I would like to share with you my favorite trio of restaurants in Langkawi, Malaysia’s most popular beach destination. Almost all tourists are self-styled restaurant critics. I am no different, except there is one caveat - I’m a vegetarian (97% vegan). While I’m not fussy, I am very conscious about the way the food is prepared - you know, minimal salt and oil etc. If the produce used in the restaurant is organic and grown locally, so much the better. Finding some decent vegetarian friendly restaurants in Cenang Beach, Langkawi’s liveliest resort area, was a little difficult as many of the restaurants specialize in the traditional Malay cuisine which is heavy on fish sauce, meat and seafood, however I did see a number of Indian and Middle Eastern restaurants that offered vegetarian entrees, and a lesser number of Chinese and Thai restaurants as well.

Be forewarned, there are some pseudo fancy Indian restaurants in the area, but menu prices looked a bit on the high side and judging from the lack of customers, the food at these places was probably mediocre at best!

My wholehearted recommendations are as follows:
**** Let’s hear the drumroll please!****

1. The Oasis Pub and Restaurant
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   Located about 200 meters south of Underwater World, this small beachside café specializes in North Indian Tandoori and Western food. After sunset, the ambiance at the Oasis Beach Club is very special with large colored light bulbs and candlelights illuminating the outdoor dining area. Did I say romantic? At the Oasis, there’s a good selection of set Indian dinners – both vegetarian and non-vegetarian – and for Langkawi, entrée prices are fairly reasonable. The fact that I ate there two of the four nights that I stayed in Langkawi has to tell you something – the food was very tasty. Only negative thing that I can think was that the service can be somewhat indifferent.

2. Red Tomato Café
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   Located just 50 meters north of AB Motel was RED TOMATO, this small rather eclectic café offers a variety of mostly Mediterranean and Western dishes. The ambiance is very tropical, funky and offbeat – a place where most western tourists feel comfortable and judging from the crowds that gather here for the early morning hours, this café is hands down the most popular place for breakfast in town. While I was having breakfast there one morning, Red Tomato was so busy that the Maitre-D was putting people on a waitlist. What did I have for breakfast? A large mixed fruit salad with yogurt and granola accompanied by some delicious organic coffee (not Nescafe, thank G-D) and a toasted baguette. Don’t miss out on their wonderful homemade bread and rolls!

   The European lady who owns the place is a little quirky, but her Malay husband, Oli - by occupation, he is a building contractor in Langkawi - seems to be a really amiable gentleman. He even posed for a series of pictures for me. I didn’t have a chance to make it there for dinner, but the menu had some decent vegetarian options including some delicious sounding salads. Service can be a little bit spotty though and prices are a little on the high side for Langkawi. In addition, their free Wifi is very fast - a lot faster than the service I paid for at the AB Motel. Soymilk is available upon request for their mixed coffee drinks.

3. HAROO
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   Owned by a middle-aged couple from Korea, Haroo is located on a side street directly opposite Underwater World. Haroo offers a very diverse dinner menu, but their breakfast offerings are rather standard - toast, eggs, hash brown and a small juice. The service is very good and the prices are very affordable. The one time I went there for dinner, I ordered a very delicious vegetarian curry dish, rice and a side of garlic bread. Hmm very tasty! The husband personally greets every guest that walks into the restaurant with a bow and a smile, while his wife mans the kitchen. Overall, this is probably my favorite restaurant in LANGKAWI as the husband and wife tandem are such gracious and humble hosts. Their daughter, who is very fluent in English, is quite artistic – see her tribute to chairs and coffee houses on the far wall. Excellent calligraphy. Highly recommended!

Kevan, the proprietor of Phu Lang Ka Lodge, is an extraordinary man. As the elected president of the Yao (Mien) people of Thailand, Kevan and his wife, Nong are very active in the community and play an instrumental role in the preservation of Yao culture and heritage. The Yao originate from the highlands of Southern China - over the years they have migrated and established communities over most of Southeast Asia. Numbering approximately 50,000 in Thailand, the Yao (Mien) people live for the most part in the northern provinces of Nan and Phayao and are one of the most successful and well educated of all the hilltribe groups.

