More Lanta, on to Bangkok and Tokyo Soon

Still on Lanta hanging with the European tourists. I think the people who come here are generally refugees from the cold rather than tourists or travelers. It's nice, don't get me wrong, but not that interesting.

Yesterday we went to two of the population centers: Lantatown and Ban Saladan. Lantatown was very small and quiet -- the east side of the island. Ban Saladan is a hopping tourist town with multiple 7-11s, grocery stores, hotels, and bars. Both of these places are very far from our hotel with very expensive cab rides, so I don't think I would go there regularly if I stayed here. You'd have to have your own motorcycle or car to make it cost effective.

Did buy a pretty hand-made batik and some a really lovely sarong for a man...made near Bangkok, they are telling me hand woven. I will pass on the batiks, but will try to hang onto the men's sarong.

Last night ate at a seafood restaurant -- the best in town -- and next to us was a Thai family. Everyone was on their devices..the Dad, the children, but not the mom. Oh and Nikki was on her device.

Another gorgeous sunset

Koh Lanta -- Lanta Palace

What to say? We're in a beautiful spot on a sandy beach with minimal waves, a constant warm temperature, a swimming pool, and beach chairs. The Lanta Palace is past its prime -- way past, but who cares? The rooms are comfortable, they have a hot pot to make hot drinks, the air conditioning is good, and, and I can't overstate this, they have a gorgeous beach and pool.

Okay, today I went next store to the very luxe resort. They have the very same beach, but the pool, and the waiters bringing drinks, and the gift store with handmade Thai hill tribe gifts...it was all so special. And I wanted to stay so bad...but the pricetag? I don't know, but not $42 per night including breakfast, I promise.

It seems most people here are European, and not friendly. One older couple spoke with Nikki, but not me... All day together, and all night, no conversation. I had been led to believe that lower end = better friendships. And throughout this trip this has been generally true. But here, couples, families, not sure what it is, a determination to be together for the couples? No clue. But I don't feel part of the European group exactly. And I wonder...the folks next door must have a lot more money...the perfectly maintained pool, the villas, the gift shop. Everything is luxury. Here, it is loving decay. Would I make more friends there? Less? No clue.

The beach at Koh Rok --- it is a national park

View pool and beach, Lanta Palace, approaching sunset

Sunset, Koh Lanta

Three beach kitties. They belong to a restaurant. 

Krabi to Koh Lanta

We were happy to leave Ao Nang/Nopperat/Railay -- too many crowds. On the last day I discovered some rentable beach recliners close to food and massage and with a view of the ocean, but the rest of the time it was walking around searching for a decent place to sit and read. 

Our place in Koh Lanta is just the opposite -- right on the beach, swimming pool, no issues with tides. The place itself - Lanta Palace- has seen better days but the rooms are comfortable and the location is excellent and the price is right at $40 a night. 

But first, the ferry. I assumed ferry was something like we have in the Northwest with the cars going on and the large areas up at the top for gazing into the water and the coffee shop and so on. This was a tiny boat with two floors and bus-type seating. At least everyone had a seat. The luggage was piled into every single crevice available and also piled onto the tiny deck. I kept thinking. "Syrian Refugee" but of course they have it far worse and are not really traveling voluntarily. The "ferry" kept stopping to pick up and drop off passengers in the middle of the Sea -- Longtails took them out to meet the ferry. There was no help with baggage, although I got a tip from Barbara that the trick is to get out a 100-baht note and just stand there and folks will magically appear to help you.

You can walk a long ways on this beach, but there are jottings of rocks in many places that require you either walk up to the road to pass or I guess swim around them. The water is warm and the surf very light. None of the clear blue water, though, it's greenish here.

