Khao Lak, Thailand

So far, this is the best sunset picture I've been able to take. It is from Khao Lak, Thailand just over a week ago. It's notable because (a) it's beautiful and (b) Khao Lak looks nothing like it did about 2-1/2 years ago. This beach, about an hour north of Phuket, was the worst hit in the Asian tsunami of December 2004. You can see the imagery and read more at: http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/thailand/khaolak-imagery.htm.

I've never been to Phuket and the beaches, and I was curious to see what has happened since that terrible tragedy. I read about Khao Lak in Travel and Leisure, where it got rave reviews and assurances that all evidence of tsunamis is long gone. Best of all, the chance of a recurrence any time in like the next 10,000 years is almost nonexistent. So, I felt pretty safe.

Sharon and I stayed at the Le Meridien Resort in Khao Lak, and we loved it! Especially the value and quality of the spa treatments, which I have to say gave the International Big Kahuna of spas, the Mandarin Oriental Dhara Dheva, a run for the prize. We loved the Thai and Asian food, and Sharon especially liked the Bailey's even though they have skimpy pours. (Someone please post to the blog and explain how calories do not count when you are on vacation...)

It's almost true there is no evidence of the tsunami, at least in the resort area. I took a walk down the beach and took a few photos that might provide a clue about what

Notice how you can see the roots on this tree, but it's growing new ones and still alive...
These are not small branches and they are buried many feet deep in the sand.

Here is a honking big tree that has not been removed yet, I think people were busy putting the resorts back together...

Overall, I had a great time in Thailand and consider it my favorite set of stops on the trip - mostly because of the people and natural beauty of the place. Stay tuned for more on Bali soon!

The Adventures of Yard Elf

A lot of people thought when Carolyn was over here a week ago, there were 2 of us on the trip. In fact...there were 3! Meet our friend, Yard Elf. He's the one who guards my mom's yard and keeps away evil spirits, or some western equivalent. And he got to go on the trip of a lifetime!

He flew to Hong Kong on Cathay Pacific Airways, in coach.

He shopped in Stanley Market, met some schoolkids in Hong Kong and rode the Star Ferry.

In Singapore, he visited the Botanical Garden, swam in the pool at Jae's place, hung out with Sammy and Janet, and visited some likely condemned bullfrogs in the Wet Market.

In Chiang Mai, Thailand, he enjoyed good luck charms, courtesy of the staff at the Puripunn Hotel. He rode in a tuk tuk and on an elephant! And, he attended Thai cooking school (he is next to my cutting board in the photo below. No accidents to report).

It was a really hot day in Bangkok but he did get to see some temples.

Then it was time for him to go back to Austin and resume his duties. I miss him a lot and hope he will post to the blog soon.

The International Big Kahuna Of Spas

I'm deviating from my normal routine of weekly posting today, because there is important breaking news to report. I've decided to issue the first official award given by my blog, the International Big Kahuna of Spas.

Simply put, the Big Kahuna Award is the bar by which all other spas in the world should be judged. It is comprised of three "E's" or elements:

Environment - the atmosphere of the spa including cleanliness, unique atmosphere, philosophy and overall aesthetic appeal of the spa

Experience - the quality of the treatment including the therapist, massage oils, music, table, lotions, etc.

End Result - how well the treatment does the job, i,e: do you feel better afterwards etc.

The Mandarin Oriental Dheva Spa in Chiang Mai, Thailand (http://www.mandarinoriental.com/hotel/555000004.asp) scored a "10" on a scale of 1-10 in Carolyn's and my books on all 3 attributes. I've been to a lot of spas, and my 80 minute facial which was part massage/part facial has to be among the best ever experienced. Mandarin also gives each guest an individual spa treatment room for the ultimate in service and comfort. The Dhava Spa is not only about getting pampered, it has a whole being philosophy. As the website says, "Thailand’s first world-class destination spa is unique in both concept and design; created under the auspices of two health specialists and inspired by an ancient Mandalay Palace. The seven tiered roof is representative of the journey we hope you will begin with us, that is the seven steps to nirvana and the attainment of spiritual and physical perfection."

It was a real contrast from my first Asian spa experience of the trip at the TCM MedSpa in Hong Kong, where the cable TV installers seem to have taken up permanent residence in the reception area, and the fish in the fish tank look like they are going to implode.

Naturally, independent experts and auditors are going to have to validate this award. And, Sharon and I still have to produce the Spa Treatment Rating Scale (STRS) which will be used to prove out the future candidates and their worthiness.

P.S. We are in Bangkok now, and saw this great rainbow tonight:

Orchids and Elephants

Some folks have commented that last week’s post was a little gory and maybe poked a bit at Asian medicine, or at least at people who are not really trained to be Asian medics but play them in their daily routine. To end the story, my back is doing much better and no longer has road rash. Mom and I are in Chiang Mai, Thailand on the third stop of the trip. So this week I will address two topics that everyone loves – orchids and elephants.

There is a lot of misconception floating around about orchids. Maybe it is all my misconception but it seems to also afflict some people who run Starbuck’s in Singapore. First, many people don’t know the orchid is the official flower of Singapore. Furthermore, Singapore has a great botanical garden where you can see lots of orchids (for a small fee) and even go running (for free). It’s located right by my friend Jae’s house so I did both while we were staying with her. By the way, she is a great hostess and we had an excellent time!! Anyway, Starbucks is featuring banana drinks as their drink of the month for May, and they had some trivia on their chalkboard stating that orchids and bananas are from the same family. If that’s true, I can’t scare up any information on it. I did learn that the banana is related to the bird of paradise, the city flower of Los Angeles, CA - so maybe someone just got confused (http://www.huntington.org/BotanicalDiv/Posters/Civilization.htm). Perhaps one of you blog enthusiasts with some time on your hands can clear the matter up.

