Hello from S/E Asia

Well, after much complaining and whining I have been able to finally import photos into my blog.

So, I must start from the beginning. Myanmar was a major concern since their currency is not available outside of the country. But, it gets weirder ... They deal in cash only (with the exception of a few hotels in Yangon) who accept credit cards. Fortunately, I was part of a tour and most everything was pre-paid. But, you still need cash for tips, shopping and some meals/beverages that were not included. And, since I was staying on for a few days after the "organized tour" ended, I needed cash for tour guides, tips etc. Fortunately, I had researched thoroughly.

But, it doesn't end there. In Myanmar, they only accept pristine US bills - i.e. brand new. They don't even want bills that have been folded. I have a new use for those "Glad Snack" bags.(They are just the size of our Canadian and in this case US $'s.)

200 brand new ones

This will change very soon as the country is developing their tourism industry at a very rapid pace.

So, TD was very accommodating and ordered stacks of bills in various denominations. They were freshly minted and even in order by serial number! As you all know I am a proud Canadian, but having a pile of one's (or singles for my American friends) makes it very easy for tips in any country in S/E Asia.

I flew overnight from Toronto to Heathrow on A/C in my little pod in business class. But, the best was yet to come. When, I was arranging these flights with Aeroplan, the agent said for a few extra points, you can fly on Thai Airways in First Class. Count me in! London to Bangkok in "First" with only eight seats. And, only five of the seats were occupied.

NOW PLEASE REMEMBER - I WAS USING POINTS!! I could never, ever afford a First Class ticket!

When I boarded, I knew that my vacation had really begun! I was offered champagne before take off. Get this - Dom Perignon Vintage 2003! And, I was offered as much as I wanted.

There was more food than you can imagine. I tried to surreptitiously take a few pics with my i-phone. They aren't great but it will give you and idea. I had joked that I was going to eat my way from Heathrow to Bangkok and could have done so. I didn't eat it all but asked for tiny portions. Everything was served from a seat level trolley that was rolled down the aisle. There were six courses in the "First Serving" as they called it. I slept through the "Second" and nibbled at some of the "Third". Can you imagine three meals in an eleven and a half hour flight?

OH YUM! - Champagne

Heaps of caviar

I tried to get the flight attendant to just give me a tiny portion of caviar but she kept heaping it on. And, it continued with two more appetizers. I thought it was a choice of one of the three. Oh no, they served all three. The two others were pre-plated - a smoked salmon appetizer and another - prosciutto with melon. The presentation could rival any 5 star restaurant and remember - this is all at 35,000 feet! And, that was the first course. There were five more to come!

I landed in Bangkok shortly after 6:00 a.m. local time. Thai Airways has amazing access beyond all security points. Suffice to say it was a "Smooth as Silk" - one of their "tag lines". I was even taken though the Diplomatic passport control. Go figure. OK - so that's the end of my commercial for Thai Airways - First Class.

As soon as I exited the highly air conditioned airport, I was hit with the wall of heat and humidity. And once again, was reminded that I was on vacation and back in S/E Asia. It almost felt like being back home. I now have been through the Bangkok airport six times. A warning - it is HUGE! Don't stop and shop. Get to your gate!

As most of you know, I was in Bangkok last year and saw most of the important temples, sites, etc. So this time, I spent some time hanging out, shopping and seeing some things that I didn't last year. I didn't actually make friends with this guy. He was hanging out in the hotel gardens. My pic doesn't really show the real colour of his bright blue forked tongue.

As usual, none of you will believe this, but the next morning I was up for a 7:00 a.m. pick up by my guide. I wanted to see a floating market that is 110 km west of Bangkok.

It was a very interesting trip. We passed through an area where there are acres upon acres of "salt farms". They are large tracts of land subdivided into manageable acreages where the water is brought via a canal to be spread in a thin layer which will
evaporate.

Once evaporated, it is literally raked up - well actually with a rake that has a flat blade. Then, they rake/shove it into heaps that look just like piles of snow. As we drove further on, there were many roadside stands selling the finished product in various grades - very coarse to very fine. And, packages in all sizes and shapes.

Doesn't it look like ice and snow??

Damn, this is hard work! Wish those tourists would pitch in & help!

Lots of salt!!

Then we continued on to Damnoen Saduak. First we got into a "long tail boat". (A "long tail" boat is named that because it has the motor inside the stern of the boat and a long shaft with a propeller that sits just below the surface of the water. And, why? The water isn't that deep and there are a lot of weeds and water hyacinths that will get tangled up in the propeller.). It lots of fun. Our boatman drove us for nearly 45 minutes through a maze of canals. I can't imagine how they find their way - but they do. All along the canals there were houses. My guide told me that it was primarily Chinese people who lived in on these canals. Their houses were right on the bank and they had land behind where they farmed. The produce would be sold at the floating market. Others would have floating food stalls.

A monk paddling from to house to house along the canal to get his daily offerings.

Fruit for sale

Soup ingredients and very cool pot with three sections

The tourists would point at the ingredients and the woman would add them to the part of the the pot where her spoon is. I kept thinking how sick they might be the next day. Mind you, it did smell good! I wasn't interested in risking it! Look at the canal water. I wondered if it was a soup ingredient - adding just a little "je ne sais quoi"... ?!

We returned to Bangkok. That evening, I dined in a wonderful Thai restaurant that is part of the hotel but a separate charming Thai styled building that you can see it in the top right corner of this pic.

I had a wonderful ten course Thai tasting menu with wine pairings. It was delicious! And, I didn't get sick! But, something bit me around my ankles. (The bites got nasty and by the time I got to the "M.V. Road to Mandalay", they were looking very bad despite the anti-biotic cream with cortisone and covered in bandaids. My ankles were quite swollen and painful. Fortunately, there was a resident doctor on board. He said he thought they were spider bites and prescribed antibiotics which worked like a charm.)

Enough! Back to Bankok.

The next day, it was Chinese New Year. The hotel put on quite a display. I have video clips of the Lion Dance but I cannot post them as this blog site will only allow 100MB (which is nothing!) and mine are a little more. So you will have to be happy with a few pics.