Is it really time to go?

Well not quite, I still have one full day left in this amazing vacation. Then another 4 hour hop back to Thailand for the proverbial ‘One night in Bangkok’ and finally an early rise on Sunday morning to start the long journey back to Columbus by way of Tokyo, Los Angeles and Charlotte. I’ll be arriving back in Columbus early Monday morning. As with all good things, they must come to an end sometime.

The last couple of days I spent sightseeing around Bali and trying out the remaining two Starwood hotels on the island. During my first complete day here I opted for a day tour around the island. I had hired a private guide, Wayan Sueta, who came highly recommended by my frequent traveler friends on www.flyertalk.com, for $45. As arranged, Wayan picked me at 9am from the Le Meridien he was driving an older model Toyota Kijang (its an SUV made in Indonesia for the southeast Asia market only). Actually, the Kijang makes up about 80% of all non-scooter vehicles I have seen here. As we headed out of the resort complex, Wayan and I started a conversation about Balinese culture and society that would last the entire day. He was a great guide with extensive knowledge about local Hindu traditions, agriculture and geography, all of the famous sites as well as some insightful opinions on local and international politics. His English was excellent and pretty much self taught from watching American movies and reading newspapers and magazines.

The first thing that strikes one about Bali when driving around are the amazing terraced rice fields. They create the picture-postcard perfect image of southeast Asia, complete with little old ladies wearing those conical woven hats, wading knee deep in the ponds hunched over tending to their rice plantings The terraces are feats of human engineering dating back thousands of years with most of them still in use and unchanged. The island is covered with them and somehow through insanely intricate irrigation systems they are all connected to a handful of natural springs located in the mountainous center of Bali. All of the rice planting and harvesting is still done manually only with the assistance of cows for tilling. Yes, each and every tiny rice plant is inserted into the pond’s soil/mud mixture by hand. It seems like unimaginably hard, back breaking work. Most farmers only live on a subsistence basis, with few successful ones farming commercially for the hotels and restaurants. Otherwise, the average person on Bali earns around $50 per month, with the ones employed in the nicer hotels / restaurants making upwards of $200. Makes me feel like I’m being taken advantage of by paying $100 per night for my room; well that’s foreigner extortion and a different topic for another time.

On our way to the central mountain region called Bedugal, Wayan took me to his family’s home. It was very modest, clean and quite interesting to see how the locals live. It was pretty cool to see real, live banana, coffee, clove, cocoa and coconut trees right there in his yard. His family harvests them only for their own consumption. Wayan’s family income comes from his tour guiding business and also from the sale of intricately beaded baskets that his two young sons work on after school. While at his home, I also got to meet his wife and youngest boy.

We continued on with our drive to the Bedugal region. Along the way we stopped at a market for flowers, fruits, vegetables and the ever present souvenir knick knacks for which I got to practice my bargaining skills some more. Next stop was a famous temple just offshore in one of the mountain lakes. It was quite a striking setting with the temple sitting in the pristine water and forested hills in the distance across the lake. A nice Kodak moment indeed. This particular temple is dedicated to the water goddess. On we went driving along the edge of the former caldera now containing several mountain lakes en route to the monkey forest. The monkey forest was really more of just the road that passes through the forest where the monkeys like to hangout along the road waiting for food. Thanks to Wayan’s earlier suggestion, I bought a big bunch of bananas at the fruit market which came in handy to feed the furry little critters. The macaque monkeys are adorable and it was fascinating to see how human-like they are when peeling and eating the bananas. I was also fortunate to see several of the female monkeys with their newborns and toddlers in tow. Very adorable.

Some more driving and we stopped for lunch at an incredibly well located restaurant. The restaurant was made up of a few huts, but they were perched on the ridge of the mountain with awesome views of the valley below, the sea in the distance and the neighboring mountains and volcanoes (several are no longer active). Lunch was great and the view was even better. I had a couple Indonesian entrees and 2 local Bintang beers all for the princely sum of $6. Why the hotels insist on charging prices like they are in Florida or Hawaii, I just don’t get – because they can I guess.

After lunch we pressed on to another popular site, Manduk falls. Wayan parked the truck and we hiked through the forest about ¾ of a mile to reach the very picturesque falls. Even the exhausting return uphill hike was worth the beautiful pictures I took and the cooling spray from the falls. Panting and out of breath, I bought a bottle of water from the roadside stand and chugged it. Semi recovered, I climbed back into the truck and off we went. We retraced part of our drive to ultimately go through an area of amazing rice terraces with several stops for photo ops. Once I’ve had my fill of terrace pictures we started our long way back to the Le Meridien, passing through countless villages and small towns. It was a great opportunity to see how the locals live and work. Even though they are poor in Bali, the villages still seamed cleaner and neater than that of the poor areas I’ve seen in Thailand. Not sure what its attributable too, just an insightful observation. Finally back at the hotel, I paid and tipped Wayan and we parted ways.

As the Le Meridien is a bit remote from any concentration of tourist services or restaurants, I spent another quite evening there. Had a nice dinner and spent the evening relaxing in the lounge, where I met a nice guy from San Francisco who was in Bali on vacation with his mom. Though I do not mind traveling alone, it was a nice change of pace to have someone other than waiters and hotel staff to talk with. I retired early as I was rather fatigued from the day’s adventures and wanted to spend the next morning and early afternoon laying out at the hotel’s incredible pool complex before catching a taxi to the Sheraton Laguna Nusa Dua. Unfortunately, the next morning started with clouds and then continued on until around 4pm with heavy rain. Despite the rainout, I still managed to spend a couple hours just relaxing by the pool by taking advantage of the covered chaises and swimming in the warm tropical rain. Finally tiring of the rain, I decided to get my bags and start my migration to the Sheraton.

