Belgians love their french fries (and are the probable originators despite the name), although here they’re called “frites” in the French-speaking part of the country and “friet” in the Dutch-speaking regions. In Antwerp, our not-infrequent home-base, fries are sold at little shops called “frituur”, literally “frying pan.” Traditionally served with mayonnaise, they also come with a variety of toppings beloved by the Belgians.
Recently, there’s a new, upscale arrival on the frituur scene, an upstart from the Netherlands called “Frites Atelier Amsterdam” that’s teamed with Michelin-starred chef Sergio Herman. [Herman, formerly of Oud Sluis, is currently chef at Antwerp’s posh The Jane restaurant.] In addition to three locations in Holland (The Hague, Utrecht and Arnhem), there’s a beautiful little shop Korte Gasthuisstraat 32 in Antwerp. Yesterday, David and I couldn’t resist dropping in for a fresh-from-the-fryer box of crispy goodness. So, of course, I had to share our experience.
First off, the location itself is a gem. On a popular pedestrian street next to the wonderful old Dutch step-roofed building that houses chocolatier Mary and across from renowned bakery Goossens, Frites Atelier Amsterdam occupies a charmingly decorated space. Uniformed “waiters” and “waitresses” greet guests, explain the set-up and take your order.
Then, you wait to hear your name called by the fry chefs behind a back counter. You can choose your own seat at one of several small tables inside or out or take-away your treat.
The “menu” is strictly fries and toppings. A simple box of fries like we opted for costs €3.50 and you’re offered your choice of two out of five homemade sauces available in ceramic self-serve vats: andalouse, classic, basil, bernaise and truffle. In addition to basic fries, there’s a chef’s Seasonal Special (currently an Asian creation with kimchi, crunchy wonton, sriracha, Greek yoghurt, furikake and curry mayonnaise) for €6.50, a Flemish Beef Stew (a take on traditional “stooflees”, beef stewed with brown beer and served at the Atelier with cress and mustard) for €8.75 with mayo, Indo Peanut (peanut crunch of fried onions, peanuts, rempejek and lime zest) for €6.50 with mayo, all three, of course, served over fries. Beer, wine, bottled water and homemade teas are also on offer.
Vats of housemade sauce at Frites Atelier Amsterdam
Our fries came out piping hot and they were very good although I’m not so sure I got anything extra from the vaunted Zeeland potatoes and samphire salt. In truth, what’s not to like about fresh, hot, perfectly fried, skin-on French fries, whatever the variety of potato or salt?
We chose the andalouse and bearnaise sauces and found both to be good, if not particularly remarkable. The andalouse sauce is made with tomatoes and peppers and is mildly spicy. The bearnaise is rich and tasty. In the end, though, we both would have liked plain mayo or ketchup. All in all, it was a fun stop. Service was quick and friendly and the prices fair. Still, we won’t be forsaking our other favorite frituurs for an exclusive future with Frites Atelier Amsterdam.
David and I did our first pet and housesitting gig two and half years ago, in September 2014. We loved it and have done quite a few more, often for the same people (and pets). We’re about to return to Antwerp, Belgium, for our fourth cat and housesit for a wonderful couple who have become friends over the past couple of years. We’ll be in Antwerp for six weeks in a great Dutch-style house with two terrific cats in a neighborhood we love in a city and country we love and love exploring. We know and like the neighbors, as well as our favorite local shops, restaurants and beer bars. Pet and housesitting is a great way to temporarily step into another life and lifestyle and really get to know a place, to be something more than a tourist. You take on responsibilities (that we take very seriously), but you also get a free place to stay and a truly special experience. We love interspersing our own travels with these stays whenever a tempting opportunity presents itself. We often use a housesit to kick off other travels in the region, too. After our upcoming Antwerp stay, we’ll spend a few weeks tooling around the Baltics before flying home. It’s a much easier and cheaper flight from Brussels to Lithuania than anything I could find from the U.S.!
For the pet owner, it’s a great way to let your pets stay in their own familiar surroundings and not subject them to the stress (and potential exposure to illness) of outside boarding. It’s cheaper, too! A home is safer as well when it’s not left vacant. Sometimes housesits are offered even when no pets are involved.
Coming “home” to pets is a bonus to usThese two are sweethearts!
House- and Pet-sitting sites we’ve tried and our conclusions:
There are several sites out there to connect house- and pet-sitters with people looking for them. We’ve subscribed to three: Caretaker Gazette, Housecarers and Trustedhousesitters. (You’ll find a 25% discount for our favorite here.) I received one positive response from Caretaker Gazette–our first foray into this world–, but found most of their listings to be for true caretakers: b&b, small inn, or farm managers or long-term live-in caretakers. [I had major doubts about the Caretaker Gazette after I received an email from a homeowner saying he hadn’t authorized the posting of his ad which he’d placed with another publication. We no longer subscribe and will not again.] Housecarers seems to be a reputable site, but is very heavily Australia-weighted, and I found its web site awkward to use and let the membership lapse.
We have been most happy with Trustedhousesitters.com, based out of England. It has worldwide listings, but the most numerous countries on the site are UK, USA, Canada, France, Australia and New Zealand. While there is still some room for improvement, overall their web site is well thought-out and easy to use. You can search openings without joining, but you’ll only see the newest postings if you join. This is important as competition is fierce for appealing locations. Owners are often swamped with applications. (The woman in Antwerp for whom we pet and housesit told me she got 30-something responses in the first day or so. Your vacation house in the south of France or on a Caribbean beach or your posh flat in London will be swamped with people wanting to pamper your house and pets.)
Creating your pet and housesitting profile:
Once you’ve paid your dues, create a profile introducing yourself and your relevant experience. Even if you’ve never been a house- and/or pet-sitter before, you’ve got experience if you’ve owned or cared for pets (or farm animals), been a homeowner, gardener, tended a swimming pool, etc. Be sure to post photos and any references. If you’re just starting out as a pet and housesitter, use other character references. We used the Executive Director of a charitable board I served on and a former law partner of David’s. We’d already had background checks done for our French resident visas, but you can get them done via Trustedhousesitters for added reassurance.
View of the Willamette River from the balcony of our first pet and housesit in Oregon
Getting your first gig:
Because it can be so competitive, you may want to start with something that might not be so high-demand. It doesn’t hurt to shoot for a week in Paris your first time out, but you might have more luck with something closer to home. Once you get a housesit under your belt and a (hopefully) positive review, you’ve got experience to bring to your next housesit and a budding resumé. Look, too, for listings where you might have an edge up. Our first pet and housesit was for a wonderful Oregon professor who was heading to an annual stay in Paris. My years as a Paris ex-pat caught her eye and our love of Paris is something we have in common. It didn’t hurt that she has two cats and David did years of cat rescue. People with horses will look for people with horse experience. Foreign language skills can come in handy; so can gardening and horticulture skills. I once saw a couple looking for someone with aquaculture experience. You get the idea. It also pays to scan the site frequently and jump on any new listings that appeal to you. If you’re the first to respond, you’re ahead of the game. The site has recently upgraded so you can see how many people have applied already. That’s a useful tool.
Owners will email and call to get to know you. Usually, they want to Skype, FaceTime, etc. It’s normal for them to interview several candidates before making a selection, although we’ve had them just say “yes” on the spot.
David cooking with cat in Oregon…and cooking with cats in Belgium. He’s a popular guy!
Your responsibilities as a pet and housesitter:
Being a pet and housesitter isn’t just a free hotel somewhere. You’re staying in someone’s home and caring for a beloved pet. You’re there to take care of both. You should provide not only the basics for the pet(s)–food, water, exercise and “bathroom” needs–but also companionship and affection. If a medical issue arises, be prepared to take the animal to the vet. If unsure whether the condition merits veterinary attention, contact the owner if possible to find out their preference.
