Touristic experiences #2: staged tourism and the charm of cute children

What is it about cute smiling kids in traditional costumes in foreign countries that we find so disarmingly charming? Flick through the back pages of a travel magazine to the ads for tours to South America and Thailand hill tribe treks and there'll be a couple of rosy-cheeked little kids in colourful clothes leading some llamas or sitting on the steps of a church smiling sweetly. In this case the children in my picture are posing at a lookout in front of vistas of the Golden Triangle, the point where Laos, Myanamar (Burma) and Thailand meet. We would never use a guide if travelling for pleasure but when we're working and reviewing a resort we try to get a taste of the activities available to guests to best assess the experience on offer. At the Four Seasons Tented Camp at the Golden Triangle, there's a range of activities, from mahout training and elephant treks to excursions to the Opium museum, Burma, and the Golden Triangle. The latter involves a ride on a longtail boat to the very centre of the meeting of the waters of the Mekong and one of its tributaries so you can see the three countries around you, rides on a songthaew (the open-air truck typically used as a taxi in Thailand) and tuk-tuk (a motorised Thai rickshaw), a stroll around a market to see the squirming creatures and crunchy insects that are the local delicacies, a visit to a temple to learn how to make a wish and be blessed by a monk, and this trip to the lookout. While we came to the conclusion that the excursion was a wonderful compact introduction to Thailand for first-timers to the country, we were uncomfortable (once again! - see the previous post by my partner Terry) with the song and dance show. Okay, so the kids didn't dance. But they did sing, they recited something to the effect of "You can take our picture for 20 baht" in half a dozen languages, they posed in front of the Golden Triangle, their hands first in the traditional Thai wai gesture and then fingers formed in rabbit ears, and they smiled very sweetly. (We noted, however, that their most sincere and spontaneous smiles came at the end when we handed over the money.) This form of staged tourism is cheesy and awkward at the best of times - don't you think? - but it's quietly discomforting when it involves little kids who should be in school. While we adored our eager young guide, we were embarrassed and uncomfortable with being placed in a position where we felt required to take photos of the children, yet we didn't not want to take the snaps and insult both our guide and the kids. So we took our pics - Terry using the opportunity to get some insightful close-ups of the children, me politely following our guide's suggestions - and we very generously tipped the kids. We told ourselves the money was paying for their education and putting food on their family's table but still we felt our uneasy. If there's one thing that I don't find cool about travel, it's tourism. And the more staged it is - it doesn't matter how cute the kids are - the more it makes me want to stay at home.

The sublime Thai spa experience

Thai spas offer the most sublime spa experiences in the world. Trust me. I got to experience enough exfoliating body scrubs, deep tissue massages, luxuriating body wraps, and revitalizing facials to last me a lifetime while in Thailand last October researching a new spa section (and updating hotels and restaurants) for the DK Eyewitness Guide to Thailand, released this month. We visited a number of spas in Italy recently and none offered the same sensuous surroundings nor relaxing rituals of the Thai spas - they were sterile, lacked atmosphere, were often tucked away in a hotel basement, accessed via the gym, added almost as an after-thought. In Thailand, the spa takes centre stage and a spa experience is something else. There, the spas are situated in stunning settings, overlooking sultry jungles or tranquil ponds, and the spa experience begins from the moment you set foot in the spa: the fragrant aromas of incense and scented candles waft through the air, you're enveloped in the darkness of dim candle light, you're calmed by soft background music (the crashing of waves on a beach perhaps), and voices are hushed to a whisper. The decor is always exotic, whether traditional Thai style or sleek and contemporary. The masseurs are nearly always brilliant, gentle Thai women mostly, who skilfully work your body in silence. Treatments always begin with a foot bath and massage and at the end of whatever wonderful treatment you've had, you're left to relax even further with a herbal tea or zingy drink. If you haven't been to a Thai spa before, then grab a copy of the new DK Thailand guide and go indulge yourself!

