Marcy’s Asia Adventure

A trip of a lifetime begins... 3 weeks of travel spanning Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand.

The adventure starts in late February 2011 and ends in mid-March. It's a whirlwind trip beginning with dipping my toes into Hanoi and takes me to the far-off places of Hoi An, Hue and Saigon, in Vietnam. There is a too short stop in Siem Reap, Cambodia to ogle the grandeur of the temples at Angkor Wat. The finale takes me to Thailand, venturing into Chiang Mai and the metropolis that is Bangkok.

The people were welcoming, the food was fantastic, and the memories are priceless!

For a few years, Vietnam had been lingering on my mental “want to visit” list. It wasn’t at the very top, but it wasn’t at the very bottom either. A friend had mentioned interest in going there a few years ago, but we kept saying how expensive it would be, mind you, we never really took any big steps to find out what the actual cost would be, we just thought the airfare from the eastern USA would be exurbanite. Then a Fodorite friend went to Vietnam a couple years ago and I literally salivated over her photos and then when I read her blog about the trip, I knew I wanted to see Vietnam sooner rather than later.

I’m pretty well traveled throughout Europe, yet my only ventures into Asia up until now was a week long tour to Hong Kong 7 years ago and a 2 week trip to Turkey 4 years ago. Even with my self professed anal retentive travel planning attitude I will admit I was fairly intimidated to plan an “on-my-own” trip to Vietnam, so when a friend (RM) who coordinates small group trips for women sent an email about a 3 week trip to Vietnam, Cambodia & Thailand she was putting together, my interest was piqued and CL, my friend and travel buddy was also interested. We decided to go ahead and book the trip with RM. I will admit there are some positives and negatives about group travel, but the one thing I learned about myself, loud and clear, was that I could have easily planned this trip on my own. However, a plus was, all the “heavy lifting” planning was done for me, and to RM’s credit, we did stay at some fantastic hotels/resorts, probably much more high-end than I would have booked myself. A negative was there were some things I would have changed if I had done this on my own, but in the end, it was a great trip and it did to me, what all trips do to me…left me wanting more. More time to explore the culture, the food, the nature, and the people. Would I return to any of these counties? Yes, in a hot minute!

Here’s a little background on my friend RM: I met her several years ago during my Central Europe travels and found out she coordinates several trips a year with friends. It started out as a small circle of her friends going on the trips and over the years as these friends invited other friends and family members on the trips things started to grow and before she knew it, “Maiden Voyagers” was born. There are usually 2 domestic and 2 international trips planned each year, decided upon by the women who are in this group. And generally the trips average about 10-12 women.

Once the deposit was made it was time to start looking at airfare. I have become, what some may call obsessed, with accruing miles in my Delta Sky Miles account (I’m all about the miles baby!). I know I’ve heard from lots of people how terrible they think Delta Airlines is. However several years ago my airline options from Savannah, GA were slim, they are just now becoming slightly more varied, but back then Delta was the major player and I signed up for their Sky Miles program. Having now acquired gold elite status on Delta (which may not really mean a whole lot) I try to accrue miles with them or their partners as often as I possibly can, and I have been very fortunate to be reaping some upgrade benefits lately.

So the search for airfare to South East Asia begins. Since I know Korean Air is a Sky Team partner and I’ve heard a lot of good things about Korean Air and that is where I begin my focus. First I check out the online travel agencies. I find what I think are really good fares with the Delta/Korean Air combo.

Then I start researching the question, “if I book on an online travel agency will I be able to accrue the miles?” Because, lets face it, if I’m going to fly to the other side of the world to the tune of about 20,000 miles round trip, I better damn well accrue those miles! Well, I’m sure glad I did the research; turns out the really good fare I was looking at did not qualify for miles. That brought me very quickly back to the Delta website. I was able to find flights I wanted, I did have to compromise a bit on flight times but in the end, although I paid more than the “really good fares” at the online travel agency websites, I got not only the miles flown on the Korean Air outbound flight, but I got a 50% bonus mileage credit and yes, they counted towards my Medallion Qualifying Miles.

In the end I flew from Savannah, Georgia to Atlanta on Delta, from Atlanta to Seoul, South Korea and then Seoul to Hanoi, Vietnam on Korean Air. On the return I flew Delta (aircraft & crew) from Bangkok to Tokyo, Tokyo to Atlanta and Atlanta to Savannah. Let me tell you, getting the Tokyo to Atlanta flight was not easy, nor cheap, I could have flown for less if I flew from Tokyo to Seattle then to Atlanta and finally into Savannah, but I know how I am when flying home from a trip and the fewer connections I have the happier I am!

In preparation for this trip I did some research, but not early as much as I usually do. I did get the Lonely Planet Vietnam and Bangkok guidebooks, the Nancy Chandler maps for Chiang Mai and Bangkok (which I loved and was very happy I had with me), and of course I had consulted my Fodors family for their favorite restaurant picks in the places I would be traveling too, and they did not steer me wrong!

Although there were many meals included in the price of the trip, there were several days when meals were not included and then, as always, I wanted to make sure I had just the perfect place to recommend to the friends I was traveling with because after all, of the 9 of us traveling together about half really wanted to make our meals “count” if you know what I mean! It also helped that RM enjoys food and wine too and I was tickled when prior to the trip she had asked me to collaborate with her on some of the restaurant suggestions for group meals…yes my friends, we ate very well on this trip!

The last bit of pre-trip preparation was booking a hotel for 2 nights prior to meeting the group in Hanoi. Four of us going on this trip, me, my friend CL and our friends B & V decided we wanted to arrive in Hanoi a couple days before the tour started. This was one of the best decisions because in the end even with just having an extra day and a half in Hanoi it provided us the opportunity to see a little more of this incredibly interesting city, because once the group tour started, we were moving fast.

I could have easily made reservations at the hotel the group was booked into, but it was not within walking distance of the Old Quarter and after reading on Fodors about the Elegance Boutique hotels in Hanoi I knew exactly where I wanted to stay for the first 2 nights of this trip. I was able to book a deluxe twin, including breakfast for $75 per night and a pick-up at the airport for an additional $16. All the hotels we stayed at on this trip were good, but the Hotel Elegance Diamond was by far our favorite. The service was excellence, the room clean, spacious (roomier than I had expected), the breakfast was very good with a nice selection of eastern and western items and did I mention the staff, it’s worth repeating…the service was excellent. I was in the hotel business for 7 years and I have not experienced such terrific service for such a reasonable price.

And here’s where it all begins…

Saturday, February 26, 2011

When the alarm clock goes off at 3am I think to myself, “why did I book a 6:30am departure?” Then I remember how “antsy” I get at airports if I even feel the slightest bit of anxiety because of missing a plane. It’s my own paranoia and I’ve learned to live with it, and whoever I happen to be traveling with has to live with it too. Long layovers (at least 2 hours in my “book”) keep me calm and I’m sticking with it. Plus I know from previous experience once you buy that airplane ticket you are now at the scheduling mercy of the airline and more times than not when I thought I had plenty of time for a connection, times where adjusted and I was like the old Hertz TV commercials with OJ Simpson running through the airport…that is not going to make me happy and travel for me is about being happy.