We pride ourselves on leaving the house as clean or cleaner than when we arrive. I like to keep any flower beds or flower boxes weeded and tidy, too, and will happily plant a few things, as well. Usually, the owner invites us to eat anything perishable in the fridge, but clarify that along with what spices, etc. are up for grabs. If we finish off something that would otherwise have been usable on the owners’ return, we replace it. Often, I set aside things that might get broken or spilled on (especially in the kitchen). I take photos of where items are when we arrive and try to put everything back just as it was when we leave. If there’s time prior to departure, we launder the sheets and towels. If there’s no time because of a quick hand-off (due to flights, etc.), we ask what the owners would like done. We offer to pick up groceries for the owners’ arrival and have cooked a welcome-home dinner on occasion. Just imagine what you’d expect and appreciate if it were your home and pet and do that. Get emergency contact numbers: for family, neighbors, vets, plumbers. Find out where the fuse box is and ask about any appliance quirks, etc.
Sharing my morning routine with one of our charges
Who usually pays for what:
For most pet and housesits, the lodging and utilities are free to the sitter. For some longer-term (multi-month) sits, the owner might ask the sitter to pay something towards utilities. Travel expenses are borne by the sitter. If private transportation is required, some owners offer the use of a car, but many do not so a rent car may be necessary in some locations. Factor in the costs before you commit to a housesit.
Staying long-term creates more opportunities to see local events
Things to think about:
We’ve only dealt with very nice, easy-to-work-with homeowners. Still, it’s only smart to do a little research. Read reviews. (They work both ways: owners review sitters and vice versa.) Use Google Earth to check out neighborhoods. Ask questions. You don’t necessarily need a contract (and I was an attorney by profession), but it never hurts to spell out your understanding in an email. At the very least talk about anything that might give rise to a misunderstanding before you accept the housesit. Trustedhousesitter does offer a housesitter agreement form, but it’s not intended to be a legal document.
When pets are involved, be sure you’re really up to the task. If you’re not comfortable with big dogs or horses, for example, don’t let a luxurious house or a dreamed-of locale tempt you beyond your capacity. Some pets require a lot more in-person time than others; think of a goldfish vs. a puppy. Be sure you can make the time commitment, and don’t expect to be as free as you would be on a self-paid vacation.
We fell in love with this big sweetie!
Once you commit to being a housesitter, nothing short of serious medical problems or death should keep you from showing up. Someone else is now counting on you to make their travel plans work, so don’t accept a housesit unless you’re 100% committed. The same applies if you’re an owner; your housesitter may be out pricey plane tickets and other expenses if you back out. The relationship depends on trust.
A 25% discount!
If you’re interested in giving Trustedhousesitters a try, you can use my referral link for a 25% discount. I’d really appreciate it since I’ll get an extension on my membership, too. Thank you in advance to anyone who uses the link!
A quick update on how long it took for miles (AAdvantage miles via Fidelity promo) and points (Ultimate Rewards via Chase Sapphire Reserve bonus) to post:
Chase: Applied for the Sapphire Reserve card on Thursday 11/17; got card on Tuesday 11/22; met spend by 12/7 December statement close date. 100,000 Ultimate Rewards bonus points appeared in my account on Sunday 12/18, BEFORE I had paid the statement balance which is not due until January. Wow.
Fidelity: I made deposit to Fidelity on 12/5; miles appeared in my AAdvantage account on 12/18. 13 days. Not bad at all!
The day David and I landed from our 2.5 months in Asia, we headed to our local Chase branch and each applied for the new Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card. The Chase Sapphire has lots of perks, including a huge 100,000 point initial bonus, a $300/calendar year travel rebate, and 3x Ultimate Reward points for all travel expenses and dining. We’d really wanted to get the Sapphire Reserve card before we left on our Asia trip, but it had just launched and was so popular that there was a delay that made it impossible to get before we left. Getting these cards was high on our to-do list when we got back to the States. Happily, Chase had worked through the backlog while we were gone. We were both approved on Thursday and received our new cards the next Tuesday (November 22,2016). [Chase has recently announced a 5-card limit on applications within a 2 year period. When rumors of a new Chase premium card surfaced online, we were careful to hold a spot open for Reserve. I’m so glad. It would have been excruciating to miss this offer!]
The Sapphire Reserve is a premium card with a high annual fee ($450), but its perks more than make up the cost. One of the most enticing aspects for those of us who travel a lot is an annual $300 credit on ANY travel. (A bigger and much more useful credit than the $200 I get on my AmEx Platinum that is limited to certain expenses–not tickets–on one airline of my choice.) Given that we easily spend $300 a year on travel, the annual fee is instantly reduced for us to $150. Moreover, the travel rebate is per calendar year (which means the travel charges must show on the December statement to be included in that calendar year) so we could get $600 in travel rebates apiece in the first 13 months if we moved quickly.
Since we wanted to get maximum travel rebates by spending $300 each in the rapidly-dwindling 2016 calendar year, we knew timing would be tricky. I called to confirm when our first statement closed in December and found mine was December 7th. David’s was even earlier. Not much time! We got busy (and creative*) and charged enough to get the full $300 each before our statements closed in December…meaning we’ll have yet another $300 credit in 2017. ‘Not bad at all for a card that comes with a whopping 100,000 point bonus after $4000 spend in the first 3 months.
Ultimate Reward points are one of the most useful and valuable points out there and I regularly see them valued at 1.7 to 2.1 cents, which gives the bonus points a value of $1700-$2100 if redeemed for travel. If you’ll remember, we used 95,000 points each for our Korean Air First Class tickets from Bangkok to Seoul to Dallas. By that measure, the points are worth substantially more ($6500+ apiece for those tickets). Chase also offers cash redemption at a rate of 1 cent/point so you could get $1000 cash for your points if you’re not into travel. Alternatively, the Sapphire Reserve card lets you redeem through the Ultimate Rewards travel portal at a 1.5 multiplier, giving you $1500 to spend on travel. This can make sense over transferring miles when things like timing (e.g., when award flights aren’t available) or earning more miles via an airline are an issue. [If we didn’t want to keep our Sapphire Reserve cards, we could conceivably cancel after receiving and using or transferring our bonus points and be paid a not-insubstantial amount for using the card! I’m not a fan of this kind of bonus chasing, though, and you risk getting flagged and closed out by the credit card company.]
I know $4000 is a lot of spend, but there are ways to do it if that’s beyond your normal: prepaying things like insurance is one easy way. (Unfortunately, a veterinary medical crisis followed by an expensive car repair made my spend much “easier” and quicker than I’d planned. Happily, my dog made a full and speedy recovery!)
Other benefits of the Sapphire Reserve include Priority Pass Select (which we already get via AmEx Platinum) and Global Entry (which we also already have as a benefit of both AmEx Platinum and Citi Aadvantage Executive World Elite MasterCard). These overlapping benefits are yet another reason I’m considering cancelling my AmEx Platinum after all these years. When Platinum lost Admiral’s Club access, its major benefit was gone as far as I’m concerned. I’ve never found a “free” partner plane ticket that worked out cheaper than what I could find two tickets for on my own for. Hotel chain upgrades are nice, but just not something we use much. We did have a fantastic getaway to The Plaza in NYC and enjoyed the many perks of Platinum Fine Hotels & Resorts (free breakfast, bar and spa credit, room upgrade, late check-out), but it was still an expensive short trip and it’s just not something we do often enough to care…and there are similar benefits with Sapphire Reserve. The AmEx card offers I load onto our cards haven’t been of much use to us recently either. (Valuable offers like an awesome $50 per card deal on AirBnB a year or so ago, cash back on spends at small businesses, and cash rebates at Whole Foods have given way to 2x points offers and rebates requiring large spends at stores we don’t frequent.) Just recently, AmEx Platinum has offered 5x points on flights and related expenses booked directly with airlines or through their travel company. That’s more interesting, but not decisive standing alone. The main benefit to Platinum that I would seriously miss is the Centurion Club. Not $450 worth, but damn, Centurion is a nice lounge. Unfortunately, there just aren’t that many Centurion Clubs. We’re lucky to have a Centurion Club at DFW’s Terminal D which we usually fly out of for our not-infrequent overseas flights. The Admiral’s Club full membership (also available to authorized cardholders for free, i.e., my sons) that comes with the Citi MasterCard is more often useful to us.