The taxi to the Sheraton took an hour and only cost $15. As the Sheraton is undergoing extensive renovations to all guest rooms and public areas, there were no proper suites to upgrade me to, but they did put me in a recently renovated junior suite with lagoon access. The suite was rather opulently decorated complete with a 40 inch plasma TV. The lagoon access was a unique feature I have never seen at a hotel before and one I rather enjoyed. Essentially, the residential wing of the Sheraton is surrounded by swimmable lagoons (really, they are just large, freeform pools – they’re clean and chlorinated) and the rooms/suites on the first level have steps on their patios that lead into the water. It was really cool to be able to swim to/from my room instead of the more traditional use of a door and corridor. Otherwise, the Sheraton was nice, but in a typical resort kind of way like it could have been anywhere warm and tropical. There was nothing particularly Bali’esque about it, unlike the Le Meridien which was amazing. Though the Sheraton does get kudos for having a nice, clean swimmable beach. As the Le Meridien was on a cliff there really was no beach to speak of, however at low tide one could climb down to the beach/water though it wasn’t recommended as the currents were very dangerous and it was rather rocky.

Based on the concierge’s recommendation I went out for dinner to a beachside restaurant called JB Café located on Jimbaren Bay (this is near Kuta, where the bombings were). Despite a slight concern for my safety, I was very glad that I went. The restaurant had 20 or so candlelit tables set out on the beach. In fact it was one restaurant out of probably 100 that were similarly set up on the beach. The lineup of candlelit tables must stretch for about a mile along the bay it was pretty and romantic sight to behold. After you’re seated and ordered your drink, you go inside to pick out the fresh seafood of the day, some of which is still alive in the tanks. I picked out a 1.3kg Red Snapper and a few ocean prawns. All of this was deliciously seasoned and grilled on an open flame pit. When ready, it was presented cut open and filleted to the table. Needless to say, dining under a star filled sky, with feet playing in the cool sand and the waves rolling in 30 feet in front of you was simply fantastic. This was the most atmospheric al fresco dining experience I’ve had (though eating on the roof of a skyscraper in Bangkok ranks up there too). After dinner, it was back to the hotel to enjoy some complimentary cocktails given to Starwood Platinum members in the lounge. The cool drinks and evening breeze were quite nice as was the singing of the young chanteuse and her accompanying band.

Today was blissfully sunny with a few puffy clouds to offer temporary reprieve. After taking a great buffet breakfast (also complimentary to Platinum members) I spent the rest of the day until about 2pm laying out poolside. I have to be nice and tan when I get back, right? I gathered my bags and was driven over to the Westin Resort next door. Yes, I know I’m crazy, but the bonus points and stay credits are worth it to me. Besides I wanted to have a complete accounting of Starwood’s offerings on Bali. The Westin upgraded me to a nice suite in their Royal Beach Club wing. My suite is on the 3rd floor and as such I have a great view of the ocean from my windows and balcony. Compared to the Le Meridien and even the Sheraton, this Westin is a downright derivative resort. Other than being on Bali, there is absolutely nothing about this Westin that is unique to its location. It has a very basic free-form pool and not much else of interest (though it gets kudos for having an air-conditioned lobby and lounge). In the future, if not being close to restaurants and nightlife is important, than the Le Meridien is by far the superior Starwood choice on Bali. If being close to the action is a requirement and price being equal or slightly higher, then the Sheraton over the Westin anytime.

Having had such a memorable dinner experience the previous night and as this is my last night on Bali, I asked the Westin’s concierge to recommend another fresh grilled seafood restaurant on the beach. He sent me to the Aroma Restaurant, which turned out to be about 10 doors down from the place I ate at last night. The setting was very much the same, only tonight I had White Snapper and ocean prawns. Throughout the meal, there was roving band that went from table to table (seeking tips of course) performing popular songs. When the band finally got to my table, I was pleasantly surprised when several guys and gals from Australia brought their chairs and drinks over and joined me for the performance. It was kinda cool and nice of them to ensure I had some company and wasn’t being sang to all alone. Anyway, another unforgettable dining experience for the memory books.

Speaking of memory, this trip has certainly produced some wonderful and picturesque memories that I will cherish forever. Bali is a beautiful island with friendly and warm people. I definately plan to visti Bali again and explore other corners of it. Traveling is an amazing experience and opportunity to discover all of the magnificent things the world has to offer and I feel very blessed and fortunate to have had the physical ability and wherewithal to go on these amazing adventures.

Its 1am here on Saturday and I have to sign off now. Thank you for coming along with me through this blog. It does take a good amount of time to write and create the blog and I’m happy to do it and pleased to know that so many of you appreciate and enjoy it.

Until my next globe hopping adventure…

Gene

2 Nights in Bangkok

Once again I find myself writing this from a place of incredible beauty and inspiration. So watch out this might be a long one. I’m currently at the Le Meridien Nirwana Golf and Spa Resort in Bali (Indonesia for those that don’t know). Perched rail-side at the resort’s lounge about 3 stories above ground and ground happens to be about a 100 foot high cliff overlooking the Indian Ocean. As it is nighttime now I can only hear the thundering of the waves below and only see a slight reflection of the moonlight on water beyond. Before I get too carried away with my first impressions of Bali and this amazing resort, I’ll catch you up on my time in Bangkok.

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The flight from Phuket to Bangkok was uneventful and ordinary, as flights so often tend to be. The only excitement in fact was me having a little tizzy over them not stocking my preferred beverage. The one hour flight lasted a bit longer than scheduled due to air-traffic congestion and so we were treated to several panoramic flybys over Bangkok. Deplaning was by portable stairs, not the most dignified method of egress, but nonetheless I managed with my roll-aboard and backpack in tow. I collected my suitcase after a longish wait and headed out to get a taxi. Originally I was going to try the Sheraton Grande and Westin Grande hotels but changed my plans due to some last minute sleuthing by my friend who found me a nice triple points bonus at the Royal Orchid Sheraton. Being no stranger to the Royal Orchid as that’s where I stayed on my last pass through town and also in light of their recent renovation I found the change in lodging to be quite acceptable.