Kevan is also the director of Ban Mai Pang Ka, a small community school that is funded by the government, at the nearby district of Pong. The school has about 320 students (ages 4-16) and is attended primarily by Hmong and Yao children from the surrounding villages. While most of the kids take public transportation to the school, about 70 children live at the school during the week - on a room and board basis - to return home on the weekends to be with their parents. About 65% of the children are Hmong and 30% are Yao. For the schoolchildren, the education is free and the Government pays for the salary of Kevan and his staff of 19 teachers.

Kevan and his staff organized a very impressive 2 day tribute, this past November to the recently deceased Princess Galyani, the king’s elder sister. On Thursday, November 20, there were ceremonial marches by the school children; then on Friday, both the principal hilltribe groups in the area - the Hmong and the Yao - staged their own separate tribute for the belated Princess, who during her lifetime had contributed much of her time and energies towards the improvement and welfare of Thailand’s hilltribes. Yao dignitaries from Oregon (USA) - friends of Kevan and Nong - showed up to pay their respects as well. Very well done, Kevan!

More on this Special Tribute in a subsequent post

The small nature lodge at Phu Lang Ka is a family affair - Kevan’s two daughters, Irene and Nissana and his son, Sattapat help him out with the responsibilities of running the lodge. He and his lovely wife, Nong maintain a beautiful home in Chiang Kham, a small city located about 33 KM away from Phu Lang Ka.

Traveling to Phu Lang Ka in Northern Thailand was quite an experience for me. Not only was the view and ambiance absolutely wonderful, but I had an opportunity to learn a little bit about the history and culture about the YAO people, one of the principal hilltribe groups in the area. According to Kevan, the owner of Phu Lang Ka Lodge, there are approximately 50,000 Yao people (otherwise known as Mien) in Thailand - most of whom live in the Northern Provinces of Nan and Phayao. As the elected president of the Yao people of Thailand, he and his wife are very active in keeping the culture and heritage of the Yao people alive.

While I was visiting his school at the nearby village of Pong, Kevan presented me with a little booklet called the Passport of the Yao people - it told the story of the history and origins of the Yao people . Very interesting! Returning to the lodge, Kevan and his wife showed me (and some other guests), a very unique scroll-mural, which was sort of a pictorial history of the YAO people. I don’t know if this is one of a kind document or a replica, but I was astounded at the vivid detail.

In short, the Yao people originate from southern CHINA. According to Yao Folklore, their ancestral origins can be traced to a heroic dragon dog with human attributes by the name of Pan Hu who was recruited by the local Emperor to assassinate the tyrannical KING who ruled the land. After completing his mission, he returned to the Emperor with the King’s decapitated head in his jaws and was rewarded for his heroism – Pan Hu was given permission to marry one of the Emperor’s daughters and was granted a substantial amount of property. Pan Hu and his wife had 6 sons and 6 daughters – their twelve children and their families multiplied and spread throughout the highland regions of Southern China and Southeast Asia including Thailand.

Pan Hu’s legacy was the 12 tribes of the YAO (the descendants of Pan Hu’s twelve children) - sounds similar to the biblical story of the 12 tribes of Israel.

Everybody in Bangkok has been raving about PRIMO POSTO, the new Italian restaurant-café located in the Thai countryside, so this past weekend my friend and I decided to check out what all the buzz was about. Located near Khao Yai National Park about 160KM from Bangkok, by car, it’s a leisurely two-hour drive to Primo Posto. See map below

Believe it or not, all the hype is well deserved - the architecture and landscaping was absolutely breathtaking. Painted in many brilliant colors, the Italian style building houses a coffee shop, restaurant, ice cream parlor, gift shop and an upstairs art gallery. Chatting briefly with the owner, he said “the design is from my experience and strong inspiration from traveling through Tuscany and Florence in Italy.” In the backyard, wooden benches and tables were set up under the shade of the building not far from the green fields of the wine vineyard. Covered with brown trees and dry vegetation - showing signs of the approaching summer - the mountains loomed in the background forming the perfect backdrop for this new Italian country café. Primo Posto exudes such a wonderful ambiance that even though I have never been in ITALY before, It felt like I had been transported somewhere in the Italian countryside. It took me a minute or so to realize that I was still in Thailand.