NOTE: (1) I got the Chase Sapphire Preferred card this past summer and was really happy with it until the Reserve came out. I was able to apply for the Reserve as a new card, so I get not only the 55,000 point bonus for the Preferred (50k + 5k for adding my college-age son), but am also eligible for the 100,000 point bonus for the Reserve. DO NOT upgrade your Preferred. Apply for a new card or you’ll miss the 100,000 point bonus. (2) It’s fine to cancel or downgrade the Preferred once you get the Reserve, if you have it, but you MUST TRANSFER your Ultimate Rewards points from your Preferred to your Reserve card before you cancel the Preferred or you will lose your points. It’s easy to transfer online; just click on the Ultimate Rewards box, then follow the links to transfer.
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*About that being creative with the travel spending: With so little time and no plans to travel prior to the first week in December (We did just get back, after all!), we needed to find some way to get that $300 travel rebate we each had coming. We have reservations on British Airways to Belgium and back in March and May (for which I’d used BA miles and a free companion pass I earned with my BA AmEx). I could only find Business Class availability on the trip over, so we were booked Economy on the way back. We did want exit row seats on that flight, but I’d not yet ponied up the (ridiculously-high) charge. Voila! I charged the exit row seat selections to my Sapphire Reserve. For the balance, I found I was able to gift David with an American Airlines electronic gift card and an AirBnB gift card, both of which were instantly rebated when the charges posted. (Charges take about 3 days to move from “pending” to posted.) American is the airline we use most, so we’ll have no problem using that gift card. The AirBnB gift card will be easy to use as well, probably in April or May in France. We are avid AirBnBers, having stayed in AirBnB apartments in 11 countries on 3 continents in this year alone. By happy coincidence, my mother needed to make a quick trip to Corpus Christi for a friend’s birthday. She let David charge her plane ticket to his card. She paid him back, and his $300 spend was done for the calendar year, too. As an extra perk, these travel expenditures count towards our $4000 initial spend and also garner us 3x the points as well. Thank you, Chase!
The above reflects my personal experience and understanding. If you’re interested in learning more, read the details of the benefits and restrictions of the Chase Sapphire Reserve card and/or apply at:https://creditcards.chase.com/a1/sapphire/reserve
If you’ve got some money to move around, Fidelity has a great American Airlines AAdvantage mile offer for both new and existing customers that’s good through December 31, 2016. To qualify, you need to deposit funds into a non-retirement account. A maximum bonus of 50,000 miles is offered for deposits of $100,000 or more. A bonus of 25,000 miles is offered for deposits of $50,000-$100,000, and a bonus of 15,000 miles is offered for deposits of $25,000 or more. You MUST REGISTER BEFORE making the deposit to qualify.
I’ve gotten his bonus before, so there’s a good chance it will repeat in the future as well. I’ve also seen Delta miles offered, so keep an eye out for those if they suit you better. There’s a minimum time you need to keep the funds (or stocks) in the account.
Setting up for dinner service on the Seoul to Dallas leg of our journey home via Korean Air first class
We love playing the credit card miles and points game and are always on the lookout for an exceptional bonus or a great redemption deal. We charge everything to credit cards–every little bit adds up, but we ALWAYS pay in full at the end of the month. I emphasize the “always” because I encourage everyone to take advantage of the great freebies to be had by using credit cards, but only so long as you never charge more than you can pay at the end of the month. If you can’t afford to pay in cash, don’t charge it to a card. Period. Interest rates eat people alive and can cost way more than any perk you might get from accumulated points. That warning aside, here’s how we paid for two first class flights (one 5 hours long and one 12 hours long) with credit card points.
For 190,000 Korean Air miles plus $409.54 in taxes and fees (95,000 points and $204.77 each), I booked our two one-way first class flights from Bangkok via Seoul to Dallas. I booked the flights as one trip, Bangkok to Dallas, even though Korean Air does not offer a direct flight for this route. This saved 60,000 miles over booking the trip as two separate flights (Bangkok-to-Seoul and Seoul-to-Dallas). Given the 1.5-hour taxi ride during rush hour in Bangkok, security at both Bangkok and Seoul and a 6-hour layover in Seoul, we traveled 27 hours to get home. First class elevated the experience from excruciating to pleasurable and was a great use of our points.
When I’d first decided that Bangkok would be our departure city for our final flight home, I did an initial search to determine which airlines flew out of there to Dallas. I preferred an Asian airline to wind up our extended Asian trip so focused on those. With a working knowledge of which airlines I could book with points we had and which airline had the best redemption rates, it was easy to choose Korean Air, an airline whose first class product I’d had my eye on for a while anyway. Korean Air is known for good award availability and decent redemption rates. A quick search on their website confirmed that reputation.
The first step, after finding available award flights that fit our plans (and creating Korean Air Skypass accounts), was to link David’s and my Skypass accounts. Korean Air allows families to pool miles, but they do require husbands and wives to provide a marriage certificate. We scanned ours and emailed it and soon we could see on the Korean Air website that our accounts were linked. In addition to great award availability, Korean Air has very generous free hold options, so I put our chosen flights on hold while David and I moved the necessary miles. I put in 60,000 Starwood points which, with their standard 25% transfer bonus, credited as 75,000 Korean Air miles. 30,000 of those points went to purchase two one-way economy class tickets from Seoul to Shanghai in October. The remaining 45,000 was applied to the first class tickets from Bangkok home. For years now American Express Starwood card has been my go-to card, although others get primary usage for awhile if I’m trying to meet a spend for a specific bonus, get extra points or benefits at a hotel or airline linked to a card, etc. I find Starwood points to be very useful and versatile, much more so than AmEx’s Membership Miles which I’ve found decreasingly good value for over the twenty years or so I’ve had my formerly-preferred Platinum AmEx. [With the benefits greatly reduced in recent years and other premium cards offering more, I’m seriously considering cancelling my Platinum card. More about that in a future post.]
David transferred 145,000 Ultimate Rewards points that he’d accumulated with his Chase Ink business card. Those points came from a sign-up bonus and from using bonus points offers on that card wisely: The card pays 3x points for purchases at Office Depot/OfficeMax and we buy fee-free gift cards there for gas, groceries, Amazon and much more to take advantage of the extra points.
Once the miles were in our Korean Air account, we had to print out an award redemption form, sign it and email the form and copies of our driver’s licenses to Korean Air. Korean Air is a little different to deal with than other airlines in things like this and and requiring a copy of marriage licenses. They also frequently ask to call you back when you telephone them rather than just take your call. But, they do call back as promised, and I’ve found them to be helpful and easy to deal with. There may be some slight language issues from time to time, but speaking slowly and clearly usually solves any problem.
Lounges are less than impressive at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport. With our Korean Air first class tickets, we got access to the “first class” upper floor of Louis’ Tavern CIP First Class Lounge. Nothing to write home about. (We also had access to the main floor via our Priority Passes.)
We had a slight disappointment on our 5-hour flight from Bangkok to Seoul several weeks before departure when I received an email saying the plane had been downgraded so that our first class seats were now “Sleeper” seats rather than the Kosmo Suites we’d originally booked. On board, this turned out not to be a problem. The seats reclined to a virtually flat state, were wide and comfortable and David and I liked being able to sit next to each other. (The contained pod configuration of many first class seats leaves us isolated, especially since we both like window seats.)
Appetizer on the Bangkok to Seoul leg of our trip home: mango and smoked salmon with seared ahi tuna
We were the only first class passengers on the 9:45pm flight, so received extra-attentive service. The food turned out to be excellent as well. I was impressed that they managed to turn out moist, perfectly-cooked shrimp with airplane facilities. After dinner, we stretched out and slept well for a couple of hours or so before landing.
