Mai Pen Rai Means Never Mind

'Mai Pen Rai' means 'never mind' in the Thai language. It is the only Thai we know, a phrase learned ages ago and used infrequently, serving as a fond reminder of that Southeast Asian country.

During our two-day stay in Bangkok in February we found ourselves using it on several occasions. 

Street scene in Bangkok - portable eatery heading to its set up spot

In fact, it came to mind during our first couple of hours in the country, beginning with the taxi ride from the airport to the hotel. Our driver spoke as much English as we did Thai.  Not a good combination, we decided, as we set off while he was trying to tell us something:

Rooftop restaurant and bar at Marriott Sukhumvit

We were headed to the Marriott Hotel in Sukhumvit (the name of both the street and the neighborhood where this Marriott is located) when the driver, -- by then, speeding down the freeway -- finally got across to us that he needed an actual street address to get us there. 

Our mobile didn't work in Thailand and the one thing I hadn't jotted down on my somewhat anal-but- useful, handwritten list of hotels and flights, confirmation numbers and details, was the street address for this hotel. After all, there is only one Marriott Hotel in Sukhumvit.

Oh, mai pen rai, problem solved when he handed us his phone and a Google search got him the address and Google maps got us there. 

Thai flower garlands - offerings to Buddha

Arriving at the hotel, we had no baht (Thai currency) and the driver didn't take credit cards. We uttered another mai pen rai as the hotel's doorman assured us the front desk would provide payment and simply charge it to our room. It apparently wasn't the first time that travelers have arrived baht-less in Bangkok.

Bangkok Revisited

Our room with a view - Sukhumvit Marriott

Bangkok is where we boarded the cruise ship that took us to other ports of call in Southeast Asia.  It was a perfect departure port as Bangkok is near and dear to our hearts. It was here -- many decades ago -- that we first considered having an expat experience. And for many years our expat daydreams were of a life in Thailand. 

Electric wires drape sidewalks and streets

Bangkok, like New York, is a city that never sleeps.  It's almost 13 million residents fill sleek, modern high rises and mid-century structures that stand side-by-side throughout the city. 

A mix of old and new

Massive numbers of electrical wires droop and drape overhead as pedestrians make their way along congested sidewalks lined with mom-and-pop businesses and eateries that spill out onto the pathways. 

Eateries line the streets

The mix of smells and sounds that assaulted our senses awakened our Thai love affair.   

Street eats across the street from our hotel

As we made our way along neighborhood sidewalks the smells of street food cooking on small portable barbeques combined with the heady aromas of spices and fruits offered for sale. Car exhaust, honking horns, flashing traffic lights, passing bicycles all contributed to the kaleidoscope of sensory experiences to be had just outside the hotel. 

You snooze, you lose on Bangkok streets

  

Rolling on the River

Our two nights in Bangkok were divided between the hotel and the cruise ship. Many cruise lines are now scheduling overnight stops in ports of call, and such was the stop in Bangkok. We boarded the ship on a Sunday afternoon, and we didn't depart until Monday afternoon, which allowed almost another full day of exploration.  

We could see our ship in the distance docked on the Chao Phraya 

We were aboard Oceania's Nautica, a small ship of just over 600 passengers. Because of its small size it was able to dock in the city on Bangkok's Chao Phraya River. It was so close we could see it in the distance from our hotel's rooftop. Large cruise ships - those that carry thousands of passengers -- dock at a port some two hours from Bangkok.

Morning coffee on the Chao Phraya

One of the selling points of cruising for us is our cabin's deck. I had thought there could be nothing better than sipping room service delivered coffee and watching the morning's river activity in Bangkok. But I was to find out that actually being on that deck and traveling down that river toward the Gulf of Thailand was even more fun. 

Tugboats accompanied us just in case we needed them

Our river journey was three hours long and provided one of the best sightseeing opportunities of the trip. We had a flotilla of tugboats escorting us as we made our way to the gulf, ready to assist should our ship have lost power.