For the time being, the coffee shop and restaurant is only open Friday-Sunday and public holidays. When I was there, I observed that there were many hipsters visiting Primo Posto. It seems most of them stayed just long enough to take a couple of pictures before moving on. Prices for coffee and coffee drinks are similar to Starbucks in Bangkok, and the restaurant fare is somewhat pricey for most Thai people but would be considered affordable to the oversea tourist crowd (farangs).

To discourage the casual Thai tourist who stops there only to take couple of pictures without buying anything, the owner has instituted a 55 baht entrance fee which can be exchanged for one scoop of ice cream or applied to any coffee drink or item on the menu.

For more pictures of Primo Posto, see my photo album.

One of the most incredible views in Thailand is at Phu Lang Ka, a small lodge in the mountains of Phayao Province in Northern Thailand. Located about 33KM east of Chiang Kham, Phu Lang Ka is situated on a ridge about 850 meters (2800 feet) above sea level and overlooks a broad valley by the same name. During the early morning hours, a thick mist often blankets the valley; eerily protruding through the mist are a couple of limestone outcrops. The mood changes as the mist dissipates by late morning revealing the green valley – largely cultivated for agriculture - below. Just beyond the valley to the east is the San Pan Nam Mountain Range, beyond that Laos. On most mornings , you’ll be able to witness some dramatic and colorful sunrises. During the evening hours, looking across the valley in the darkness, you will see the twinkling of lights emanating from the small houses in the village below.

There is something very mystical and spiritual about Phu Lang Ka; it’s such a peaceful and serene setting, a perfect place to relax and meditate. I had the opportunity to stay at Phu Lang Ka this past November - to me it was such a welcome change of pace from the madness and hustle bustle of Bangkok. While I was there, a group of students from the nearby University at Phayao arrived on the weekend, occupying a house just down the road from the lodge. With their sound system blaring into the wee hours of the morning, I felt that the peace and quiet of Phu Lang Ka was violated. Upon waking shortly before sunrise, I walked down to the house and motioned with my hands for them to turn the music volume lower. I think they got the message as they pulled the plug!

Owned by a very prominent Yao family, Phu Lang Ka has 10 very small and simple bungalows available. Constructed mostly of bamboo and tin, most of the bungalows have a small outdoor sitting area which looks directly onto the valley. The place is very popular with Thai people (especially the university crowd) on weekends during the dry season. Cost is 500 Baht per night. Meals are at additional expense - very cheap though.

The owners - Kevan and his wife Nong (and his two daughters) - are very warm and hospitable people. Kevan is a very important person in YAO society - he currently is the President of the Yao people of Thailand and oversees a community school for Hmong and Yao children at the nearby village of Pong. Despite his prominence, Kevan remains a very humble man.

LOCATION - Located about 700Km from Bangkok, Nan is one of the most remote provinces in Northern Thailand. By bus, it takes 9 hours from Bangkok and 5 hours from Chiang Mai. The best way to get there is to fly on PB Air (there is service 4 times per week). The one-hour flight costs approximately 100USD

GUESTHOUSES - Many of the Europeans and American Tourists (as well as the backpacker crowd) stay at any number of guesthouses in the area. I booked in advance at SP Guesthouse, one of the newer Guesthouses in town. Located just ½ block from the main drag and about 300 meters from the Dhevaraj Hotel, my room was large and clean and came with a portable fan, mini fridge and small TV. Cost of the room was 400 baht (about $11.50USD) No complaints here! At the time I was there, (late November 2008), they were in the process of adding additional rooms. Yai, the manager at SP was quite a character. Of Indian extraction and a Hindi, Yai (in Thai, Yai means big) is originally from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. She relocated to Nan, Thailand sometime ago after meeting her husband there.

