Phuket, Southern Thailand

Wednesday January 24 / Arrive Phuket

THEN we stayed at Kata Beach Resort which shared Kata Beach with Club Med. It was surprisingly quiet. Now it is packed with beach goers despite the few beach access points. We recall how surprised Jim was to see the European Beach attire (nude tops, and maybe a modest string thong on bottom. You don't see many of those in Maine.) NOW our resort looked down, to the south, at the end of reasonably calm Kata Noi Beach. Busy Kata Beach is to the north and just out of view from our resort. There are so many resorts around Phuket  that we are surprised to find we more or less returned to where we stayed before. Another difference. THEN there were few if any vendors around Kata Beach. Now, the street, just across the street from the walled off resorts, is lined with shops and dining options. 

Below: James Bond Island rising out of the Bay, the Four of us a little younger, lunch at the Muslim Fishing village.

We arrived at Mom Tri's Villa Royal in mid-afternoon. A lovely resort with a renowned restaurant. We were staying in the Bourgogne Suite in the separate Ocean Wing, a short walk from the larger Beach Wing and the Restaurant. We shared a common area with an indoor / outdoor patio lounge, a pool and a butler with 3 other suites. Our room was basically ready for us but they were pruning the tree over our patio. While we waited the butler took our order for lunch and delivered it to us on the shared patio lounge. The Sancerre went very well with the rock lobster and sea bass.

Mom Tri’s is a gourmet place with an amazing wine list and impressive menu. You can imagine that we are quite happy here. 

Thursday January 25 / Phang Nga Bay

We did a repeat trip from Phuket to James Bond Island and to the Muslim Fishing Village, Ko Panyi, for lunch. THEN it was a highlight for us  We loved the amazing spicy cooked prawns. NOW It was disappointingly commercial (our travel agent warned us but we had to see for ourselves). While the food was tasty and well prepared, it was not unique at all. The fishing village has grown into a warren of shops with only a few variants from shop to shop. 

However this trip added in some cool extras:

• THEN we arrived by Long tailed boat. NOW we were in a speed boat and could cover more territory and had more opportunities to work around the crowds.
• Our first stop of the day was at Laem Had Beach on Ko Yao Yai Island, a lovely powdery sand beach with a sand bar that extends probably 50 yards into the water. We were one of the first two boats to arrive so had the island nearly to ourselves. The crowds would come later. 
• The next stop was Ko Lao Bile with a lovely lagoon accessed via a narrow opening in the cliff.
• And Ko Ku Du Yal, another lagoon with a nice sand beach protected by several stone monoliths.

After our lunch at the fishing village we walked around to checkout the shops and see some of the equipment used by the fishermen.

After lunch we continued exploring Phang Nga Bay.

• We stopped at Khao Khian to view the ~2,000-year-old Sea Gypsy cave paintings. (Bottom right below: see cute little dolphin and hunters.)
• Then we headed back for a peek at James Bond Island.(Bottom left below.)
• At Ko Hong we boarded canoes and were paddled into and around another lagoon. Interesting rock formations forming cliffs and caves to explore.  
• Later, on Ko Pha Nak, we walked along a beach inhabited by monkeys (Top left) and visited a lagoon accessed via a cave tunnel (Center left) only accessible 2 hours a day around low tide. There were interesting walking fish in the lagoon pools (Bottom right).
  

We returned to Mom Tri's and enjoyed another fine evening meal. In the morning we got our first chance to enjoy their extensive assortment of breakfast foods and condiments.

Friday January 26 / Walk to Kata Beach

We took a walk to Kata Beach and discovered that things had changed significantly. Although the hotel from 30 years ago was still there along side the Club Med there were way more beachgoers than there were 30 years ago.We bought a shirt for Bill but were not generally impressed by the touristy shops and restaurants, nor the total absence of beach view along the street. 

Photos below: street sign in downtown Kata Beach, deserted Kata Noi Beach (early morning), Kata Beach crowds.

We went back to Mom Tri's for lunch and a break from the heat.