CL and I are at the Savannah airport by 5am, car parked and bags checked. I was thrilled to have been able to check in on line the day before, because believe, me, when flying Delta and connecting on a code share partner that is not always the case. When I checked in on line I was delighted to find I had been approved for an upgrade on the Savannah to Atlanta leg, now a 30 minute flight in business class is not a big deal, but I do like having my bag tagged as priority.

The flight to Atlanta is uneventful and on time. We de-plane and by 7:30am we are having breakfast in the terminal. At 9am we proceed to the Korean Air gate and we are required to check in again with Korean Air to get Korean Air boarding passes and have our Vietnam visa checked.

The gate area begins to fill-up and I notice a rather large number of people traveling with children, who are now running around the gate area and I’m thinking, I sure do hope this exercise tires these kids out and it’s a peaceful 15 hour flight…my prayers were answered! I was pleasantly surprised to find that once on-board it seemed like there were no children at all on the plane.

I was happy to have done my research prior to selecting seats for the Atlanta to Seoul flight. The seats are in the 3-3-3 configuration, except for the last 2 rows, which were the 2-3-2 configuration. I was able to get the first row of 2 seats, so CL and I did not have to crawl over strangers to get out of our seats. We were able to board with the business class passengers thanks to the upgrade on the earlier Savannah-Atlanta leg and we settled in nicely. The seats felt slightly roomier than what I am used too. The entertainment system was great, so many movies to choose from! The flight attendants were extremely attentive, but what I noticed the most were the uniforms, a beautiful light blue and cream and white. It impressed me that they looked as fresh & crisp when we de-planed as when we boarded 15 hours earlier! The bathrooms were kept immaculately clean.

The food was good. We were served a meal about 2 hours into the flight, then a snack (a pork bun…yum!), and then 4 hours before landing we were served a second meal. For a 15 hour flight it was very comfortable. I would not hesitate to fly Korean Air again.

Sunday, February 27, 2011

At some point we crossed the International Date Line and it becomes Sunday. We land in Seoul at 5:30pm local time. To my surprise it takes only 15 minutes to de-plane. We go through transit security, which was a breeze, found our way into the main terminal and found the gate for the connecting flight to Hanoi.

Before long our friends B&V arrive at the gate for the Hanoi flight and within about an hour we begin boarding the plane. One word of caution for anyone planning to use ambien or another sleep aid for assistance sleeping on flight. V had ambient, CL was exhausted and said she really wanted to sleep on the 5 hour flight to Hanoi. V offered her one ambient and CL took it. I am not exaggerating when I say within minutes CL was slumped over in the chair at the boarding gate; it was quite a feat getting her up and onto the plane. Later, she said she felt drunk and she did not remember getting onto the plane. Please if anyone wants to use ambient, or any sleep aid during a flight I suggest using it while at home to see how it will affect you. CL was lucky nothing more serious happened; it would not have been a good start to the trip!

The flight lands in Hanoi a few minutes before 10pm. We went through passport control with no trouble and onto baggage claim. Wonder of wonders, my bag is the first on the baggage carousel. We wait a few more minutes and we all have our bags. We walk into the arrivals hall and the driver the hotel sent is there waiting for us. It takes about 45 minutes to get form the airport to the Hotel Elegance Diamond.

The Hotel Elegance Diamond greeting was terrific; we are greeted and presented with a cool refreshing juice drink and towel. It feels great to finally be at our destination. The lobby check-in is an easy process and we are shown to our room in no time at all. We got upgraded from a deluxe twin to a family room! There are fresh flowers in the room and bathroom. The room is spacious, and clean and most importantly the beds are extremely comfortable. Within minutes we are asleep!

Monday, February 28, 2011

It’s incredible how 8 straight hours of sleeping flat in a comfortable bed can make you feel so much better! I opened my eyes at 7am to gray skies and it stayed that way all day, fortunately there was no rain!

By 9am CL and I ambled up to the 12th floor restaurant to the breakfast buffet. The dinning room had nice views of the city in spite of the gray skies. There was a nice breakfast selection, not too overwhelming as we would find at future hotels. There were both western and eastern choices. My first taste of pho was here and I was not disappointed, but you do have to order the pho from the menu, it’s not on the buffet and if you prefer a half order that it not any trouble. I’m not sure if it was because it was the first “real” cup of coffee I had in a couple days, but the coffee here at breakfast was some of the best I’ve had (the best would come later in Hanoi). It had almost a chocolaty flavor and it was smooth. It was so good; I seem to recall having not 1, not 2 but 3 cups!

We had a very leisurely breakfast and after about 45 minutes B & V arrived in the dinning room. We sat for a bit longer chatting with them and then decided to meet in the lobby at 10:45 for our first Hanoi adventure.

During my pre-trip research I came across a company called Hidden Hanoi, I believe I found them through trip advisor. This company does cooking classes in Hanoi, but they also have a variety of market tours. I thought the Street Food walking tour sounded interesting and after consulting with CL, B & V we decided to go ahead and book the tour. At $20 per person for a 3 hour tour, I thought it was a pretty good deal, especially since the portions for tasting the food was very plentiful.

After a quick ATM stop the 4 of us piled into a taxi and went to the tour meeting spot. It was about a 10 minute taxi ride and the fare was $3.

The tour guide arrived on time and in addition to the 4 of us, there was a very friendly couple from Amsterdam, a total of 6 tour participants. The guide was very good; she is a former journalist and certainly knew her way around the neighborhood and market.

The tour started at a bun cha place, which I neglected to get the name of, however it was similar in atmosphere to another bun cha place (Dac Kim) we went to another day. The guide began the tour with some history of the street food culture of Hanoi and Vietnam in general and then talked more about specific dishes. The bun cha here was really good, I never imagined a soup could taste like a barbecue in a bowl, but this really did.

Once we were full of bun cha, we moved on to another street food vendor a few blocks away. I was so absorbed with watching all the activity going on around me, I failed to note the streets or general area we were walking through and if asked, I’d be very hard-pressed to give the location of the next stop on the tour, but the dish here was one of the more interesting. For lack of a better description it was a “dessert” soup, it was slightly sweet with black sesame and 2 little sweet buns floating on top, it was very good, yes there was slurping involved!

We then began a walk through a local covered market tasting all kinds of fruit along the way. Wow! There was some fascinating looking fruit that I had never seen before, some good, some not, but all very colorful. The final stop inside the market was for a delicious pork and green papaya dish, which was little more spicy than what I like, but the papaya was terrific. We finished off with a yogurt and fermented rice drink which was very tasty.