COFFEE SHOPS – Coffee shops (and cafés) are a popular gathering/meeting place for tourists. Nan is no exception - although there were no Starbucks in Nan (thank G_d), I counted three coffee shops. One is a small outdoors affair located next to the tourist center and across the street from the museum; the largest one is in the downtown area not far from the Dhevaraj Hotel, however the one I liked the best was around the corner from the bus terminal. Popular with the tourists and the young hip University crowd alike, the café (cannot remember the name) had a very warm and colorful décor. Owned by a young Thai couple, the guy was a bicycle enthusiast who also owned a large motorcoach which he used for transporting tour groups – mostly Thai Nationals and Chinese – from Bangkok and Chiang Mai.

THAI HIBACHI FACTORY - Most of the tours will take you to the kiln factory. Located on the outskirts of town, this is where they make portable Thai style hibachis - it is very labour intensive process as it takes about 1 month before the product is finished and ready to be sold. A lot of Thai people in the area use these portable stoves, as it is a very inexpensive alternative to a regular gas or electric stove.

MLABRI VILLAGE - A visit to a Mlabri village is one of the featured attractions of many of the day tours. The Mlabri, primitive hunters-gatherers, are mountain people - from what I have seen they are perhaps the poorest ethnic group in Thailand. The adults for the most part do not speak Thai, but the Thai government is making an effort to integrate the children into the modern world and Thai society. Mlabri children go to school with children from other hilltribe groups in the area, learning Thai language and ways of the west. I had the opportunity to meet the Mlabri chief of the village. A rather fit fellow – lean and mean - he was wearing just a simple loincloth to cover his genitals and nothing else. However, this is the traditional apparel of Mlabri men; in addition, men are encouraged to take more than one wife in Mlabri society. Before leaving the village, I made a donation of about 100 baht to the community.

MALAYSIA is absolutely wonderful! If you’d like to get a feeling for this very exotic Southeast Asian destination, by all means check out my critically claimed slideshow video on MALAYSIA (available in high definition). The video is based on my recent 13-day journey to MALAYSIA. Highlights include Kuala Lumpur, the cosmopolitan capital city; Melaka, an historic colonial city with a mixed Asian-European pedigree; Cameron highlands, a popular mountain resort with many tea plantations and hiking trails; the last segment of the show will take you to the popular beach resort of Langkawi. ENJOY!

P.S. If you’re wondering what Selamat Datang means- well in Malay language, it means Welcome.

I really enjoyed myself in NAN, a relatively small and obscure city in Northern Thailand that few travelers have heard of. All my touring was taken care of by Fhu Travel, the most experienced tour operator in the city. Because of the scarcity of tourists in the area, I was the only participant on my two all-day excursions. Fhu Travel assigned a dedicated tour guide and driver to handle all the touring arrangements for me. Over the course of the next two days, I spent most of my time with these two gentleman who were born and raised in the area and had an opportunity to learn more about their lives. Nong, the tour guide, was a rather husky young fellow of about 25 years old who had fairly good command of the English language. Before working as a tour guide, he labored in the rice fields. He was married but his wife (and his young daughter) lived in Chiang Mai - about 5 hours away by car - where she worked as a teacher. Chaat, the driver, was a fellow in his late 30’s; like Nong, he was also married but his wife lived with him in Nan. While I was with them, both Nong and Chaat were always smiling and laughing as we often chatted about TIGERS (Thai girls).

When they talked among themselves, they spoke in their native Lanna which is somewhat different than Thai, the predominant language in Thailand. Lanna is considerably more nasal than Thai and some of the words are completely different. During my two days of touring, I sort of developed a friendship with these two gentlemen and I really enjoyed their company during the short time that we were together. When Nong talked to me, he always addressed me as Sir – I guess out of habit and respect - and I always retorted that I didn’t like to be called Sir, and pleaded with him to call me by my first name or any one of the many pet names I go by.

