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Thailand 2021-2022

December 2021 - March 2022
I’ve paid my dues
Time after time
I’ve done my sentence
But committed no crime
And bad mistakes
I’ve made a few
I’ve had my share of sand
Kicked in my face
But I’ve come through” Read more
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  • Thailand 2021-2022
    Day 117

    Two Days in Bangkok

    March 29, 2022 in Thailand ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C

    As is our usual habit when leaving Thailand, we once again spent a couple of nights in a swanky hotel before saying au revoir to the land of smiles. This time around, Brenda booked us into the five-star Lancaster Bangkok at a cost per night less than half the price of a Best Western in Canada. The hotel is equipped with a gym that rivals most health clubs and huge beds that are like sleeping on a cloud. For an extra $6.00 per person/day we enjoyed an all you can eat breakfast comprised of both Western and Asian courses.

    When we spent a night here in December we remarked how quiet the city was compared to our past visits, due of course to the impact of the pandemic on the tourism sector. But now that things are getting back to normal, the chaotic traffic, the crowds and the poor air quality are ramping up to pre-pandemic levels.

    Yesterday, we took a long bus ride through the city to RNG Sports Company to do some shoe shopping. We found this business online and purchased a couple of pairs of Altra running shoes from them when we were in Chiang Mai at prices far below what we would pay in Canada. We both wanted to try on some different shoes before buying them so we made it a point to visit the shop while we were here. It was a very worthwhile trip. Brenda bought a pair of Escalante 2.0 shoes, which are now discontinued, at a cost one third the price of the 2.5 version in Canada. I bought a pair of Lone Peak 4.5 trail runners at a similar discount to the 6.0 version that is now available. We then headed back downtown to hunt for a new pair of sandals for me. My Ecco sandals have seen far better days and I needed something lightweight to bring with me on our next adventure in May. For me, buying shoes in Thailand is particularly challenging. When I ask sales staff if they have a certain shoe in a size 46, they typically look down at my feet, and, amidst their chuckles, manage to say no. After unsuccesfully scouring the major malls in Chiang Mai and Phuket for something to fit my comically large feet, I finally stumbled upon Oofos sandals in a downtown Bangkok mall. They weigh nothing, are wildly comfortable, and actually fit my Sasquatch-like feet. My Ecco's are now in the Lancaster's garbage bin.

    Throughout our four months here, I've often lamented to Brenda that it would be nice to find a fine-dining vegan restaurant. Until Monday, that desire had remained unsatisfied. After successfully completing all our shopping needs, standing on a street corner outside a shopping mall, Brenda Googled nearby vegetarian restaurants and came across Na Aroon, which looked like a good option for us. As it turned out, it was a great option. Housed in a 1940's villa, with teak wood floors and antique artwork on the walls, the restaurant oozes class. The food was exquisite. We started with a beautifully presented selection of Thai appetizers that included fresh spring rolls, fried tofu with peanut sauce and pomelo salad. As a main, we both chose to have one last Khao Soi for the road, which was arguably the best we've ever had....anywhere! And yes, it was pricey for Thailand but, in reality, the cost of the whole meal was less than what it would have cost for one of us at home.

    We elected to walk the 2.5 kms back to the Lancaster and the route brought us to a walkway along one of Bangkok's canals. In all our trips here, this was the first time we've had the pleasure of strolling along one of the flower-lined waterways that runs through the Venice of Asia. Although there are no gondolas here, the canals are used by many commuters who travel from one point to another on water buses.

    On Tuesday we have an appointment to have our noses swabbed for Covid and then we'll taxi out to a hotel near the airport where we'll spend the night in preparation for our 7:00 AM flight to Tokyo.

    As I said to Brenda yesterday, despite the chaos, the crowds, the traffic and the pollution, I love Bangkok's vibe. It's a vibrant city that grabs your attention no matter which way you look. One can find pretty much anything here if you look hard enough, be it the good, the bad, or the ugly. But as much as I enjoy this city, Brenda and I find it best consumed in small, two or three day bites.    Read more

  • Thailand 2021-2022
    Day 114

    Phuket

    March 26, 2022 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

    As the smoky season started in Chiang Mai, Brenda and I reluctantly hightailed it southbound to Thailand's largest island, Phuket. I say reluctantly because we are always saddened to leave Chiang Mai, where we feel so at home. Nonetheless, the air quality becomes so poor in the north that it's hazardous to one’s health, so we were pretty much obliged to depart.