Pan-seared prawns with saffron sauce served with mashed potato and vegetables
Surprisingly, our flight attendants knew nothing about Korean Air’s first class lounge in its home base, Seoul. They checked on the Internet when we landed at 5am and informed us that the lounge was closed until 5am. So, we headed to the Asiana Lounge, the only Priority Pass lounge open at that hour. Although the Asiana Lounge is nice, the closest it has to sleeper chairs are 4 or 5 chairs with ottomans in semi-private, slat-walled cubicles. David and I staked out a couple of those. The food laid out looked good and varied, but I wasn’t hungry. I wandered down to the Korean Air first class lounge when it opened, but finding no better chairs than what we had and less of a food choice, we opted to stay at the Asiana lounge. I’d read mediocre reviews of the Korean Air lounge online–and lots of calls for them to up their game–so wasn’t surprised. The only perk that I’d meant to take advantage of but didn’t was a free engraved metal luggage tag that the Korean Air first class lounge will do while you wait. Oh well.
Time actually passed relatively quickly in Seoul before we were on our final flight. Our plane was equipped with Korean Air’s Kosmo Suites. They’ve got a newer, even more private, product called Kosmo Suites 2.0 that I’d like to try sometime although, if anything, I was feeling a little too isolated from David. The first class cabin was set up in two rows of a 1-2-1 configuration and we’d chosen the two window seats on the left side. Two other first class passengers took the two window seats on the far side. The four seats in the middle were empty. Our flight attendants were more than happy to set up my meals in the aisle seat across from David, so that solved my lonely dinner issues.
Happy as a clam with my dinner set up across the aisle from David
Dinner was a truly enjoyable 8-course affair. I won’t bore you with too much detail, but will hit on some highlights just to emphasize the pay-off for playing the miles and points game: We chose Perrier-Jouët Belle Epoque 2007 (a $160-170 bottle) to accompany the first courses. The Perrier-Jouët pink champagne served on our earlier flight was good; this was something special! A tiny goblet of prawns and berry gelée served as an amuse bouche, followed by lobster medallion, king crab salad and roquefort in roasted pepper.
King crab salad, lobster medallion & roquefort in roasted pepper
Other courses included a salad made table-side and a roasted red pepper soup.
Salad made table-side…a far cry from the limp, peel-back-the-plastic-wrap type served in back!
I don’t usually choose beef as a main course, but the red wine selections were so good, I based my dinner around the wine. A Vosne-Romanée, one of my favorite Burgundian wines caught my eye immediately. The Korean Air offering was delicious…but then there was that $100 bottle of 2007 St-Emilion Grand Cru. I had to have both. Of course!
My main course: grilled beef tenderloin with meaux mustard sauce served with baby pumpkin mash, bell pepper timbale, oven-dried onion rings and dried cherry tomato
David opted for the seared black cod which was beautifully presented, wrapped in thin slices of white yam.
David’s main course: Seared black cod covered with yam served with yellow paprika sauce, potato tower with ginko nut, fava beans and dried cherry tomato
Dessert included both a delightfully tart lemon tarte and excellent cheeses, with quality aged port and cognac.
Lemon tart with ultra-rich vanilla ice cream
Full and sleepy after our feast, I returned to my original seat where the attendants had made up my bed with a thick feather-bed-style “mattress,” duvet and nearly full-sized pillow. Comfy in the soft cotton jammies provided by Korean Air, I snuggled under the duvet, stretched at full length with one arm flung over my head and still not touching either end of my pod. Heaven!
I slept well, but was awakened when I became too warm. A word to an attendant, and things were cooled off again. My only criticism would be that the usual dryness of air travel seemed magnified. I wish airlines would do more to try to humidify their cabins, although I confess to total ignorance as to what that might entail in the way of equipment, extra water weight, etc. Korean Air did give us small misting bottles of water just prior to take-off and I did make use of that, gratefully breathing in the refreshing mist. We also received Davi amenity kits with wine and grape-based products from a California company founded by one of the Mondavi family.
Davi amenity kit
Another light meal was served before landing. We opted for the free range chicken from South Korea’s Jeju Island, fruit and cappuccino. I can’t say we weren’t tired and jet-lagged when we landed, but it wasn’t bad at all, especially given the 11-hour time difference between Bangkok and Dallas. We’d had a fantastic experience and Korean Air provided a great end to our 2 1/2 month Asian adventure. I can’t imagine the misery we would have been in if we’d flown sitting up in the back…and the money we’d have spent if we’d paid cash for first class luxury. Hooray for miles and points!
We left the condo at 7:15am on the day we chose to visit the top site in Bangkok, the Grand Palace. Everything I’d read said to get there at least 15 minutes prior to the 8:30am opening time to avoid crowds and to beat the worst of the heat. We arrived at our neighborhood Sathorn Pier just in time to catch a commuter boat to the Tha Chang pier which is the Grand Palace stop. Since everything went so smoothly, we arrived much earlier than we’d planned, exiting the covered market that abuts the Tha Chang pier at 7:45am. Although we had more time than we needed, it turned out to be an interesting experience to be there so early.
On the morning commuter boat to Tha Chang: River plants and left-overs from the previous night’s Loi Krathong floating offeringsJust off the Tha Chang pier: A monk blessing those who gave him morning alms
Instead of going straight to the main entrance, we turned right along the same path we’d followed the previous day to see if free water was still on offer (provided for mourners traveling to the capitol to pay their respects, but also offered to tourists and other visitors). We were running low on water at the condo and planned to pick some up after our palace visit. Sure enough, the tables were still set up and food and water already on offer. We accepted a cold bottle for the day’s tour, then headed back to make our way to the main palace gate.
Contents of a free boxed lunch we were given near the Grand Palace: rice, fried chicken, and larb gai (a minced chicken salad)
The street in front of the palace is closed off to all but official traffic and security check points set up. After passing through scanner stations and metal detectors, we walked nearly a block to reach the main gate where white-uniformed guards stood watch. A few tourists had already gathered and more trickled in as we waited. Still, it wasn’t too a large crowd and boded well for our visit.
Tourists waiting for the Grand Palace to open
Soldiers formed rows just inside the gate and eventually two marched in a sort of goose-step towards the two guards at their posts outside. We watched as they performed a changing-of-the-guard routine that included a prolonged adjusting of the new guard’s uniforms by the retiring guards. Collars were straightened, hems of jackets tugged, epaulettes adjusted.
Changing of the guard begins
Soon after the changing of the guard, the first of many waves of mourners were led through the main gate. They all wore black and many carried photographs of the recently-deceased King Bhumibol Adulyadej clutched to their chests. The king was much-loved by his people and they have poured into the capitol to pay their respects. I read that visitors to the Grand Palace are being limited to 10,000 per day. The mourners we saw all wore name tags, presumably related to this limit and part of an organization system going on somewhere out of our sight.
Mourners dresssed in black entering the Grand Palace main gate, many holding photos of His Majesty King Bhumibol AdulyadejYet another huge wave of mourners being led into a side gate of the Grand Palace
It was incredibly touching to see the real grief displayed by the Thai people. All over Thailand, we encountered large tributes and displays of photographs of the long-reigning kind. The photos depicted him at seemingly every stage of his life: young man, avid photographer, in middle- and old-age, playing his saxophone, in full royal regalia, visiting a memorial with sweat dripping from his nose, in military uniform comforting a hospital patient and on and on. Black and white bunting draped walls and buildings everywhere. Black clothes are de rigeur now for Thais and are prominently on display in clothing shops and stalls. If a work or military uniform is not black, people wear black arm bands or black ribbons pinned to their shirts and dresses. Videos played on display screens on skyscrapers in Bangkok, in parks, on subway screens. David and I saw one woman nearly brought to tears as she watched a film of the king on a subway car screen. The genuineness of the general grief is unmistakable.
After the morning waves of mourners were inside the palace compound, we tourists were admitted. I hurried through security while David pulled on his over-pants and I ended up buying the first tickets of the day. At 500 baht ($14.30) apiece, these are some of the most expensive entrance tickets to be found in Thailand. The tickets include access to Wat Phra Kaew (the Emerald Buddha Temple), The Royal Thai Decorations & Coins Pavilion and Queen Sirikit Museum of Textile, which are located within the Grand Palace compound, and to Vimanmek Mansion Museum on Ratchawithi Road. At least, the tickets usually include all this.