River scenes on the Chao Phraya River

The scenes we passed were a series of contrasts.

Our minds wandered and pondered about the purpose of each place and its occupants.

Thai Buddhist temple

The purpose of some places was quite evident, such as this Buddhist temple with a large Buddha gazing towards the river. Thailand has the second largest Buddhist population in the world after China.  

River scenes along the Chai Phraya River

We'd pass rickety, weather-beaten structures barely above the water's surface and seemingly accessed through acres of undeveloped groves. Within minutes we'd be passing a suburb with high rise buildings and a most modern network of highways and bridges.

Modern freeways and bridges contrasted with other river structures

Our journey to the sea was a slow one, beginning in mid-afternoon and ending as Happy Hour was ushering in evening's activities on the ship. 

The Scout and The Scribe - a toast to Thailand

As the sun set, we were entering the Gulf of Thailand. The next morning we'd be arriving in Cambodia. . .and that is where my tale begins next time. . .

We were entering the Gulf of Thailand

As always, thanks for the time you spent with us today. Safe travels to you and yours ~

A Time to Travel

 It is time!  Time to get back in the saddle and do some traveling! 

One thing the Covid years taught us was not to assume we will always be able to travel - even if we can afford it and are healthy enough to do it.  We reminded ourselves often during our lockdown years - when a trip to the grocery store was an event to be celebrated - that we would 'Carpe Diem' and travel far and wide once we were free to do so. 

Maggie doesn't approve of any travel!

But then came another 'lockdown' of sorts for us last year - the kind that comes with residency permit renewal. For 4.5 months we were not allowed to travel beyond our Greek borders while awaiting our new permits.

Hiking local trails, a favorite lockdown activity

Much to our surprise we realized how easy complacency about travel can slow the flow of travel juices. We found that we enjoyed our homelife. We enjoyed hiking around our area. When we could, we enjoyed short jaunts in Greece.

Residency permit lockdown on a Greek ferry passing a cruise ship in Piraeus.

We made our annual journeys back to the States after lockdown eased in both countries. Returning to our home country is allowed during residency renewal. Yet, it didn't count as a travel adventure, the type that affords new experiences and discoveries, though. 

Italy, land of the pizza pies

Even as travel opened up and the red tape and pre-travel testing slowly became travel 'hurdles of the past', we didn't seem inspired to go much further than nearby Italy. And you regulars here, know that the flight time there is under two hours from Athens, so it is like visiting a nearby state in the U.S. Our Greek phone even works there, so it felt even more like a close-to-home getaway.

A few months ago, The Scout decided to put his old travel scouting skills to work. He was researching cruises-- a type of travel in which we used to indulge but haven't given it much thought for a very long time -- when one day he said, 'here's something of interest. . .'  

The dye was cast. And we are set to head out on a true adventure - they type we haven't had for probably seven or eight years. It is the kind of trip that will take us to places in the world we've not yet visited and also back to old favorites.  We will be heading to. . .

Athens to SE Asia

Southeast Asia

In our early years of travel together we visited Asia -- Hong Kong, Malaysia, Thailand, and Singapore -- as annual vacation times from work allowed.  It has been a very long time, literally decades, since we've spent much time in that part of the world, and that could be why the Southeast Asian cruise itinerary called out to us.

Oceania's Nautica

Embarking in Bangkok, Thailand we will set sail on Oceania's Nautica, a small ship of 625 passengers, for ports of call elsewhere in Thailand, Cambodia, Viet Nam and enjoy a few days at sea before disembarking in Singapore.  Our segment will be 10-days long. Other passengers who boarded in India and will depart weeks later in Hong Kong will have logged a dozen weeks on board.

Our routing

We will get to the cruise by flying Turkish Airlines from Athens via Istanbul to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and spend three days there before flying to Bangkok. 