At 1:30pm the tour ended and we were not far from the Ipa-Nima store. This was the one and only must do on my list for Hanoi. Putting it mildly, I’m a handbag fanatic. During pre-trip research on trip advisor I stumble across a post about Ipa-Nima handbags and I became completely enamored. There are 2 stores in Hanoi which sell these handbags, one in the Old Quarter and the other is the flagship store at 34 Han Thuyen. Lucky for me the food tour ended near this street! It took about 10 minutes to find the street the shop was on and about 15 seconds to spot the lavender exterior of the shop with a rather large staircase leading up to the entrance. The interior of the shop matched the exterior, lots of plush purples. I took my time browsing since we were the only customers, in the end I purchased a couple new handbags and a couple cute change purses for my nieces (I couldn’t resist!). I had to refrain from purchasing the exquisite green python handbag; at the equivalent of $1000 it was a bit steep for my wallet!

After this bout of retail therapy we made a quick stop at the hotel and then CL and I went out to explore a bit of the Old Quarter and walking around Hoan Kiem Lake. Later in the afternoon CL and I met B& V on the hotel’s roof terrace for cocktails. B & V had arrived before we did and were chatting with another hotel guest who was in Hanoi on business, a very interesting man who had lived in the city for several years. The terrace is small but the views are pleasant.

At 7pm we walked to Restaurant Highway 4, we got a bit turned around on the way there, but within 10 minutes we righted our way and we were about 10 minutes late for our reservation. Earlier in the day I had asked the hotel reception to make a reservation there based on a recommendation I had for this place. What had appealed to me about this particular restaurant was the cuisine was said to be from the northern area of Vietnam, the area where Highway 4 leads. So, I thought it might be nice to try it since we wouldn’t be going to that part of the country. Another reason I wanted to try this place was because they offered a rice wine sampler. I’m not sure if I’ll be jumping at the next offer of rice wine, it wasn’t my favorite, but it was fun to give it a try and at least there were 4 different flavors!

We had 3 appetizers to share, the fried catfish spring rolls was the best part of the entire meal. The other 2 appetizers were grilled pigeon and a pork dish served with what we thought may have been fried crickets. The main dish we ordered was a steamboat, which is what this place is known for. The one we chose was the snakehead fish steamboat. When a propane burner was placed on the table we knew we were going to be in for an experience! After the burner arrived at the table a heaping dish with fresh herbs, a plate of noodles, a huge platter with a whole fresh fish and a pot of broth with vegetables were placed on the table. Now it was time to cook! The fish was good, very mild; the noodles had a slight “bite” to them. It wasn’t a bad dish, but it wasn’t fantastic, maybe we weren’t the best chefs, with that rice wine we were drinking! It was a fun experience and for $43 dollars for 4 of us, the price was reasonable.

After dinner we walked to the lake and found our way to the famous Fanny’s for ice cream and ended the night on a sweet happy note.

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Today was Hanoi Elegance Diamond Hotel departure day, sad to leave this great hotel, but excited to meet up with the rest of our group.

CL & I met B & V at 8:30am for breakfast and decided we would check out at 10am and move to the tour hotel, The Movenpick. We settled our hotel bill and took a taxi to the Movenpick. Our room wasn’t ready but we were able to store our bags and walked back to the Old Quarter for a nice wander around.

We poke around lots of little streets popping into shops that caught our interest and found St. Joseph’s Cathedral. The weather was nice and there was lots of activity in the streets which made for some great photo opportunities.



We passed a coffee shop with signs for weasel coffee and after a minute or 2 of convincing the girls we should try it, and some encouragement from the nice proprietress, we stopped for a cup. WOW! This weasel coffee was some really good stuff, very smooth, I loved it! The proprietress was very friendly and I thought I would ask if she knew where the Dac Kim Bun Cha place was. I had been keeping my eyes open all morning for this place and thought we were on the right street, but the street name I had in my notes and the street name posted were spelled differently, so I pulled out the address I had and showed it to our coffee lady. A big smile came across her face and she pointed us just down the street! How lucky were we that we had stumbled upon the right street.

We walked about 10 paces to Dac Kim and made our way through the crowded first floor to the back and up the stairs, past the 1st floor, past the 2nd floor, and finally at the 3rd floor we were told to sit. As we sat down, noodles were placed in front of us, then herbs, then broth, and then bowls with meat, there was so much food. And it wouldn’t have been a complete meal without some local beer, so we ordered 4 of those too. The food was delicious and the atmosphere was buzzing. We sat at a table next to a party of 6 adults and 2 small children. There was a French couple, a Vietnamese/French couple & their small children (the son of the French couple), and a couple from Hong Kong. What an interesting conversation we had. The French father was surprised to see 4 women traveling without spouses, and in his limited English he let us know how much he liked President Obama, the Vietnamese/French Couple lived in Hanoi and the French couple were here visiting them. They wanted to know about us and how long we would be in Vietnam, what we thought of the country and how long it took us to travel there among other things. It was one of the nicest lunches we had. And to be presented with a bill fro $15 total, for 4 of us, the price couldn’t be beat!

After lunch we walked to the Hang Be Market area and explored the market. By 2:30pm we were all getting a bit tired, it was starting to get warm out so we walked back to the Movenpick Hotel and checked in. The hotel is a typical business hotel, nice lobby, clean and spacious but it didn’t have the ambiance of the Elegance Diamond.

At 5pm we met RM in the lobby for a drink and got caught up with each others lives and the rest of the group trickled in. We left the hotel just after 6pm and walked to dinner at Wild Lotus restaurant. I really enjoyed this meal. The menu was set up with a variety of set menu options. CL and I chose to share set menu #4, the “Spice Journey”. We started with spicy shrimp soup, then a spring roll and a seafood/pineapple salad. The imperial steamed rice was fantastic with fresh peas and the best dish was eggplant (for those who know me, that will not come as a surprise, I love eggplant prepared just about any way!) with shrimp and meat. There was also a deviled soft shell crab tossed in there somewhere too! Dessert was a banana fritter with coconut ice cream. On a whole the meal was good, some dishes were hits, others misses, but he portions (even being enough for 2) were enormous. RM took care of ordering enough wine for the table and when we were finished, 9 happy travelers walked back to the hotel.

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

The breakfast buffet at the Movenpick has a very large variety of items to choose from. Everything from an eggs to order station to a pho to order station, bread, fruit, cheeses, we definitely didn’t lack for choices to start our day!

It was another gray day, but the temperature was much cooler. Today our group met our Hanoi guide, Nam. He would be our guide for the rest of the time in Hanoi and for our day visit to Halong Bay.

We left the hotel at 8:30am and went directly to Ho Chi Minh’s mausoleum. No cameras or bags are allowed inside, and make sure you don’t put your hands in your pockets either! We filed through to get a peak at the body of “Uncle Ho”. The mausoleum visit took about 15 minutes and then we were on our way to Ho Chi Minh’s stilt house and the one pillar pagoda by way of the Presidential Palace. The leafy area surrounding the house and palace was teeming with school children very eager to practice their English. We heard a lot of “Hello” and “Where are you from”, and not only were the children eager to talk but their teachers too.

At 10:30am we were whisked to the Ethnology museum. I really enjoyed the time spent here, and could have easily spent twice as much as the allotted one hour. Here’s where a drawback to group tours comes in, I found myself very interested in this museum and wanting to stay longer to explore more only to be faced with the ticking second hand of my watch telling me it’s time to meet back up with the tour group. My favorite parts of this museum were the replicas of homes of the various ethnic minorities.