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After a bit of haggling with the front office manager I ended up being upgraded to a Deluxe Executive Suite with access to the exclusive Towers floor and Lounge on account of my Starwood Platinum status and high rate I was paying. The room was a wonderful suite with separate living and sleeping rooms as well as a fabulous marble clad bathroom with a walk-in shower and separate tub. Apparently the exclusive Towers lounge was very much that. In fact it was exclusive to the point of not allowing me entry for the happyhour cocktail reception because I had shorts and t-shirt on (which is something I have never ran into at another hotel executive club/lounge. Naturally I had the ‘oh no they just didn’t’ reaction and a battle royale ensued. I would not leave, forced them to give me my cocktail while I waited for the hotel manager to be summoned. Ultimately to no avail with a lot of back and forth in a loud voice to cause a scene and embarrassment for him (as well as me, I guess) we ended up with a compromise. I would not change my clothes, but instead I would be given free reign for drinks and appetizers in the hotel’s main lobby lounge and internet café. Which turned out to be ok as it was much livelier and interesting to hang out in the main lounge anyway. And I certainly made sure to get every bit of my happy hour cocktail and appetizer benefit. I did leave the waitress a nice tip as I had her running back and forth bringing me new drinks to sample (I think I went through trying about 7 or so on their menu and not finishing one) as well has had her bring me several plates of appetizers from the “Exclusive” Tower’s lounge. Hopefully the manager had to at least write up some kind of explanation for all of the revenue he had to write off.

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So, with a belly full of tasty appetizers and cocktails I headed out to the Patpong night market. Market, bazaar or hot mess, whatever you want to call it, it was miles of merchants lining the sidewalks and streets. They were hawking all manner of things from souvenirs, watches, clothes, jewelry, massage and ping pong shows. Yes, you read that right. About everycouple hundred feet a tout would approach me and tug on my arm showing me a menu of ping pong ball shows as well as other unsavory (at least to me) shows involving many women and some men. Ah, Bangkok, you gotta love it. I spent some time walking around and checking things out, tried on a couple fake Rolexes but ultimately decided there is no sense of accomplishment or reward in buying a garish $50 fake Rolex. Passing up on a dozen more offers for ping pong ball shows I made way to an available taxi and sped off to the quiet sanctuary of the hotel.

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The following morning with shorts and t-shirt on damn-it I went back to the Towers Lounge for my complimentary breakfast. I was received and served properly with no further hassles. After my English breakfast I spent some time with the hotel’s concierge lining up an itinerary for the day. I started out with a visit to Wat Arun (temple of the dawn) which is a beautiful Buddhist temple complex on the banks of Chao Praya River and it’s core, central structure happens to be the tallest such structure in south-east Asia. I very much enjoyed walking around and exploring the various nooks and buildings all with amazingly detailed tile inlays. Having had my fill of Buddhist temples I took a taxi over to Chinatown to explore the colorful chaos that is every Chinatown’s essence. Again, it was street after street of market / bazaar antics, little old lady’s cooking all manner of things from rickety carts and endless “mister, please look, look free, price good, how many would you like, I give good price, mister where you from”. Exhausted and pouring with sweat I determined that my next planned stop could not wait any longer.

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I took a taxi to the brand new Silom Paragon Complex and it’s inherent air-conditioned bliss. The Paragon is a five-level, high-end mall, entertainment complex and aquarium. I started my visit with a stroll through the basement level food hall to get an idea of my dining options for later and made my way to the Siam Aquarium. It is the largest aquarium in Asia and housed on the two sub-basement levels of the mall. It was a rather interesting experience and I got to see some really cool, exotic fish, numerous sharks and all of the other standard kind of aquarium fare. Seeing all the fish made me hungry and I headed upstairs to a restaurant outpost of the famed Mandarin Oriental Hotel. I had a few excellent Thai favorites and as expected the service was flawless. The mall also had a restaurant outpost of the equally venerable Peninsula Hotel. The choice was tough, but the Mandarin’s looked more elegant. Beside the usual Chanel, Dior, Gucci, Versace and every other imaginable designer’s stores what struck me as amazing were the presence of car showrooms on the 3rd floor of the mall for Ferrari, Porsche, Maserati and BMW. Wow, didn’t see that coming, it was rather impressive. After spending the next couple hours investigating the rest of the mall it was time for a break and I opted for a nice café for some delectable French pastries and coffee.

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That evening, dressed in pants and nice shirt as I was going to dinner at Sirocco, I stopped at the Towers Lounge in the hopes of partaking in the evening cocktail hour. Alas, it was not meant to be as I got there 5 minutes after they stopped serving and were already breaking things down. Needless to say, I was not a happy camper but decided to enjoy my evening out and chalk it up to a never ending list of things not meant to happen. Hopped into a taxi and off I went to the State Tower where I would take an express elevator to the 64th floor where I would dine outside on the Tower’s rooftop terrace. Sirocco claims to be the highest al fresco restaurant in the world. The unobstructed views of nighttime Bangkok were awesome and cool breeze at that altitude was quite welcome. Dinner prices were high and especially so given how cheap Thailand can be, however definitely worth it for the singular view and experience of eating on a roof of a skyscraper, mind you with very low railings.