What the ticket usually covers
A notice at the ticket booth inside the palace compound informed us that the Emerald Buddha Temple was closed for the day. This was a real disappointment since we’d seen emerald Buddha temples in Chiang Khong and Chiang Mai and even a replica of the statue in Chiang Mai. We were looking forward to finally seeing the real thing. Oh well, we chalked it up to more out-of-the-ordinariness due to the mourning period, and our minor disappointment seemed trivial in comparison to the grief around us. Still, this meant we made a fairly quick sweep through the area of the compound around Wat Phra Kaew. The temple and structures surrounding it were magnificent and, of course, over-the-top in their ornateness.
Chedi, Royal Pantheon and other structures within the Temple of the Emerald Buddha complexCleaning the Emerald Buddha TempleRoyal Pantheon
High-ceilinged open galleries run all around this portion of the palace compound and they were filled with the thousands of mourners we’d watched enter the palace earlier. They fanned themselves in the heat, but waited patiently for their turn to file past the king’s bier.
Hordes of Thais wait in the hot open corridors of the Grand Palace complex for the chance to pay final respects to their king
It was still fairly early in the morning when we exited the area around the Emerald Buddha Temple to view the Grand Palace itself. We encountered another large group of mourners outside, but the Grand Palace is not open to tourists. Well, OK. We’d budgeted a lot more time for this visit and there was no more to see here. So, we moved on to the The Royal Thai Decorations & Coins Pavilion only to be told the decorations portion was also closed. The Coins Pavilion is an unimpressive little museum and we made a quick sweep through displays on the second floor of Thai coins through the ages, spending most of our time standing in front of the two air conditioning vents that actually blew cold air. Downstairs, yet another tribute to the dead king took up the majority of the small space.
Hmm. There was nothing left to do, but head back towards the main gate of the palace compound–now mobbed with later-arriving tourists–to the Queen Sirikit Museum of Textile. It didn’t sound all that intriguing, but we had the tickets and the building looked nice…and air conditioned. The museum turned out to be a surprise hit. It housed two main exhibits: the first on khon, a very stylized traditional form of Thai dance; and the second, a display of clothing worn by Queen Sirikit and created by famed French designer, Balmain.
Crowds of tourists just inside the Grand Palace main gate later in the morning
Unfortunately, photos aren’t allowed inside the main exhibits, so I can’t provide any here. Both exhibits were fascinating, though. Queen Sirikit devoted much effort to reviving the khon form of dance, which had died out. Costumes worn by khon dancers and patterned after royal garb had to be recreated from old written descriptions. In the beginning of this revival, silk from China was used, but with Queen Sirikit’s encouragement, the silk industry was revived in Thailand and Thai silk is now used. The characters in khon are celestial beings, demons, monkeys and humans. The dancers wear masks and elaborate headdresses and jewelry. They mime action while a chorus sings the plot of stories based on Ramakien, the Thai version of Ramayana, the Indian epic. The museum displays not only costumes and masks, but also has rare video footage of old khon productions along with modern film slowing the slow process of dressing each actor. Dressing involves intricate folding of copious amounts of cloth, layers of both clothing and jewelry, and even sewing the dancers into their costumes.
The display of Queen Sirikit’s wardrobe beginning in the 1960’s reminded me very much of an exhibit of Jacqueline Kennedy’s clothes I’d seen at the Musée de la Mode in Paris. Jewel-toned suits with three-quarter sleeve jackets and pillbox hats gave way to sequinned cocktail dresses and gorgeous formals. Queen Sirikit wanted Thai elements and fabrics blended into western-style dresses. The effect was unique and beautiful. Period photographs and videos of the King and his petite and pretty Queen on trips to the west accompanied the exhibit.
We made one final stop at the museum, where photos were allowed. This was billed as an activity room, but turned out to be primarily a space where visitors could dress up in faux khon costumes and pose for photos. As the first to visit for the day, we had the full attention of the bored young woman in charge of this room and were soon hustled into costumes and coached in “classic” khon poses. The laughable results are below for your viewing amusement:
Leaving the museum and the Grand Palace compound, we crossed the street in search of more free water. En route, I was stopped by a reporter for a Thai television station who asked to interview me. His questions, like those of the students who interviewed me at Hellfire Pass, had to with what I thought of Thailand, “how the death of the king effected me,” and whether I wanted to return to Thailand. I think the questions and the concern had to do with whether I, as a tourist, was put off or influenced by the mourning going on around me. All I could say was that I loved Thailand, my heart was touched by the grief of the Thai people, and that, yes, I’d love to come back.
Bangkok has a pretty manageable list of must-sees. The Grand Palace is probably top of the top, but everything I’d read said to get there before it opens to avoid the massive crowds and highest heat. We were tired after our drive from Kanchanaburi to Bangkok (and a first-night-in-Bangkok stop at a brewpub David had to check out), so we really didn’t want to get up that early on our first morning in the capital of Thailand. Number two on my list was Wat Pho and its famous reclining Buddha. We knew it would be hot and crowded, too, but heat and crowds are pretty much a given for Bangkok and we weren’t going to miss the city hiding out in the air conditioning.
One of the many selling points of our AirBnB condo is its closeness to both the Skylink overhead railway and the main Sathorn water taxi station. The express boats (water buses) that ply the Chao Phrya River run from Sathorn to Wat Pho and the Grand Palace (side-by-side on the same side of the river) along with many other stops. There’s a tourist boat that costs several multiples of the regular boats, but is still a bargain. We opted instead for an express boat that’s ridiculously cheap at 14 baht (40 cents). There’s an express boat pier, Tha Tien, just in front of Wat Pho. Unfortunately, it is closed for renovations. That meant we needed to ride one stop further to the Tha Chang pier that sits in front of the Grand Palace, and walk back to Wat Pho.
The express boats are identified by colored flags. We’d read to get on the orange flag express boat, but staff at the pier told us to go ahead and get on a blue flag boat (the first to dock after we arrived) that would also stop at the Grand Palace for the same price. Boats pull in and out frequently, never stopping long. The tourist boat docked just next to the other express boats. There’s a private boat offering tours, but we ignored those touts, who were asking much more. There are also water taxis and long tail boats. The Chao Phrya is a busy river, teeming with water craft of all types.
A blue flag express boatLooking back at the Sathorn Pier (also known as “Central”) as we pull away
The boat ride itself is fun and a great way to see the city. It’s actually fairly cool, too, since it makes a breeze, you’re in the shade and on the water. In less than half an hour, our boat dropped us off at the Tha Chang pier where we walked past stalls of vendors set up in a covered market to exit by the white walls of the Grand Palace. Since the palace wasn’t our destination for the day, we turned right, putting the walls of the palace to our left and walked along a sidewalk lined with stalls offering free food and ice water. All this is part of the on-going mourning period for King Bhumibol Adulyadej. The generosity of the Thai people and camaraderie in their grief is touching. We assumed the refreshment was primarily for Thais journeying to the capitol to pay their respects to their king who lies in state in the Grand Palace. As foreigners, we were hesitant to accept the offered food and drink, but were repeatedly urged to do so by the Thais (who, of course, couldn’t help but see our obvious otherness). We gratefully accepted icy bottles of water as our walk to Wat Pho was long, hot and getting hotter.
Free food and cold water at tents set up all along the Grand Palace; part of the nationwide mourning for King Bhumibol Adulydej. Note how nearly everyone is dressed in black.
At Wat Pho, we paid our 100 baht ($2.86) per person entrance fee, then pulled on the long pants we’d brought to wear over our shorts to comply with the temple dress code. As expected, the temple housing the famous reclining Buddha was a mob scene. The temple is long with two relatively narrow halls that run down either side of the Buddha. Large square columns separate the halls from the statue, which is so large, it’s hard to take in as you can only see parts at a time except for when he is viewed from one end or the other.