After leaving the museum and before stopping for lunch we made a brief stop at a lacquer ware shop, and although interesting to see how this work is done, I would have much preferred to have spent the additional 30 minutes in the museum.

Lunch was a group event included in the tour and it was at Indochine Vietnamese Restaurant at 16 Nam Ngu Street in the Hoan Kiem District. Lunch here was very good, it was a 7 course meal and I neglected to write down the menu items, but I recall all seemed to be good, but nothing that stands our in my memory. I did decide to try a Hanoi Beer, which wasn’t a favorite of mine, but I’m not a beer enthusiast.

Once finished with lunch we took a stroll around Turtle Island at Hoan Kiem Lake and then to a Water Puppet Theater performance. The Water Puppets were fun to watch, well, what I could see of it, since the couple seated in front of me leaned forward for the whole performance (Grrrr!). However, I got the gist of the stories being told and it was entertaining to see. I was actually more curious about how the mechanics of it all works, so was keeping an eye more on the comings and goings of the puppeteers I could see rather than the puppets!

After the water puppets we did a cyclo tour of the Old Quarter, yes it was touristy, but it was a fun way to see the “action” of the city. It was quite a feeling being in the midst of all the traffic! My cyclo driver was at the front of our group in the beginning but about half way through he stopped to get a bun from a sidewalk vendor. I made a mental note to try and remember where the vendor was, since I figured if the driver was stopping to eat here it might be pretty good, alas, my time in Hanoi was too short, I never got back to that area and frankly, I’m not so sure I’d be able to find that vendor again!

The cyclo tour ended right back at the Movenpick hotel and we had plenty of time to relax before dinner. What eventually became an evening ritual throughout the trip CL & I met B & V at the lobby lounge for pre-dinner drinks and we met the rest of our group at 6:30pm for dinner.

Tonight’s dinner was arranged through Nam our guide at Ha Hoi Restaurant at 4 Ha Hoi Street. This was even better than lunch. The meal started with an excellent cream of pumpkin soup and according to my notes from that evening “too many courses to remember, but definitely a solid meal”. One of the things I do clearly remember was that we had an first-rate Chilean sauvignon blanc wine for dinner…of course I can’t remember the name of that either, darn, I knew I should have taken a picture of the label!

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Today was a long day with an 8am start and a 4 hour drive to (and from) Halong Bay on a highway that went through what seemed to be every town between Hanoi and Halong Bay. It was interesting to see the country-side with the farmers working in the rice paddies. The weather was gray and very cloudy and by the time we reached the dock in Halong Bay at 12:30pm the rain had started.

We boarded a private junk for the trip around the bay and a visit to a cave. Even though I was disappointed with the gloomy weather in retrospect it worked out really well, I was able to take some ethereal pictures, with boats moving through the foggy, cloudy, rainy surroundings.

On the junk we had a huge seafood lunch including fresh fish, shrimp, and calamari. All was good, but nothing outstanding or remarkable. The boat ride lasted just under four hours and by 4pm we were back at the dock and on the bus for the four hour ride back to Hanoi. On the ride to Hanoi we saw an awful head-on collision between a truck and a public bus. Road conditions seem a bit harrowing.

Just before 8pm we were back at the Movenpick Hotel in Hanoi and had dinner at the hotel. They provided a huge selection on a pre-fix menu of Vietnamese dishes, all were good, but the green papaya and beef salad “sang” to me on this night. It was delicious.

It had to be an early night because it would be a very early departure the next morning. We would be leaving Hanoi and flying to Danang and we were booked on a flight departing at 8am. This meant we had to leave the hotel at 6am.

As much as I really enjoyed seeing Halong Bay I wouldn’t do it as a day trip from Hanoi again. It just felt like a much too rushed day.

I noted a few impressions and observations about Hanoi in my journal and they were:

1.) Motorbikes are everywhere

2.) The cars I did see were larger than I thought they would be, much larger than typical cars I see when traveling in Europe.

3.) Life really does take place out on the streets

4.) Prices are VERY reasonable by my Western standards

5.) The food was excellent

6.) The people were extremely friendly

Friday, March 4, 2011

There was a 4:30am wake-up call and our whole group was in the hotel lobby by 6am, a pretty amazing achievement for 9 women! Our guide Nam was there and ready with boxed breakfasts for the ride to the airport. Let me say that after 3 guides in Vietnam, 1 in Siem Reap and 2 in Thailand, Nam was the best we had. He was funny, knowledgeable and was able to keep all of us fascinated and engaged. His “story” was interesting too. He is educated as a lawyer and taught English to other Vietnamese, but he soon realized practicing law was not as profitable as being a tour guide, so he went to school for 2 more years to become a licensed guide. Its stories about people’s lives that I love to hear while traveling and Nam was a terrific ambassador for us.

We arrived at the airport around 7am and check-in for the Vietnam Airlines flight to Danang was easy. The flight left on time at 8:10am and I was impressed with Vietnam Airlines. The planes seemed new, the flight attendants were friendly and we had smooth (and short) flights with them.

At 9am we arrived in Danang and all our bags arrived with us. After collecting our luggage we walked to the arrivals area and met our guide for Hoi An and Hue, her name was Tien. She took us to the Cham Museum in Danang and maybe because I had been up since the crack of dawn, I found this museum just mildly interesting and honestly I can’t remember much about it. After the museum we stopped at Marble Mountain and about half of the group, including me, “hiked” up the 100 steps to the temple, cave and pagoda at the top of the mountain.

By noon we were driving to Hoi An with a quick stop at China Beach and lunch at Goda Restaurant in Hoi An. The food at Goda was very good and there was a lot of variety and I got to try a new beer here. This time is was La Rue beer; I liked it more than Hanoi beer.

When we were finished with lunch it was time to check in at the Palm Garden Resort. This was a lush ocean-side resort with lovely facilities. The only drawback in my mind was that it was 4km from the center of Hoi An. There was a resort shuttle but the times were inconvenient for us, but taxis were not too expensive.

The pool here was the perfect answer to our hot, sweaty bodies, so after getting to our room and changing into swimsuits it was time for a little relaxation. I could tell the temperature was higher than in Hanoi and the cool water was refreshing after a day of travel.

At 6pm CL and I met some of our travel companions at the hotel lounge for cocktails and then dinner at the resort’s seafood barbeque buffet. The selection was enormous and all the seafood looked very fresh and the local specialty, Cao Lau was being made to order. I gave the Cao Lau a try and put the hot sauce on this noodle and pork dish. I should have known better since I’m really not a spicy food lover, but I really wanted to try it and one of my promises to myself was to make sure I tried new things all the time on this trip. One bite and YAWOW! Its was SPICY! But it was good! Part way through our cocktail hour I started to develop a headache and after trying the Cao Lau and trying to be good company, I could barely hold my head up anymore, so I excused myself, and slid out back to the room. Boy did I sleep well, I think I was asleep before 9pm, but it had been a long day.