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Seeing as my 4 hour flight to Bali was leaving at 8:40 the following morning I chose to go back to the hotel early, pack up my things and get a proper night’s rest ahead of my 6am wake up call. The following morning came soon enough and was I anxious and excited to move on to the next big leg of my trip and also to add a new country to my ever growing list of destinations. Completed checkout formalities and got in a taxi for the airport. The driver offers me a special toll-inclusive deal to the airport for 500 Baht, being the seasoned traveler I politely declined and insisted on the use of the meter, which by law they are compelled to use. A relatively traffic free dive got me to Bangkok international in about 20 minutes. The final cost of the ride? It came to a whopping 240 Baht. The driver didn’t even blink an eye or act ashamed for having tried to rip me off and the bugger dropped me off at the opposite end of the terminal from where I needed to check-in. All checked in, I headed to the Thai Business class lounge to enjoy some beverages and a continental breakfast. Still having some time to kill ahead of my flight, I proceeded on to discover the offerings on hand in the extensive duty free stores. Made a couple new acquisitions and off I went to the gate to await boarding.

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The Thai business class flight to Bali was nice. With decent but not impressive service provided by the Thai Airlines crew. Perhaps I have been spoiled by the first class service I’ve come to love on airlines like Singapore and Cathay Pacific. Nonetheless a nice American style breakfast was served and drinks were free flowing. Shortly after takeoff the crew passed out the Indonesia immigration and customs declaration forms. Upon review of the customs form, I noticed one box you have to check if you are carrying any video disks, tapes etc. as they need to be censored before being allowing into the country. So I was at a bit of a crossroads here, thinking maybe it wasn’t such a great idea to buy 13 pirated DVD movies. The more I thought about it the more I became freaked out by it. I started to think that even if the Indonesian customs’ folks won’t have a problem with these, I’ll still have to reimport them back into Thailand at the end of my trip and then finally into the US of A. Though the US doesn’t explicitly ask you to list movies as an item on the customs declaration form, sure enough with my luck with US customs they will choose me for a random search. If they did so and realized the movies were pirated copies, they would likely just confiscate them but they could also levy a fine. So, deciding not to take my chances with the Indonesian or US customs officials I decided it would be prudent to unload my unwise purchase of $65 worth of DVDs. What I did… while everyone was napping and the lights were out, I took them out of my carry-on and distributed them in the seatback pockets of several empty seats around me. Whew, with the evidence disposed of I had a clear conscience to leave the Indonesian declaration form blank and didn’t leave anything to chance with US officials. Yes Mom, lesson learned – no more buying of pirated DVDs.

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With smooth and uneventful processing through Indonesian immigration I was off to reunite with my checked luggage and went through customs with no problems or questions. Stepped outside and saw that the Le Meridien had sent a driver who was waiting with a sign with my name on it. He helped me with the bags and off we went on a 45 minute drive to the resort.

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Ok, time to wrap this one up here.

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On arriving at the resort I was awestruck at how incredibly beautiful this place was. The grand open lobby entrance with a view to the ocean beyond, the Balinese style architecture and stonework detailing and of course the always smiling people. Check-in was a painless affair, while waiting for all of the formalities to be finalized I was presented with a floral leigh (sp?), a cold towel and a glass of fresh squeezed tropical mixed fruit juice. I was also pleasantly surprised to learn that the hotel had already upgraded me to an executive suite. Great, I love it when the hotels are on the ball and I don’t have remind them of my upgrade privileges or fight for them. A bellman escorted me to my comfortably appointed and large suite, complete with two balconies from which I could enjoy the wonderful views.

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I picked up the hotel map, got my bearings and off I went to have a look around and snap some pictures. Simply and succinctly put, this is one of the most gorgeous resorts I have been to. It even smells nice here, the air is sweetly perfumed from the frangipane flowering trees. Whether it was it’s dramatic perch on a cliff overlooking the Indian Ocean or it’s incredible Balinese style (think a set out of a Lara Croft Tomb Raider movie) multi-tier swimming complex with waterslides and spouting fountains or it’s well manicured and lush golf course or it’s commanding view of the nearby Tanah Loh (Earth and Water) Temple I simply don’t know. I do know that the combination of it all had me walking around dumb-founded wondering how can one place be so breathtakingly beautiful. This will definitely be a resort that I will return to. Phuket was very beautiful in a tropical getaway sort of way, but this resort on Bali is even more inspiring and satisfying to look at and to be at. Its beauty resonates on a much higher level.

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This is going on 5 pages now, yikes :)

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I spent the first night at the resort going for a fresh grilled seafood dinner at the poolside restaurant, took some beverages in the lounge and wrote this. For my next full day in Bali I have reserved a tour guide who will take me around to the central mountain region to enjoy the views and see some non-beach sites. Can’t wait, I’ll tell you all about it next time.

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Till next time,

Gene

"Tuk, Tuk?"

Is it time to leave already? Guess this is my last Phuket sunset, not sure for how long, but am certain I’ll be back. Tomorrow afternoon I’m heading to Bangkok for a couple days of sightseeing, shopping and fabulous restaurants. After Bangkok I’ll be flying far away again, this time its 6 hours on Thai International airlines in business class no less to Bali in Indonesia, also believed to be an exotic paradise by any measure. I’m quite confident I will not be disappointed. Though I am hoping that the imminent eruption of a volcano on nearby Java island will not impact Bali and, no pun intended, cloud my holiday there (with spewing ash). Though it definitely would make for a unique travel experience I could write about as 'Gene and the volcano' or something like that.