Touristic experiences #1: Thailand's 'longnecks'

There’s been so much written about and so many photos taken of the ‘longneck’ tribes from Burma (Myanmar) who reside in northern Thailand that it’s almost redundant to talk about them in terms of a Thai travel experience. Do you visit them or not? My partner Terry and I have been discussing the issue. This blog is by Terry:

By visiting the ‘longnecks’, the displaced Burmese women who wear brass coils around their elongated necks, are we perpetuating a method of lifelong discomfort (at the least) for these women that’s the equivalent of the lotus shoes that kept Chinese women’s bound feet tiny and ‘feminine’ (albeit deformed)? Or are we supporting a displaced tribe that relies on the income generated by tourists to survive? While the Lonely Planet Thailand guide we perused in a hotel gave the visit a positive spin, Rough Guide took the opposite tack. Given that Lara and I spend our lives telling people where to go (so to speak!), we decided we’d better visit to form our own opinions...

The signs proclaiming "longneck this way" as we approached the co-operative tribal village on the outskirts of Chiang Rai reinforced my already apprehensive outlook. Surely people visiting the women could at least learn the name of the tribe, the Padaung, a sub-group of the Karen tribe, and those putting up the signs would have enough respect to do the same. To me it was very much “roll up, roll up, see the mustachioed woman!” It placed the women at the ‘freak show’ end of the range of touristic experiences.

The entry fee was steep for Thailand and we wondered how much money the ‘longnecks’ were getting out of this. A disinterested little Thai girl served as our guide, taking us first to meet a beautiful old woman from the Akha tribe. She wasn’t a ‘longneck’, but was the kind of grandma whose face lights up when she smiles, revealing a life well lead and an old age well earned. I took her portrait and hoped that it captured in ones and zeros some of the spirit she possessed. Next, we were led to a simple building where a group of tribespeople played traditional music. While the elaborate headdresses were in place, enthusiasm was conspicuously absent. Some t-shirt-clad members of the troupe clearly wanted to be anywhere else but standing in front of a couple of travellers looking for a ‘cultural experience’. The embarrassment of the situation was evident on both sides. Before the song had finished several had their headdresses off and were wandering away.

After passing the obligatory stands of handicrafts our guide happily pronounced ‘longneck!’ with a flourish. As soon as I saw the intriguing face of the first Padaung woman sitting on the verandah of her wooden hut weaving textiles on a primitive loom, I knew I couldn’t shoot any photos to sell (I left the task of shooting pics for this blog to Lara who chatted to the woman about weaving). I’d seen this very woman on countless postcards and her image had been exploited enough. From a purely aesthetic point of view, she was photogenic, but I felt no compulsion to photograph her. I like to shoot portraits when I feel that someone has an interesting face and sense a confidence in themselves and who they are that can shine through in a photo. Here I felt that I'd just be shooting her for her physical oddity rather than her beauty of spirit, which, I must say, she certainly possessed. We asked her about her weaving and moved on. We met a couple of other ‘longnecks’, both of whom I'd also seen on postcards, but while several tourists snapped away, I just wanted to leave. On the way back to the car we crossed paths with two cute ‘longneck’ children with a couple of rings around their necks. I thought of what lay in store for them in the future – drinking through a straw, working a loom, and being happy-snapped by gawking tourists as they live their life in what is essentially a cruel neck brace.

I often make jokes about my professional digital SLR camera being the ‘soul stealer’, as it’s so big, especially with a flash attached, that it makes people apprehensive when I shoot their portrait. And in some customs the creation of an image or likeness of a person is seen as stealing their soul. I always ask before shooting a portrait, but with the ‘longnecks’ the price of admission gives you carte blanche to snap away. To me, there’s never been a more soul-stealing experience than this. Every snapshot someone takes of the Padaung women is directly contributing to the creation of another generation of young women who have to uphold this tradition. There’s no doubt about it. The complexities of cultural identity aside, the commodification and marketing of the experience is just as abhorrent as the practice itself. Many other cruel decorative practices, such as the Chinese lotus shoes, have been phased out. So should this. The fact that another generation of women will suffer the same indignity aided by my financial contribution makes me uncomfortable. Do you think you’d feel the same way?