Yesterday I went on a beach walk and ran into a group of young Muslim girls -- maybe 30 of them in full black burkas, but with faces exposed. They were gleefully going for.a swim in full regalia including socks! It was quite amusing seeing dozens of black figures in the water frolicking about -- of course my association is with nuns, so I kept thinking that Fellini would have enjoyed this scene and written it into a movie. No photos, I didn't have my camera, but wouldn't have invaded their privacy anyhow. There were a circle of them talking to a little Scandinavian (probably) girl in a swimsuit. I suspect the girls were practicing their English. Everyone was happy, the little girl in the swimsuits and the fully covered teenage girls. I did see some little girls swimming without burkas, but saw another with a cloth wrapped around her head. I am embarrassed I don't know the rules. Although, I think there are different rules for different sects as in all religions.  This is the first time I've seen the black burkas in Thailand -- more typically you see the jibab only to distinguish Muslim women.

There are many babies here. In our airport shuttle there were two babies under one and a four-year-old. Given that I perceived the ferry to be treacherous, I was surprised at the parents' lack of concern. I talked to them about this, letting them know that I would be surprised to see American families traveling budget like this. Of course I have no idea...Americans would not come this far for a beach vacation, but would opt for Mexico or the Caribbean. One of the mothers said that their parents had objected, and given their parents are my age....

At any rate, they were all taking very long holidays with their babies...a nice thing!

Scene from the ferry, not the luggage on deck

Sunset, Koh Lanta

Sunset2 Koh Lanta

Ao Nang, Railay, etc.

We were not impressed. The tides were out at least a kilometer, making it a hike through some rubble and plastic and sea slime to take a swim. At the same time the sand was moist, indicating that the tides would eventually reach the edge of the beach, so a sit down was never safe from the tides (and wet!)

In addition, the "strip" was dirty and tacky. 

To top it all off, our hotel, ineptly called "Krabi Forest Homestay," was not in a forest, and not a Homestay. It is a motel! Think Motel 6! In spite of the relatively expensive price tag ($50), no breakfast included. Nikki was freaking that the air conditioning wasn't pulling the temperature down and that, together with terrible beach, prompted me to plan an escape to another location. 

The little blue dot who's you where we are, right in between Ao Nang and Nopperat beaches

Eventually we calmed down, the air conditioning worked, the tides came in. I will say that I would never return to this place. I said that about my last Southern Thailand adventure, outside of Phuket, and now I'm saying it again. Hmmm. It will be interesting to see what Koh Lanta brings.

My first full day, I took off to Railay beach, a place that is only accessible by boat. This is remarkable, because the entire place is developed meaning that all building materials, and food, and water must be shipped in. The beaches, though, are much more beautiful, and one of them (Hat Tham Phra Nang) is purportedly the most beautiful beach in Krabi. I think that is correct, but there were many people there to enjoy the beauty! 

I did do some snorkeling, but there don't seem to be any live reefs here, although some fishes. Swimming out to the rock below is a challenge because the longtail boats drive by, which could potentially kill you. My first day there I did swim out, and only when I got back did the boats start rumbling by, eliminating the desire to swim out there again.

The beach of Hat Tham Phra Nang, which was enormously crowded yesterday with Europeans.

The boat trip to Railay, note that long tail boat in the foreground....this is what we were on. You have to wade into the water and climb aboard the boat. This trip is not for the old or infirm! 

Haven't had any great food here. Last night we went to restaurant that Lonely Planet calls one of the best seafood restaurants in the world. It was good, but not great. Perhaps I ordered wrong.

Again, Bangkok

I really do like Bangkok. Been staying at J No. 14 Guest house in a great, real neighborhood in Bangkok, just down the street from the Peninsula Hotel, so you know it's prime real estate. The street is lined with food vendors -- it is an all-day all-you-can eat buffet as far as I am concerned. I love the fact that everyone buys their food on the street much of the time and cooking is only normal for the vendors. The other night our hosts a J No. 14 were eating a dinner in the public space and I asked if they cooked it. The son (I gotta get names here) laughed and said, no way, it's from the street.