Most of my time in Phuket was spent at the resort just lazing about, taking turns dipping in the refreshing coolness of the pool or sea. I found a perfect spot at the edge of the pool area from where the landscape slopes down toward the beach. Particularly in the afternoons, I would lay there like a sponge absorbing the gentler afternoon sunshine and the cooling breeze sweeping up from the sea. I have perfect views of the goings on at the pool as well as the serene view of that amazing beach and the crashing waves. I keep myself happy and hydrated by enjoying impossibly sweet pineapple or pomelo (think triple sized grapefruits but much sweeter) smoothies. You have not had fruit until you’ve had fruit fresh from the tropics. Life at the resort has been carefree, as it should be. The weather has been very cooperative, given that this is the beginning of the rainy season for the region, with temperatures fairly constant around 88 degrees. Each morning starts out as mostly sunny, and then around lunchtime the heavy clouds roll in and release their contents in torrential cooling downpours. Which makes for a conveniently timed lunch break for me to enjoy some delectable Thai favorites like Phad Thai noodles, chicken and beef satays with scrumptious peanut sauce, spicy Tom Yom Goong (lemongrass shrimp soup) and stir fried chicken with cashews. I loved them all, and could easily live on the satays alone, they are incredible. For those of you who do not know, satays are a Southeast Asian specialty made of grilled skewered meat, either chicken, beef, pork or shrimp. They are flavored with yellow curry and always served with that fantastic spicy/sweet peanut sauce.

Best I can tell the resort seems to be about 30-40% occupied, mostly by Europeans majority of whom are Russians. From what I heard from the locals, Phuket is only back to about 50% of the tourist level it enjoyed prior to the devastation of the Tsunami. Its really become a bit of an interesting fact, anywhere in the world I have been to, there have been Russians – I’ve yet to be let down by this. Good for them that they are now able to travel freely and enjoy the world like we can. Generally I do not give away the secret that I am one of them and can speak the language. Its weird yes, but actually kind of fun to pretend I don’t understand anything and clandestinely listen in on what they’re saying. Like yesterday when I got on an elevator with a Russian family, and they were making fun of me for taking the elevator up one level. It would have been too much fun to say something in Russian and embarrass them, but I just kept the giggle inside. However, I wasn’t a total recluse; I did spend some time speaking with a few couples from the UK and Australia. Apparently Thailand and Phuket in particular, have become much more popular with the Aussies in the wake of the Bali bombings. Guess I can’t blame them, in the first round of bombings some years ago, about 150 Aussies were murdered. As for me, I subscribe to the notion that when it’s your time it’s your time and locking yourself at home is no way to live life nor do you get to experience the marvelous places and cultures the World has to offer. Besides, statistically speaking you have a greater chance of being electrocuted at home than you do dying due to a terrorist act or some other catastrophe.

Based on a positive group-tour experience I had in South Africa a couple years back, I opted to join one here in Phuket yesterday and booked myself onto a full day boat tour of Phang Nga bay with Phuket Adventures Ltd. And I’m very glad that I did. The day started with a timely shuttle pickup at 7:45am, being the first one I got the prime choice of seating in the van. The driver went on to make a few more pickup stops and then we were on our way to the Phuket Royal Marina. At the marina we and numerous other shuttle passengers were corralled into Phuket Adventure’s waiting lounge. Here while we waited, we were provided with fresh juice, coffee and these really tasty Thai pancakes made from coconut milk and fermented rice. Once all of the buses had delivered their passengers, we were organized into groups based on the tour we purchased. The group going to Phang Nga with me consisted of a family of 8 from Mumbai (formerly Bombay), two Thai couples, and a guy from London and his girlfriend from Perth, Australia (they both flew to Bangkok to meet up for the holiday). It was definitely an interesting mix and I was surprised to see the two Thai couples. Generally on these group things you come to expect that’s its all westerners. So good for them, that they are able to afford the same tours we can and actually get to enjoy their own beautiful country instead of always being the ones to watch foreigners enjoying it or serving them.

We headed out northeast from the marina by speedboat for about 30 minutes where we made our first stop at Hong Island. Approaching Phang Nga bay is like entering a weird, alien world. As we approach, in the distance through humid summer haze we can see tens if not hundreds of strangely shaped objects jutting out of the green sea. It’s a landscape unlike which I have ever seen before. I begin to think I’m entering a set for another Lord of the Rings movie. So mysterious and eerie looking, yet also incredibly uniquely beautiful. These strangely shaped objects are shards of limestone formations, some short, some towering 100 feet or more, some barren some covered in tropical foliage. They have been carved by the sea for millions of years. As we stop at Hong Island we are told that the lower cave passage is impassable for the boat due to the high sea level, instead we will dock along the rock and take a short trek through the upper cave. Yes, you heard that right; Gene climbed off a rocking boat onto a massive limestone formation called an island and went into a fairly dark cave. Crouched down to nearly all fours, we made our way through about 100 feet of cave and came to an opening in the middle of this rock (island). This opening was filled with a lagoon of bright green sea water and up above and all around were nearly 50 foot high sheers of limestone draped with various jungle vines and plants. Talk about postcard settings, wow. After several minutes for everyone to pose and snap pictures we went back through the cave, jumped on the boat and were off again.

Surely scenery this beautiful has had to have been used in movies. Sure enough it was. Our next stop was James Bond Island. The Man with the Golden Gun was filmed here. I know I have seen the movie I just couldn’t remember it, but this was definitely a perfect James Bond setting if there ever was one. Its another limestone island that has a small hunk of rock, shaped like a long face, off its only beach. Very cool. Unfortunately this only beach is now overrun with souvenir stalls, I guess due to the islands popularity with tourists. It really was off putting to find this small bit of commercialization in an otherwise unspoiled area. Coincidentally we were provided with an hour to explore the island, however, no mention was made of the bazaar that lay in wait for us on the other side of the rock. Oh well, what are you going to do, everyone has to make a living somehow. Anyway, having had my fill of these sea gypsies peddling their wares, I headed back around to the boat. I was the first one back and spent some time chatting with our guide / hostess Hyatt (she said its spelled just like the hotel). While talking she treated to me to some freshly cut pineapple and a bunch of sections from the pomello (I love this thing, I’ll have to look for them back home). Shortly thereafter the rest of the group rejoined us and we were speeding away to our next stop.

