Thailand and Vietnam have been on our list to visit for a few years but we have been reticent to even consider them as they are quite exotic and alien to what we are used to and the weather is much too hot to even consider a two to three month stay. Jim came up with the idea of celebrating Sandy’s next birthday by splurging and taking a private bespoke tour to Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and maybe even India. We researched private tour companies and came up with Black Tomato which is based in London. They responded to our initial inquiry immediately and subsequently interviewed us a couple of times about our traveling style, likes, dislikes, activity level and what we were looking for. We mutually decided on a two month time frame and they advised us that we should limit ourselves to Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. They then sent us a detailed itinerary which we tweaked back and forth. After paying them a lot of money, we are now on our way.
Leaving Newport RI in the cold heading for tropical heat and humidity. No more orange mid-sized luggage. Only two carry ons, one backpack and our laptop bag.We have a 10:15pm flight on Qatar Airlines to Doha.Not much of a line for check-in. We checked our two carry-on bags.This is our route from Boston to Doha.We slept eight hours on the plane and landed in Doha at 5pm. You can see the city in the distance.Hamad International Airport, won the award for “Best Airport” 2024.The central atrium and garden of the terminal.Looking out at the garden from the Business Class Lounge.The lounge and the airport seemed very quiet and uncrowded compared to most airports we have been in.The course of our 6 hour flight on to Bangkok.06:50am in Bangkok.This girl met us right off the plane and fast tracked us through immigration.She even hauled our luggage.Our luxury van which took us on the one hour trip through Bangkok rush hour traffic to our hotel. The driver is on the right. They drive on the left side of the road even though they were never colonized by the UK.This is Wanida (Ann) who will be our personal tour guide until we leave Bangkok. She was in the van with us for the hour drive giving us an introduction to Bangkok and Thailand.Front entrance to the hotel. Very subdued and unassuming.This is the lobby of our hotel, The Siam, which is being set up for a wedding tonight.We were seated in the lobby with tropical fruit drinks for check-in. That is the general manager Nick Downing approaching us.Atrium of our three floor hotel building.Our room was on the second floor.We were introduced to the property before being shown to our room.Swimming pool which we won’t use.Hotel’s private dock with a boat which we did use.Library with a movie screening room at the far end which we also used.Finally, our suite.Looking from the bathroom over the bedroom to a sitting area with windows at the end.Bathroom behind the sinks.Since we checked in so early we went for our free breakfast on the waterfront. The Bloody Mary’s were not free and not nearly as good as Jim’s homemade bloody’s..We took another nap after breakfast and moving in. Ann came back at 5:30 for our first tour with her, an evening street food tasting.This is the hotel’s private launch with an air-conditioned lounge.Hotel staff including Nick, the general manager seeing us off.A large University Hospital. The last king died where his picture is on the left. The present king’s picture is in the middle. The king’s pictures are everywhere.So many temples in this Buddhist country.Our second temple picture of 5,380.(an early estimate)Temples to high-rise business district.Amazon in Thailand is not online shopping but more like Starbucks.If we lived in Bangkok for three months this would be Sandy’s go-to store. She has found dollar stores, Euro stores, Pound stores, Yen stores, Shekel stores and now 10 Baht stores, the equivalent of 30 cents US.Entering Bangkok’s Chinatown for street food tasting.
Video of roti preparation.This is plain roti which is essentially fried dough.Fried delicacies.Bamboo worm.Fried cricket, guess who did NOT taste any of those delicacies?This is durian, a large edible fruit which has an intense aroma that some people find pleasant and others find intensely disgusting. Eating durian is banned in many public places as its odor can linger for days. Jim found it to be pleasant and enjoyed the taste. Sandy did not even try it.Chinese dumplings or gyoza. We are quite fond of these, especially steamed rather than fried.
He asked us if we wanted fire and he gave it to us.Who doesn’t like fried calamari? We did not find these at all appetizing.Our last stop was a sit-down Chinese restaurant for more small bites. We then took an electric tuk-tuk from Chinatown to a rooftop bar along the river for a final cocktail.Views of the temple we passed earlier. This is from the rooftop bar.There are a lot of party boats on this river but they have to stop at 10:30pm.
This is day one of our fifty-five day SE Asia tour. We love our first hotel and our first glimpses of Bangkok. Our tour guide Wanida (Ann) and our driver are both very good. Looking forward to many interesting experiences.
[…] Benz and three children were visiting from Bangkok. We spent Sandy’s birthday with them in Bangkok. Geoff and family took the train from Sweden and arrived here about 9pm on July […]
Sandy and Jim – wow you are certainly treating yourselves to a fabulous Far East luxury adventure – good for you! I am also out east. in Japan doing a language course
Sigi xx
Sandy & Jim, You are amazing. The way you are traveling is the way to go, first class all the way. Enjoy. I’m excited for your adventures by & love your blog. Take care,
Debbie
How different and exciting for you! Donna told me you were taking a tour of SE Asia but I don’t realize it it is for 55 days! How exotic! I hope you get to Hoi An in Vietnam. It a great small town near Da Nang and is a World Heritage site. Pleasant travels. Will see you one of these days.
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