I ventured out to on the Skytrain. Wow, a huge, modern, air conditioned mass transit system that runs every 5 minutes. Philly could learn a lot from them. I suspect there are millions of people living in Bangkok who cannot afford to travel on the Skytrain though. The tickets for the trains I took ranged from 50 cents to $1.50 -- that could be several meals in Bangkok.

J No. 14 is filled with animals, both dead and alive. The walls and tables are covered with specimens of bugs and butterflies and there is a shocking stuffed doe awaiting you in the lobby. The owners have little chihuahuas, Pekingese, and it seems frequent small dog visitors. I recall 5 Pekingese being sheltered there on my first visit. 

There were also kittens! Beautiful, Siamese-faced white and marmalade kittens that I fell in love with (sorry Mini, Zoro, and Tama!). I bundled them all in my hand and realized that I miss my kitties from home. I haven't been homesick at all on this trip, but this little brush with familiarity brought on a few waves of nostalgia for home. No mind, I will be there soon enough!

One one of my subway forays, I saw the Erawan shrine, a bizarre hindu-seque shrine situated at the corner of a five-star hotel -- prime real estate for sure. Worshippers bought incense and flowers to lay on the shrine and there was lots of praying. In addition, there was a Siamese music and dance troupe performing -- I suspect for tourists?  Sorry no photos.

The shot below I ran across while walking back from the Jim Thompson house (rating 2, way too crowded!). Love the fact that they actually have a sign for this, I guess indicative of the graft in the country.  

I drank A LOT of Thai iced teas...price ranging from 15 baht to 100 baht depending on the vendor. The good vendors make these from scratch with real tea (they have a cotton filter and hot water) and you can ask to hold the sugar, which means that only the sweetness from the condensed milk comes through -- can you imagine adding sweetener on top of the condensed milk?

Also went to a swimming pool at the Mellinium Hilton nearby... Nikki and I went there on her first day so she could literally cool her jets a bit. The pool has a great view of the river, a great perspective on Bangkok's tourist areas.

Finding a sit-down place for dinner is a challenge in the land of street foot, but we found a fabulous seafood place where we accidentally ordered plates and plates of giant shrimp.

The soup below was fabulous, plenty spicy.

Chiang Mai

            

Khao soi, one of my favorite northern dishes

Chiang Mai is like home. When we arrived here from Hanoi, the tension lowered and we fell into a relaxing and easy routine -- thus no blog posts! 

The first wonderful thing was our hotel room - Baan Orapin, second time back, and they had no little rooms so we got the two-room suite. After sharing single rooms for 4.5 weeks, it was time. I can't say enough about the beauty and comfort of the hotel and its grounds and the benevolent indifference of its owner. I will go back every year if I can afford it.

Of course this was way over budget, but not terrible at $40/night each. I didn't think to take photos of the room, but here is the breakfast area. And oh, I used the pool daily. As the temperature inched up toward 100, the pool remained cool and refreshing.

Oh and the breakfasts were fantastic. You could even order a Northern Thai breakfast that contained 1000 calories I think -- this is what you eat when you're planting rice all day. Delicious though!

Next door to our hotel is Tanita's, a small restaurant that serves amazing drinks. Below is Barbara's daily mango smoothly and my Thai iced tea. I think I may have gained a few drinking these, although I discovered you can ask for no sugar, which means NO ADDED SUGAR, so you only have to contend with the condensed milk.

Mango smoothie and Thai iced tea at Tanita's -- those are orchids on the tray!

My original intention, given that we had ten days, was to take a foot massage class. We also had plans to go to Pei. Hmmm, all of those intentions were held captive by the urge to relax! So relax we did, which means eating, shopping, a little sightseeing, and for me, pool time.

The Saturday walking street is a relatively small (by Thai standards) street market with food vendors and "homemade" craft items -- some of which were definitely made in Thailand. I got a tip from another hotel guest to visit the silver temple and here it is in it's glory. The entire temple is encrusted in silver...I wonder if they have to polish it? There is also a fair amount of gold, not sure if it's solid or plate, but either way there is the issue of polish. The hundreds of temples here are beautifully maintained by the monks, so I imagine it is several people's jobs to make sure it looks good.