Crowds viewing the reclining Buddha which lays behind the pillars to the leftThe only was to view the giant Buddha in its entirety is from one end or the other
At 150 feet long, the Buddha is gigantic, but the detail work on his face and mother-of-pearl inlaid feet is equally impressive.
Buddha’s feet
Beyond the temple housing the reclining Buddha, many other stupa, temples and shrines dot the grounds of Wat Pho. We wandered in the shimmering heat, admiring the dramatic lines of the structures and the ornate ceramic, paint and mosaic work that covered nearly every inch of some of them. Clearly, Thais love bling and are big believers in more is more!
Stupa ornamented with ceramic flowers and embellishmentsGalleys lined with Buddhas bring a welcome respite from a sometimes overwhelming ornatenessA courtyard at Wat PhoFlower offerings placed before a seated Buddha
Reaching the far side of the temple complex, we happily accepted more free ice water in cups. I gulped some and splashed the rest on my face, neck and arms. David and I both peeled out of our long over-pants. We needed a break from the heat! A quick search on our phones turned up an air-conditioned restaurant not far away. I’d had some slight misgivings about the restaurant since it was located in a small hotel–usually not a great sign–, but the restaurant at Inn a Day turned out to be stylish, cool, and serving really great iced coffee and good food. Happiness!
Bliss is iced coffee and green curry chicken in an air-conditioned restaurant!Shrimp pad thai
Refreshed by our break, we headed back towards the Tha Chang boat pier, detouring to explore a fish market tucked behind the pretty colonial era buildings that line the road in this part of town.
Colonial buildings in the area along the river between Wat Pho and the Grand PalaceDried fish makes for a pungent marketSmelly work. This group was, I think, making ingredients for fish sauce. Whatever it was was fishy, dark and entrail-y-looking.
Exiting the fish market and strolling back along the cafés and shops in the colonial buildings, we made a serendipitous detour into a covered market that turned out to lead to one of the many ferry piers along the river. For 3.5 baht (10 cents), we hopped a ferry to the far side of the river and Wat Arun.
On the ferry with the scaffolding-covered stupa of Wat Arun visible on the far bank
Wat Arun (the Temple of Dawn) is famous for its massive, beautifully-decorated stupa. The entire structure is now covered in scaffolding with a temporary structure at its very top that is unfortunately reminiscent of an outhouse. Needless to say, we were less-than-blown-away by the stupa, although the glimpses of it through the scaffolding hinted at the hidden beauty. The rest of the temple complex is lovely, though, and we admired the pastel flowers covering the walls of one temple and the blingy gold and mosaic work of the building’s trim that wouldn’t be out of place on a Mardi Gras float.
Detail work on a temple wall at Wat Arun
Giant guardians outside a small temple near Wat Arun
Having enough of the heat, we hopped another boat bound for Sathorn Pier and home. Upon debarking, we made a slight detour to explore the riverfront Wat Yannawa, a temple with a unique boat-shaped shrine that we could see from our condo balcony. Stalls were set up on the temple grounds and the place bustled with activity that hinted at more to come. Later, hearing broadcast announcements that wafted up to our condo and seeing throngs from our condo balcony at Wat Yannawa, we realized it was Loi Krathong, a holiday famous for its floating lantern offerings. Candles, flowers (and fingernail and hair cuttings) are placed on banana leaf (or sometimes bread) holders and set afloat upon the water at night. In Chiang Mai, Loi Krathong is occasion for the famous flocks of floating lanterns released into the sky.
Boat-shaped shrine at Wat Yannawa, near the Sathorn PierLadies making Loi Krathong floating offerings with banana leaf bases and flowers
Looking beyond Wat Yannawa, we got a good view of the 49-story derelict and supposedly haunted Sathorn Unique building. We could see the other side of the Unique from our condo along with an adjacent parking garage with overgrown ponds on the roof and had been curious about the story behind the abandoned buildings. It turns out that the building is one of a dozen-plus such derelict skyscrapers in Bangkok, forlorn remnants of the Asian financial crash. At one time, there were reportedly more than 300 unfinished high-rises in Bangkok. Apparently the Sathorn Unique was 80-90% completed when the crash hit and work was halted, so it’s structurally sound, but a wreck inside, and now a destination for urban explorers. The rumors of the Unique being “haunted” or cursed in some way arise from claims it was built on an ancient burial ground and that it casts a shadow on Wat Yannawa. In any case, it’s a strange and strangely intriguing structure.
Wat Yannawa worship and traditional medicine center with the Sathorn Unique in the background. Our AirBnB condo is in the left-most of the two towers behind the Unique.
David and I rewatched the 1957 movie classic “Bridge on the River Kwai” before coming to Kanchanaburi to help with the mood change from beautiful, tranquil Tup Kaek Beach to the infamous “Death Railway.” The movie, like the novel it’s based on, is fiction, but it’s based on a real bridge (or bridges) and a real railway constructed at great misery and cost of life by POW’s and conscripted civilians forced into labor by the Japanese during World War II. Over 100,000 people died building the 250 miles of railway, also known as the Thailand-Burma Railway which connected Bangkok to Rangoon. Most of the dead were Asian civilians (“romusha”) and roughly 16,000 were Allied prisoners of war, the majority of whom were Australian, British and Dutch.
Conditions were much worse than depicted in the movie for the POW’s and even worse for the romusha who had no medical personnel among them. The Japanese deliberately underfed and overworked their prisoners, even hording Red Cross rations rather than distributing them or using them themselves. The result was widespread disease. Other prisoners died of beatings, torture and executions. Many of the camp commanders were convicted of war crimes after the war.
Today, a train makes several runs on Saturdays and Sundays along the historic railway. At one section, the train runs along a wooden viaduct that clings to the face of a 30m deep “cutting” or man-made cliff/gorge, a stretch where nearly every man who worked on it died. It’s a peaceful area now, with a nearby resort and floating bungalows available to rent. I was struck, as I was in Auschwitz and other places of past horror, by how a place where great evil was done can be beautiful and peaceful years later. Some people claim to feel a lingering malevolence in such places, but I don’t don’t feel it; just a sadness for those who suffered and that humanity can lower itself to such cruelty. It doesn’t seem to me that the birds that sing in such places now or the natural beauty that has reasserted itself are tainted by what people did there long ago, but I believe it’s important not to avoid such places, to remember and mark evil events in hope that they are never repeated.
The train starts in Kanchanaburi and runs to Nam Tok, some two hours away. (Actually, you can take a train from Bangkok, too, but I had no interest in that. Too hot and too long for me.) The train is old and rattling and un-air-conditioned and everything I’d read said the real views and interesting part happened just after the rural train stop at Tha Kilen. If we started our train ride there, we’d shorten the trip by an hour and miss the initial, hot ride that many described as “boring.” By car, the distance to Tha Kilen is only 30 minutes…and in private, air-conditioned comfort. Our decision was made!
There’s frustratingly little info on how to start your trip anywhere other than at the main Kanchanaburi station or the nearby Bridge on the River Kwai station. The internet yielded no details. We tried asking at our hotel, but they just wanted to sell us a tour (as did any number or tour touts on every block of Kanchanaburi) and tried to discourage us from driving on our own. So, we got up early and drove the five minutes to the main Kanchanaburi station to see if we could buy a ticket from Tha Kilen there. No, we were told in no uncertain terms that we had to buy the ticket at Tha Kilen. They were friendly about it, though, and showed us the schedule which indicated that the train would stop in Tha Kilen at 11:30am. This train had the added benefit of being the only train of the day with a “special carriage” where we were guaranteed a seat. I didn’t feel like standing up for an hour in a hot, crowded train and it was only 150 baht, one-way for the “special carriage” (50 baht more than the 3rd class fare). We could buy a ticket at Tha Kilen 30 minutes before departure or 11am. We had a plan.