When we talked about TIGERS (Thai girls), both guys would become very animated, especially Chaat. Smiling and laughing, Chaat would say, “THAIgers very dangerous, eat money.” I guess this was a pet expression of his as whenever we passed by a young and attractive Thai girl, he would repeat his mantra with a big silly grin on his face “Thaigers very dangerous, eat money.” We all laughed and chuckled. Agreeing with Chaat, “I added Thaigers are very dangerous, but Farang gals more dangerous (and more expensive) yet.”

At the end of the 2nd day of touring, I told Nong and Chaat, since it was my last night in Nan before moving onto Phu Lang Ka, that I would take them out for a drink at the Dhevaraj, the most prestigious hotel in the town. Chaat was especially excited about meeting Nancy, the young and attractive female singer who was performing at the hotel’s nightclub. Later that night both gentlemen showed up at my guesthouse on their motorbikes and we proceeded to the Dhevaraj. On the way, Nong confided to me that neither himself nor Chaat - both men had been born and raised in Nan - had ever been to the Dhevaraj nightclub before, let alone inside the hotel. When I asked why, Nong replied, “We have never been there before Hanu, because we are not of the higher class.” He was alluding to the primarily Chinese Thai patrons of the Dhevaraj who were from Chiang Mai and Bangkok. “Nonsense I said, you’re the equal to any of these people, don’t put yourself down.” I guess my words, made them feel less self-conscious about themselves as we went inside the lounge, shared two large Changs (Thai beers) as we proceeded to enjoy the Thai cabaret show that featured Nancy and a number of other singers.

From this experience, I guess you could say I learned something about class-consciousness among Thai people. Anyhow next time I go to NAN, I will look up Nong and Chaat again and take them out for another round of drinks at the Dhevaraj. Hopefully, Nancy (and some other ThAIgers) will be there to join us!

By all means, check out my initial report on Nan!

Not too long ago, I had the opportunity to travel to Nan, a small, relatively obscure city located in the northeastern half of Thailand’s Golden Triangle. Lying in a valley surrounded by mountains, not too many travelers know about Nan as it is still off the beaten track. The rather long Nan River, which cuts through the valley as flows from the north to the south, is the city’s eastern perimeter. Further east is the country of Laos.

After a one-hour flight to Nan from Bangkok on PB Air, a regional carrier which services some of the smaller cities in Northern Thailand, I had chance to do a walking tour of town. A rather pleasant and quaint city with tree lined streets and rural country roads, Nan brought back memories of Turlock, a small sleepy river town located in California’s San Joaquin Valley that I last visited as a child in late 1950’s. Strange but true! According to the owner of the guesthouse where I stayed, there are about 50,000 people who live in the city of Nan. Although there are a couple of coffee shops - albeit no Starbucks – which cater to the tourist crowds, Nan seems to be relatively untainted by the excesses of Western Culture – there’s no McDonalds, KFC or the aforementioned Starbucks.

Nan has just handful of hotels and a somewhat greater number of guesthouses. The largest and most prestigious hotel (also the oldest) is the Dhevaraj Hotel. Located in the heart of the downtown area, the Dhevaraj is very popular with Thai tourists from Chiang Mai and Bangkok. Nightlife is very limited, although when I was there, the Dhevaraj had some live entertainment nightly. Nancy, a rather attractive 23-year-old lady who had recently graduated from a nearby University, was one of the featured female entertainers. Although she was also employed as a nurse in a local hospital, she moonlighted as a singer at the hotel. In addition to singing some of the more popular Thai love songs, Nancy also belted a pretty good version of San Francisco (Be sure to wear some flowers in your hair). For some reason, this song is very popular in Thailand!

