Many new hotels have recently opened their doors in Northern Thailand during the last year or so. These new hotels range from Banilah, a budget boutique hotel in Chiang Mai to the deluxe Four Seasons Tented Camp in Chiang Rai Province, a resort modeled after the luxury tented camps in East Africa. I will be visiting three of these new properties on my upcoming trip to Thailand in November. Here’s a capsule review:

Banilah

Located in Chiang Mai, Banilah is a small hostel which caters to the budget traveler. From the images on the website, it appears to be a very stylish but simple boutique hotel. With room rates of only $9.00 including daily breakfast, it sounds too good be true. The hotel is located about 15 minute taxi ride from the center of Chiang Mai in an area very popular with the student crowd.

Nan Boutique Hotel

Heretofore, the city of NAN - an off the beaten track destination in Northern Thailand that few tourists have heard of - was lacking a legitimate first class hotel. That has all changed with the opening up of the Nan Boutique Hotel. From the look of their website, this hotel appears to be very stylish and upscale with rates starting at very reasonable $40USD.

Bo Klua View

About a 90 minute drive from the city of Nan is Bo Klua resort, a small nature lodge of about 12 rooms. Overlooking an ancient salt well village and situated not far from the Doi Phu Kha National Park, this hotel is for nature lovers. Priced at $50USD night including breakfast, the rates seem to be a little on the steep side for accommodations of this type in Thailand, but then again I have yet to visit the property.

I will be splitting my stay in Nan at Nan Boutique Hotel and Bo Klua View.

Four Seasons Tented Camp

Further afield in Chiang Rai Province is the Four Seasons Tented Camp, the first of its kind in Thailand - sort of Africa meets Thailand. According to the publicity, this resort is popular with people who’d like to see the elephants. It is rated as a luxury establishment’ with rates that start at $1370 per night/per tent including daily breakfast, the price is a little steep for most people but apparently they have found a market with “the so called jet set and celebrity types”.

Have you spent the last three weeks watching I’m a Celebrity, Get me out of here, the wildly popular (and absurd) reality show which took place in the rainforests of Costa Rica? I admit that curiosity got the better of me and even I watched a handful of episodes (I recorded the whole series) finding it to be quite hilarious and entertaining at times.

At the beginning of the show, most of the celebrities were complete strangers to each other – as time went on, they developed into a somewhat cohesive clan/tribe forming friendships and relationships. Lou Diamond Philips and John Salley showed their alpha male qualities by asserting themselves as the leaders.

The young celebrity couple of Heidi and Spencer proved themselves to be total primadonnas, wearing out their welcome only 2-3 days into the show before they dropped out altogether. I guess someone had to step up and play the role as the villain initially to draw in the viewers. The different competitions and games that the producers put them through were kind of fun (and ridiculous) and the show had its moments of drama especially with the feistiness of former model, Janice Dickerson. I was really impressed with the production values - the visuals of the wildlife, in particular the close-up shots of various insects, frogs, lizards and monkeys were outstanding.

After watching this show, many people are probably thinking how wonderful it would be to experience the rainforests of Costa Rica (or anywhere for that matter). While the rainforests are teeming with exotic colorful birds and wildlife, most of the creatures remain hidden or camouflaged in the dense green vegetation and towering rainforest canopy.

Walking along nature trails, you’ll probably be pestered by a variety of bugs – namely flies, mosquitoes and the occasional wasp and if you look carefully on the ground, you’ll most likely encounter several giant centipedes as well as colonies of leafcutter ants crossing the trail. Just be careful where you sit, as the ants can be very nasty! Snakes, you may ask? I have never stumbled across a snake in the rainforest, but there is always a first time, just be sure to watch your step and don’t stray off the marked trail.

As someone who has spent some time in the rainforests of Costa Rica and the Amazon basin, I know how difficult it is go birding unless you’re with a trained naturalist. Many tourists who have stayed at a nature lodge in the rainforest have remarked that the only birds they saw during their entire trip were at the propped up birdfeeders set up by the management.

Can you imagine, even though the series ended last night, I haven’t watched the final show. I am wondering who the winner is!