Our next stop would be Panyi village, a floating village inhabited by Muslim sea gypsies (great I thought, more shopping) where we were to take lunch and have some time to look around and souvenir shop. Its sort of a unique marvel in the area. The story goes these people built houses on stilts 100’s of years ago attached to one of the limestone rocks. Over time it has grown and is now made up of 400 or so of these huts, and I use the term loosely. They are all tethered together and built on wooden stilts, though some now apparently are built on concrete piers. We docked at a proper dock, so I did not have to test my gymnastic abilities over water again. Proceeded to the restaurant and were seated in 2 groups of 8. My table was kind of quiet, only the one Thai couple sitting next to me tried speaking with me. They did not speak much English but enough to understand where I was from and how long I’m Thailand for. A tasty and filling lunch was had by all and then we were free to explore the floating village.

Walking out of the restaurant and into the main part of the village was a shock to the senses. Your eyes are taken by the commotion and hordes of people, your ears are on alert to the foreign languages and the commerce of haggling, your nose is assaulted with the pungent smells of a floating sea village with who know what for a sanitation system and where fermenting shrimp paste is being made every 10 feet and your skin feels thick and heavy from the stifling heat and humidity. Walking from hut to hut under cover of corrugated steel and whatever else they have to shield themselves from the sun and rain I witnessed how these people live in abject poverty and their only source of money for anything beyond their minimum subsistence based living are the tourists that happen to come by.

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I was approached by an adorable little girl, maybe 5 years old, offering postcards for 10 Baht (roughly 20 cents) “please sir, please sir, no money, no father, need money for school and books”. So how can you resist helping the hapless child? The answer is you really can’t and are overcome with feelings of guilt, thoughts come to my mind that I spend more on an average lunch or dinner than this poor child would be fortunate enough to see in a year. So I buy 2 postcards from her and hand her 50 Baht. She lights up like a Christmas tree and scurries away, presumably to hide her money or give it to her mother. Soon after I pass a wonderful little boy also selling postcards ands its much the same story. So I buy some more. I keep walking, exploring, taking in the sights, sounds and smells of what is arguably the poorest conditions I’ve ever witnessed. Everyone’s hut is open to the main aisle way, the front of which most of them use for selling souvenirs, food or whatever is salable. Before long, some more kids come my way, one selling bead bracelets and another selling more postcards. They beg and plead, but as heartbreaking as it is, I realize I can not possibly help each and every one of them and try to decline. I hurry past them and seek out the entrance to the restaurant where I pass through and go wait at the boat for the others.

Leaving Panyi island, everyone was quiet and I suppose humbled by the experience. From here we begin a 50 minute ride to Koh Kai (Egg Island) where we will disembark for a few hours of swimming, sun bathing and snorkeling. It’s wonderful to feel the rush of the cooling wind to relieve the heat and sweat built up from Panyi village. As we glide along the sea toward Koh Kai we pass more of the beautiful geology that makes Phang Nga bay such a unique and amazing place in this world. During this leg of the trip most of the group dozes off. I decide to step to the front of the boat where I can enjoy the mesmerizing scenery and stay awake.

Fifty minutes comes and goes and we are pulling into Koh Kai. Looks like there are already a few other speed boats from Phuket Adventures. We back into a spot between two of them, drop anchor and climb off the boat into the warm water and shuffle towards the beach. The beach is already set up with chairs and umbrellas, snorkeling equipment is passed out and naturally, the refreshment and concession stand are ready and attended. I stake my claim to a set of chairs that have the long shadow of the umbrella and set my things down. The entire size of this island is maybe that of a football field (likely smaller), so it takes me just a few minutes to explore it all before deciding on the perfect spot to swim about. This island has dazzling white powdery sand and is strewn with countless sea shells and pieces of reef. This being testament that when its high tide, 80 percent of what is now visible gets covered. The water around this island is shallow and as such has that amazing crystal clear pastel blue color. No sooner than I walk in waist deep a small school of 20 or so little fish starts swimming around my feet, welcoming the intruder to their world. I put on the snorkeling gear and splash about for a while. Realizing I’ll probably get burned to a toast like this, I decide its much wiser this early in the trip to avoid sunburn and head for the shady refuge of my beach chair. While relaxing there I can’t help but notice the amazing sound the shells on the beach make when a wave covers them and then retracts. The sound was very relaxing and tranquil akin to wind chimes in a gentle breeze. Just wonderful.

As with all good things, they must come to an end. We packed up our personal belongings, reboarded our speed boat and headed back to the marina. Soon after I was on the shuttle bus heading back to the air conditioned comfort of my suite at the Le Meridien Phuket beach resort.

Ok, this blog entry is getting a bit longish; I’ll try to wrap it up here.

So, what is a tuk tuk? Well a modern tuk tuk is a type of transportation used around these parts. Its something like a very mini pickup truck with a covered truck bed that has some benches for people to sit on and is powered by not much more than a motorcycle engine under the hood. Its called a tuk tuk because of the sound the engine makes, picture this…tuk tuk tuk tuk tuk….as it makes it’s way down the street. I used these every night to get back to the resort from Patong, they are the defacto taxis of the town and pretty cheap. A trip from Patong to the Le Meridien cost 100 Baht. What makes them standout as something funny is that there must be at least a thousand of them in Patong town and in one evening just by walking around you happen to pass most of them lining the streets waiting for their next fare. As you pass EACH one, the driver looks at you and asks “tuk, tuk?”. So after hearing this a hundred or more times, I began passing the drivers and saying “tuk tuk” before they could and usually got a smile out them. Anyway…