For those of you wondering about the lingering impacts of Covid requirements on travel: we need not test prior to boarding but are required to have proof of vaccination with us. As of this writing none of the countries are requiring testing, but as we all know, that can change on a moment's notice.  

It is now time to activate that travel bug again and yet how unnatural that feels after an extended period of not traveling. But its time. Time to dust off the suitcases, eat some different foods, see new vistas, try new airlines, and force us out of our complacent comfort zone.  It is finally time to 'carpe diem!

The next time you hear from us, we will have new travel adventure tales to tell.  How about you? Have you resumed travel and if so, did it, at first, feel unnatural?  Or are you still giving some thought to travel? If you are enjoying armchair travels, where have books or television taken you?

As always thanks for the time you've spent with us today. Wishes for safe travels to you and yours~

Washington Weekend ~ Apples Found Round-the-World

For the next few weeks our seasonal “Washington Weekend” posts return to TravelnWrite. In them we’ll take you along with us on road trips and ‘staycations’ in the Pacific Northwest’s, Evergreen State. The series begins, however, on the other side of the world. . .

We’d flown to the other side of the world – 11,149 air miles or 17,942 air kilometers – in April to board Oceania’s Nautica in Bangkok, Thailand for a cruise to Istanbul, Turkey.

Back-of-the-seat monitors let you track your travel on Emirates Airlines

By whatever measurement, miles or kilometers, we were a long way from anything Washington State. . .or so we thought, until. . .

. . . we went into a grocery store just down the road from The Peninsula Hotel where we were staying in Bangkok. Grocery stores are among our favorite places to ‘tour’ when traveling because we find local foods interesting.  And sometimes the food isn’t always local, as we found out when we found ourselves standing before a display of Washington State apples.

Apple display - Bangkok, Thailand

Pretty cool, we thought. (If you are new to the blog, you may not know that our childhood and early adult roots are in Washington State apple country; in fact, The Scout’s family were apple orchardists in Chelan. Therefore, the apple holds a special place in our hearts.)

The following week, in Phuket, Thailand, our third port of call, we’d sought shelter from the heat in a large retail complex which housed a large, very modern grocery store. Once again, we happened upon Washington State apples. Quite a selection as a matter of fact:

Washington Apples - Phuket, Thailand

(Although larger, Washington apple display didn’t quite compare with the ‘gift-wrapped’ Asian-grown variety next to them. Of course, by then we were taking ‘ownership’ in these Washington grown fruits and predicted that ‘ours’ probably tasted far better):

Asian apple display - Phuket, Thailand

It wasn’t until we reached India that we really were reminded of the far reaching impact of our state’s apple industry. I have to admit the salesmen at the Mumbai fruit and vegetable market couldn’t get over my fascination with the apples we found for sale. But it seemed there was a Washington State apple box at every turn.

Washington apples were everywhere in the Mumbai market

India, we’ve since learned, was the fifth largest importer of Washington apples in 2013/14 with some 2.3 million boxes shipped there, according to the Washington State Apple Commission. (For those who like stats, Mexico was the largest importer at 10.5 million, followed by Canada, UAE (Dubai) and Taiwan).

The Commission reports that about 30% of the state’s apples are exported to 60 countries in the world!.  We probably could have found them everywhere we stopped, had we taken the time to look!

Apple Country travel is close to Home

Apple orchard above Manson at Lake Chelan

The good news for those of us living in – or those visiting – Washington State is that apple country is easily reached within a few hours drive – no need to fly half-way around the world to find a great apple. Since wine country has co-mingled itself in the state’s orchard country, it is easy to follow Washington’s wine roads and find yourself in the midst of apple country as well. 

Apple orchard Yakima with Mount Adams in background

There are still 175,000 acres of apples grown here, primarily in the eastern foothills of the Cascade Mountains. Apple harvest begins in mid-August and generally ends in early November.
Notice the similarities between the wine region and apple land maps below.