Saturday, March 5, 2011

After some much needed sleep, I awoke refreshed and ready to go. The breakfast buffet was another huge affair with similar items to the breakfast buffets in Hanoi. Part of the dining room was outside on a covered porch and being early enough in the morning it was pleasant to have breakfast outside. By late morning the sun came out and the day was a near perfect weather day, except if you don’t like heat. I didn’t find it to be too terribly hot, but I live in coastal South Carolina where humidity in the summer can top 99%, some of the others traveling on this trip who were from other parts of the US were having trouble coping with the heat here in Hoi An.

The day began with a walking tour of Hoi An, where we saw the Chinese Temple, an ancient house, and the Japanese Bridge. We also walked through the market, which I thought was the most interesting part of the tour; it was very crowded and bustling. We had several hour of free time where we could wander about town checking things out ourselves. During this time I found Morning Glory Restaurant and stopped in to make a reservation for dinner later tonight.

By 1pm we met up with the rest of our group for lunch and as usual it was a pre-fix menu with lots of different foods to try. I neglected to write down the lunch menu and can’t recall any of the specifics, but I don’t remember anything that was inedible!

After lunch we boarded a boat to cruise the Thun Bo River and went to a local village to see wood carvers, and some other local artisans. We also got to see a lot of local fishermen. Being on the river was a great way to keep cool and see some of the life that goes on in and around the river.

By 4:30pm we were back at the hotel for a short rest. Dinner was on our own tonight and when I made the reservation earlier in the day I made it for 4. CL and I met B & V in the cocktail lounge at the resort for pre-dinner drinks and then took a taxi into Hoi An, the taxi fare was about the equivalent of $5.

I have to take a moment to thank Fodorites Kristina, EKscrunchy and Marilyn for the recommendation for Morning Glory…you were all spot on! We loved this meal. When I made the reservation I specially asked to be seated upstairs on the little balcony and I’m so glad I did, it was slightly cooler there than inside the restaurant.

We had a bottle of house chardonnay and started with the white rose dumplings and the pork & shrimp pancakes. Both dishes were excellent. We also ordered the stir-fry morning glory with garlic, eggplant cooked in a clay pot, the local pork noodle dish and braised beef and peas. All the food was absolutely delicious. We ordered the Hoi An waffle with Hoi An ice cream for dessert. The waffle was great, lots of cinnamon flavor. I had the coffee with milk and it was served with the tin filter and dripped through at the table. It was delicious, but I paid for it by not being able to sleep well that night! For all this food the bill was about the equivalent of $50. A taxi back to the hotel and we called it a good night.

Sunday, March 6, 2011

We had an early-ish departure from Hoi An today and left the hotel at 8:30am to drive to Hue. The drive took about 4 hours and we drove over the Hai Van Pass. It was a beautiful clear day and the views from the pass were fantastic.

By 12:30 we arrived in Hue and had lunch at the Tropical Restaurant, it was another multi-course meal and I had my first glass of Vietnamese iced tea with lemon and sugar, it was delicious, not too sweet.

After lunch we toured the Citadel. Tien, our guide, is from Hue and along with guiding tours of central Vietnam she is also a guide at the Citadel, and she was very informative. While touring the Citadel complex we visited the theater there and got to see a traditional dance show, yes, a bit touristy, but it was cooler inside the theater.

When we were finished at the Citadel we went to the Thien Mu Pagoda and were able to see many of the monks and novices studying at the pagoda. Then we took a much anticipated to dragon boat ride on the Perfume River, finally a cool breeze! It had been stifling hot.

By 6pm we were ready to check into the Pilgrimage Village, a resort about 7 kilometers from the center of Hue. This was a beautiful property with great amenities, the swimming pool was gigantic and well maintained, and the spa was very relaxing. The room was huge with a luxurious bathroom, sleeping and sitting areas and a balcony. And the free wi-fi was another plus!

This evening was my least favorite meal of the whole trip. The tour guide had arranged our meal to be a kitschy “Royal Dinner” including wanting us to dress in empress costumes. I am so not a “joiner” and this was not anything I would have planned myself, but I went along with it and after entering the private dining room the “costume” (a coat/dress “get-up”) came off. There were local musicians playing throughout the meal, and they were pretty good. The food was also the weakest of the trip, except for the fried calamari which was very good.

After this “entertaining” meal, I was ready to call it a night and we were back at the hotel by 10pm.

Monday, March 7, 2011

It was a leisurely morning and the best way to start the day was with a spa treatment, well, after breakfast of course!

Breakfast was in the beautiful resort restaurant with large windows so the resort surroundings could be seen from every table. The breakfast buffet was similar to the others we’ve had so far, a big variety of both eastern and western choices.

At 9am I was ready for my spa treatment. I arrived at the spa about 30 minutes before the treatment and used the hot and cold tubs, the steam room and sauna. The tubs were outside under a thatched roof structure, the whole spa area was outdoor luxurious. Before I knew it the therapist came to get me and took me for a coffee rejuvenation exfoliation massage. Wow! It was the first time I’d had such a treatment and at first the coffee exfoliant felt odd, but after a few minutes the coarseness felt good against my skin. After showering off the coffee exfoliant my skin felt incredibly soft, ok and I smelled like my favorite coffee drink too!

By noon we were packed up and ready to move onto our next destination, but first we’d make a stop for lunch and to see the Imperial Tomb of Minh Mang, a complex of courtyards, pavilions and temples. By the time we arrived at the tomb a light rain started and had to see the tomb complex through some rain drops, but it was a lovely natural setting with lots of trees and lakes.

3pm came quickly and we were back on the bus for the ride to the Hue airport. We had a 5pm flight to Saigon on Vietnam Airlines and just as we entered the airport the skies opened and the rain started pouring sideways. We say our good-byes to Tien, our guide and go through security to the waiting area. Due to the weather there was a 30 minute delay.

We land in Saigon at 6:30pm make our way to baggage claim and find our Saigon guide, Kai within 30 minutes and then we are off to the Renaissance Riverside Hotel. The hotel is lovely, similar to the Movenpick in Hanoi, it has a business/corporate feel to it, but the staff is very friendly and quick to assist with any request.

Dinner was on our own tonight, but RM had the name of a restaurant I really wanted to try, nha hang ngon, and she had the guide make a reservation for us there. Six of us went and really enjoyed the meal. The restaurant was not very far from the hotel, about a 10 minute taxi ride. The restaurant is an indoor/outdoor set-up with food stalls around a center courtyard. In hindsight we should have walked around and looked at everything available. The menu, although in English, is gigantic and it was little difficult to decipher everything on it. We did end up with some pretty tasty food, fried squid, chicken skewers, stir fried spinach and fried spring rolls. 3 in our group had the local beer. I really wanted to try the Dalat wine so the other 3 in our group had a bottle. It wasn’t too bad.

After dinner we all piled into a tax and went back to the hotel, the taxi fare, was just over $1. CL and I decided to stop for an after dinner drink at the 5th floor atrium lounge before calling it a night.

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Breakfast at the Renaissance Riverside Hotel is another huge buffet. So much to choose from, and the service is excellent, including complimentary offerings of a mango smoothie, yum!