Saturday January 27 / Central Phuket Downtown Market

Windy, rough weather kept us from having our trip to Phi Phi Island. Instead we went to the Central Phuket Downtown Market, a collection of boutiques and restaurants. Interesting decor. Pretty much the same old same old stores.

Back to Mom Tri's for lunch (Seared sea scallops with lemongrass, fresh Thai herbs, marinated with spicy & sour dressing, Fish & Chips, and a Soft-shell Crab Sandwich accompanied by a Chablis.  We followed that with an an afternoon of relaxation.

We went to the bar and had a light snack for our evening meal. Tuna nuggets in sesame soy dressing. 

Sunday January 28 / Enjoy Mom Tri's and Kata Noi Beach

We had our final day off to relax and enjoy Mom Tri's. We walked to Kata Noi, very quiet in the early morning and never as crowded as Kata. 

Two nice meals and a view over Kata Noi at Mom Tri's.

Final observations of THEN and NOW in Thailand:

We recall that Jim noticed lots of bamboo scaffolding on our first trip. We didn’t see any in Thailand. It was all typical modern metal. (Note: Not to reveal too much re India, but we did see bamboo scaffolding there.)

This time, Pat only encountered one squat toilet this trip (although some places are equipped 50/50 squat toilets and western toilets. All were quite clean. Maybe the new cleaner experience relates both to more availability and to our guides knowing where to take us. Or it could be a result of sanitary awareness since Covid. We didn’t think to ask. 

Monday January 29 / Off to India

Chaing Mai, Northern Thailand

Thursday January 18 / Arrival in Chiang Mai

We arrived in Chiang Mai in late afternoon and settled into Chala Number 6 in the heart of downtown Chiang Mai. Lovely room. Lovely grounds. 

Chiang Mai was a walled city. Today there are remains of walls offering a picturesque touch. On a short walk, exploring the neighborhood we discovered at least 5 temples / Wats and, of course, the grounds of the bigger temples include smaller temples. 

As we walked our guide messaged us re places we should checkout and possible dining options. We chose one of them, a rooftop restaurant with a nice vantage point of the sunset and we decided to make reservations for another, The House of Ginger. 

Below CW: Wat Phan On, a buddha in Wat Phan Tao and, in  Wat Chedi Luang, a  colorful guardian and a recent temple. 

Friday January  19 / Handicraft Villages and Khantoke Dinner

THEN, 31 years ago, we visited a silk factory, the parasol factory and silver jewelers. 

NOW we visited Baan Jang Nak, an elephant wood carving museum founded in 1985 by Phet Wiriya. The whole family does exquisite work bringing these majestic creatures to life in all sizes. Quite impressive. 

NOW we again visited the Parasol factory. The colors are enchanting. And we were there just as the Annual Parasol Festival was starting. 

We visited a silver jeweler. This one was much larger than the one we visited 31 years ago. Pat bought a bracelet that is a band of elephants. She likes it enough that she has already worn it many times.We moved on to a silk factory. Here they demonstrated the process of making silk starting with the silk worm. There was a big showroom with men's and  women's clothes, as well as, items for the home. None quite called to us, but nice.

There were still more Handicraft Villages we could have visited, from lacquer ware to ceramics, and antiques to hand-made wood carvings, but it was time for lunch.

We were off to try the Northern Thai dish, Khao Soi, a bowl of rice noodles in curry broth with crunchy noodles on top. Tasty.

THEN we went to a dinner and dance show at the Old Chiang Mai Cultural Center. THEN the performances were more tribal, ie performed by Hill Tribe people and the food service had more character. NOW, while we visited the same place, the food was served on a Kantoke Tray (ie everything served at once on a wooden pedestal tray) and the food, considered Northern Thai specialities, was quite basic with curry, minced pork, fried pumpkin, etc,  And the dance was more elegant and slow moving. Likely dances typically performed for the royals. I suspect the dance style varies by the day of the week.

The diners sit on the floor around the Khantoke, supported by triangular cushions. (Or you can sit at a table if that is more comfortable for you. It was for us.) 