Thailand: as imagined

Don't you love it when you travel and arrive at a place that's exactly as you had imagined? Do you think to yourself "this is exactly how I imagined"? This image of little houses shaded by palm trees against a backdrop of limestone hills near Khao Sam Roi Yot national park was the Thailand of my imagination. My Thailand had nothing to do with hammocks on white sand beaches. Nor blue skies obviously because it was drizzling and moments later the rain was pelting down. The thing I find fascinating about travel is that, like a good film, it's as much about having your expectations met as is it is about the incongruities, chance encounters and serendipitous moments. What do you think?

Thailand and good manners

We've already lost count of the number of luxury hotels we've checked into in Thailand in the last 11 days, the signature spas treatments and massages we've enjoyed, and the sublime sunset vistas we've savored from spacious suites and private villas overlooking infinity pools, palm-covered islands and the sea. More on those potentially hedonistic experiences (if only we weren't working!) and the thoughts they're provoking about travel later. My husband Terry and I are here in Thailand to review hotels, spas and restaurants, and it's been hectic to say the least. What has struck us most so far (sorry for the silence, by the way) has been the genuine friendliness of the gentle Thai people. It never fails to put a smile on our faces. On our first day in Bangkok, Terry noticed a Thai woman struggling with a stroller with baby down the stairs of the Sky Train. He jumped over the railing and helped her the rest of the way down the two flights of stairs. When they made it to the bottom the lady let go of the stroller, clasped her hands in the traditional 'wai', and thanked him with a little bow and a smile. The gesture was performed with such elegance and beauty that it made us wonder what's happened to manners in other parts of the world. Terry said it made his day and I think he secretly spent the rest of the day looking for women with strollers to help out, like a boy scout on a mission!

Traffic Hazards in Thailand #1

As we drive around Thailand we're struck by the number of traffic hazards we confront on the roads every minute of every day. They range from the downright scary to the surprisingly cute. But no matter how horrified we are when we suddenly come face to face with a herd of animals sauntering across the highway (ox in this case), or as we overtake a motorcycle carrying a family of six (a tiny child precariously perched up front, another small kid on behind soundly sleeping as he somehow clings on to his older sibling, the parents in between), we never seem to get as mad as we might at 'home', where road rage prevails. It's something about the exoticism of the hazards that amuses us more than alarms us. Our willingness to be surprised. Our openness to the unusual. But it's also because we're in a far more tolerant mood when we're travelling than we are on our tedious daily commutes to work where tempers can so easily flare. (Especially, for us, in the gridlock that is Dubai.) Don't you think? My husband, who is the driver in our partnership (I navigate) will probably disagree. But there have been so many traffic hazards to entertain us on the roads in Thailand that I thought I'd start this series.

Traffic Hazards in Thailand #4

Another food-related traffic hazard in Thailand, this time in Bangkok. But to be honest, as we were walking rather than driving, this young woman pushing her fresh fruit juice stall along a Sukhumvit Soi didn't present a problem to us. She was more of an obstacle to the passing traffic. But then they're used to it in Thailand anyway. This is part of daily life there. And isn't it fabulous? Imagine it happening in your home city of (insert city). Would it cause a riot? If not, then your city is the kind of city I want to visit. I'll dedicate this tasty little image (well, I saw what she was selling!) to our American friends who are celebrating Thanksgiving, in particular, Anne, over at Prêt à Voyager, who has posted about her own experience of road hazards in Vietnam, ironically titled Happy Travels, and has included a a wonderful birds-eye-view of rickshaw, motorcycle and bicycle madness - well, it's not so ironic, actually, as it's also a 'Happy Thanksgiving' post. Who else is celebrating Thanksgiving? And do you have any 'Thanksgiving and Travel' experiences to share?

The Joys of Travel: Food Markets, part 3 (the food - the good stuff!)

As I've been raving about the pleasures of food markets and our recent rovings around Thailand's markets, I thought I should actually show you some of the fabulous food offerings from Thanin Market (also known as Siriwattana Market) in Chiang Mai, our favourite. The best time to go is for breakfast when it's at its buzziest.

Try: Chiang Mai's famous spicy pork sausage and crunchy pork crackling with sticky rice, a popular local breakfast. (The pork crackling pictured here is famous all over Thailand).

