CHIANG MAI AND CHIANG RAI – CONTIKI NORTHERN THAILAND TOUR

I have never been to Thailand so when I got the opportunity to explore Northern Thailand I jumped at it. Contiki is usually for travellers between the ages of 18 – 35 year olds but because this was a FAM (Familiarisation) trip the age limit was taken away. We were 15 Americans and 5 South African that met up in Bangkok.I arrived the evening before our trip started so that I wasn’t rushing in and being swept away again. 

Day 1 : Bangkok to Chiang Mai via Overnight Train 

After meeting up with our Contiki Tour leader we were taken by bus to the local train station. This was our first encounter with the monks, they are usually dressed in orange robes and at the train station they are given wooden benches to sit on and everyone else can sit on rows of plastic cover seats or you stand around waiting till departure time, you are not allowed to sit on the ground.

The train is very basic, you have a few carriages and the compartments are first, second and third class. We were travelling in second class. One of the carriages contains the kitchen / restaurant where you can order food or purchase drinks and snacks. Cooked meals can be ordered and are delivered to your compartment. The bathroom is an even more basic affair..And brushing your teeth is quite an experience with the train rocking down the tracks! In the evening seats are converted into bunk beds and you can close the curtains to try get some shut eye. Not always possible with the noise of the train or other passengers but all part of such a different experience none the less.

Day 2 : Chiang Mai

When we arrived at Chiang Mai station we were met by our local guide, Wee Lai whom took us to our bus. What a lady, she had amazing stories to tell and explained on her map where we were and the history of Thailand. We also learnt a lot about the King and Queen of Thailand. We were taken to our hotel and had the morning to ourselves. A few of us with our guide, Wee Lai, decided to explore, so we rented a driver and we went to the Doi Inthanon National Park. Here you can experience beautiful waterfalls and a village that is within the park. Our guide bought some locally grown mushrooms from the locals to take home to cook.  We saw our first rice paddy but it was the wrong time of year as the rice fields are planted for the rainy season. 

We visited the two Chedi’s (A memorial to display their respect and gratefulness to their ancestors) dedicated to the King and Queen for their 60^th birthday anniversaries.

Doi Inthanon is named in honour of the King Inthawichayanon, one of the last kings of Chiang Mai, who was concerned about the forests in the north of Thailand and wanted to preserve them. After his death his remains were placed in the park as he had ordered and the forest was renamed to Doi Inthanon. We took a leisurely walk through the rain forest.

In the evening we had dinner at a local restaurant, some amazing meals were eaten. After dinner we went to the night market. I would recommend this as you can get things a lot cheaper at the Chiang Mai night market than in Bangkok and Chiang Rai.We attended a Lady Boy show at the Chiang Mai local market.  What an experience, dancing and singing by the lady boys, you sing along with the songs, clapping and cheering and have a good laugh.

Day 3: Chiang Mai

We were ready early in the morning as we took part in the ritual of offering alms (food) to the Buddhist monks who make their morning pilgrimage down the Hill of Doi Suthep. These monks usually only eat once a day and can only eat what is given to them on their pilgrimage, luckily over time people pack food and water in separate little packets so that everything isn’t mixed together. Once you offer the food to the monks then they bless you and carry on down the street.

After the offering alms we travelled up the mountain by bus as it would be quiet a walk to see the Wat Phra That Doi Suthep (The golden temple) which is a very holy place for Buddhists. To get to the temple you can either climb the 309 steps or take a tram, most of us decided to climb the stairs, huffing and puffing but the view was worth it.  Here our guide showed us the Buddhists prayer to the temple. In the one photo there is a replica of the Jade Buddha. You also have stunning views of Chiang Mai.

In the afternoon we had some free time to explore the city. Chiang Mai has an old city with a lot of older temples and then the newer side of the city. We had our first ride in a tuk tuk, you first have to negotiate a rate to where you want to go. The Tuk Tuk drivers are slightly, they zoom at fast speeds down the roads and between traffic and you hang on as tightly as possible. Definitely something you should try at least once while in Thailand. We decided to visit Wat Chedi Luang Wora – Viharn which has many different temples, some made of wood and other made of stone, absolutely beautiful. On our way back we also stopped at the Wat Phrasingh temple. Stunning!

For our late afternoon / evening entertainment we were taking to an open air cooking school, set at the foothills of the mountains, among the rice paddies of rural Chiang Mai. We learnt to cook some Thai dishes with Chef Permpoon. We cooked sweet and sour soup, add as much or as little chilly as you like. Then we tried our hand at Pad Thai, nearly singing eye brows as we added the water to the oil which creates big flames. After cooking you get to eat your food you made and it is surprising how filling it was. Excellent evening and highly recommended. Chef Permpoon has a great sense of humour.