Saturday January 20

THEN, we enjoyed visiting with elephants and hill tribe people. THEN there was a show with the elephants center stage and we rode the elephants into the jungle where the mahouts dropped us off and we had to find our way out…where we discovered our guide waiting for us with a great meal. NOW, this trip, no more riding elephants. It's not only PC but it's the law in Thailand. These days we recognize that the heavy seat is bad on the elephants back! But you get to feed them, bathe them, and take them for a walk. 

We had an early pickup to drive to Elephant Dream Valley. This is an ethical elephant sanctuary where the elephants are allowed to roam around freely (under the watchful eye of their mahout) – no baskets, hooks or chains are used at this camp. We were scheduled to have 30 minutes of 1 on 1 time with the gentle giants followed with shared time as the groups arrive. In our case we had a couple hours with them as only one group joined us and they arrived late. First we got to know the elephants, feeding them sugar cane, their treat. (Note: They do tire of sugar cane, preferring to eat more grasses than sweets.) During this time we learned that elephants are hard of hearing, have poor eyesight, and that while in their natural habitat they sleep for only about 4 hours per day, mainly at night, and they eat constantly. 

We were given red tops to wear which signifies to the elephants that we are a good source of food (with some animals this would be worrisome, but elephants are vegetarians). We continued feeding them sugar cane until time for their walk. They ate their way slowly uphill dining on the field grasses. Then we joined them in a stream for their bath. Finally we were back to their pen where we observed that the only function of the pen is to keep the visitors at a distance. The elephants have long ago mastered letting themselves in and out of the pen.

THEN we visited a couple Hill Tribe villages, including attending a wake for the Oldest member of the village. THEN we also visited a second village where they were celebrating New Years with members of other tribes joining in. All in celebratory dress. Excellent timing. NOW the villages seem more up to date with easier access to modern amenities. And we only saw traditional garb at the spots set aside for tourists and for making sales to tourists. 

THEN the day started at a huge local market that sold everything from CD's ot livestock. We chose this market for its appeal to Jim and Sandra, dairy farmers. They always love to visit something farm related. 

NOW we had lunch at a Hill Tribe run restaurant and then explored the modern day village. Pretty down to earth but definitely decades ahead of what we saw before. Previously it was more picturesque but there seem to be more creature comforts today. And I suspect they still have special holidays where they get to enjoy old customs.

Below, CW:  A weaver, Veggies for sale, Lunch, Peppers drying on the roof, Milk on the hoof, Drying rice.

On our way back to the hotel after dinner, we stopped for a photo of the Wat Chedi Luang lit up. But as we moved closer for the photo we noticed the complex was open to the public. We wandered in further and found we had the place nearly to ourselves. Delightful!

This 14th century Temple, is famous for its enormous chedi, which is 282' high and 144' feet at the base. "Luang" means "large" in northern dialect. The construction of the original chedi was completed in 1481 and the Emerald Buddha was installed inside shortly thereafter. In 1545, the upper 30 m of the structure collapsed after an earthquake, and, in 1551, the Emerald Buddha was moved to Luang Prabang, to be later moved to Bangkok. The current Chedi Luang "is a restoration" from the early 1990s financed by UNESCO and the Japanese government. (but it's hard to figure out what was restored. I'd say they just built around the original massive chedi.)

Not only is the original chedi huge, so are the grounds. We probably wandered around for upwards of an hour. There were multiple buddhas (of course) and a band of elephant sculptures about halfway up the chedi (see bottom left photo in collage.)

Sunday January 21 / Lanna Folklife Museum, Lanna Cooking Experience

The Lanna Folklife Museum features information about Lanna traditions

ceremonial utensils, handicrafts, ceramics, paintings, lacquerware, woven basketry, traditional musical instruments and dioramas of the Lanna culture. Lanna cuture flourished in the area of modern day Chiang Mai during 14C to 19C.  

Women's clothing featured the Pa Sin Tin Jok skirts. The skirt has three components:

1. An upper border made from plain cloth, usually red.

2. A middle section that is the body of the skirt, woven in horizontal stripes of equal size, called "sin ta".

3. The lower border is sown on to the bottom of the skirt. Woven using a technique called "gan jok", the designs are created using a discontinuous supplementary weft ending in a red edge.