Don't miss: Kanom Krok - deliciously sweet, little coconut puddings, topped with spring onions or corn.

Take away: delicious deep fried snacks - banana, sweet potato and pumpkin are on offer most days but there are daily specials such as fried banana blossom with sesame, oil and chili! Yum! or 'Aroi' (delicious)! as they say in Thailand.

Hot new travel destination lists... don't you love them? Well, don't you?

We all love a good list, don't we? The travel media have been busy publishing their 'places to go in 2009' lists, the hot 'new' destinations that guidebook publishers and travel publications think you should visit this year, 'it' places they want everyone talking about. Last year I posted a list based on places I'd been that I believed more travellers should visit and it included: Syria, Buenos Aires, Morocco (by road), Western Australia, Antwerp & Brussels, Thailand (road trip rather than beach holiday), Istanbul, Baltic Cities (Tallinn, Riga, Vilnius), Dubai, and Oman. I chose destinations I felt were emerging (the Baltic Cities), often overlooked (Syria, Oman), underrated (Western Australia, Antwerp), misunderstood (Brussels, Dubai), too hot to ignore (Buenos Aires, Istanbul), and places I felt people should experience differently to how they ordinarily might (Thailand and Morocco, which I encouraged people to drive). I'm still mulling over my list for 2009, which I'll share with you tomorrow. For now, here's a taste of the travel media's 2009 lists:
* CONDE NAST TRAVELER/CONCIERGE: Tel Aviv, Bolivia, Utah, Acapulco,Vilnius, Central Philippines, New York City, Rajasthan, Toronto, and Beirut.
* DK TRAVEL GUIDES: Vilnius, Buenos Aires, Gdansk, Seattle, Bristol, Fez, Washington DC, Copenhagen, Cape Town, and Vienna.
* LONELY PLANET: top 10 countries: Algeria, Bangladesh, Canada, Georgia, Greenland, Kyrgyzstan, Oman, Peru, Rwanda and Sierra Leone; and top 10 cities: Antwerp, Beirut, Chicago, Glasgow, Lisbon, Mexico City, Sao Paulo, Shanghai, Warsaw, and Zurich.
* FROMMER'S: Cartagena; Cape Town; Saqqara, Egypt; Washington DC; Waterton Lakes National Park, Canada; Civil Rights Trail, Alabama, USA; Lassen Volcano National Park, USA; Berlin; Belfast; Istanbul; Cambodia (But Not Angkor Wat); and Waiheke Island, New Zealand.

It's interesting to see the same places popping up, such as Vilnius, Beirut, Istanbul, and Oman. I've long been bewitched by Beirut myself (Terry and I wrote two editions of Lonely Planet's Syria and Lebanon guide, and wrote the Lebanon chapter for the first edition some 5 years ago), but the city hasn't yet stabilized and I can't see it having wide appeal. Ditto Georgia, where heavy fighting with Russia occurred in July this year, and Sierra Leone, where UN peace-keepers pulled out just eight years ago. But part of the point of these lists is to provoke discussion, get us excited about traveling, and influence us into buying books and magazines, isn't it? So, what do you think of the various hot lists floating around?

Pictured? That's the Corniche in Muscat, Oman.

