Seriously the supermarket is something else. Find the ladies with the rice crackers with coconut sugar, sesame and pumpkin seeds. They are ridiculously good. Plus the food court goes on for ages, every type of fast food a Midwesterner could want, surprisingly cheap thai food, as well as a plethora of ice cream/gelato/fro-yo places. Siam Paragon is part of a long chain of malls all linked by either the BTS or raised walkways. In fact most of the BTS (KOK's MRT/tube/BART) is lined by huge malls. If you needed to spend a lot of money you could do it quickly in Bangkok.
Other cool things to check out:
Boat rides on the klongs (canals), which is consequently one of the fastest ways to get around in Bangkok.
Wat po, home of the giant and incredibly impressive 40m long reclining buddah (Mandy is a HUGE fan).
Nancy Chandler does an awesome map of Bangkok, I'd suggest picking one up if you are planning on spending much time in the area. I'd say it is a must have if you were living there.
CHIANG MAI
I never feel like I have enough time in Chiang Mai. We always stay at Mandala house for work and it is cool enough that I have spent time there on my time off as well. The price is right, it has a good location, and the staff are super friendly. Chiang Mai is famous for its night markets, which are absurd sprawl of stands selling everything that one might want to cart back home: strings of christmas lights decorated with champa flowers, Karen silver jewelery, lanterns which fold flat, hill tribe tote bags, Thai fisherman pants, knock off Tiffany's, the stalls run as far as your eyes can see, the markets spill into one another forming blocks of frenzied consumerism. To one end of the markets is the Old Chiang Mai Coffee shop, it is a funky little cafe/gallery serving a ridiculous chocolate cookie cream cheese sandwich. Derlish. Que mas? Ahh of course there is ever famous cooking courses in Chiang Mai. I've always taken them at the Chiang Mai Cookery Schol, because Sompon is a BAD ASS. They are super professional and you will be blown away by what you can learn in a day. I think that taking a cooking course also gives one a deeper appreciation for the local cuisine. You will be more able to understand the flavors in the foods and possibly be motivated to try new dishes (rather than spending your whole time eating Phad Thai --- boooooring!). Finally people often come to the North of Thailand to ride an Asian elephant. This can be an amazing experience, especially if you do it at one of the more responsibly run organization. I wrote briefly about this on an earlier post, there are a number of elephant camps around Chiang Mai but two which stand out are: the Elephant Conservation Center and Elephant Nature Park (which also runs a veggie restaurant in Chiang Mai). Both programs take good care of their elephants meaning that you can feel like you and the elephants are both benefiting from your experience.
Finally: Nancy Chandler also made a map of Chiang Mai which is another fun way to discover some hidden gems.
PAI
Cutesy to the max, Pai is a fun mellow place to escape the city and see some pretty stunning countryside. In their same same but different way Pai has been totally overrun by cute boutique like shops, it is a bit out of control. But it is a fun place to kick around for one or two nights. The van ride from Chiang Mai is a bit crazy, there are about a million curves but it isn't too bad. Many people use Pai as a base for some more in depth explorations: moto touring, hill tribe trekking, ventures towards Burma. It is a bit overdone tourist-wise but the setting is pretty idyllic. Dini and I stayed riverside in a place called Rim Pai , which was a bit pricey but gorgeous and totally cute. There is quite a bit of good food around Pai, in the late afternoons there is a well organized fresh market with some good street foods, otherwise most of the restaurants whip up the normal delicacies.
UP NEXT: Cambodia
Friday, September 25, 2009
pai-licious
An elephant was ridden, I got thrown in the dead dog river once again and got the flu from it.
Mandy and Gem heart Pai! (but we forgot to buy the t-shirt to prove it)
Thursday, September 10, 2009
sin titulo
Where to begin? I've been trying to work on a blog post the last while but nothing seems to stick. My friend B is traveling through Central America and I read his blog, which just drips with all that fresh travel enthusiasm, add to that his impressive writing skills and I have started to feel like a bit of a farce. On the other hand this blog moved on from being a serious attempt at a travel narrative a long time ago. So what is there to say?
Life has been pretty good lately. I took some time off at the beginning off the month and did a fast at a retreat center in Phuket. It had been quite a while since I had had a vacation from racing around so I was more than pleased to sit in my little villa, read, drink hot water, write in my journal and take about 4 naps a day.