Of course, like most cities in Thailand, Nan has its fare share of Buddhist temples (Wats) and shrines. There is also a fairly interesting regional museum located in Nan; unfortunately due to time constraints I didn’t have a chance to visit it. On my first day in town, I walked into Fhu Travel, the most reputable (and oldest) tour operator in the city and got set up with two all day excursions. Tour #1 was sort of a countryside nature tour by minibus which featured the bizarre Sao Din’s Earth pillars and some other scenic vistas. I had seen the earth pillars at Lalu in Sakaeo Province the year before so I wasn’t totally awestruck – in fact the earth pillars at Lalu were more impressive than the ones at Sao Din. At the end of tour, I had Nong (my tour guide extraordinaire) and Chaat (the driver), take me to the lookout point at Wat Prathat Chae Haeng, a venerable Buddhist Temple located on the outskirts of the city. Situated on a steep hill, the views of the city and the surrounding valley from this old temple are magnificent.

By car, Nan is about 4½ hours from Chiang Mai and about 8 hours from Bangkok. The most practical way to get there is to fly from Bangkok on PB Air like I did (1 hour flight), then take the bus or drive to Chiang Mai, with stops at the village of Phu Lang Ka and the city of Phayao. Plan to spend a minimum of week in the area!

My body needed a tune-up after a 4½ hour trek into the jungles clad hills of the Cameron Highlands. It wouldn’t have been so bad except for an arthritic right hip which started acting up about 600 meters into the hike. Talking with other members of the small hiking group afterwards, it seemed that everybody had the same thing in mind – MASSAGE tonight!

Later that evening, I wandered downtown Tanah Ratah looking for a place where I could get a therapeutic massage. At the end of the strip, I found a massage shop that looked pretty respectable, so I walked in. After being greeted by the Mamasan, a middle aged Chinese lady, I told her that I wanted a one-hour full body massage. She quickly hooked me up with LULU, a rather vivacious young Chinese lady who had recently arrived from Beijing, China. Apparently Lulu was on loan to the Mamasan who knew her family back in Beijing. Even though Lulu had a very limited facility with English, I was able to communicate with her that I wanted a moderately hard massage. Now I have had plenty of massages (both body and foot) before in Southeast Asia – mostly Thailand - but Lulu’s massage technique was far superior to any massage that I’ve had in recent memory. She kneaded my muscles in my legs, shoulders, arms and upper torso thoroughly. Lulu was exactly what the Doctor ordered. She is what they call, a Natural!

After the massage was finished, Lulu escorted me back into the lobby. With Mamasan acting as a translator, I was able to have a conversation with LULU and found out more about her. When I inquired why Lulu had left her homeland to work in this small, quiet mountain resort town in Malaysia located a good 4 hours from Kuala Lumpur, the answer was very simple (and just as I expected) - MONEY. According to Mamasan, Malaysia was considered an upgrade from Mainland, China – the standard of living was higher, and most Chinese people could make more monies in Malaysia doing the same type of work. In Lulu’s case, she could make far better monies working as a Masseuse in the Cameron Highlands than in her native Beijing.

As a young lady of only 31 years, I asked her whether she missed the glittering discos, fancy nightclubs and bright lights of the big city. Shaking her head, she said no. Even though Tanah Ratah had virtually no nightlife, it suited her fine. When I asked her whether she had children or a boyfriend in China, she shook her head again, smiled and said no. Her plan was to stay in Malaysia for 2-3 years, make some monies, then return home. As it was time for me to leave, I thanked LULU for the wonderful massage and giving her a healthy tip and I told Mamasan (the proprietor) that I would probably return the following night.

I returned the following night, and this time around I had LULU give me a 1-hour foot massage. As she massaged my feet, she allowed me to take a series of pictures of her working me over. Again, she did an excellent job. Before leaving, I took some pictures of Lulu with Mamasan and her coworker just outside the shop. Since it was my last night in Tanah Ratah, I told Mamasan that I would return later and take all three of them out for dinner at a nearby Indian Restaurant. Mamasan said that she would be delighted.

Upon my return a couple of hours later, Mamasan apparently had a change of heart. She decided it wouldn’t be feasible for her, Lulu and her other employee to join me for dinner as she would have to close up the shop for an hour – she didn’t want to lose out on any potential business. No problem, I said, as I bade farewell to Mamasan and to LULU, thanking her again for her wondrous service. She was the best masseuse this side of Beijing, China.