How travel writers select hotels

How travel writers decide upon which hotels they are going to include in a guidebook or story is a topic that received some media attention earlier this year after Lonely Planet writer Thomas Kohnstamm revealed in his tell-all book how he'd favorably reviewed a place after having sex with the waitress on a table. How the staff perform - on the job, not after hours - is certainly something that comes into the equation when we're considering hotels for potential inclusion in our books or articles. But a whole host of other factors are also up for scrutiny. Mr and Mrs Smith shared on their blog recently the qualities that define a good boutique hotel for them in What makes a Smith hotel? The 'wow' factor is high on their list, but also other elements, from a sensational setting and imaginative interiors to remarkable views and a 'nothing is too much trouble' attitude. While these attributes appear on the long list of criteria we tick off, the criteria we use varies depending on the project and readers. It can even vary within the same project. For instance, when we write for Thomas Cook or AA, we know their readers are mature travellers (30 years upwards) who don't want to waste money but are happy to spend up on special properties that will provide them with memorable experiences, whether it's a beach resort or luxury B&B. Lonely Planet and Rough Guides, for instance, have a much wider readership: all ages, all budgets. Lonely Planet's accommodation is structured by economics: budget, mid-range and top-end. And while there are always going to be certain constants we'll consider across all price ranges, for example, whether rooms are clean, there are things that only apply to a particular category, and the list will inevitably be shorter the lower the budget. After all, we shouldn't have many expectations of a place that only charges $20 a night. On the other hand, if the rate is $300 a night then our list is going to be long. We're going to spend more time looking at the property, and we're going to be scrutinizing it a whole lot more closely. That's not to say we don't run our fingers over the furniture at all properties. We do. We also look for mould in the bathroom, scuffs on the carpets, peeling wallpaper, cigarette burns on the furniture, and, yes, we'll have a bounce on the mattress. But the four and five star properties will be the ones we'll check in to. A lot of travel writers will do it the other way around - they'll sleep at the budget hotel and do site inspections of the top end places. But the way we see it is if a backpacker has a lousy experience at a hostel they may only be blowing $30. If a traveller has a dreadful time at a luxury property, they might have wasted a whole week's pay, especially if they're stayed a few days. Although it's important to get it right for all hotels, it's far more crucial at the top end than it is at the lower end. Therefore, it's more important that we experience the boutique and luxury properties than it is for us to stay at a youth hostel. And let's face it, you get to a certain age when you can no longer share a dorm with strangers and you simply prefer to travel with certain comforts. We didn't become writers to travel like teenagers. Nor to copulate on restaurant tables either.

The photo? One resort where you're guaranteed a very special experience: the Six Senses Hideaway Hua Hin at Pranburi, Thailand. We stayed in the private pool bungalow, pictured, last October while researching spas, hotels and restaurants for the DK Eyewitness Thailand guide.

The world's most jawdropping drives, pt 2

Here's the second part of my pick of the world's most jawdropping drives from roads we've travelled in the last few years (read part 1 here). I've categorized these great drives by region and country, as some destinations are gifted with so many dramatically beautiful routes:
6. MOROCCO: one of our favorite road trips starts from Marrakesh, heading east to Essaouira, then south via the surfing spots dotting the coast down to Agadir, before turning inland toward the walled city Taroudant, and on to other-worldly Ouarzazate, Zagora and the tiny hamlet Mhmed, the last stop before the Sahara, returning to Marrakesh via the Atlas Mountains. The trip took us through moonlike landscapes, sublime desert scenery, abandoned mountain palaces, Berber desert citadels, and date palm oases. Magical!
7. THAILAND: we once drove from Koh Samui (via a car ferry) across the south of Thailand to Phuket. This route takes you through lush green tropical landscapes boasting striking limestone mountains and impenetrable jungle. On the way are tiny towns with bustling markets and diversions such as elephant trekking and whitewater rafting, but the drive itself with the stunning scenery was enough to keep us satisfied.
8. BULGARIA: the roads may be in a poor state, pot-holed and breaking away in parts, and the Cyrillic signs mean you need to continually refer to your dictionary, yet other than that driving in Bulgaria is a road trippers' dream, with idyllic rural landscapes with lush green meadows carpeted with wildflowers, where ramshackle villages tumble down mountainsides, and striking war monuments appear in the most surprising places. You'll have to frequently stop for cows and families will pass you on wooden horses and carts, but that's part of the fun of it.
9. MUSANDAM, OMAN: from the UAE border to Khasab, the sleepy capital of the Musandam Peninsula of Oman, a road skirts the magnificent coast, taking you by majestic forts, mosques with pretty minarets, date palm oases, hills topped with watchtowers, and small coves where fisherman haul in nets. The whole way you have on one side sheer rocky mountains and on the other the turquoise sea. (For more info, see my story 'Dhows, dolphins and smugglers' published in the January issue of Get Lost magazine here)
10. UNITED ARAB EMIRATES (UAE): there's a drive in the Liwa region through the sandy desert near the border with Saudi Arabia that snakes through massive peach- and apricot-coloured sand dunes. There's very little vegetation, just an occasional small shrub, and the dunes are dotted with long-lashed camels. This is real Lawrence of Arabia stuff! As the sand is continually shifting it dramatically 'bleeds' across the road from time to time. (Read more in my story 'Dubai's Desert Escapes' published in Lifestyle+Travel magazine, available here.)