A Ta Laew (meaning the eye of a hawk) is often attached to the doors of farms and granaries to avert misfortune. Lanna people believe that the hawk's eye is especially keen, able to see far-away objects clearly. thus penetrating mystery and seeing potential disaster in the distance.

Below: Lanna skirts and an "eye of a hawk".

As part of traditional Lanna partner selection, parents would allow daughters to meet a young man at night. She would sit on a patio of her house doing some activities such as spinning cotton thread, wrapping Miang (tidbits wrapped in leaves), pounding rice. Sometimes a group of 2-3 women got together and to wait for men to visit. A man could visit by himself or go as a small group. They might also sing poems or bring musical instruments to play. As their interest developed, they would get permission to touch each other's hands. Later, the woman's parents would ask the man to come and 'Sai Pbi which was a ritual to worship the woman family's ancestral spirits. After that, they would check for an auspicious time and day for the man to move into her house..

Lanna foods include spicy sausage, pork rind, jackfruit, pork curry, rice or egg noodles, Pho mushrooms, wild betel leaves, malabar nightshade, giant taro, dried red cotton flowers and red ant larvae. Seasonings include pickled fish, fermented soybean and crab paste. They put food on a pedestal tray used as a small dining table and sit in a circle on the floor to enjoy meals together.

Lanna fine art Buddhist artifacts were donated to temples by people wishing to make merit for themselves and relatives (mostly) who have passed away. The artifacts include Buddha images, decorative trees, and worship models made from gold and silver, as well as horses and elephants fashioned from precious stones. 

We enjoyed a dinner and cooking experience at Chiang Mai Home Host by Raunkaew-Yanon Family. We visited the home of a Lanna family, who arrived in the area almost 150 years ago. They have continued the traditions for many generations: building their homes of teak wood and maintaining the natural surroundings in a manner now rarely seen in Chiang Mai. 

Unlike commercial cooking classes, this provided a real experience and sense of Lanna life, the traditions and buildings, the relationship between their religions and ancestors and the way this works together with nature.

Our friends Amy & Tim (whom we met in San Miguel a couple years ago and whom we last met up with in Porto, Portugal last year) were in Chiang Mai and joined us. The tour started with a visit to the Spirit House, a shrine to the protective spirit of the place. We each made an offering. Then we had a tour of the house and learned about family traditions. One is that the family home is passed down through the women in the family, not the men. Then we toured the orchard with many types of fruit such as banana, mango, coconut and visited the organic garden filled with cooking herbs. Following the tour, we joined in making: 

• Dry red curry chicken breast with thai herb 
• Minced pork with tomato paste Northen style (Nam prik Ong)
• Hot and sour chicken soup (Tom som Kai)
• Stir fried green egg plant with minced pork (Phad Makauyaw Moo)
• Pad Thai with egg, bean sprouts, shrimp, tofu, garlic, mushrooms
• Banana in coconut milk
• Coconut Pancake

The class was fun and the dishes were all tasty but the combination of ingredients and methods are complicated enough that it is highly unlikely that we will make any of them. 

Monday Jan 22 / Doi Inthanon National Park 

Doi Inthanon National Park is home to Thailand's highest peak at 8481'. It's not that high considering it isn't that far from the Himalayas, but whatever. The best views across the park are found at the King's and Queen's Chedis. The chedis were gifts from the Royal Thai Air Force for their 60th birthdays. The King's was built in 1987 and is covered with gold. The Queen's built in 1992 is covered in mostly purples and pinks. We don't recall, but apparently the Queen's Chedil opened the year we first visited Thailand. The grounds are well landscaped and a tranquil place to visit.

We hiked along the Angkha nature walk near the peak. Among the unique flora the tree rhododendron looks familiar but instead of being a shrub, they grow to 40' to 60' high. Speaking of height, we documented that we were close to the peak at 8440'. 