I have also FINALLY found the most kick ass laundry do-ers in Bangkok, just a quick jaunt from the Royal and frenetic Khao San road. It is located on Banana alley, just by the Boots, before you get to Ranee's (mmmmm). Freshie clothes always put a smile on my face. Not only that I have found some lovely places to eat that serve salads which make me feel like I am back in California. SHOCKING! Cafe Corner is my favorite, to get there you follow the boots road over the bridge and take a right on SOI 2, when SOI 2 ends you take a left and it will be right there. Between this place and som tum as well as the juices at Ethos (on the street behind the burger king at the bottom of Khao San) I have been a happy girl. This has put Banglumpu (the general Khao San 'hood) and me on pretty good terms. Which means being in Bangkok feels less and less like a prison scentence and more and more like being in my (like it or not) neighborhood. Is that all it takes to make me happy? Jugo de remolacha (0 betabel para los gueys) and a good lavanderia? I have a feeling some people might be able to relate. My final new discovery was my new THAI salon where I got my haircut (nothing drastic!) which was nice, but the fantastic part was having two Thai ladies blow dry it at the same time. My fancy blow out looked awesome until the monsoon chaos which left most of Rambutri street under about 4 inches of standing water after about 30 minutes of rain and my hair back in its normally wild state. Quite impressive.
What else? I had a delicious snack of these swirly pork (??!!!???) crackers that Meesh and I were a bit obsessed with last September. This was on the way to Kratie where I caught sight of the very endangered Iriwaddy river dolphins. Pretty cool, not unlike seeing whale sharks, but on a sweet long tail boat. Kratie is pretty kick ass, meaning there isn't much to do once you've seen the dolphins, other than playing cards and drinking beer. The place is semi-infested with huge rats, so I find that sitting cross legged in your chair is probably a good practice.
From Kratie I dragged my group north to Laos, which surely deserves its own post. Photos should come as well.
Life has been pretty good lately. I took some time off at the beginning off the month and did a fast at a retreat center in Phuket. It had been quite a while since I had had a vacation from racing around so I was more than pleased to sit in my little villa, read, drink hot water, write in my journal and take about 4 naps a day.
I have also FINALLY found the most kick ass laundry do-ers in Bangkok, just a quick jaunt from the Royal and frenetic Khao San road. It is located on Banana alley, just by the Boots, before you get to Ranee's (mmmmm). Freshie clothes always put a smile on my face. Not only that I have found some lovely places to eat that serve salads which make me feel like I am back in California. SHOCKING! Cafe Corner is my favorite, to get there you follow the boots road over the bridge and take a right on SOI 2, when SOI 2 ends you take a left and it will be right there. Between this place and som tum as well as the juices at Ethos (on the street behind the burger king at the bottom of Khao San) I have been a happy girl. This has put Banglumpu (the general Khao San 'hood) and me on pretty good terms. Which means being in Bangkok feels less and less like a prison scentence and more and more like being in my (like it or not) neighborhood. Is that all it takes to make me happy? Jugo de remolacha (0 betabel para los gueys) and a good lavanderia? I have a feeling some people might be able to relate. My final new discovery was my new THAI salon where I got my haircut (nothing drastic!) which was nice, but the fantastic part was having two Thai ladies blow dry it at the same time. My fancy blow out looked awesome until the monsoon chaos which left most of Rambutri street under about 4 inches of standing water after about 30 minutes of rain and my hair back in its normally wild state. Quite impressive.
What else? I had a delicious snack of these swirly pork (??!!!???) crackers that Meesh and I were a bit obsessed with last September. This was on the way to Kratie where I caught sight of the very endangered Iriwaddy river dolphins. Pretty cool, not unlike seeing whale sharks, but on a sweet long tail boat. Kratie is pretty kick ass, meaning there isn't much to do once you've seen the dolphins, other than playing cards and drinking beer. The place is semi-infested with huge rats, so I find that sitting cross legged in your chair is probably a good practice.
From Kratie I dragged my group north to Laos, which surely deserves its own post. Photos should come as well.
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
a big happy slow family
I like dysfunction in simple tasks. To be more clear in this statement, I find dysfunction to be a zen koan put into practice. I love and hate dysfunction and in that way my reaction to dysfunction is an indication of where I am at with myself.
For some reason I keep going to the same place in Bangkok to get things printed by the same confused Thai lady. Talking to Eva today I realized why: it is totally Latin. It is that, "si dios quiere..." approach to life, you can't rush god, or cows, or thai photocopiers, or banana shakes, you know? Sometimes I find myself cursing myself for coming to the same damn place. Yet at other times I can't help but stand there and internally chuckle at how brilliant it is that a lady who runs a copy shop has to read directions about how to print a word document.