I always thought the orchid was the national flower of Thailand, because like everywhere you go here they give you orchids, and there are a gazillion orchid farms. In fact, the national flower is the ratchaphruek, a yellow cluster-shaped flower which grows by the side of the road. According to the ASEAN organization on National Flowers (http://www.aseansec.org/18203.htm#Thailand), the Thai people regard its yellow hue as the color of Buddhism and the color of glory. We have not seen any because the ratchaphruek is at the tail end of the season, which starts in February. But we will keep looking. We visited an orchid farm in Chiang Mai and saw these amazing orchids pictured here.

Regarding elephants, they are also found here in Chiang Mai as well as a number of other places. This was my second visit to the Chiang Dao Elephant Camp, and I was dismayed to learn that the elephant population here is not doing so well. Most Thai elephants are in captivity and their population has declined to one quarter of its former size in

the last 11 years. In 2007 there is a quite a baby boom going on, which bodes well. We met a 13 month old elephant named Sticky Rice at Chiang Dao, so this must be true. Most babies are at the Royal Elephant Center in Ayutthaya and Lampang's Thai Elephant Conservation Centre. Lampang was the birthplace of the first test tube elephant on March 7. 2007!!

http://www.chiangmai-chiangrai.com/test-tube-jumbo.htmljumbo.html

Wikipedia has a lot to say about elephants. Of course they are mammals, and they are the largest land animals alive today. The elephant's gestation period is 22 months, the longest of any land animal. At birth it is common for an elephant calf to weigh 265 lbs! An elephant may live as long as 70 years, sometimes longer. Elephants are symbols of wisdom in Asian cultures, and are famed for their exceptional memory and high intelligence. We agreed, after seeing the elephant show, where the elephants even paint a picture! We also got to ride up and down a big hill on one, which Mom says was not very comfortable. But she did enjoy feeding her elephant a banana.

Halfway Around the World

A while back, I decided that a good way to decompress as I start my year off would be to leave the country and go halfway around the world for two months. As I've spoken to many friends and family members in the last couple of weeks, a lot of the questions overlap. Therefore, today's post will take the form of a PR Q&A.

Q. Why did you decide to go to southeast Asia, and why are you going at one of the hottest times of the year?
A. The large number of Dell expats currently inhabiting Singapore makes it a great base for Asian travel. Hopefully no one will get sick of me. Regarding the weather, it's summer in Texas so it's not like I'm missing anything.

Q. Are you going by yourself?
A. I will only really be by myself for about 2 days when I travel into Vietnam. My mom, Carolyn, is traveling over with me and will be there for two weeks. Then I'll meet Lisa Howe in Cambodia and Sharon Francia will meet us in Bangkok, Thailand. Sharon and I will spend about a week checking out some spas for quality control. Then it's back to Singapore where I have a couple of weeks of down time. The last frontier is a two week bike trip through Vietnam.

Q. Where are you taking your mom?
A. We will be visiting Hong Kong, Singapore and Thailand. Here is a sample of some of the places we are staying (wicked!):
http://www.lhotelcausewaybayhv.com/intro.php
http://www.puripunn.com/
http://www.lebua.com/
In Singapore, Jae Borgard was nice enough to invite us to stay with her, which will be loads of fun!

Q. That sounds cool. What's next?
A. Lisa and I are going to visit Angkor Wat in Siem Reap, Cambodia. I'm sure there is going to be some eating and drinking too. This place was recommended by Steve and Janet Gluskoter:
http://www.hoteldelapaixangkor.com/
We'll fly back to Bangkok and meet Sharon at the Four Seasons for a couple of days of much needed R&R. We will hear the best four words in the English language, "Welcome to Four Seasons!" Thanks to Randy Huey for suggesting this spot.
http://www.fourseasons.com/bangkok/

Q. We really want to hear about the spas. Where are you going with Sharon, and are there metrics to evaluate the quality of each?
A. We have decided to focus on the Phuket, Thailand and Bali, Indonesia areas because of their status as Spa Capitals of the Universe. We have not developed our metrics yet, but you can be sure we are all over that action item and the results will be the topic of a future post.

http://www.starwoodhotels.com/lemeridien/property/overview/index.html?propertyID=1847
http://www.starwoodhotels.com/luxury/property/overview/index.html?propertyID=277&back=-1

Q. Then you go back to Singapore. What are you going to do for almost two weeks?
A. Luckily, Singapore's national pastimes are shopping and eating, which are two of my favorite things to do. I will catch up with friends and generally do what I do here in Austin - be very busy doing almost nothing.

Q. What about this bike trip? Who's running it and where does it go?
A. The trip is run by World Expeditions, an Aussie outfit. Apparently if you are Australian, you can run a bike trip for about a third as much as if you are an American company. Wicked. I've always wanted to see Vietnam and traveling the country by bike gets rave reviews. We meet in Hanoi (I'll be there for a whole day on my own first, ooooh) and end up on Ho Chi Minh City. To see the detail you can go to http://www.worldexpeditions.com/index.php?section=trips&id=68.

Q. Have you been reading anything in preparation for your visit to Vietnam?
A. I reread Up Country by Nelson DeMille. Great read and well worth all 700 pages, it has some good maps too.

Q. Are you flying business class?
A. Are you crazy? I am not getting a paycheck anymore. This trip is all about coach and budget carriers, which lucky for me are plentiful in southeast Asia.

Q. When do you leave and when will you be back?
A. Wheels up is Monday morning, May 14 and wheels down is late late on July 7.

Adios friends! Please visit the blog often!