There was a group dinner planned for tonight, but CL and I decided since we didn’t have much time in Saigon we would “bail out” of the group dinner and try a restaurant that was recommended to me. I can’t swear, but I may have found this restaurant recommendation through the Fodors message boards, but since I looked at so much stuff pre-trip my memory is starting to fade on the specifics. Before heading out with the group this morning I stopped at the concierge desk and ask them to make a reservation for me and CL at Tuan’s.

Just after 8am we boarded our mini bus and headed for the Cu Chi Tunnels. Kai, our guide gave us a good overview of the tunnels on the drive there and it was interesting to hear the history of these underground tunnels. We were offered the opportunity to shimming down one of the tiny openings in the ground, but we all passed on that, I’m not sure if I would have even fit, let alone my dislike of really confined spaces.


There were some interesting exhibits in the area surrounding the tunnels, a woman making rice paper, a man making sandals from truck tires, we stopped and had a taste of tapioca root, which tasted (oddly, to me) like peanut butter.

By noon we were on our way to lunch, which was a typical uneventful lunch stop with another 7 course menu.

In the afternoon we drove back to Saigon and visited the Reunification Palace. It was interesting to see the rooms furnished as they had been in the 1960’s/1970’s. We also made a stop at the War Remnants Museum, where we were given an hour to look around. Lots of propaganda, which our guide told us in advance we would see and I found to be mildly interesting, but I drew the line at visiting the agent orange room, I couldn’t stomach the pictures in that room, just too heartbreaking for me.

By the late afternoon we were ready for a stop at the local market, and it sure was a sprawling place. With just 30 minutes to peruse the place, I didn’t get to see much, lots of tourist “tat”, but I did buy myself a set of chopsticks since during the trip I’ve been mastering the art the eating with them, and in theory I wanted to practice at home.

At 5pm we were back at the hotel and when we arrived in our room found a note from the concierge saying our reservation at Tuan’s had been made. By 6pm CL and I found our way to the lounge for a pre-dinner cocktail and about an hour later we were off in a taxi to dinner.

One of the things that intrigued me about the description I read of Tuan’s was that it was down an alley, behind a wooden door with only a tiny sign showing the restaurant’s name, just my kind of place!

Even with the correct address, it took the taxi driver 2 passes to determine we were at the right alley. We got out of the taxi and walked down the alley, passing motorbikes and apartment buildings, one with someone playing the piano. It made for quite an atmosphere. Thank goodness I knew to look for a wooden door, because as we walked further and further down the alley my anticipation started to dwindle until I saw a big wooden door.

We opened the door into a small garden courtyard with several occupied tables, and I thought, ok, this is looking promising. We went inside and were seated at a table, there were no other patrons inside, which at first concerned me, but the tables outside were occupied and within 30 minutes the inside tables were occupied too.

We were the only English speaking customers and the menu had vague English translations, which is always fun to interpret the meaning. But, fortunately with the recommendation I had for this place, I also had specific menu items to try. According to my notes, this place is known for their Hanoi style dishes. The first dish we ordered was the spring roll with crab which came with vermicelli noodles and herbs, this was by far the best dish of the night, and in the top 5 of the trip, I would have been happy to stop there, and probably should have. But we also ordered a chicken dish that was delicious, it had almost a perfume flavor and the chicken was so tender it fell right off the bone with barely any help from a fork. The last dish we had was a mussels, tomato & dill soup, which was the weakest of the 3 dishes, it was bland and after the other 2 dishes, it just didn’t hold up in the flavor category. With 2 of the local 333 beers the total bill was about $21.

The proprietress could not have been nicer and walked us out to the main street at the end of the alley and helped us hail a taxi. We were back at the hotel within 10 minutes and took a short walk around the neighborhood the hotel is located in. A very bustle area with lots of shops and galleries. Before calling it a night, we ventured up to the top floor where the outdoor pool and lounge is located and took in the fabulous views of night-time Saigon.

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Today was another good weather day, warm, but not too terribly hot and it was sunny. We left the hotel at 8am for a one and half hour bus ride to the Mekong Delta.

Our first stop along the way was at the Vinh Trang Pagoda which is a beautiful temple and had one of my favorite Buddha’s of the whole trip. It was an enormous happy Buddha, just sitting there, with a big smile on his face holding his prayer beads, every time I think of it, I smile too!

We made our way to the boat we would board to explore the Mekong Delta. We stopped at 2 of the 4 islands in the area to see local villagers making coconut candy, and explore the waterways. The boat ride lasted about two and a half hours and it was refreshing to be out on the water.

All too soon we were back on our way to Saigon, we stopped for lunch at the Mekong Rest Stop, a huge restaurant complex, clearly geared to tour buses, but the local fish dish served “standing up” between sticks, was then served rolled in rice paper was really very good.

By late afternoon we were back at our hotel in Saigon and did a little retail therapy in the area around the hotel. Dinner tonight was a group event at the hotel’s international buffet and happily the food was excellent. As much as I hate to admit it, after 10 days I was ready for some non-Vietnamese food, it was kind of nice to slip in a few Italian items for dinner tonight.

After dinner it was time to pack my bags, this would be the last night in Vietnam, we are moving onto Siem Reap in the morning.

Thursday, March 10, 2011…Goodbye Vietnam, Hello Cambodia

We had a late morning flight (11:40am) from Saigon to Siem Reap, Cambodia. The flight departed on time and lasted a short 45 minutes. We arrived on time and after a lot of stamping of visas and passports at the passport control desk we were through and at baggage claim. We met our guide, Tee, piled into a minivan and went directly to the hotel, The Victoria Angkor Resort and Spa.

After a quick freshen up we stopped for lunch and then onto our first temple experience in the Angkor Wat complex. Our first glimpse of the temple complex was at Preah Khan, also know as the Jungle Temple. All I can say is “Wow”. The carvings in the temples are beautiful and only a warm up to what we will see in the next day. Once we had sufficiently explored the Jungle Temple it was time for us to climb a nearby mountain trail and view a sunset over the Cambodian countryside.

Tonight we had dinner at The Khmer Kitchen and this was one of my favorite meals. It’s a very laid back place and the food was good. I had fried eggplant with pork, RM had the same dish but with shrimp and J had a noodle dish. The three of us shared our entrees with a bottle of Chilean white wine and the total bill was $14, unbelievable!

When we were finished with dinner, 4 of us went to the night market to poke around and see what it was all about. It was fun and we did a little bargaining for some souvenirs. We then had our first Siem Reap Tuk Tuk experience going back to the hotel, it was a quick 10 minute ride.

Friday, March 11, 2011

We had an early start today, 7am, but we didn’t mind because it meant arriving at Angkor Wat before the big crowds and before it got really hot. It was really the perfect time to go. We had the light with us as we entered from the east, perfect for picture taking.