Wat Sri Suphan

            

Orchids from the flower market

Barbara lounging with G&T in her custom Jammie's on our lovely hotel porch.

Bundles of herbs, Talat Thanin, a gorgeous and spotless market near University 

Our Songthae had a cat on board. Songthae is inexpensive transportation around Chiang Mai, safer and cheaper than yuk yuk.

Talat Thanin, dig those neatly arranged vegetables!

Near Talat Thanin these steamed punk in buns were for sale. We walked by on day 1. Day 2, I noticed Andy Ricker posted this on this Instagram site, so we went back and tried one. Subsequently, I've seen these for sale both in Chiang Mai and Bangkok. We relied a lot on Andy Ricker posts for dining ideas, which worked out pretty well -- not 100% though.

Flowers from Wararot flower market. I think these are temple arrangements, see them everywhere, so complicated!

Meal at Shan restaurant recommended by Andy Ricker (again). Address: 16/10 Kutao Soi 3 T.Sripoom Muang Chiangmai Thailand. Had Laap, plus two other dishes. They provide plates of vegetables and herbs similar to Vietnam.

Orchids from Talat Wararot flower market, so beautiful.

Next year I spend a month in Chiang Mai and take the foot massage course! I hope someone will join me for all or part of it. 

Hanoi --redux

This coffee is so amazing, it tastes like hot ice cream! To get into the shop, Giang Cafe, is entered via a long hallway from the street. I had to plow through a group of tourists to get into the place....

There are two things on the menu: hot and iced egg coffee. Also you can order sunflower seeds in the shell..ubiquitous here. egg coddle is made by swiping eggs and sugar together in some magical way and then blending with Vietnamese coffee. There are now many copycats in Hanoi, but Giang is the original. The shop is on two floors and again, everyone sits on tiny stools. The waiter heaves and hoes great trays of coffee up and down the stairs and likewise clears the dishes. 

P

Think hot coffee ice cream --- Vietnamese egg coffee

Barbara came down with tourists on the bus from Sapa to Hanoi. She was down for the count and I ended up getting my own room...hers was germ infested and noisy with all the trips to the bathroom!

I got electrolytes for her and gave her the Zithromax---her doc had given her Cipro  which is no good in se Asia. After that I was alone to explore Hanoi which was very fun. I walked to the market which is a true working market so the prices were fair and the products plentiful. I bought candied ginger for half the price I'd been paying ...in case of nausea--and a pack of 10 face masks for $4.00.

I am becoming a woman of the world so I sought out the food court which happened to be in a narrow alleyway. Just like that I sat down on a tiny stool and ordered, ate, and paid for my noodles. Delicious! My favorite meals have all been street food and the least expensive, ranging from $1.00 to $4.00.

My noodles at street stall

Our last day in Hanoi, Barbara was feeling better so we booked a car and driver and saw the temple of literature, an ancient university dating from 10th/11th century.

Main pond...there were 5. Not sure of significance of hats.

Out building

Turtle head...rub for luck...many lucky people out there.

Amazing bonsai

View from second floor

Cute Phoenix relief on building

Altar in main chapel

Street food on last day ... pork meatballs with panko crust deep fried. They were pure fat served with chilli sauce and ketchup.

Same stall as above, fresh beer, rice cake, dipping sauce.

Again a tiny stool, me alone sitting next to a group of Vietnamese who were partying down.

Sapa, batik, Bac Ha Market

T Batik in the Hmong sense is the process of painting a design in fabric with a djanting tool and beeswax and then dying the fabric in indigo and removing the wax, thus revealing the pattern. The Hmong work is very intricate from where I sit...requires much fine motor skill, attention to detail, and patience. A textile artist from California joined us...she was taking a series of courses in Laos and Vietnam from minority artists. She was able to explain a few things to us..the position of the tool in the hand, the tool design, the ubiquitous use of indigo from various plants around the world. Back home she grows her own indigo dyes.