The Welcome Drink

What's so special about the welcome drink? What does it really mean? I recently wrote about welcome drinks on Grantourismo: "Immediately after your arrival at a hotel in Thailand – after you’ve been greeted with a “sawadee-kaa” from all the hotel staff accompanied by the traditional ‘wai’ gesture (hands shaped as if ready for prayer) – you’re ushered to a comfy seat and offered an icy cold face towel, usually scented with aromatic lemongrass, along with a welcome drink. While the icy face towels are particularly welcomed in Thailand’s sultry heat, it’s the welcome drinks we really enjoyed. We love the variety, from the Four Season Koh Samui’s frothy pink cocktail of guava, mango juice and sparkling ginger ale, to the Muang Kulaypan’s whole coconut filled with fresh sweet coconut juice (pictured)..." So what is it really about welcome drinks that we love? Apart from how refreshing they might be? Do we really place that much importance on them? Would we really care if we weren't offered one? And what do they mean? They're a gesture of hospitality, it goes without saying. And hotels are in the business of 'tourism and hospitality' so it's a gesture we should expect. Then why are we so delighted to be handed a glass of water and damp face cloth? Is it because someone has shown us that they care? Some cultures place more emphasis on these gestures of goodwill than others. We've lived in the Middle East for ten years and everything that's said about Arab hospitality is true. You can't enter a carpet shop in Dubai, Cairo, Damascus, or Marrakesh without being offered tea. Water is brought automatically without asking. It goes without saying you can expect the same in most shops and businesses, in banks even, and, naturally, in people's (even stranger's) homes. Is it that in 'the West' we appreciate the hotel welcome drink so much more because these gestures of hospitality are missing from our everyday life?

Traffic Hazards in Thailand #2

This family driving along a highway in the south of Thailand was one of the more troublesome of the traffic hazards that we confronted. While Dad was obviously driving at a responsible speed, it was the other vehicles on the road that concerned us. We've driven all over the world and we've come to the conclusion that the Thai drivers are quite possibly the worst. They're not the most aggressive nor fastest by any means (the Middle East wins those prizes), however, they must be the most oblivious. What is it about travelling that compels us to contemplate driving skills, habits and etiquette in a depth that we might not at 'home'? Is it that because we're always moving we more acutely notice the mechanisms of movement and the means of getting around, because quite simply, that's what we're doing, just travelling around. And what else are we to do during all those hours on the road staring out windows?

Thailand: the missing palm trees

I located my missing palm trees. I knew I hadn't imagined them. They're in Thailand, on the coast somewhere between Hua Hin and Khao Sam Roi Yot national park. We'd hired a car in Hua Hin and driven down to the park to see the limestone hills, the monkeys, and the amazing bird life. On the drive back, we followed the coast as much as we could, stopping at creamy sand beaches and tiny fishing villages. It started to rain. I remember thinking at the time that the dramatic contrast between the gray-blue sky and the rust-red soil reminded me of Broome in the north-west of Australia. That's why I took this picture. So how did this memory converge with my Moroccan one? Does that happen to your travel memories?