Tha Kilen had the extra enticement of Khmer ruins in the nearby Muang Sing Historical Park. I was worried that the train might be full as I read that sometimes it is packed, so wanted to get to Tha Kilen early on the chance that someone might be there to sell us a ticket before 11am, with ticket safely in hand, we could go check out Muang Sing until it was time to catch the train. We arrived at 9:30am to find a few people around the Tha Kilen station, but we were told again that we could buy a ticket at 11am. Alrighty then, it was Muang Sing for us.
Tha Kilen Station
Muang Sing turned out to be a very nicely set-up historical park. Very few people were at the park at this hour and we were able to visit most of the ruins in peace before a tour bus showed up. Even at that hour, the heat was oppressive. The ruins are partially rebuilt and worth a look (especially if you’re killing time until you can catch the train), but it’s a relatively minor site and not a big loss if you miss it.
Ruins at Muang Sing
Back at the Tha Kilen station, things were starting to pick up. Vendors laid out food for lunch and we bought sticky rice and pork wrapped in banana leaves, salty banana chips and sour-sweet karonda (or corunda) berries with chili powder. Other people started to arrive, but still the ticket seller was not open for business. I watched him through the open door and window of his office as he worked ancient-looking brass machines which clanged as he turned a shining handle. This apparently had something to do with incoming trains. A regular train came through and the station master handed off a lunch to the engineer as he went by. At exactly 11am, the station master took his seat behind the sales window and we were able to buy our tickets (which had the departure time printed on them as 11:45, not 11:30). We pointed to the sign about the “special carriage” and got the correct tickets. Our request for the left side (best view going towards Nam Tok), met with a nod of his head, but we had no faith that he understood us. [Note: There’s a red sign next to the ticket window stating that you have to show your passport to get a ticket. This is not true and no one asked for a passport. Since we weren’t crossing a border, I have no idea why the sign is there unless maybe some trains are going on to Burma/Myanmar.]
Food vendors setting up at the Tha Kilen station
With a little time before the train was due to arrive, I bought food from the vendors: sticky rice with pork wrapped in banana leaves, salty banana chips and sour-sweet pink karonda berries with chili salt for dipping. We dug into the chips on the spot, but saved the rest for the train.
Unwrapped banana leaf packet of sticky rice and pork. Yum!Carunda berries
Some tour groups and individuals began to arrive and at 11:45am, the train pulled in. Since our tickets showed no specific seat assignment, we asked a guide we overheard speaking English. She told us the green cars were the “special carriages” that we had tickets for and asked the station master about our seats and said he said he’d show us to our seats. He made no move though, so we’re not sure where the translation went wrong. Not wanting to miss the train, we climbed onto one of the two front green cars and I staked out a left-hand seat. A uniformed attendant approached and said he’d lead us to our seat, then proceeded to lead us to another car and direct us to a right-hand seat. When I stated our preference for the left-hand seat (relying mostly on gestures), he took us back to the seat I’d originally claimed. Oh well.
The “Death Train” arrives; the 2 green cars in the front are the “special carriages”
The special carriages are “special” because you get a guaranteed seat plus a cushion on the wooden bench that comprises that seat, a sealed plastic cup of water and a cold moist towelette to start the journey, and your choice of a tea or coffee. Pretty swank, huh? We were grateful for the water and the cool cloth, but wanted no part of hot tea or coffee in the tropical weather. All the windows on the car were open and the train made a nice breeze as we chugged and clanked along.
Inside a “special car”; the ticket is 150 baht each way.
Shortly out of Tha Kilen, we came to the most dramatic scenery of the trip, the portion along the 30m “cutting” where so many died. Now, though, a resort and floating bungalow hotel rooms occupy the first portion of opposite bank. Tourists clustered along the way taking photos of our train as we passed. People on the train leaned out, taking photos of the resort and the people photographing them. Just beyond, the opposite bank peels away, opening up a lovely vista with the mountains beyond. Throughout this stretch, the sheer rock wall of the man-made cliff is all you can see our the right-hand windows…save for a flash of a Buddha statue in its cave at Kraesae.
Looking back on the floating bungalows we’d just passedThe River Kwai with mountains in the background
The view was beautiful, but both David and I were a little underwhelmed by this stretch, only because the descriptions we’d read tended towards the hyperbolic. We didn’t really have the sense of clinging to some precarious perch on a cliff. No doubt we were, but you don’t get that perspective much from the train itself because you’re so close to the cliff on the right (nothing but rock just outside the window) and there’s a lot of vegetation hiding much of the drop to the left.
When we arrived at the Nam Tok terminus, a swarm of songtaew, cars and buses awaited. An old lady near a songtaew with its modified pick-up bed crammed full of passengers approached me. David was aghast that I’d even consider joining that throng, but the lady was offering us a ride up front in the air-conditioning, for a premium, of course. She borrowed a laminated sign from a neighboring driver indicating the charge would be 800 baht ($22.86) for a round-trip ride. This is a fortune around these parts, but it was a 20+-minute ride to Hellfire Pass Memorial Museum, a total 2-hour commitment for her since she had to wait on us, and we didn’t have time to waste since we needed to be back to catch the last train back to Tha Kilen which left Nam Tok at 3:15pm. We made the deal. David rode in front with our lady driver while I sat in the rear seat of the club cab with her middle school-age grandson. A couple kilometers away, we dropped off the throng in the rear of the songtaew at the local Tok Sai Yok waterfall/swimming hole before going on to the museum.
We had to pass through a military checkpoint to enter the Hellfire Pass Memorial Museum grounds. The museum itself is small, but very well done and modern. It’s also free, but donations are encouraged. It didn’t take long to walk through and watch the 5-minute movie of prisoner recollections that runs regularly.
Entrance to the Hellfire Pass Memorial Museum with the ramp just below the name on the building leading down to the walkway to the pass
Stepping out the back of the museum, there’s an overlook with a “peace vessel” created by an Australian former prisoner and a view over the path to Hellfire Pass, the deepest of the many prisoner-made cuttings through the mountains.
“Peace Vessel” at the museum overlookLooking down on the wooden walkway that descends to the bottom of Hellfire Pass
The entrance to the Hellfire Pass walkway is just outside the front doors of the museum, to the left as you exit. At the base of the initial descent, you can choose to walk left down a wooden walkway or right. The lady at the Information Desk inside had suggested we go left, then return along the other path to make a full loop, so that’s what we did. It’s not a bad walk, but not for the mobility challenged. It’s a lot of walking and a lot of stairs going both directions. It’s hot, but much less so that we’d feared given the elevation and the shade.
The scale and magnitude of the work done here under such horrible conditions is really brought home as you walk along the base. You can’t help but be impressed by what the prisoners accomplished in this rocky jungle with basic tools and dynamite, especially while in such weakened physical states. Makeshift memorials along the way bring home the human suffering and loss.
Makeshift memorials in Hellfire PassPoignant memorialThe scale of the cutting here is brought home as you walk along the old railroad ties along the bottom.
At the far end of the pass by a permanent veterans’ memorial, I was stopped by a group of Thai students wanting to interview me. Their questions had to do with where I was from, whether I liked Thailand and would want to return and why I chose to come to Hellfire Pass. As always in southeast Asia, “United States” was met with puzzled looks which brightened to understanding when I amended to “America.” Their English was pretty functional, though, and I enjoyed the lightness their young enthusiasm brought after the solemnity of my walk through Hellfire Pass. They insisted on photos together after the interview, so I got David to snap a couple for us, too.
Mimicking the cheerful “thumbs-up” of my lead interviewerVeteran’s memorial at the end of Hellfire Pass with stylized railroad ties in the foreground and railroad ties of the actual railroad visible on the continuing path beyond.
The return path to the museum through humid jungle proved to be longer and a bit more arduous (and hot and mosquito-y) than the wooden path and steps on the descent. Mid-way through, I was wondering if we wouldn’t have been better off retracing our steps through the pass and back up the wooden walkway. [It’s also usually possible to hike much more of the railway line than the 40-minute loop Hellfire Pass loop that we walked. However, segments were closed when we were there. We felt we’d seen enough, though, and weren’t interested in hiking hours more anyway.] We made it back ten minutes earlier than we’d estimated to our driver, but she was waiting and we headed off back to the Nam Tok train station.