I have a friend by the name of Lek in Northern Thailand who hosts a meditation retreat on her large sprawling estate in Chiang Dao, a small rural community located about 75 minutes north of Chiang Mai, a major tourist hub. With the majestic Doi Chiang Dao, Thailand’s 2nd highest peak, rising high above the landscape, it is an absolutely idyllic setting.

Up to 40 people – mostly friends and family - attend the meditation retreat, which is held at least once a year. There is a dedicated area on her compound - separate from the main house – where people camp out in tents underneath simple palm thatched lean-toos. Tents are provided to campers as a courtesy of Khun Lek. Clustered together in the camping area are a number of gazebos and platforms which are used by the campers for their group meditation sessions. Scheduled twice a day (at 4:00PM and 8:00PM), these meditation sessions are supervised by her younger brother, an ordained Buddhist monk.

Lek’s Meditation Retreat is not a social affair - the focus is on meditation and spiritual purification. Typically people will eat, sleep and talk less. Breakfast and lunch are ordered from a nearby food shop for about $2.00USD per person, although many of the campers will bring some food and cook together. Most of them will skip dinner and just have some hot cocoa and fruit. Although, Khun Lek does not charge participants any monies, they are welcome to make donations to help subsidize the electricity and water bill.

After about a week or so at Khun Lek’s, the meditation retreat goes mobile - the group will travel around Northern Thailand and Issan by car(s) for about 1-2 months, visiting many places and setting up camp at any number of National Parks. Sounds like fun if you’re seriously into Meditation, Buddhism and Nature! Since Khun Lek and her people speak minimal English, outsiders (hence the tourist crowd) do not attend her meditation retreat as they would feel a little awkward.

For tourists who’d like to escape from the rigors of the daily grind and chant their way to nirvana, you might want to check out the Middle Way Meditation Retreat in Thailand, one of the top international retreats in the world. Located near Phu Ruea National Park in the Northeastern (Issan) province of Loei, this retreat is farang friendly and has more in the way of creature comforts and amenities then Lek’s place in Chiang Dao. For a one-week all-inclusive package, the rate is $156 per person. While I have never been there myself, there was a very good article about this retreat in the June Edition of Conde Nast Traveler. Sounds good to me!

Going through my voluminous collection of photographs of Thailand, I have discovered “The Land of Smile’s” New Cover Girl. I can imagine her face gracing the front cover of my forthcoming brochure - Welcome to Thailand.

What is the story behind this picture? While strolling through the crafts market in Mae Salong, a quaint Yunnanese village in the mountains of Northern Thailand (circa 2004), a young Akha lady at the crafts market happened to catch my eye while selling her vibrantly colored handbags. At my behest, the young lady graciously posed for this picture, which is typical in Thailand as most people enjoy having their pictures taken. As she was accustomed to dealing with tourists in her line of business, she spoke more than a couple of words of English - more than most Thai people.

Normally I will buy some merchandise before taking pictures but in this instance no monies changed hands. May I introduce to you Thailand’s New Cover Girl!

I recently came across a rock ballad with a very catchy and beautiful melody about COSTA RICA sung by Jakob Dylan, son of the famous rock star-poet, Bob Dylan. Entitled Costa Rica, the song reminds me a bit of the famous Margaritaville sung by Jimmy Buffet, but it is much softer and dreamier in tone and style. The song is about a young couple’s romantic escape and love affair in Costa Rica. When it’s time for them to return home, the couple discover that it is very difficult to leave as they have fallen under Costa Rica’s magical tropical spell, and they realize that there is really nothing for them to return home to - “We may or may not never return”.

The song is accompanied by a wonderful video which depicts some of the remarkable natural beauty and wildlife that Costa Rica has to offer as well as some of the popular activities and tours for the adventurous tourist - Zipline Canopy tours, mountain biking, hiking, sea kayaking and whitewater rafting and the like. In my opinion, the video (accompanied by the Jacob Dylan song) is a very powerful marketing vehicle for tourism to Costa Rica, which in recent years has become one of the most popular playgrounds and vacation hot spots of many Hollywood celebrities and stars.
PURA VIDA!