    Of course, most people flock to Phuket for the bright sunshine, the warm emerald-green water and the fine white sandy beaches. Others come for the shadier side of Thailand's nightlife, which is plentiful in the glitzy Patong area.

    But Brenda and I just came to extend our time in Thailand in an area we could continue to run outside without inhaling any toxic air. On the downside, that nice clean air is also swelteringly hot and humid at this time of year. Daily temperatures range from 26° in the morning to 32° in the afternoon. Throw in the humidity and that feels like 31° to 39°! In order to continue our marathon training, we typically went out to run before sunup at 5:30 AM. On our last day here, for my longest run, I was pounding the pavement at 4:20 AM. As a result, we didn’t spend a lot of time outdoors in the daytime. Not that Phuket doesn't have a lot to offer aside from the beaches. One can go white water rafting, jungle trekking, scuba diving, bungee jumping, visit an elephant sanctuary or the Big Buddha located on a hilltop outside of town. Well…..we did none of those things. We were quite content to take in a couple of movies, do some shopping and spend a few hours on three of the beaches, where the sun is so strong, we both got a little burnt after sitting in the shade for two hours.

    The thing we did the most here was eat out… A LOT. Brenda decided to give her personal chef a four-month break from his duties with only the odd bowl of guacamole or chai tea being requested.

    We stayed near Phuket Town, about 10 kms from the beaches, but offering more amenities than the seaside. The old town's heritage buildings reflect the Sino-Portuguese heritage of the city, which is being considered as a Unesco site. Many of these buildings are painted in pretty pastel colours that bring to mind San Francisco's painted ladies.
    In a nutshell, we found Phuket to be considerably more expensive than Chiang Mai, the temperature in March to be too uncomfortable to do anything outdoors and the general vibe to be a little too touristy for our tastes. On the other hand, the beaches are beautiful, there are plenty of vegetarian restaurants for us to eat at, some excellent produce markets to shop in and some decent night markets to browse. The condo we rented backed onto a large park equipped with a running track 4 kms long, which was very convenient for us.
    All in all, it was a nice place to visit, but we wouldn’t want to live here.    Read more

  • Thailand 2021-2022
    Day 93

    Going Bananas

    March 5, 2022 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    In North American supermarkets almost all the bananas sold are the Cavendish variety, a good , hardy and seedless example that we all grew up with. On the rare occasion one will find baby Thai bananas for sale at very high prices, but fhor the most part, when we think banana, we think Cavendish.

    Here in Thailand, it's a completely different story. I did a few Google searches to find out just how many varieties of bananas are grown here, but, depending on the source that number varies wildly. Some claim 20, 28, 50 to ‘over a hundred’ – all with a preferred use. As with apples, some are better eaten raw, some stand out when cooked.

    Visually, some are long and thin, others short and pudgy. Some are bigger than the Cavedish, others are the size of my pinkie finger. Some have a yellow/gold flesh, others are milky white. Some are almost paste-like in texture, others creamy and unctuous.

    Here in Phuket, our accomodations are just around the corner from a market where, over no more than 30 meters, I spotted at least eight different varieties of bananas.

    It looks like we may be seeing more of these different varieties in North America in the future. The Cavendish crop is under attack by Panama Disease, a fungal disease that wiped out the commercial production of the Gros Michel banana in the 1950's. At that time, the Gros Michel was the dominant variety available.

    For now, Brenda and I will get a head start on sampling what may be headed to North American supermarkets somewhere down the road.    Read more

  • Thailand 2021-2022
    Day 89

    Au Revoir Chiang Mai

    March 1, 2022 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    When we booked this winter's getaway, our return flight was to be on March 3, but because of the pandemic, it was cancelled. Brenda and I jumped on the occasion to extend our trip by thirty days. Because the month of March in Chiang Mai is notoriously smokey as a result of farmers burning their fields in preparation for the new crop, we knew we had to had no choice but to spend our extra month elsewhere in Thailand.

    Initially we considered Hua Hin, a coastal town ninety kilometers south of Bangkok where the king has a vacation home. But then we learned that Hua Hin can be just as smokey as Chiang Mai.

    Because we didn't want to spend a month just lying on the beach, we were looking for something more than the bulk of the southern islands have to offer. As it turns out, Phuket fits the bill perfectly. We'll be staying in Phuket Town, a fairly large inland city that offers a variety of markets, malls, cinemas and restaurants and is located about 20-25 minutes from a number of beaches.