Patong is quite the crazy little beach town with hundreds of options for restaurants, bars, massage parlors, escorts, souvenirs, budget accommodations, internet cafes and the list goes on and on. With each of these businesses having a representative roaming the streets and trying to get your attention to sell / offer their wares, it really gets to be quite annoying after a while. I began ignoring them and just went about my business. I had several good Thai dinners in Patong as well as taking a massage each night after. Hey, you can’t beat it for about $10 for a one hour Thai oil massage. God I hope I don’t breakout…

Adieu,

Gene

Paradise Found

Well this may be the most beautiful place I have ever sat down with my laptop at. Unlike my usual spots when I travel, like airline first class lounges while en route to places far and away, I’m camped beachside with my trusty Dell in front of me and an icy cold, creamy pina colada to keep me company (ok, several of them). I’m perched overlooking what could best be described as an idyllic bay. Enclosed on two sides by verdant tropical rainforest covered hills and fronted by gorgeous aqua blue and green water lapping at fine powdery white sand. The sea is bathwater warm and clean. Sometimes the waves gently roll in; sometimes they crash in with six foot high swells. If it were not for the other hotel guests around me, one could easily picture this as the perfect secluded tropical beach. Even with others around, I’ll still call this my personal paradise. This is the nicest beach I’ve been to.

Where is this slice of paradise you ask? I’m currently on Phuket Island in Thailand. This is the largest of the Thai islands that are sprinkled about the Andaman Sea. Beloved by many that have traveled to this part of the world and made famous by movies like The Beach. Each one is different and seems even nicer than the next, if that’s possible. Fortunately for me, I have booked myself 5 nights at the Le Meridien Phuket Beach Resort. Its not the newest or the ritziest resort on Phuket, but it certainly has an incredible location. Since Le Meridien has recently joined the Starwood family of hotels, due to my Platinum status with Starwood, I was treated to a complimentary upgrade to a 2nd floor ocean view junior suite. Its not the best suite upgrade I’ve ever received, but it is very comfortable and after all I’m staying here using my Starwood points.

My suite is comprised of a large sleeping room with teak wood floors and an adjacent livening room with a coach / daybed, coffee table and a nice entertainment center with TV, DVD player and the ever present hotel minibar. There’s a great bathroom, lined in black granite and ceramic tiles, a shower area with room for 2 and a separate deep soaking tub with sliding wood panels that open to a view of the rest of the room. Additionally, I have a large patio with table, sun umbrella, chairs and a chaise lounge only to be topped with a view of the hotel’s extensive pool complex, swaying palm trees and the view of the Andaman Sea beyond.

I got to this personal paradise by way of Los Angeles, Tokyo, Singapore and Bangkok. To do this, I cashed in 120,000 US Airways frequent flier miles and $27 to cover taxes for a roundtrip first class ticket on Singapore Airlines and their partners. My journey started in Columbus on Saturday when I flew to Los Angeles in order to catch my onward Singapore Airlines flight to Tokyo.

Arriving in Los Angeles around 5pm I headed to the Westin Bonaventure in downtown. The Westin is a landmark building in LA. Some of you may be familiar with its four connected cylindrical towers sheathed in copper hued glass. Though a hotel I’ve wanted to check out for some time, I was a bit under whelmed. Perhaps its simply in need of an extensive update and renovation. The Westin upgraded me to a towers suite in the Starwood Preferred Guest tower. I was given a fairly standard two-room suite with one and a half bathrooms. However, the 23rd floor location afforded a nice view of downtown LA. Not having too much time in LA and wanting a full night’s sleep ahead of my long journey I opted for a quiet evening out and about. I headed for dinner and an evening stroll to a development in West Hollywood called The Grove. Its an outdoor mall / entertainment zone, much like Easton. Though smaller in size, I thought it had a better architectural design and theme. After a light dinner and a walk exploring the development I headed back to the hotel, climbed into the sublime Westin Heavenly Bed and called it a night.

Sunday morning came soon enough and I took my complimentary buffet breakfast at the Westin and drove out to Santa Monica to spend a couple hours enjoying the ocean side scenery and fabulous and unique shopping before my long flights to paradise. I returned my rental car, checked in for my flights and headed to the LAX Singapore Airlines lounge. Amazingly enough, for an airline as fabulous as Singapore is, their lounge at LAX was very disappointing. Truth be told, all the airlines’ lounges in the international terminal at LAX are rather tired and uninspiring. I was told a new lounge for Singapore and their partners is in the works and should be ready next summer. Nevertheless, a private lounge space with complimentary cocktails and snacks surely beats waiting with the masses at the crowded departure gate. After a brief stay in the lounge I headed out to the gate and with great expectation and anticipation I waited to enter the amazing Singapore Airlines’ first class cabin.

Some of you have read my previous commentary about my first class flights on Cathay Pacific when I went to Asia and South Africa a couple years ago and I must say that the Singapore cabin is even better. Its a much more opulent and elegant environment. There are 14 private suites in the cabin. Each suite is trimmed with burled wood, English Connelly leather and other soft-touch fabrics. Each suite has its own 14 inch LCD monitor to watch movies, noise cancelling headset and a control panel for the multi-direction power seat. The seat converts into a bed and when requested, a stewardess will make up the bed for you, complete with a pad, linens, down filled duvet and pillows. The audio / video on-demand entertainment system was great and kept me occupied. This is the way to fly.

I won’t bore you with all the details but the in-flight meal service was wonderful. I had my fill of Dom Peringnon champagne, caviar, smoked salmon, cocktails, and a variety of appetizers, soups, entrees, snacks and desserts. All of the food was excellent and the presentation on Singapore’s custom china, glassware and flatware was incredible. If I were to find a flaw in any of my Singapore Airlines experience, and I'm digging here, it would be with the cabin staff. They were not bad, per se, but they did not seem as warm and genuine as the crew on my Cathay Pacific flights were.