Day 4: Chiang Mai to Chiang Rai

We travelled by bus from Chiang Mai top Chiang Rai, Chiang Rai is most northern part of Thailand and usually you travel to Chiang Rai to cross over into Laos.We visited Wat Rong Khun – “ The White Temple” of Chiang Rai. The Wat Rong Khun was designed by Chalermchai Kositpipat, a famous Thai visual artist. To date the temple is not finished. Eventually there will be nine buildings including an ubosot, a hall to enshrine Buddhist relics, a meditation hall, the monks living quarters and an art gallery. The White Temple is very interesting to see as the designer seems to have a fascination with super heroes of modern times. You unfortunately cannot take photos inside the temple but worth a visit and make sure you have time to walk around as a lot to see. 

In the afternoon we visited the Northern Thailand Hill Tribes in Chiang Rai, we saw the Long Neck Karen Village, the Akha village and the Hmong Village. Each village has their own unique culture, religion, language, art and dress. You get to pick up the copper that goes around the long necks of the Karen Village and at each village you can buy touristy merchandise.

That night we went to the Chiang Rai night market which is smaller than the Chiang Mai market but still interesting to walk through. We had supper at the market and if you felt adventurous you could sample some fried worms and crickets. I chickened out.On our way back to the hotel we stopped off at a massage parlour where the girls has a head, neck, shoulder, leg and foot massage. 

Day 5:

We checked out from our hotel and drove to the Chiang Rai airport to catch a flight to Bangkok.

Once we had check in at our hotel we had the day to ourselves. Some people went to the Palace and some of us went shopping for the last gifts to bring home. We hired a tuk tuk and went to the BMK Shopping Centre, also known as Mahboonkrong in Bangkok. I thought we had big shopping centres but BMK Shopping Center has 8 floors and you can get just about any thing and everything you can imagine.

In the evening we experience a thunder storm and a down pour in Bangkok on our way to Kinlom Chomsapan restaurant on the water front. We saw the floating restaurants go up and down the river. Excellent food and great company, good evening had by all.

Day 6:

Our trip ended and everyone flew home but I will be back Thailand, next Thailand adventure is to go experience the islands. (Phuket, Phi Phi, Koh Samui, etc).

The Club Med Experience

Let me start out by saying this. I’m spoilt. It’s a fact I can’t deny. I have been blessed in the way that I have been able to travel to many places over the past 11 years. One of them being Mauritius. 5 times.

So when I got offered the chance to join Club Med on their first ever Travel Agents Festival, I was slightly hesitant. Mauritius again? Well luckily for me, I have an incurable case of Wanderlust, and I really couldn’t pass up the chance to get on a plane and go somewhere. And I am so happy that I did.

The Club Med experience is an experience so different to other hotel groups. 66 years ago when Club Med was created, they set out to become the only truly All Inclusive resorts in the world, and they sure did a great job. The resorts are ever evolving and you can take part in so many activities that you are spoilt for choice.

Just in the 5 night’s that I was at the lovely Club Med La Pointe Aux Canonniers, I learnt how to water ski (Included in the package), kayak, sail and even tried my hand at some archery (Watch out Green Arrow!).  Other activities (and there are too many to name them all) include: Glass Bottom Boat trips, Snorkelling, Tennis, Beach Volleyball and yoga overlooking the ocean.

If you are not the completely adventurous and prefer to relax on the beach or by the pool sipping cocktails, then this type of holiday will suit you just as well. Soak up the beautiful views of the amazing Mauritian Ocean!

And when the sun goes down, that’s when Club Med really comes alive. The G.O’s (Gentil Organisateur) are around all day every day to make sure you enjoy yourself and get the most out of your holiday. They perform a different show every night which is really entertaining and afterwards they make sure they get you on the dance floor. We were lucky enough to experience on of Club Med’s epic Beach Parties. All this ensures that you will never want to go home!

All in all, Club Med is an experience for everyone. Families (The mini club is fantastic!), couples, friends..whoever you may be, there is something for you at Club Med. Beautiful resorts, endless food and cocktails. Make this your holiday today!

I will end off by saying that Club Med has really crept into my heart, but you will need to experience it for yourself to understand the feeling. 