We’ll pay more attention to those apple trees the next time we take a Washington road trip – no telling where in the world we might find ourselves and those apples being harvested the next time!

Again thanks so much for the time you spent with us today.

Have you found a taste of home on your travels? If so, please share the story in the comments below.

Our Magic Carpet lands in Myanmar in our next post. Hope you’ll be here when it does.  We are linking with Mosaic Monday so stop by there if you get a chance!

Until then, thanks to the Washington State Apple Commission for letting us reprint these fun facts about Washington’s apple crop:

 

 

Apple Crop Fun Facts

• 10 - 12 billion apples are handpicked in Washington State each year.
• Each Washington apple is picked by hand. There are no harvest machines to pick apples.
• If you put all of the Washington State apples picked in a year side-by-side, they would circle the earth 29 times.
• About 2,500 known varieties of apples are grown in the United States. More than 7,500 are grown worldwide.
• Last year, the average U.S. consumer ate 19 pounds of fresh apples.
• Red Delicious is the apple variety named as favorite by most consumers.
• Apples are the largest agricultural product grown in Washington State.
• Apples originated in Kazakhstan and were carried east by traders on the Silk Road.
• The only apple native to North America is the crabapple.
• Apple seeds are like people; you will never get the exact same type of apple from a planted seed.
• The Red Delicious apple began life as a chance seedling on an Iowa farm. A chance seedling is a viable apple variety that grows from a seed.

A Room with a View. . .Bangkok’s Chao Phraya River

Bangkok – that sprawling capital city of Thailand – is bisected by the Chao Phraya river – a major waterway teeming with river boat buses, cross river ferries, tour boats, dinner cruise boats, long tail boats and river barges. While the city itself didn’t wrap us under its spell as it did a few decades ago, the river didn’t disappoint.

Bangkok's Chao Phraya River bisects the city

After our stay in the timeshare (Marriott’s Empire Place. . .Buyer Be Aware) we treated ourselves to three nights of over-the-top luxury at The Peninsula Hotel on the river. Once again, The Scout, had found us a great rate using Kayak.com even though our stay was during the city’s popular April celebration, Songkran, the Water Festival; a time the city swells with tourists.

The Peninsula on the right from the terrace of the Mandarin Oriental

The Peninsula is located on the river’s Luxury Triangle as I’ve labeled it. The triangle’s other two points are anchored across the river by the Mandarin Oriental Hotel and The Shangri-La Hotel.

Lobby of the modern Mandarin Oriental, left and historic Oriental lobby - now tea room - on right

“The room isn’t quite ready, sir,” we were told at the reception desk when we showed up in the late morning, “Please come have a seat.” We were lead to a couch and served complimentary coffee while we waited the 30 minutes it took to finish preparing the room.

The Room

It has been a long while since we’ve stayed anywhere nearly this luxurious, the kind of place you could gush over, so, let the gushing begin. . .

Our room - Peninsula Hotel Bangkok

A small entry hall led past a closet/dressing area, directly across from a bathroom, a place large enough for a tub, walk-in shower, private toilet room, and two sinks with marble countertops. And then you entered ‘the room’ which seemed far more like a ‘suite’ to our way of thinking.

Our room with a view

All rooms in the hotel face the river, so our favorite spot – despite the inviting bed and couch -- were the two chairs we lined up at our window; our viewing platform, from where we watched the morning sunrise and the nighttime parade of lighted boats.

Peninsula pampering - Bangkok, Thailand

And then there were the small touches:  an orchid in the ice bucket each time it was refreshed and the all-time first: we’d left the books we were reading on the bed and when we returned the bed had been made, the books returned to exactly where we’d left them but a Peninsula bookmark had been placed to the side of each! (Sorry Kindle users, you probably can’t relate.)