There are both Karen and Hmong hill tribe villages in the bounds of Doi Inthanon. We ate at a Karen Restaurant and visited the nearby Karen village. We ended our village tour at a coffee shop. The coffee, grown in the village, roasted on site, hand ground and filtered several times was delicious. Great flavor. No acid at all! 

As we continued down hill toward Chiang Mai, we stopped to admire the cherry blossoms and then went on to the market. There were fine fruits and veggies and amazing dried fruit. We bought dried strawberries and dried mango. Our last stop of the day was at the Wachiritharn Waterfalls.

Tuesday Jan 23

On our last day in Chiang Mai we took it easy. We wandered out the West wall to check out the nearby Mall where we bought Bill a shirt. Then we wandered over to the East Gate (aka Tha Phae Gate) ending up at THE HOUSE by Ginger where we had a reservation. 

The restaurant is elegant and the service very fine. The food was some of the best we had up til that point in the trip. 

We started with Thai Style Calamari with Salt and Chilli and Seared Imported Scallops in Coconut-Chilli Dressing, Lychee and Sichuan Pepper. Yep. It was good.

For our shared main, we had THE HOUSE Signature Roasted Pork Simmered in Tamarind Sauce with Stir-fried Morning Glory, Garlic, Chili and Soy Bean Paste, accompanied by a nice French Rose.

We finished off the meal with Banana in syrup served with Coconut Ice Cream.

Then we headed back to the hotel to pack for our move to Phuket.

Chaing Rai, North Thailand

 Tuesday Jan 16 / Chiang Rai at Leisure

We moved north to Chiang Rai, another new to us area. All I have known of the area is that it is in the Golden Triangle (but I, Pat, wasn't really sure what that was), it had been a center of the Opium Trade, and there are native women (aka long-necked women) who stretch their necks with metal rings. It was time to learn more.

We arrived to a delightful boutique hotel with amazing service. The most amazing of the trip. For one example, Bill couldn't get on the internet. That happens to one or both of this every now and then. And ususally the staff gives us 5 minutes of their time and then blows us off. These guys were the opposite extreme. One attacked it and did all the obvious stuff (the stuff we had already done). No luck. She passed it on to someone more expert. Shortly she passed it on to the top dog. He spent about 10 minutes and then just gave Bill access to the top speed main hotel internet. 

We settled in. Then went to the bar for a snack. 

The next morning we walked into the center. Along the way we passed a number of food stands. One had a good collection of grubs. Other stands were more normal to a Westerner's taste.

Then we discovered the Flower Festival. 

It started to rain. We did some quick reconnoitering and spotted a fine little Mediterranean Restaurant. We ducked in the door and seconds later there was a downpour. 

We were now in the town center. After lunch we explored We noted gold-tone signs with the King and Queen, gold-toned wrought iron utility poles, and the gold-toned clock tower. There was also an interesting truck with water buffalo horns. And for a change of pace, colorful rain boots.

Next we visited the small Hill Tribe museum. The Hill Tribes are minorities who have maintained their own cultures for centuries. They represent 2.2% of the Thai population but 50% of the population of Chiang Rai. The Akha represent 31% of the local Hill Tribes. The Red Lahu 22% and the Hmong 13.4%. Five other tribes combined represent 16%. 

 

Finally we checked out the night market. Unimpressive. THEN (31 years ago) the night markets had character. The spread their wares out on the sidewalk and either they had a more varied assortment, or we've seen a lot more of such wares over time, hence finding them less interesting. NOW, they have a built-up area with separate booths for the vendors. So it's much more comfortable for the vendors and shoppers now. We enjoyed the flowers and food the most.

 

Wednesday January 17 / Blue Temple, The Black House, The Golden Triangle

The first stop was The Blue Temple. It was definitely blue. Kinda makes you think of Disney's movie "Frozen". The Blue Temple (Wat Rong Suea Ten) is one of the newest temples in Chiang Rai. It was completed in 2016. The temple walls, roof, and surrounding statues are all covered in this gorgeous hue, unusual when most temples are made of gold. This color is symbolically associated with purity, wisdom, and the lack of materialism that Buddhists aspire to.