**Club Med has 80 Resorts worldwide including Sun and Ski.

Vietnam Adventures

First on my Bucket List is definitely Croatia, but Vietnam has always been a close second.  However having 2 children I'd basically decided Vietnam was on hold for a few years until they were older as I didn't believe this was a place my kids would enjoy.  Now, having been on an Educational to experience parts of Vietnam I can say they would love Vietnam and all it has to offer and I will definitely return to share this experience with them in the near future.

The highlight of my trip was most definitely the overnight cruise from Halong Bay.  Probably because when you read an article or look at a brochure of Vietnam the most used image is of cruise boats in Halong Bay.  It looks so amazing that you begin to presume they're photo shopped, as nothing can be that beautiful. 16 years ago my hubby and I did a trip to Thailand and the 2 places we really wanted to visit were Phi Phi and James Bond Islands. I have never been as disappointed as I was on arrival at James Bond Island.  Where was the clear blue water that all the brochures depicted?  Had the brochures I'd been selling Thailand from for 10 years been lying to me? (The Internet wasn't as widely used or informative in those days).

Halong Bay 

So we arrived in Halong Bay after a 4 hour bus journey from Hanoi and boarded our boat Indochina Sails and I was immediately impressed. My cabin had a King size bed and a small balcony, a bathroom of marble with a shower and a Jacuzzi bath.  How bad can this trip be?  Even if the sights do disappoint the boat impresses me.  We sit down to lunch as we cruise out the Harbour behind some other boats.  Small rocky outcrops become bigger and suddenly we are surrounded by small mountains.  A set lunch is served and I'm even more impressed.  Hot pumpkin soup in an amazing bowl with a candle that keeps our soup boiling till the last mouthful.  Spring rolls, followed by grilled prawns all exquisitely served.  By this stage the mist is lifting and the scenery gets more and more incredible.  I decide I need a break and venture out of the Air-conditioned Dining Deck to the heat and humidity and to enjoy the scenery alone outside. So I stand at the front of the boat (feeling a bit like Rose in Titanic) while love songs play from the Captains Bridge and I marvel at the incredible scenery around me. The mountains look dark and eerie in the misty overcast weather, the other boats in the distance look like they are being eaten up by the mist and you can almost imagine them never being seen again. This is when I realize that brochures and the Internet do lie as all the photos I've seen show clear blue skies, but somehow this makes my experience so much more special and with tears rolling down my cheeks I realize just how lucky I am to be standing there in this incredible place. 

So after my emotional moment I returned to the Dining Deck to finish lunch before a relaxing massage.  Then it is time for our Bamboo Boat tour around a small fishing village. The people live such a basic life, many aboard a small fishing boat with only a 2x3m shelter from the sun and the rain.  And yet, they are happy and even when they are relocated into villages by the Government the majority all return to the life they knew aboard their boats and for the lucky few they have a small house to shelter in during Monsoon season although many appear to prefer the life on board their boats.  I was amazed at how many small children and dogs there were sitting on the boats or the small decks around the houses.

As the afternoon cools so the sky opens and suddenly a clear blue sky appears and proves the brochures and Internet don't lie.  We sip Cocktails as we watch the Sunset which is breathtakingly beautiful. Then it's time for the Seafood buffet which certainly doesn’t disappoint and then an evening under the stars with friends.  I was up bright and early the next morning to view the sites and have a quick swim at Titov Beach before we had a lovely late breakfast while sailing back.  Our cruise had come to an end far too fast, so my suggestion is to rather book the 2 night cruise if your budget allows. 

Arriving back in Hanoi to the hustle and bustle of many many scooters.  Vietnam has a Population of 90 million and 40 million registered scooters.  I found it fascinating to see a family of 4 all seated together on one scooter, or a builder loaded to maximum with wood or sheets of metal making his way through the traffic.  Crossing a busy road seemed impossible as there are scooters coming at you from all directions, buy our tour guide Ha soon taught us the local way.  Step off the pavement and just walk at a steady pace.  The scooters will manoeuvre around you liked a skilled army doing their marching.  It was totally incredible.  And at no stage during our week there did we ever see any kind of road rage or even irritation towards people, vehicles or busses.  A common form of warning is not the use of indicators but the use of a hooter, which seemed to be continually blown on ever journey we took. 