    As I sit in the Chiang Mai International Airport awiating our flight south and typing this blog, I feel a sense of melancholy having to leave behind our favourite home away from home. These last ninety days have been filled wiith good food, wonderful weather, old and new friends and plenty of fun times. The city was much different from our previous visits here with many establishments closed and far fewer tourists than in the past (that was a good thing for us, not so much for the Thai people). But as we make our way south, Brenda and I both know that this is not our farewell to Chiang Mai, but rather an au revoir.    Read more

  • Thailand 2021-2022
    Day 88

    Okhajhu

    February 28, 2022 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C

    Our friend Amanda introduced us to a wonderful restaurant, which although not vegan, serves the most amazing salads in the city. All the ingredients are organic and are grown on a farm belonging to the owners.

    You can choose from a selection of a dozen different greens, or opt for the house blend of all twelve as a base. To that, you select five additional toppings: tomatoes, asparagus, grilled mushrooms, beets, carrots, various seeds, seaweed, chickpeas and kidney beans, to name a few. Then you choose your dressing from one of these categories: healthy, creamy, vegan or low oil. On our first visit, we opted for the Japanese sesame dressing, but on our second, we had the to-die-for creamy garlic! Probably not vegan, but worth the sin. You can select more add-ons like grilled veggies, avocado or tofu, etc... at an additonal cost, but the salads are substantial enough without any extras.

    The salad is served in a huge bowl with a generous portion of the chosen dressing on the side. You can also order them to go, in which case they come in a hermetically sealed tub with an envelope of the dressing taped to the top.

    These salads in Canadian restaurants would easily sell for upwards of $12.00 CAD, but here at Ohkajhu, the eat in version is ฿50 ($1.96) and the take-away tub is ฿60 ($2.35).

    Oh yeah, we're really going to miss this place.    Read more

  • Thailand 2021-2022
    Day 84

    Huen Muan Jai

    February 24, 2022 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    It's common knowledge among us vegans that when we go to a restaurant and want to let them know we don't eat meat, we have only to say the word "Jai" and they'll understand. In actual fact, jai is the Thai word for Buddhist vegetarian, a diet that includes egg consumption, but disallows onion and garlic.

    While walking around one day I noticed a signpost pointing the way to a retaurant that is listed in the Michelin guide. Brenda did a little legwork and found it located on a back street just northwest of our condo. It's named Huen Muan Jai, so, because of the name, we figured it would be a treat to go to a Michelin recommended vegetarian restaurant.

    We put it on our to-do list for our final week here and went there for lunch today. We went early because all the reviews say there is usually a long wait list if one arrives after noon. Immediately after Brenda's yoga finished at 11:00, we made our way there and were promptly seated. With great anticipation, we began perusing the menu and....WTF!?!?.... what are all these pork, chicken and fish items doing on a Jai menu? Today's Thai lesson: Jai in a restaurant name does not necesarily mean it's vegan friendly.

    Oh well, we were already here and managed to find four dishes that made us only slightly bad vegans for the day as three of the four contained eggs. Overall the food was very tasty and the service was fast and efficient. But unlike yesterday's bargain basement lunch with the Brown Rice Ladies, these four dishes, two servings of sticky rice and a bottle of water set us back a whopping ฿405 ($15.63 CAD). Very expensive by Thai standards, but less than the price of a plate of Pad Thai in Vancouver.

    So we can now scratch Huen Muan Jai from the to-do list and add it to the "been there, done that and don't need to do it again" column.    Read more

  • Thailand 2021-2022
    Day 83

    Best Deal In Town

    February 23, 2022 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    You can find great deals on delicious Thai food all around Chiang Mai, but it's hard to beat the cheap lunch at the food court in the Kad Suan Kaew shopping mall. Known to the local expats as "The Brown Rice Ladies" these two side-by-side buffet style counters each offer a selection of seven or eight dishes to choose from, some vegan, some vegetarian and some for the carnivores. The selection varies from day to day, but is always offered with a heaping portion of steamed brown rice. The price for rice and two selections from the buffet is ฿30 ($1.18 CAD) and for three selection the cost is ฿40 ($1.58 CAD). Today I was extra hungry and asked for four selections and was still charged only ฿40!

    The total cost of lunch for the two of us today was $2.76 CAD.