The complex was truly grand and we spent about an hour walking about and climbing to the top. We then visited Angkor Thom and entered the area via the causeway lined with statues of demons and gods. Then next stop was the Bayon Temple with hundreds of carved bas reliefs. We wound our way up to the top for a good look at all the giant stone faces. Our last temple of the day was about a 45 minute drive away, this was the Banteay Srei Temple. By the time we arrived there is was close to noon time and it was becoming brutally hot. It was a lovely pink sandstone temple, smaller than the others we had visited, but seemed to have much more delicate carvings, well; at least to my eye they seemed more delicate. One disadvantage to being there at mid-day was the angle of the sun. I’m sure at sunrise or sunset this temple must project a stunning pink glow.

On the return to the hotel we stopped for lunch and by 2:30pm we were back at the hotel and I was ready for a swim in the pool and a bit of lounging around on the pool deck. It was a great way to beat the heat and I decided to take advantage of the spa at the resort and booked a facial for the next day.

At about 6pm CL and I headed for the resorts outdoor cocktail lounge and thoroughly enjoyed our pre-dinner cocktails while listening to possible the worst Jimmy Buffet impersonator/musician ever!

Just before 7pm we met the rest of the group in the lobby for dinner at Viroth’s. Our group grabbed several Tuk Tuks that were in front of the hotel for the short ride to the restaurant. I really liked this restaurant a lot; it was a fairly upscale place with outdoor dining. There were lots of candles and comfortable tables and chairs.

Our server was fantastic and patient with all us women! We had a couple bottles of Chilean white wine (hmmm…I think there is a pattern with this Chilean white wine!) and between 6 of us we had 2 orders of green papaya salad, which was fantastic, for a starter. I had the sautéed eggplant with pork, which was similar to the dish I had the night before at the Khmer Kitchen, but if I’m being honest, the Khmer Kitchen version was my favorite. CL had a cashew chicken dish that was excellent and I can’t remember what everyone else ordered, but it was all delicious. There were also more diverse desserts here, so we had 3 orders of Bananas Foster, a chocolate mousse cake and a chocolate ice cream sundae…decadent, but terrific!

After dinner our Tuk Tuk driver, who was the sweetest young man ever, found us and took us to Pub Street. My mission was to have a drink at Linga Bar, now you may be asking, why would I want to try this place? It turns out the owner and I worked together years ago in one of the hotels I worked out and even though he was out of town on the night I was “kicking my heels up” in Siem Reap, I still wanted to patronize his place. All of us who had been at dinner were up for the outing and we had a great time sitting outside watching the action pass us by on Pub Street. And the cocktails at Linga Bar were great too!

By now we were fortified and ready to hit the night market again and this time my target was to experience a fish “foot massage”. Maybe it’s corny, but I was dying to try this and for the price of $1 I was willing to give it try. The first minute or so felt really weird, having these fish nibble my toes, but after 2 minutes it felt great.

By 10:30pm we were ready to call it a night and pulled our feet out of the fish tank and made our way to the entrance of the night market area where our Tuk Tuk driver was waiting for us! Within a few minutes we were back at the hotel and ready to get a good night’s sleep.

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Today began with a leisurely morning including an abundant breakfast buffet and then one final spa treatment of the trip. A facial at the resort spa, yes it was $45 and for Siem Reap, that was pricey, but at home I couldn’t come anywhere near a $45 facial.

By noon our group was gathered in the lobby and ready for the ride back to the airport for the flight to Chiang Mai via Bangkok. The line at check-in wasn’t too long, but it seemed to take forever to get to the front. Once I got my Bangkok Air boarding pass the next stop was to pay the $25 exit tax and then a security check. The waiting room at the Siem Reap airport was large, bright and there was free wi-fi (bonus!).

Our 2pm flight to Bangkok took off on time and we arrived at 3pm, in plenty of time for the connecting flight to Chiang Mai. At the Bangkok airport we went through passport control, stopped at an ATM to get Baht and by 5pm we boarded the flight to Chiang Mai.

We arrived in Chiang Mai just after 6pm to gray skies and rain. We met our guide, Jum and climbed into a huge 50 seat bus (there were only 9 of us) and drove to the Shangri-La Chiang Mai, our home for the next two nights. The hotel was sleek, clean, comfortable and not too far from the night market.

Just before 8pm we met in the hotel lobby and took a songtaew (red truck) to The Antique House Restaurant. This was a great choice. I had my first taste of Chang beer here and proclaimed it, “not too bad”. We started the meal with a thuong thong appetizer, which was a fried wonton with pork. For my main dish I had pork, green, and yellow peppers, onions and cashews served in a tarrow bowl with rice. I LOVED this dish, it wasn’t too spicy, but had just the right kick for me.

We took a songtaew (red truck) back to the hotel and this was a fun experience. We had a tough time communicating with the driver at first, but after showing him the hotel’s business card and asking some other locals the right direction to go in, we were on our way and back to the hotel in no time at all. I learned a valuable lesson, if the hotel’s business card is not in the local language have one of the hotel staff write the name and and address in the local language.

Sunday, March 13, 2011

We spent the morning at the temple of Doi Suthep in the mountains around Chiang Mai. The temple was a beehive of activity; there were worshipers, tourists and a group of children musicians and dancers performing.


After taking in the temple, with fantastic views, by the way, we visited a Hmong Hill Tribe village and the rustic museum in the village. There was a lot of craft shopping at the village.

The afternoon was dedicated to shopping for those who wanted to go. There were stops at a jade factory, a silk shop, a silver workshop and a parasol factory. Since this was a Sunday we were able to checkout the Sunday market in Chiang Mai. Here, there was a lot of handicrafts and a lot of tourist “tat”, but I did find a terrific mango wood bowl and teak belt that I couldn’t leave.

For dinner we took another songtaew (red truck) to the Gallery Restaurant for another fantastic meal. This restaurant is in a very pretty setting, right on the river and we had a table right on the river. I had the most delicious white snapper with spicy (but I did ask for less spicy and glad I did, for my taste) mango salad, the salad was really flavorful.

After dinner several of us headed over to the night market to see what was on offer there. It was fun to walk through the labyrinth of stalls and see all the bargaining going on.

Once back at the hotel it was time to get suitcases ready for our departure from Chiang Mai tomorrow. I was sorry we didn’t have more time in Chiang Mai, I really liked what I saw there and would like to go back and explore more.

Monday, March 14, 2011

This morning we checked out of the Chiang Mai Shangri-La and went directly to the Mae Sa Elephant Camp. This was the most fun I’ve had in a long time. Feeding the elephants, watching them bathe, perform sports tricks, and even paint was a delight. I can’t help but smile when I look at an elephant and the best part of the time at the elephant camp hadn’t even happened yet.

We were able to do a one hour elephant ride. At first climbing on top of the elephant was a little daunting, but after the 5 minutes I relaxed and enjoyed my time. CL and I rode on the same elephant and our mahout was Dang, a young man with a quick and friendly smile. Our elephant was Ood (pronounced like Ott). Dang the mahout was 20 years old and our elephant was 21. Dang had been working with Ood for about 3 years. We lumbered up a mountain trail and then down into a creek. We even got to see a baby elephant.