Meals were never quick and simple, but a lingering lengthy process of many courses enjoyed with great company.  A standard lunch consisted of 6 to 8 courses with dinners being 8 to 12 courses.  Sometimes a few courses were served together and other times the next course would not arrive until the first one was completed.  The meals however were always very tasty with lots of fresh leaves and vegetables to make spring rolls from.  Soup and spring rolls (normally not fried) were offered at each meal.  Many of the courses consisted of Pork with Beef which is a delicacy, always being one of the courses. Only one of our meals allowed us to see the strange things that the Vietnamese people consider their delicacies.  A buffet restaurant frequented by the locals for birthday celebrations was a true eye opener and I must admit that very little was eaten that evening.  Perhaps the biggest reason being we could not identify most of the food although I could see one thing was definitely very small birds which seemed to have been deep fried until crispy and the locals certainly were pushing and shoving to get to that counter. 

A trip to Vietnam would not be complete without a few days in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon).   An afternoon at the Cu Chi Tunnels would not have been the same had we not experienced it in a downpour.  Seeing some of those holes the Vietnamese disappeared into when attacking the American’s seemed impossibly small, now image those tunnels filled with water and the Vietnamese trying to crawl through them.  One particular hole was no bigger than my shoe (and I only take a size 6), but while we were discussing the impossibility of any child let alone a man fitting into it, he appeared lifted the lid and slid down inside replacing the lid covered in leaves so that no hole existed anymore.  A visit to the War Remnants Museum was interesting, but the section dedicated to Agent Orange and all the deformities it caused was very depressing.   A fun day was had by all as we explored My Tho a small town along the Mekong River, even getting to experience a boat ride up a narrow section of the delta.

Cu Chi Tunnels

Overall an absolutely awesome trip to Vietnam ending off with a Business Class flight home on Qatar Airways.   What an amazing end to a really incredible journey.

“HOW NOT TO DO ZIMBABWE”!

Story by Roeleen Cronje

This story took place some years ago but it is still such a warm memory for us that we would like to immortalize it for you (being the “friends of ours” mentioned below), in this gift.

As friends of ours had contacts to book a houseboat on Kariba at a reasonable rate, we decided to take our Christmas holiday break up in Zimbabwe.   We also decided that we would take the opportunity to visit Vic Falls and do a spot of white water rafting as well.

We subsequently found out that if you are planning a trip to Zim, the worst plan of action to take is to ask advice from those who live or lived there.   The locals are singularly ignorant about the benefits of tourist information and the general reaction seems to be amazement that anyone would visit certain places, that these places actually existed or that someone would need to know how to get there!    Only the main arterial roads to either Harare or Bulawayo are known, routes to any other destination are a complete mystery to the inhabitants of Zim.

We duly booked the houseboat at what we thought was a great rate, and as things worked out, we could not get accommodation at Kariba straight off the houseboat, so our bright friends doing the bookings, booked a cottage at Kariba with a gap of four days in between.   These four days they were delighted to tell us would consist of making the trip with the 4 x 4 from Kariba to Vic Falls and back, with a pleasant stay in the Vic Falls area whilst we did our white water rafting stint.

This sounded extremely Camel-adventurish and we relished the opportunity of casually informing all those who might be vaguely interested of our holiday plans.   Everyone was suitably impressed and we embarked on our epic journey.

Our first disaster struck when we arrived at Kariba to find that the houseboat we had booked was NOT! Due to a misunderstanding between the houseboat owners and our friends who did the booking, the boat was not available at all during this time.   So started a frantic hunt for alternative accommodation.   One of the options we had was to buy shares in the local hotel, that’s what their daily rate per person would be tantamount to.   We decided that this option would only be used as a last resort, if you’ll excuse the pun.   We finally managed to convince another houseboat owner that he should take pity on us and let us have the use of his boat for the duration.   He reluctantly agreed, with the condition that two nights would have to be spent in the harbour instead of ‘at sea’ as it were, due to the crew not being available for those 2 days.   In desperation, we took it.

Christmas Day on a houseboat is a very different scenario and certainly recommended if you need to escape the hustle and bustle of an urban Christmas such as one experiences in Gauteng.   This part of the trip was incredible with wonderful game viewing, stunning sunsets and the sense of isolation from modern day technology, such as phones, TV’s and radios.   It was heaven waking up to the call of numerous fish eagles standing on petrified tree stumps duplicated in the mirror image of the calm water!

The second leg of our holiday arrived before we knew it.   Our party consisted of 4 adults, three teenagers and one child of 10.   We piled into the double-cab 4x4, hitched the trailer to this and set off for Victoria Falls with great enthusiasm.   When we turned off the main road at Karoi onto what looked like a fairly decent tar road, we thought this was a breeze.  