Top 10 Spas in Thailand

Now that I've convinced you that Thai spas offer the most sublime experience of any spas in the world, here's a list of my top ten favorite Thai spas and treatments, to help you select one for your own indulgent spa getaway:
1. Six Senses Earth Spa at Six Senses Hideaway Hua Hin - be massaged by the vibrations of Tibetan Singing Bowls; trust me, there's nothing like it!
2. Anantara Resort & Spa, Koh Samui - elevate yourself to another level with the three-hour Anantara Body Extreme beginning with an Ayurvedic clay mud treatment followed by a steam bath, rain shower, and rejuvenating facial.
3. Four Seasons Hotel Koh Samui - the jungle setting is soothing enough but try the Siam Fusion, an East-meets-West treatment based on pressure-point manipulation enhanced with a warm lemongrass, ginger and camphor compress and deep tissue massage with essential oils.
4. Banyan Tree Spa Phuket - lie back in your own beautiful private pavillion (pictured) and enjoy the famous four-hand Harmony Banyan treatment where two therapists work on you simultaneously!
5. Four Seasons Tented Camp at the Golden Triangle - mellow out with a Mandalay Magical Cleanse, including a Burmese body polish, facial and hair mask, and tangerine and sandalwood foot massage.
6. Rayavadee Spa, Ao-Nang, Krabi - the aromatic Royal Siam massage is a must, combining reinvigorating Thai and Asian massage techniques using a stimulating blend of essential oils.
7. Evason Phuket Resort & Six Senses Spa - the sensuous Spa Journey is the treatment to try here, another indulgent four-hand full-body massage, gentle facial, and sleep-inducing foot massage by two therapists.
8. Anantara Resort & Spa Hua Hin - the three hour Culture of Anantara treatment begins with a Shirodhara massage (the 'massage of the third eye'), followed by a deep back massage and a soothing honey and milk bath.
9. Spa Ten at Siam@Siam, Bangkok - this beautiful contemporary designed spa is a real oasis in bustling Bangkok so the calming Urban Escape package is the one to try; guys should go for the rejuvenating '10 out of 10', which includes a comprehensive range of treatments of three hours.
10. AKA Spa, Chiang Mai - one of the few day spas in Thailand that even comes close to comparing with the resort spas; exfoliate with a Lanna Scrub (Sea Salt or Coffee perhaps?) then luxuriate in a Lanna Wrap (Papaya and Coconut Butter are both moisturizing). Heavenly.

Travel writing and the pace of research

This month-long research trip in Thailand for the new DK guidebook has been one of the busiest commissions we've ever undertaken. It's also been one of the most sublime. We've flown, driven, ferried, and trekked thousands of kilometers in southern and northern Thailand, in our quest to review some 280 hotels and restaurants. So please forgive the silence. There's been little time for blogging in between hotel inspections, spa treatments, breakfast, lunches and dinners, and activities that have ranged from cooking classes and elephant mahout training to ox cart rides and jungle treks. Then there are all the tedious things in between - checking in and out of hotels every day or two, picking up and dropping off hire cars, checking in at airports, hanging out in lounges and waiting at baggage carousels, and sitting in our car as we wait in line for the inevitably late car ferry - all of which consume an interminable amount of our precious time. The continual travel and constant activity has meant little time for relaxation. As I'm writing a new spa spread for the next edition of the guide, and both my partner Terry and I are working on spa-focused stories for travel magazines, our spa 'research' has comprised our only down time. Along with an hour here and there to test out our private infinity pools (such as this one at the Four Seasons Koh Samui). It's these moments of pampering in tranquil treatment rooms and gazing out across the tops of palm trees to serene sea vistas that have kept us sane. Naturally, we don't expect any sympathy.

The Joys of Travel: Food Markets, part 1

Food markets are one of the ultimate joys of travel, aren't they? Whenever we visit a new place one of the first things we do is visit a local fresh food market. They're a microcosm of the society. Markets give you a sensoral introduction to the culture, an insight into its everyday life, a taste of the 'personality' of the place, and some local flavour - quite literally. For us one of the real pleasures is the food itself. And while we like being able to identify the familiar (Oh, they have that here?!), we love nothing more than discovering some unusual ingredient or exotic fruit - and Thailand has plenty of those. And in Thailand, there's the added delight - or horror depending on how you look at it - of seeing slimy creatures swimming around in big bowls of water, ugly frogs that give the cane toad a run for its money, big dishes of deep fried insects, and other icky unidentifiable things bouncing about in plastic bags. The more markets assault your senses the better. Colours so bold they bowl you over, sounds so raucous you're covering your ears, aromas so heady you have to hold your nose... bring it on!