After the elephant adventure we stopped for a visit at a village of long neck people and then had lunch at an orchid farm. We ended our time in the Chiang Mai area with a visit to the Tiger Kingdom. A visit here seemed like an interesting idea, but once in the large cage (we visited the “baby” tigers) with the 3 medium sized tigers, I just didn’t feel good about this visit. Yes, the “promo information” says the tigers aren’t drugged, but these animals seemed docile to me, but then again, I’m not a huge animal person. Honestly, I couldn’t wait for our visit here to end.

By 5pm our guide, Jum, took us back to the Chiang Mai airport for our Bangkok Air flight back to Bangkok. The flight departed on time at 7pm and we landed in Bangkok just after 8pm. By the time we retrieved our bags, met our guide and drove into the city we were checking into the Bangkok Shangri-La Hotel at about 10pm. The hotel is beautiful and right on the river. There are several restaurants, lounges, shops, a spa and very inviting pool area.

It had been a long day so we got a quick bite and glass of wine at the hotel bar and I was asleep just before midnight.

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

None of the hotel breakfast buffets so far on this trip prepared me for what I’d experience at the Bangkok Shangri-La Hotel. This breakfast buffet was served in the restaurant that looks out on the river and the selection on offer is vast. There was an absurd amount of choices, eastern, western, made to order items. You could eat here for breakfast and never need another meal that day, not that I did that!

We met our guide at about 8:30am and spent the morning touring the Golden Buddha Temple, the Wat Po complex where the reclining Buddha is, and the Marble Temple. My favorite was seeing the reclining Buddha, it’s absolutely massive!


After a morning of temples we spent some time walking through a flower market and a vegetable market. I really enjoyed the flower market, it was so colorful! We then took a boat across the river for lunch at the Supatra River House. Lunch was excellent. Then we took a long boat and cruised around the klongs which gave us a glimpse of river life.

By 3pm we were done with touring for the day and took a much needed swim in the pool with a “side” of frozen strawberry margarita! I loved the pool here and for the first time in my life experienced a pool “host”. As CL and I walked into the pool area we were greeted by a staff member asked if there would be 2 of us and if we wanted to sit in the sun or shade…Wow…that was a first for me.

After our cool and refreshing time at the pool, I was pretty much a wet noodle and by 6pm a rain storm with lighting had started, which didn’t make the thought of going out to dinner very attractive, so CL and I choose to stay at the hotel and have a light bite at the hotel’s Italian restaurant.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Today was our last day in Bangkok, and again, I was only barely scratching the surface of this city. It was a perfect weather day, cool, with a little cloud cover so it wasn’t unbearably sunny.


We started again at 8:30am for a visit to the Grand Palace and Temple of the Emerald Buddha. All were magnificent and jaw-dropping beautiful. This was another favorite place for me on this trip. The palace was fairly crowded in the morning, but the throngs coming in when we were leaving in the late morning were even larger.

By noon we were back at the hotel and had the rest of the day on our own until our final group dinner. After a quick pit stop at the hotel 5 of us took the Sky Train (so easy to navigate), from just outside our hotel door to the stop for the Jim Thompson House.


I am really glad I listened to a recommendation from friends who had been to Bangkok before to go here. I really enjoyed my time here. Not only is the house (which is a complex of several houses) lovely, but the garden, although small is very nice. Jim Thompson’s art collection was really interesting to see and the story of his life is even more interesting. Prior to going on this trip I had read a book about his life and that just increased my desire to see this house.

We arrive close to 1pm and the English guided tour was just about to start. The tour is about 35 minutes and covered some of Jim Thompson’s history and showed a small amount of his massive art collection.

After the tour we stopped in the café on site and had a short lunch break. The food was really quite good there and the atmosphere very inviting. We also browsed in the shop at the house and I came home with 2 beautiful silk pillow covers and a gorgeous silk handbag.

It was a short Sky Train ride back to the hotel and I had 2 hours to re-pack and organize my bags. Tomorrow CL and I would be departing very early.

Just before 7pm we met the group in the hotel lobby for our final dinner. RM had been keeping this a surprise and she led us out of the hotel and across the street to a boat dock. But it just wasn’t any old boat dock, it was the boat dock for The Peninsula Hotel. We were about to have dinner at Thiptara, the Thai restaurant at The Peninsula. What a treat, this was an outdoor restaurant right on the river with fantastic views and food! Our server was adorable and we had our own covered table area, it was the perfect night to dine outside.

A couple hours rolled by and soon we were finished with our spectacular meal and took the boat back across the river to the dock at the Shangri-La. We said our good-byes to all of our travel companions, because CL and I would be the first two to depart in the wee hours.

Thursday, March 17, 2011

At 1:45am the alarm goes off…yes, we are on a 5am flight from Bangkok to Narita. By 2:50am CL and I are packed and on our way to the lobby to meet our guide who will take us to the airport. Surri, the guide is there waiting for us, bless her heart, at this ungodly hour! We turn in our room keys and get a boxed breakfast the hotel has prepared for us, it was great by the way!

By 3am we are racing towards the airport with hardly any other cars on the road, 3am is clearly the best time to drive to the Bangkok airport! We have our bags checked and boarding passes in hand by 3:30am. We said goodbye to our guide Surri and then waited in line for passport control to stamp our passports, who knew there would be a mob of Russians there too. I think we waited longer on that line than it took for us to drive to the airport. We finally make our way through security and find the gate for the Delta flight.
We board the flight to Tokyo and blessedly the flight is not full, that hasn’t happened lately! So CL and I are able to spread out and I get 2 seats to myself, perfect to snooze. We are served breakfast (#2 of the day so far) and about 5 hours late we touch down in Tokyo 40 minutes early.

Days before this was the tsunami in Japan and I was wondering what it might be like transiting through Narita, and although crowded, airport operations seemed completely normal.

We go through a security check, and find our way to the connecting gate. Then we decided to see if my Delta Sky Miles Gold status will get me into the Sky Lounge…BINGO…it does! CL is able to come in with me and WOW, is this nice. My first Sky Lounge experience, I’m really digging it! It’s a big spacious lounge and we enjoy some food and drinks and free wi-fi.

Before long it’s time to board the flight from Narita to Atlanta. It’s a full flight with a 3-3-3 seat configuration, I’m already missing the Korean Air flight over, and fortunately I have my coveted aisle seat. The entertainment system isn’t working very well for me, the flight map isn’t working at all, so thank goodness I have my Kindle to read. I manage to get about 2 hours of sleep, although not 2 solid hours, it comes in sleep “snippets”.

We arrive in Atlanta about one hour ahead of schedule, and there is barely a wait at passport control. My bags were in the first wave off the conveyor belt and I was through customs & immigration, rechecked my bags and went through security all within an hour of de-planing.

The flight to Savannah was slightly delayed, but only by a few minutes and I was upgraded to business class on the short 30 minute flight, where I promptly fell asleep. We landed in Savannah at about 7pm and I was back home in no time.

In spite of some of my feelings about group travel I truly did enjoy visiting all the places on this trip. Now I have a taste for Asia and hope to return to some of these places and explore new ones in the future.