The Setting

Imagine a lush tropical garden – swaying trees, a profusion of blooms, winding pathways to pools and patios. Then imagine heat and humidity so intense it seems to suck your breath away, melting makeup and exploding hairdos. . .combine those and you’ve pretty much got the setting for the hotel.

Melted makeup and exploding hair - in a stunning setting

The three-tiered pool was stunning, but again, it was difficult to spend much time lazing around it because of the April heat.

Three-level pool overlooks the Chao Phraya - Bangkok Peninsula
 

On the River

Free shuttles boats

One of the real treats was being on the Chao Phraya and that was easily accomplished by hopping on one of the hotel’s four shuttle boats – restored rice barges – that make daily round trips between three nearby piers. The other hotels ran similar free shuttles so you could bounce back and forth or from the nearby taxi pier catch a long tail passenger taxi and travel the river in either direction.

The Chao Phraya flows for 231 miles (372 kilometers) from Thailand’s central plains through Bangkok and into the Gulf of Thailand. As it turned out we had one more night, literally on the river, even after we left the hotel. Our ship was docked at a port on the Chao Phraya. After boarding we spent our first night on the river in the Nautica, we began our Magic Carpet ride through the Middle East.

And so the 34-day cruise began

We set sail at 5 a.m. the next day, long before sunrise, en route to our first port of call, Singapore. And that’s when and where our next post begins. Thanks for being with us today and hope you’ll come back soon and bring some travel enthusiast friends with you!  Hello to our July subscribers!  See you soon and until then, Happy Travels!

We are linking up this week with:
Travel Photo Thursday – Budget Traveler’s Sandbox 
Our World Tuesday
Travel Inspiration – Reflections En Route
Mosaic Monday – Lavender Cottage Gardening

Bangkok’s Marriott Empire Place ~ Buyer Be Aware. . .

Note, we said, ‘be aware’ not ‘beware’ of Marriott’s property, The Empire Place, in the heart of Bangkok, Thailand. It is one of the company’s 58 vacation club (timeshare) properties. But it is certainly not like any timeshare we’ve experienced before. . .

Based in Bangkok

With a span of decades between our last trip to Bangkok and boarding our cruise ship there this spring (Oceania Nautica: Our Middle East Magic Carpet Ride) we gave ourselves extra time to explore this capital city of Thailand.  We traded a week that we own at Marriott’s KoOlina in Hawaii for a stay at their Empire Place.

These trades are a benefit of timeshare ownership. By trading within the brand, you know what you are getting. Well, not quite in this case, as we were to learn. . .

Morning traffic Bangkok Thailand

Bangkok is an enormous metropolitan city with a registered population of nearly 7 million people; nearly 15 – 20 million if you include the unregistered immigrants. Even with the size considerations, our first clue that this’ wasn’t your run-of-the-mill timeshare resort’ came when our determined – but somewhat frustrated – taxi driver couldn’t find it.

After a long drive from the airport in early morning commute-hour traffic he pulled into an office complex. There he conferred with a security guard to sent us packing through the neighborhood, a mix of low-rise homes and towering skyscrapers.

Our neighborhood - a mix of old and new

 
Finally we all breathed a sigh of relief when some two hours (yet, only $25 taxi fare) after leaving the airport he pulled up to a towering edifice called, The Empire Place. However. . .there was nothing in the signage indicating it was a Marriott Vacation Club:

Marriott's Empire Place - Bangkok, Thailand

Now, we had researched and knew in advance of our arrival that this particular ‘resort’ is part of a full ownership condominium building. Still, I am not sure we’d fully grasped what that meant. 
We entered a vast – very clean and empty – lobby. There was no reception desk, with its usual line of guests; instead we were directed to a small office to the side of the lobby where the three staff members conferred, flipped through a notebook, and confirmed we were scheduled to stay there.

One of them showed us to our ‘home away from home’. We were to use a security key to access the elevators and our room key to make the elevator work.  In our condo, there were face cloths and a large pitcher of Bale fruit juice (looks and tastes like sweetened ice tea) chilling in the refrigerator – both adding to a refreshing welcome.