Travelling: anticipation

So, do you want to come to Thailand? I'm travelling on Sunday for a month of work, writing hotel and restaurant reviews and a spas spread for DK, and stories for magazines. You're welcome to join me on my journey. I'm busy planning the trip now and as tedious as elements of organizing trips can be (I must have planned hundreds of these), it's still a little exciting. Trawling through the Thai tourism websites, hotel sites, online airline schedules, comparing reviews, considering trekking itineraries, and calculating road distances, are all working together to create a sense of anticipation. Already I'm imagining tucking into some spicy Thai food at a table within splashing distance of the sea, climbing endless steps to see a colossal reclining gold Buddha, learning to 'drive' and ride an enormous elephant, and feeling the sand squeak beneath my feet on a pristine white sand beach. Alain de Botton writes in The Art of Travel of the anticipation created from seeing a tourist brochure that: "... displayed a row of palm trees, many of them growing at an angle, on a sandy beach fringed by a turquoise sea, set against a backdrop of hills where I imagined there to be waterfalls and relief from the heat in the shade of sweet-smelling fruit trees." The longing provoked by the brochure is evidence of the power and influence of "simple images of happiness", he writes, "how a lengthy and ruinously expensive journey might be set into motion by nothing more than the sight of a photograph of a palm tree gently reclining in a tropical breeze." de Botton immediately resolved to travel to Barbados. It was there that he explored the anticipation of travel and the actual reality. I'm going to do the same in Thailand. So, do you want to join me?

Travelling Inspirations: food blogs, part 1

Food blogs inspire me to travel. Especially those by globetrotting foodies blogging about their eating experiences around the world, and expats who blog about their culinary discoveries in their adopted cities. As I’ve been blogging about our Thailand travels, it’s apt that I share some of my favourite Asian-focused blogs: Bangkok-born San Franciscan Pim blogs on Chez Pim about her global culinary adventures, reviewing everything from Asian street food to European Michelin star restaurants; she has scrumptious guides to eating in San Francisco, London, New York, Paris, and Spain, and her Bangkok guide includes blogs on my favorite Thai snacks, pork crackling and Kanom Krok. Singaporean ‘Chubby Hubby’ blogs equally deliciously about his gourmet globetrotting experiences with his wife, with mouth-watering photography; his recent blogs on Bhutan will have you adding that destination to your list. Asian-based blogs with food photography to make me hungry include the scrummy-looking Real Thai by Bangkok-based Austin Bush who blogs about his best eating experiences in Bangkok and other places; the appetizing Eating Asia by a Malaysian-based food writer-photographer team, which includes especially luscious photography; the ravenous-making Rambling Spoon by Karen Coates, an Asia-based correspondent for Gourmet magazine, who is ‘traveling the world by mouth’ (Karen also has a long list of food blogs I’m going to have to check out!); and Hanoi-based blog Sticky Rice about yummy eating experiences in Vietnam. Take a read and see if they don't make you want to buy a plane ticket somewhere. (This pic is mine, of our typically scrumptious, congee-like breakfasts while in Thailand.)

Travelling inspirations: liquid travels

Mojitos in Havana, Caiparinhas in Rio, Pisco in Chile, Arak in Beirut, Lychee Martinis in Thailand... I find memories of exotic cocktails and local liquors, generally sipped in equally exotic locations - an atmospheric fort in old Havana, a beachside cafe on Copacabana Beach, sunset over a dramatic Atacama desert landscape, a nightclub on New Years Eve in Jounieh, and a bar overlooking Burma (in that order) - to be almost as inspiring as foreign food experiences. Admittedly the liquid memories are more hazy. For obvious reasons. Are there 'booze blogs' out there that might inspire me to travel as much as those mouthwatering food blogs I wrote about, I wonder? We recently drank shots of sweet, strong Thai whiskey with a Shaman's father in a hill tribe village in Thailand (the Shaman was at work in the fields), and the warmth that dashed through my body, and the smile that darted to my lips, after a sip of the potent brew is something I won't forget easily. Do I long to return to the Shaman's hut to share some more shots? Probably not. But it's the opportunity to have similar kinds of heady experiences that inspires me to travel. What about you?