I mean efficiency is great sometimes. But at other times I am stunned by the coldness of all things efficient. I find myself wondering what happened to all the warmth and friendliness. I mean in the States I can get shit done about 20x as fast as I can here but it is usually without incident, or if there is drama it is yours truly that is causing it. I had a giggle fit calling my bank to find out my login information. Laying on the tile floor of my hotel room in Hoi An laughing while some poor guy in god knows where tries to figure out my damn login name. He must have thought I was crazy, but then again if you cause someone to smile are you really crazy?
The thing that I know is that happiness is a choice, you either make the decision to see the joy, to laugh at the absurdity of my thai photocopying lady or you can get all pissed off and start blaming people.
You choose: comedy or drama.
I'm planning on laughing all the way down the road, wanna come?
For some reason I keep going to the same place in Bangkok to get things printed by the same confused Thai lady. Talking to Eva today I realized why: it is totally Latin. It is that, "si dios quiere..." approach to life, you can't rush god, or cows, or thai photocopiers, or banana shakes, you know? Sometimes I find myself cursing myself for coming to the same damn place. Yet at other times I can't help but stand there and internally chuckle at how brilliant it is that a lady who runs a copy shop has to read directions about how to print a word document.
I mean efficiency is great sometimes. But at other times I am stunned by the coldness of all things efficient. I find myself wondering what happened to all the warmth and friendliness. I mean in the States I can get shit done about 20x as fast as I can here but it is usually without incident, or if there is drama it is yours truly that is causing it. I had a giggle fit calling my bank to find out my login information. Laying on the tile floor of my hotel room in Hoi An laughing while some poor guy in god knows where tries to figure out my damn login name. He must have thought I was crazy, but then again if you cause someone to smile are you really crazy?
The thing that I know is that happiness is a choice, you either make the decision to see the joy, to laugh at the absurdity of my thai photocopying lady or you can get all pissed off and start blaming people.
You choose: comedy or drama.
I'm planning on laughing all the way down the road, wanna come?
Saturday, May 16, 2009
last days
procrastination leads to blog entry.
summation of the last few weeks
thoughts.observations.notes.ideas.wishes
thoughts.observations.notes.ideas.wishes
thailand is brief, just enough time for a couple bottles of neon orange orange juice and green curry
the tips of my fingers have started to peel off, what does that mean?
buckets at angkor what? lead to a rough ride to P2 which noodle soup cures, I miss nana
get lost with my group in P2, tuk-tuks save the day and deliver us at Mee Goreng heaven
Ipod induced napping on the bus leads to strange lucid dreams
could Lebo be right about Deli pickels saving the world??? all this poverty in Cambodia is making me hope so
I wish I had brought my black gauchos and not my teal ones
I see a one armed mine victim filling in the potholes along an unpaved portion of cambodia's national road 4 and find myself wondering who is paying him for his work
cambodian children thrive on the beach front town of Sihanoukville selling braclets and when not successful swearing at tourists
Handwashing can be incredibly satisfying.
Crossing the border to Vietnam is striking - how can a bridge lead to such difference? I already miss counting in Khmer.
More ipod, more strange dreams.
I eat frog for the first time.
I get my laundry done in Saigon, everything comes back individually tagged
Night train delivers me to Nha Trang, why is train sleep so satisfying?
the tips of my fingers have started to peel off, what does that mean?
buckets at angkor what? lead to a rough ride to P2 which noodle soup cures, I miss nana
get lost with my group in P2, tuk-tuks save the day and deliver us at Mee Goreng heaven
Ipod induced napping on the bus leads to strange lucid dreams
could Lebo be right about Deli pickels saving the world??? all this poverty in Cambodia is making me hope so
I wish I had brought my black gauchos and not my teal ones
I see a one armed mine victim filling in the potholes along an unpaved portion of cambodia's national road 4 and find myself wondering who is paying him for his work
cambodian children thrive on the beach front town of Sihanoukville selling braclets and when not successful swearing at tourists
Handwashing can be incredibly satisfying.
Crossing the border to Vietnam is striking - how can a bridge lead to such difference? I already miss counting in Khmer.
More ipod, more strange dreams.
I eat frog for the first time.
I get my laundry done in Saigon, everything comes back individually tagged
Night train delivers me to Nha Trang, why is train sleep so satisfying?
confused yet? me too. but life is a beautiful mystery.
Monday, May 4, 2009
sawadee kah
Nothing like going to log in to your blog and finding it in thai script. That by the way is my way of saying that I have arrived here in Thailand.
After being FREEZING cold in california for nearly two weeks the 29 degree (90F for you gringos) heat is AWESOME. And I better get used to it because that is how SE Asia rolls (mikee knows). Cold is a strange concept here, and when it is found it is usually machine generated.