The beeswax is melted over a fire as seen below. Because the weather was cold, the wax hardened almost instantly, thus requiring a bit of practice to get anything resembling an even flow of wax from the tool. Either is was too much and giant drops globbed onto the fabric, or too little and nothing went on the fabric.

Beeswax for batik

Corey demonstrates proper position of djanting tool

The djanting tool is different than the ones I bought on eBay and the position for working it was the opposite of what you'd expect. Holding the pen in reverse gives you more control, especially for laying out straight lines. Of course I was pretty hopeless with all of this, creating a pretty messy design. Corey, on the other hand, produced a Hmong-worthy design.

Barbara applying wax to her pattern with My (our teacher) looking on.

Although I didn't need to take the class to realize that my fine motor skills are limited, it was fun to work with the teacher and talk to Corey in more depth about her textile work. We also got to experience what it must feel like to be Hmong with tourists passing by and staring at you. Many tour groups passed us why we were working to check out what we were doing!

The food in Sapa is unremarkable. We ended up taking most of our free meals at the Hill Station restaurant..a very elegantly designed, but freezing cold restaurant with odd reservation policies. The first of the two serves traditional Hmong food. The image below is of a roasted sweet potato elevated to fine cuisine. Of course it was good, if not simple, food.

Sweet potato elevated to haute cuisine at the hill station

There was also the minced pork served in little piles of three (see the trend?). And bowls of mashed tofu. The local corn and rice hootch -- some of it flavored -- was also a highlight.

Mashed tofu

Minced pork served in fancy feast shaped piles. Corn and rice hootch in foreground.

In spite of the beautiful presentation, this was an expensive and ultra simple dining option and I preferred their second restaurant which served cheese platters and hamburgers!

The Bac Ha market is highly recommended in Lonely Planet and had been on our "must do" list for over a year. It sounds great -- the colorful Flower Hmong are major participants in the market and a good place to buy textiles. We took a long bus ride - 2.5 hours - to get to the market. The bus, although a tour bus, kept picking up passengers so that by the end we were sitting 4 across, meaning the aisles were fully occupied. This means you are trapped in your seat, even if you do have an aisle seat!

The flower Hmong were pretty, but to me, their costumes were not as lovely as the black Hmong. The textiles were repeats of what we'd seen already. The major point of interest was the animal market. Up on a ridge above the market were dozens of water buffalo, apparently for sale. Barbara refused to go there, saying they would be slaughtering them, but this was not the case. In fact, although I know they eat the buffalo, their primary use is for farming. They also sold yokes and other apparatus that goes with the buffalo. I really love the water buffalo -- they are so pretty!  I feel badly for their hard life, but then they are revered. A red Zao woman, when I told her I had two boys, told me it was better to have boys. She said, boys can own water buffalo, all girls can do is handiwork. So there you have it.

The market also had a number of chickens and ducks for sale, all alive, or almost alive. The folks seem to be able to position the animals so they can't move, so you can never be sure.

The disturbing part of the market were the dogs for sale. So you know the chickens are food (either eggs or food) and the ducks are food (same) and the water buffalo are food and beasts of burden. The dogs...they are NOT man's best friend here, they are food. So what happens? There are many stray dogs all over Vietnam, dogs and cats are never neutered so the boys have big kahunes and the girls big tits. Do folks scream gleefully when they find a litter on their property and bring them to the market as soon as they are weaned (or before!) or do they just capture stray dogs? How is this way of managing the dog population any different than our destroying and then burying surplus animals? These are things to ponder although I doubt I will ever develop a taste for dog.

Less disturbing was the bird market -- these are birds in cages apparently prized for their song. There were hundreds of them with many Vietnamese men looking on -- evaluating the song? The robustness of the little bird? I am not a birder, so sadly could not say what type of bird they had.

There were also a handful of ponies for sale -- I think they were ponies and not mules, but cannot be certain. One had a little wooden saddle on it with no stirrups. I saw one of the men jump on the saddle, his legs in the side saddle position, and he lead the horse around the grass. 