Once again, no tickets were available until 30 minutes prior to departure. This seems to be a hard and fast rule. So, we ordered a couple of Chang beers at an open-air restaurant across the dirt parking area. The train was ready to go early, but we were delayed a warm ten minutes as they waited for a tour bus full of German tourists. I think we understand now why the train is notoriously late. Ten minutes wasn’t bad, but I could see it compounding over the length of the journey to Kanchanaburi.
Red flag until the German tour bus showed up
There were no “special carriages” on this train, so we got to try out 3rd class. The main difference was no cushion on the seat (and of course no drinks and cool cloth). Fans mounted on the ceiling and the open windows made for a nice breeze, though, and David and I spent most of the return trip hanging out the window, always careful to ease out and dodge any plants or rocks too close to the track. The lowering sun now on the right side of the train made it hot whenever we stopped at a way-station, but that was nothing new to our SE Asia experience.
Inside a 3rd class train car
More passengers boarded as we went along so that most seats were filled by the time we reached Tha Kilen where we’d left the car. It was a shock to see the parking area at the Tha Kilen station filled with motor coaches and cars. We sprinted off the train and to our car to beat that mob scene and were soon rolling through the countryside back to Kanchanaburi.
Tapioca fields by the road to Kanchanaburi
We got back into Kanchanaburi late in the afternoon with enough time for a visit to the famous Bridge on the River Kwai. There were two bridges in the area during World War II, a concrete and steel one that the present one replaces and a wooden bridge built by prisoners. Both of the original bridges were destroyed by Allied bombing. The present bridge, pictured in the top photo above, was built shortly after the war.
We took our final AirAsia fight of this trip from Krabi to Don Muang International Airport in Bangkok. Don Muang is Bangkok’s old international airport, now replaced by Suvarnabhumi as the city’s main international airport. Don Muang–the oldest operating airport in Asia and one of the oldest in the world, for that matter–is now primarily a regional and low-cost carrier hub. Most flights from Krabi go to Don Muang and that suited our purposes perfectly, given the airport’s location on the north side of the city. Our next destination was Kanchanaburi of Bridge on the River Kwai fame, WNW of Bangkok. I researched various ways to get to Kanchanaburi and decided a rental car would be ideal…if David was willing to do the driving.
I’ve done my share of driving in foreign countries, on both sides of the road, but one of the luxuries of my late-in-life marriage to David is leaving the driving to him. He actually loves challenging driving (and is fine with wrong-side stick shifts) and I’m a pretty darn good navigator, so we make a great team.
Nerves of steel!
Bangkok, though, has a reputation of being a driving nightmare and there’s that always-present worry about accidents or police shakedowns in a third world country. Still, a car would be ideal and online research led me to believe it wouldn’t be that bad given the location of Don Muang. (Had we flown into Suvarnabhumi Airport to the south of the city, we’d have had to drive across Bangkok to get to Kanchanaburi. No way!) I showed David what I’d found and he was game for the drive, so I booked a rent car with Sixt…but made it cancelable in case on-the-ground experience in Thailand changed our minds. After two weeks in Thailand, David felt more confident than ever, so we made the drive.
Sixt provided us with a nice mid-size sedan with automatic transmission(!), Google Maps was up and working on my phone via my Thai SIM card, so all was good as we pulled away. Don Muang is a long airport whose length runs along a major highway. To get out of the airport, we had to drive through parking lots and drop-off lanes to reach a U-turn bridge to get us going north on the highway; no big deal.
Yes, I know. The sign spells “Don Muang” differently. The airport spells it the way I have. Mostly. Thai spelling is a very changeable thing.
Traffic, as expected, was heavy on the highway with scooters and motorbikes weaving in and out among cars and trucks. We encountered our first problem when we tried to make our first exit. Massive construction of an overhead road was going on along the length of the highway and the exit was blocked. Thank God for Google Maps! We just kept trying to head west and after a series of Google re-routes that resulted in a lot of backtracking as we made long parallel straightaways and squared-off U-turns, we finally got onto the right road. Google Maps predicted 2h25 to go 142 kilometers (88 miles).
Traffic was insane in the early part of the drive as we made our way through Bangkok suburbs. [See lead pic.] Cars and passenger trucks mixed with tuk tuks, songtaews, motorbikes and brightly-painted big rigs. Major town signs usually had English, but not always. Most road signs were in indecipherable Thai squiggles and swirls. Worse yet, Google Maps would often show road signs and directions in Thai, not English. The robot lady still talked in English, but her “turn right’s” and “turn left’s” often came at the wrong time and I’d have to zoom into our little moving icon then tell David, “No! Not here!” more often than I would have liked. It required a lot of attention on both of our parts. Meanwhile, cars and motorbikes cut in and out around us. Traffic would occasionally come to a stop on a major median-divided road, to allow a stream of cars from the other side to U-turn. We could figure no pattern to that, and when I got the chance to research it, I found an expat message board where someone attributed it to “telepathy,” like us finding no rhyme nor reason to when cars would yield.
Trucks sported all sorts of decoration.
Things got better as we moved into the countryside. The roads, all along, were in good shape, not much different from what we’d see at home (if you don’t count the temples, rice fields, loose cows and other signs that we weren’t in Kansas any more).
Not unlike home, except for the Buddha
Thais protect themselves from the sun and it’s common to see people, especially on motorbikes, with their heads fully covered by cloth with only eye holes. It’s vaguely alarming-looking, like a bunch of bank robbers on the loose.
Roadside vendor avoiding the sun
Getting hungry, we started looking for somewhere to grab a quick lunch. By now, we were used to and fond of Thai street food, so a local open-air market looked promising and we pulled in. A songtaew overloaded with locals pulled in beside us. This crowd headed to tables and vendors at the front of the market, but David bee-lined for a cloud of smoke emanating from the very rear of the big space, far from the other vendors. An old lady with a bandaged foot greeted us eagerly while a man tended skewers on the grill. When we asked the price, she replied “5 baht,” about 14 cents. Sure we must have misheard, David asked her again, but got the same answer. Um. OK. She got out a plastic bag and quickly added several skewers. When we asked if it was chicken, “gai,” she nodded and repeated “gai.” Inspecting the skewers, I spotted a heart and some other odd bits. We asked her what part of the chicken those were. She waved her hand around her stomach. Intestines. That’s what I thought. The skewers were split down the middle then wired shut around the meat. Some of the skewers held flattened, unidentifiable meat with small bones visible. It looked like chicken back. Maybe. David tried pointing to his leg and chest, asking for more familiar cuts, but she just nodded and added another skewer, bringing our total to five. When she mentioned sticky rice, for 3 baht, we happily bought 2 plastic pouches for a grand total of 30 baht or about 86 cents. She’d moved her crutch aside for us to sit down, but I told David we should eat in the car, both for a/c and so we could spit out anything we wanted without offending her.
Inedible barbecue with strange beaky bit on the right
Back in the car, we inspected our lunch. We tried nibbling on the flattened, bony meat, but could only get the tiniest bit of food. Were you supposed to just crunch through bone?! Giving up, we moved on to the tripe. Curling my lips back, I tried a bite…but couldn’t get through. An odd beaky looking bit was equally impervious to my teeth. Hmm. The barbecue sauce wasn’t bad, though. We quickly wolfed down our sticky rice and tossed the rest of our “lunch,” afraid to feed it to the two dogs wandering the front of the market for fear of choking them. Oh well, back on the road.
We arrived at our Kanchanaburi hotel without incident. The drive, while a little frazzling in some places (for me anyway–David has nerves of steel), wasn’t bad. It was nice to have the car, for privacy, comfort and just to be free to follow our own whims and timetable or lack thereof. For about $30/day, it wasn’t a bad deal either. It also turned out to be a great way to escape the myriad tours being touted in Kanchanaburi. More on that later.
Great roads in the countryside (This is between Kanchanaburi and Tha Kilen the day we did the Death Railroad.)