For those of you who’ve shied away from timeshares because they are too ‘cookie cutter and all look alike’ – this place is for you. Because it was a real-life condominium, the kind people live in 24/7 and quite a nice one at that – it wasn’t the traditional ‘timeshare’ layout.  We had two-bedrooms, two-baths, large living and dining room, kitchen and a laundry room. Daily maid service was provided at no extra cost (unlike our experiences at other Marriott Vacation Club properties).

Timeshare condo - The Empire Place - Bangkok, Thailand

Our deck off the living room provided city views and from the window in the dining room we overlooked the facility’s swimming pool and tennis courts, (which sat somewhat to the back and over the pool). At 90+ degrees and 90+ humidity – very little use was being made of either the pool or courts in the daytime. There were no snack bars or pool music and only a limited number of lounge chairs. None of the normal resort-angst about saving pool lounges - we counted only 12 the day we strolled through the pool area.

Views from our condo

Settling in to City Life

“The nearest grocery store?” we asked after unpacking the bags. Well, there really wasn’t one anywhere nearby, the staff told us. A small 7-11 convenience store a block away sold beverages and snacks but nothing like staples.

Food cart near The Empire Place- Bangkok, Thailand

Food vendors and their carts lined our street – which made walking more of a ‘turn-sideways and push-your-way-through’ experience in the morning hours when workers were lined up buying food en route to work. We were definitely in a working neighborhood and timed our travel for the non-pedestrian-rush-hour.

View from the Sky Train's screened windows - 'The Scout' on the train

We quickly learned how to use the city’s impressive elevated Sky Train which was an inexpensive, practical way of getting around and made for some great sightseeing. We also searched out grocery stores and ate several meals ‘at home’ which always helps the travel budget. Our favorite was a place called, Gourmet Market, in the basement of the sprawling Siam Paragon shopping center, as it had groceries, take out and, of course, a wine bar where you could sip and nibble.

Gourmet Market at Siam Paragon Shopping Center

This Marriott provides guests an opportunity to experience a real neighborhood; a feel of what it would be like to live there.  But for those who are seeking a ‘resort’ experience, be aware:

* There is no Marriott Marketplace on site.
*There are no bars, restaurants on site. Four blocks away, the Anantara, condo-hotel’s rooftop bar is open to the public. A great place to watch sunset and both drinks and food are served there, so children were welcome.
* The nearest Sky Train/Metro station, Chong Nonsri, is two long blocks from The Empire Place. You’ll need to climb a flight of stairs to access the station. Starbucks and numerous other coffee shops are found on the station’s street level.  Taxis can be summoned by building staff and they are inexpensive.
* The office provided us a printed map, but not the ‘usual’ tip sheets or resource guides for finding local grocery stores and other amenities. We scouted them out on our own.

* Take note Marriott timeshares owners:  this property does not participate in the Marriott rewards program;  you will not earn points nor night credits towards your Elite Membership. (That isn’t explained on any of the Marriott web pages about this place. It is found on the Marriott Rewards page where, rules,  item 11, lists all the Marriott properties that don’t participate in the rewards program.)

Off to the Chao Phraya
The accommodation was clean and comfortable - its major drawback, in our opinion, was its location some distance from that amazing Chao Phraya River that bisects the city. I’ll show you what I mean about amazing next time, when we move on to The Peninsula Hotel, on the riverside.

Thanks for joining us again today. If you are new to the blog, “Welcome! Hope you’ll be a regular here.” We are grateful to you all for the time you spend with us. 

Want more travel articles? Check out the bloggers participating in these linkups:
Travel Photo Thursday – Budget Traveler’s Sandbox 
Our World Tuesday
Travel Inspiration – Reflections En Route
Mosaic Monday – Lavender Cottage Gardening