Nearby is the Black House (Baan Dam Museum). It might be confused for a temple but it is a private art museum and studio. Its construction is a blend of traditional Thai architecture with a contemporary flair, designed by Thawan Duchanee.  Covered in art and installations made of taxidermied animals, the Black House may be the world’s largest collection of animal remains made into furniture and art installations. Rather than a single structure, the Black House is actually made up of about 40 buildings built in heavy wood and metal surrounding a large garden. Everything is painted black and deep brown.

Photos from the Black House, clockwise below:

• Ganesh, the elephant-headed Hindu god of prosperity and wisdom
• Self "portrait by Thawan Duchanee
• Building with a water buffalo horn ladder
• The Black House main building/"temple"
• Assembly of Gods. oil and gold-leaf on canvas by Thawan Duchanee, 

We moved on to visit a HIll Tribe village, the now home of members of the Karen (or Kayan) Long Neck tribe. These people are originally from Myanmar/Burma and crossed the border to Thailand as refugees. Today they are free to not wear the rings but many do because they feel a sense of identity through the rings, which is linked to their culture, their heritage, their family and ultimately who they are. 

Some visitors feel it is ethically insensitive to consider people as objects to view. Maybe so, but we found them interesting and friendly, as well as beautiful. And given that as refugees (not citizens) they have no other source of income than tourism, it seems more ethical to give them a means of support. And yes, we bought more scarves.

We continued on to the Golden Triangle. This is where Thailand (South), Laos (East) and Myanmar /Burma(West) all meetup on the Mekong River. With China (North) only 20 km upstream. See map & river photos in collage below.

Nearby we visited the House of Opium, a museum of the Opium Trade. This exhibition portrays every angle of the story, starting from the origin of opium, the opium war, opium warlords, drug smugglers, opium effects, the battle against opium and poppy growing, to rehabilitation of living conditions of the people who live in the central of the Golden Triangle, the former worldwide infamous drug trading zone. 

After lunch at a riverside cafe, we took a Mekong River Cruise, leaving from Thailand, passing by Myanmar, crossing over to Laos and back to Thailand. We aren't sure where the official borders are, I think the waters are international territory, but we passed within feet of Myanmar and Laos. 

Collage below shows:

• The shore of Thailand
• A monument to elephants in Thailand
• A Chinese Casino in Laos
• Island in the Mekong River
• Monument in Golden Triangle Park
• The shore of Myanmar

Thursday January 18 / White Temple, Organic Farm, Chiang Mai

The nearby White Temple (Wat Rong Khun) is often described as “heavenly”. I question that. It seems to have a lot of "Gates of Hell" aspects with demons and wretched characters reaching out to be saved. One of the most distinctive features of the temple is its white color, which symbolizes Buddha's purity; its glittering mirrors signifies the teachings of the Buddha to reflect kindness on to others.

The other distinctive feature is the endless ornate detail. Even many building that look possibly complete are in fact waiting for the true details. 

Rong Khun Temple is still under construction. The mastermind behind the temple is Chalermchai Kositpipat, a famous local visual artist who is personally funding the project which he has declared to be  his life's work. Plans call for it to have nine buildings. There are several buildings in various stages of completeness but many more to go. Chalermchai is in his mid 60's and in good health but it is doubtful that he will see his project completed. He was onsite when we were there preparing to go mountain biking with friends. 

The White Temple is guarded by dragons and mythical creatures. Hands reach up, symbolizing the way to happiness through overcoming cravings. The details of the temple represent “the cycle of rebirth” and encourages visitors to reflect on the Buddhist teachings that show the way to escape from the worldly temptations, desires and greed and focus on the mind instead.

Below is Pat enjoying some of the "Behind the Scenes" features, plus a small globe on the main temple showing the temple inverted. 

Next we headed to Chiang Mai. Along the way we stopped to visit an Organic Farm. The family-run farm was started by a couple raising food for their family. The daughters have expanded operations physically and business wise, adding in training in organic farm techniques. They served us lunch. Everything was raised and harvested on the farm. The veggies. The fruit. The fish. The meat.