My flight lasted about 12 hours from LA to Tokyo, where we had a 1 hour refueling stop before continuing on to Singapore which was an additional 6 hours. Arriving in Singapore at 1am, I was scheduled to have an 8 hour layover until my flight to Bangkok at 9am. Instead of laying about in the first class lounge, I opted for a hotel at the nearby Le Meridien Changi Village. After a quick taxi ride I was in the hotel and checking in. At check in I was notified that I had already been upgraded and pre-blocked to an executive suite. No complaints here. When I got to the suite, I was simply amazed. The suite was very cool, in a very modern design kind-of-way. The rooms had curved walls and windows and a fabulous bathroom enclosed on two sides by glass. Yes, there were curtains if bathroom privacy was needed. It was definitely a unique design and room style, a type which I had not previously experienced. All in all, this was a great start to my trip and good first experience with the new, to Starwood that is, Le Meridien hotel brand.

Unfortunately, my stay at the Le Meridien Changi Village was short, having only enough time for a bath, 3.5 hour nap and a shower. It was 6:30am and time to head back to Singapore international airport to resume my trip. At the airport, I was very pleasantly surprised to find that Singapore Airlines had a dedicated first class check in facility. This was comprised of a private lounge area where one could relax, have a beverage or small snack and check in. This was in addition to the regular first class lounge found inside the secure zone. The check in was handled at desks where you were seated in front of an agent while they took care of your ticket matters and porters took care of your luggage. Once all formalities were completed, you exited the check in lounge and proceeded to a dedicated entrance to the fast-track security and passport control area. Not wanting to overindulge myself, I skipped over the mall-like shopping that is available at Singapore International and headed to the Singapore Airlines' first class lounge instead. I couldn’t believe how busy it was, no wonder Singapore is one of the most fiscally succesful airlines out there. A nice feature of this lounge that I partook in was the breakfast buffet and custom omelet bar.

As always, after an all too short stay in a great lounge, I proceeded to the gate to board my flight for Bangkok. What stood out for me on this flight was the amazing level of service and quality of meals. Keep in mind that this was a 1 hour and 50 minute flight. This first class service would put all domestic carriers’ transcontinental and even possibly their international first class service to shame. Its just sad the state of our domestic carriers and their lapse from providing excellent service levels. But I digress.

Arriving to a very hot and humid Bangkok, which I believe to be its perpetual state of weather, I collected my luggage (always a very happy moment for the traveler to be reunited with his checked bags) and proceeded to make the long migration to the domestic terminal. At the domestic terminal I checked in for my flight on Thai Airlines to Phuket. This ticket I had purchased separately, it was a business class ticket for about $200. I had a few hours to kill before my flight and spent it at, you guessed it, inside the Thai Airways domestic business class lounge. I took advantage of the free wireless access to catch up on some emails and spent some time chatting with my friend.

he time had finally come for last flight, Bangkok to Phuket. Thankfully this was a rather short 45 minute flight. We had decent service and a small snack, but really that’s all one could expect. Landing in Phuket I thought surely we would be pulling up to some banana hut terminal, like I once experienced at Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic. Instead I was surprised to find a regular concrete structure that was well air-conditioned. Collected my bags once again and headed outside to pick from the throngs of drivers offering their taxi services. I picked one, agreed on the price of 600 Thai Baht (about $15) and off we went on the 40 minute hair raising drive to the Le Meridien Phuket Beach Resort.

By the time I got all settled into my room, it was about 5pm and I decided to go walk about and explore the resort complex, finally settling in at the beachside bar. Happily, serendipitous luck was on my side, as it was buy one get one happy hour with complimentary appetizers. So several pina colladas and some other fruity drinks later I found myself rather relaxed and ready to really enjoy my vacation. On the way back to my suite, it occurred to me to really get into the relaxation mood, I should indulge myself with a professional treatment at the hotel’s spa. Luckily the spa was open until 10pm and I availed myself with a 3.5 hour men’s package. I had a body scrub and polish, Thai sports massage, flower bath and steam and capped it off with a 1 hour men’s facial. It was wonderfully relaxing and rejuvenating and all for about $125. My therapist was a real friendly and pleasant Thai girl named Tik. And no, she did not try to love me a long time – though I did not enquire.

I spent my first day lazing about by the pool and the beach enjoying incredibly fresh and yummy pineapple drinks and soaking up the tropical sun. For the afternoon I headed into Patong, the town nearest to the resort and also one of the places hardest hit by the Tsunami of 2004. From all appearances everything seemed to be back in business with no visual signs of the devastation that occurred. I treated myself to a not so professional massage with a very friendly masseur, but hey, what do you expect when the cost for one hour is 300 Thai Baht (about $7). In my post massage bliss, I took a stroll around town, checking out the various possibilities for restaurants, nightclubs, and souvenir shops. I came upon a DVD vendor and bought several. Some of the titles I picked up included Mission Impossible 3, some other movies just in theaters and not released yet and the 2nd season of Lost which hasn’t finished airing on ABC yet, all for about $3 per disk. Yeah, I know they’re probably pirated, but it's such an amazing bargain and the quality was good and real, I just couldn’t resist. I have no idea how these people manage to get copies of the movies, but its not for me to police them, I’m just the happy consumer. I still pay my fare share at home in the movie theaters and buy full priced DVDs.

So, here I am wrapping up this long travel journal entry at the end of my first day in paradise. The sun is now setting over this idyllic bay with blue green water and surrounding tropical hills. The sky is dotted with puffy white clouds and colored in amazing shades of pink and blue, even the white sand beach is beginning to take on a pink glow from this incredibly beautiful sunset. This is the kind of scenery a person could enjoy every day for the rest of their life and I plan to, at least for the next 4 days.

Till my next journal entry,

Your humble globe trotting friend ;)