Later in the day we saw many water buffalo and ponies walking through town. We were unsure if they had been sold and we're off to their new homes, or if they were going back home after another market day.

Unfortunately no photos... I don't like taking pictures of people without permission...more the occasional sneaky shot and the environment of the market was a little hostile for that kind of thing, although it didn't stop the other tourists!

Trek to Villages - Slippery Slidey

Our hotel host said it was a good one-day trek with interesting village and it was downhill. I almost didn't book it, worrying that it might not be challenging enough, but that fear proved to be unfounded in spades. It started out innocently enough on a paved road, but once we started climbing down off the road onto muddy surfaces, the fun began! We had a leader (I sorry, I forget name) and a posse of Hmong women who walked with us. I thought they were somehow getting paid when one of them began helping me through the mudslides. My shoes, fabulous on rock, proved to be akin to a sled or skates in the mud -- the tread immediately filled up (as did the sides, top, and the bottom of my pants!). One of the young ones slipped down the hill first...butt covered with mud. I wanted to be graceful and get down the hill on my feet. One of the Hmong women, ZuZu was older -- 57 or 52 -- and had very strong hands indeed. She took it upon herself to help me down the trail as we went up and down, across streams, up rice paddies (they are high!) and down again. I fell once breaking my fall on my previously broken wrist. Oops! Think it's okay though. Our guide, useless, ahead of us, not helping anyone, continued to lead us through 6 miles of muck and gunk! Once we arrived at our luncheon place, a black Hmong village, it was time to pay the ZuZu. She had stood by me, she was not young, she had a firm and confident grip. I do what she says. I hope this was not exploitive, but I wanted her belt. The black Hmong costume includes several layers of indigo and embroidery and I fell in love with the belt, which is indigo and embroidery. The place I saw it required that you buy the whole ensemble...which is TINY....and I just wanted the belt. Was it exploitive to turn down the pillow covers and request her belt? She ended up unwrapping it and handing it to me for 500,000 dong, maybe $23. I also brought a money belt for less -- as a tip I guess. During this transaction I had an audience -- Zao ladies -- or were they Zha? One of them spoke great English and I kept telling her -- ZuZu my sister, she helped me climb through mud...I need to buy from her. Of course, these other two stayed with me, seeing I was a soft touch. 

ZuZu

In the end, I ended up buying from them, too, things I did not want at all! After their exorbitant asking prices, I negotiated a 50-50 deal where I got one small item from each of them for a ridiculous sum. 

Hmong weaver

Paddies, climbed them!

At the end, one of the guides explains to me that we were on the easy trail -- oh yea, tough mudder easy...if I hadn't had ZuZu I would have been crawling through the mud and would have been covered head to toe instead of below the knees. 

Close up paddies, planting begins in May

Also, met some sweet people -- a coffee trader -- kiwi -- who lives in Hanoi and is a coffee trader, two young female Korean travelers, and some very sweet Malaysians. There were also a French couple, but kind of nasty compared to the others. 

Blond water buffalo

Sa Pa

The Hill Station restaurant - a sampler of corn and rice "wine" - actually this is high-alcohol hootch served tastefully in these lovely pottery containers. Oh Lord, thank you for putting me back in a tourist area.

Banana flower salad and Hmong-style pork (three little cat-food shaped piles of pork, pretty tasty) served with excellent local rice.

Only decent photo of Barbara on trip - in hotel room drinking coffee with silk scarf.

Rice terraces --so much fog it is rare to catch a view. I had to climb up mud steps to catch this photo -- any view is hard to come by in this very foggy town.

Cat cat village - I think I go there tomorrow on a mini-trek.. We tried to go today but missed the tollbooth, there is a fee to get in -- and were unwilling to walk back to the top of the hill to buy a ticket! 

Me and my favorite animal-- water buffalo -- a herd walked past our hotel this morning