    I think we're going to be in for some serious sticker shock when we get home.    Read more

  • Thailand 2021-2022
    Day 74

    I Scream, You Scream...

    February 14, 2022 in Thailand ⋅ 🌙 17 °C

    Since we arrived in Thailand in December, Brenda has been craving some plant-based ice cream. We both remember a stand here in Chiang Mai that we frequented in the past, but to date we've been unable to find it. Thanks Covid.

    Undaunted, Brenda continued to search and, on Sunday she found Chiang Mai Craft Ice Cream, a cremerie that offers one hundred different flavours of ice cream with fifty of them being vegan!

    Choosing which ones to order was a daunting task, but was made slightly easier by eliminating some of the quirkier flavours like fish sauce, durian and salted egg, khao soi, CMU cheese, Japanese pumpkin, wasabi, corn, and avocado wild honey.

    We chose four flavours and were offered a fifth one for free: Ferrero Rocher, mango & sticky rice, macadamia and caramel, young coconut and cappuccino. All were coconut milk based and four of the five were knock-your-socks-off good. The only exception was the mango & sticky rice which, surprisingly, was not very flavorful.

    The five scoops arrived at our table in individual wooden bowls and beautifully presented. The Ferrero Rocher even had gold leaf sprinkled on top to replicate the original's wrapper.

    Upon leaving we vowed to return to sample many more of the available flavours. Fortunately, the shop is a 2.5 km walk from our condo each way and we're only here for another 14 days, so my waistline shouldn't expand too much.    Read more

  • Thailand 2021-2022
    Day 66

    A Crush of Colours

    February 6, 2022 in Thailand ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    "If you think squash is a competitive activity, try flower arranging."
    Alan Bennett

    Each year, Chiang Mai celebrates Thailand's botanical bounty with a flower festival. Always held in February, when flowers seem to be blooming everywhere you look, the festival has been pared down slightly this year because of the pandemic. Typically the event spans seven days and is highlighted by a parade of floats, made up entirely of flowers, through the streets. This year, although the festival lasts only three days and the floats remain parked in one spot, the beauty of the flowers, the vibrant colours and the skill and creativity involved in creating the floats are undiminished.

    Like fine art, when admired from a distance, the floats are vibrantly colorful and typically represent various aspects of Thai culture. But when you look more closely, you realize that the mosaics are made up of individual blooms, that the dragon's scales are made of thinly sliced dried citrus, that the dove's body is covered in sesame seeds and its wing feathers are pumpkin seeds. There must be hundreds of man hours of labour needed to assemble each of these floats.

    The festival also features a potted plant competition that includes bonsai, orchids and other plants that seem to be growing in thin air.

    I'm limited to posting only six photos here, but I have added all the pictures I took during our visit to my Facebook page.    Read more

  • Thailand 2021-2022
    Day 57

    Elephants

    January 28, 2022 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

    Elephants abound in Thai art and culture. You'll find them in carvings, paintings, on clothing, as sculptures, and on bottles of the beloved local beer, "Chang". (Chang is the Thai word for elephant.) They are the national symbol of Thailand and they're admired for their strength, endurance and intelligence.

    According to Buddhist tradition, on the eve of the Buddha's birth, his mother dreamt that she was given a lotus flower by a white elephant. As a result, the white elephant has become associated with royalty and is a symbol of the King. Historically, if a king was angry with someone, as punishment he would begift this person a white elephant Since these animals were considered sacred, the recipient could not put the white elephant to work, give it away, nor cause it any harm. They could only care for the animal, which was an expensive endeavour that could ruin someone financially. Hence the term "white elephant" which according to the Oxford dictionary is "a possession that is useless or troublesome, especially one that is expensive to maintain or difficult to dispose of."

    The Thai people's connection to elephants goes back to the late 1500's when they were used in warfare against the Burmese, Malay and the Khmer. Elephants have been put to work for generations for the purpose of hauling, logging, transporting and farming, and as a result they have been forced to contribute to the destruction of their own natural habitat.

    After logging was banned in 1989, thousands of captive elephants were moved over to the tourism trade as this was the only viable option available. The majority of captive elephants are now used to entertain tourists and/or take them trekking through the jungle. Visitors can play a part in helping to protect Thailand's elephants by choosing to interact with them in an ethical way.

    In 1900, there were at least 100,000 elephants in Thailand. Today, there are only 3,000 to 4,000, and only half of these live in the wild. Sadly, Asian elephants are classified as an endangered species.    Read more

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