Ten kilometers later our illusion was shattered and we spent the next 7 to 8 hours bouncing around on a gravel road that defies description.  This road kinks and winds in such a manner that each tribal chief in the area is assured of frontage onto this road, and in fact, each Chieftain’s house is quaintly sign-posted with his name and a welcome to his house.   We ascertained later that these name signs are in fact bus-stops and that there is a Putco-style bus which careers around in the wilderness – its suspension obviously far superior to the tough 4x4 vehicles designed for this purpose, or perhaps the driver just likes to ride with gay abandon, after all he doesn’t pay an arm and a leg for the bus.  This bus overtook us on more than one occasion.   Naturally, the ‘men’ in our party would not stop and ask the bus-driver if we were on the right road and this caused some friction within the vehicle.

Halfway along this road of hell, a rock bounced up, hit the trailer and came back and smashed through the back window of the 4x4.  This resulted in a suffocating cloud of sand and grit enveloping all the youngsters in the back and we tried all sorts of tricks to try and keep the dust out.   Eventually one of the ‘ladies’ in the party hit on the idea of rigging up a wet towel tied with fishing gut around the door and this worked like a charm.   We were now getting into the swing of things and the city slicker image was fast disappearing, together with the paint of the gravel-blasted trailer; which by the way was just your standard light-weight ‘Vaalie to the Coast” type of trailer but it withstood the road test and did its manufacturers proud.

We reached a stretch of tar at a three-way stop street in the middle of this wilderness and our driver leapt out of the vehicle and, to the amazement of ourselves and some locals standing around, he kissed the road – 500 meters later the anguish on his face was almost laughable as the tar came to an abrupt end and we started off again on the endless gravel and sand nightmare.   The local council’s budget must have run out within minutes of this road project taking off.

We reached Mlbizi (where our Zim friends had booked our Vic Falls stay) totally exhausted, half asphyxiated and too tired to actually be surprised when we found out that Vic Falls was in fact a three hour drive away!   This meant that the next morning we had to leave the hotel at 4am in the morning to get to Vic Falls in time for the white water rafting.   Despite this, the experience of white water rafting on the Zambezi was awesome.  The high level of professionalism shown by the rafting guides was unbelievable and we highly recommend this fantastic day’s entertainment, only slightly spoilt by the 3 hour trek back to the hotel.

Following on the advice of locals (we never learn), we decided to return to the Kariba Wall area via Zambia as this is apparently a tarred road all the way.  Due to major delays at the border post and the fact that one of our party was a British Citizen (Zambians don’t like them), it cost us a fortune for a transit visa which has to be obtained in the middle of the town, not at the border post, and we left much later than anticipated.   To add to our woes, half way to Kariba we encountered the most torrential rain which slowed us further, especially because the ‘tarred’ road consisted of huge potholes which one had to drive into and out of on the other side.   We were further held up by an accident in one of the mountain passes which involved a couple of pantechnicons and we had to wait for the road to be cleared.  The potholes deteriorated into mud holes and the vehicle we were travelling in took a major pounding.    It is one of the few 4x4’s from Gauteng which has actually fulfilled its design purpose and not just been a status symbol.   Hats off to our driver – he could have won the Roof of Africa rally with his driving skills, especially with 7 navigators in the car.

So, to top it all – we missed the border post and now we were sitting in Zambia, without any Zambian kwacha, travelers cheques endorsed “Payable in Zimbabwe” only and some South African Rands.  To our dismay, all the hotels in Zambia only dealt in Cash and this had to be in US Dollars – the age of plastic had not arrived there yet.

We were fortunate to be rescued by a kind soul who saw us beating it up and down the streets in the pouring rain trying to find accommodation as the kids were now saturated in the back of vehicle because of the missing window and being teenagers, starving.  He very kindly took us to a little fishing resort and paid for us in Kwacha and we paid him in Travellers Cheques.   They were wonderful and opened their kitchen at 10 o’clock at night to feed us and we collapsed into the rondavels onto incredibly clean sheets to sleep like the dead, albeit that the spiders were the size of dinner plates and the invasion of 12 inch shongololos trying to escape the rain made it look like a Steven Spielberg movie.  We will always be grateful to this unknown knight who came to our rescue in the depths of what we termed our African despair.

Our final week spent in a cottage on the shores of Lake Kariba was calm, peaceful and fortunately without any major hazards – we did meet up with elephants on the roads at night but they weren’t particularly interested in us, some of our party actually caught tiger fish and the sunsets and sundowners mellowed all the traumas into a rosy haze of memory.   In retrospect, we started laughing about our misadventures.  

But we learnt a hard lesson – if you are going to visit an unknown country in Africa – do a lot of research and then some more – AND DON’T ALWAYS RELY ON THE LOCALS!!!!