The whole flight/travel/bag retrival/customs/bus here was pretty standard, really the only complication was my constant sneezing freaking out my row mates. Maybe I should get myself a face mask and a shirt that says, "NO HAY GRIPE PORCINA AQUI!" Or maybe that would really freak these people out. Damn that just made me laugh out loud. Sad really. Plus I am guessing that about 1/2% of them can read spanish.
In typical Gemma fashion I got myself all turned around trying to get to Khao San road to check my email yesterday, and then did it again this morning so now my poor feet are a bit sore. I guess the intelligent thing would have been to wear the keens this morning and to look at the map, but I am one stubborn girl and I love a good blister. I only mention this as I was totally convinced when I was back in the states that Chaco flips cannot give you blisters (MOM), but now upon further thought I remember that I got some gnarly blisters back when I first got to Singapore, so now all bets are off.
Most of my time thus far has been me sitting in the green house cafe somewhere on Soi Rambutri Banglampoo ( and yes i did have to look at a map and a menu to get that road name right). And basically what I am half remembering and half discovering ( I guess one might simplifiy that and call it re-discovering) is that street names are a pain in the ass here, not so unlike in Costa Rica (el lado sur de la casa con el techo negro, 100m este de el arbol con los monos azules), but here every thing/place/street has about 3 different names with different spellings. I have yet to make it to the regional office here so I fill my time sitting at the green house cafe laughing at backpacker fashion (which makes the CA travelers look real tame - excluding Argie street artisans and anyone who thinks they are a 'local' in pana-pana-panajachel) and trying to understand the international dateline and how it will now effect my communication with the rest of the world (things look a bit dire).
Really I can't complain, I am trying to take it easy with the thai food, don't want to start hating green curry my first week here, and trying to stop myself from buying music on itunes with the promise to myself that I can go crazy at Laundry in Siem Reap (Mikee understands). So yea, thats all I've got to say for myself other than the fact that I do miss beans. I've never understood all the bean hating that tourists like to do in C.A. Really maybe they never learned the gloriousness of gallo pinto.
Out. (Oh and I'll try to take it easy with the ellipses next time)
After being FREEZING cold in california for nearly two weeks the 29 degree (90F for you gringos) heat is AWESOME. And I better get used to it because that is how SE Asia rolls (mikee knows). Cold is a strange concept here, and when it is found it is usually machine generated.
The whole flight/travel/bag retrival/customs/bus here was pretty standard, really the only complication was my constant sneezing freaking out my row mates. Maybe I should get myself a face mask and a shirt that says, "NO HAY GRIPE PORCINA AQUI!" Or maybe that would really freak these people out. Damn that just made me laugh out loud. Sad really. Plus I am guessing that about 1/2% of them can read spanish.
In typical Gemma fashion I got myself all turned around trying to get to Khao San road to check my email yesterday, and then did it again this morning so now my poor feet are a bit sore. I guess the intelligent thing would have been to wear the keens this morning and to look at the map, but I am one stubborn girl and I love a good blister. I only mention this as I was totally convinced when I was back in the states that Chaco flips cannot give you blisters (MOM), but now upon further thought I remember that I got some gnarly blisters back when I first got to Singapore, so now all bets are off.
Most of my time thus far has been me sitting in the green house cafe somewhere on Soi Rambutri Banglampoo ( and yes i did have to look at a map and a menu to get that road name right). And basically what I am half remembering and half discovering ( I guess one might simplifiy that and call it re-discovering) is that street names are a pain in the ass here, not so unlike in Costa Rica (el lado sur de la casa con el techo negro, 100m este de el arbol con los monos azules), but here every thing/place/street has about 3 different names with different spellings. I have yet to make it to the regional office here so I fill my time sitting at the green house cafe laughing at backpacker fashion (which makes the CA travelers look real tame - excluding Argie street artisans and anyone who thinks they are a 'local' in pana-pana-panajachel) and trying to understand the international dateline and how it will now effect my communication with the rest of the world (things look a bit dire).
Really I can't complain, I am trying to take it easy with the thai food, don't want to start hating green curry my first week here, and trying to stop myself from buying music on itunes with the promise to myself that I can go crazy at Laundry in Siem Reap (Mikee understands). So yea, thats all I've got to say for myself other than the fact that I do miss beans. I've never understood all the bean hating that tourists like to do in C.A. Really maybe they never learned the gloriousness of gallo pinto.
Out. (Oh and I'll try to take it easy with the ellipses next time)
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