One of my favorite vistas in Thailand is the featured Travel Photo of the Week. Located about 5,000 feet above sea level in Northern Thailand’s Chiang Rai province is Mae Fah Luang Arboretum.

Located in the center of the arboretum, there is a large grassy area surrounded by native trees with wonderful panoramic views of the mountains in nearby Myanmar. The views are absolutely unforgettable, and it is such a wonderful place to just relax, meditate and enjoy nature. Such a spiritual place.

The revered Princess Mother, an ardent conservationist, was responsible for the development of this beautiful arboretum/park. Her objective was to create a refuge for the indigenous trees and plants of the area and to curb the accelerating deforestation in Northern Thailand.

The late Princess Mother who died in 1995 is the mother of the King of Thailand, Bhumibol Adulyadej.

Having been in the travel business for many years, I have a pretty good
acumen for trip planning as well as understanding the psyche of the traveler. The best advice I can give to a prospective traveler would be - Make sure you plan your vacation as far in advance as possible. This tip is especially true if you are planning to travel during the Christmas Holidays or during the peak travel months to a popular vacation destination.

If you’re planning an extended vacation to Europe, Asia (or any other destination) for more than 2 weeks, you can probably “wing it” for most of your trip. Just make sure you’ve covered the basics – R/T airfare from your destination, accommodations for the first 2 nights and the last night of your trip – the rest can be impromptu.

If you’re planning a 1-2 week stay, I suggest that the itinerary be planned well in advance and hotels booked for the duration of the trip – there is simply not enough time to improvise or travel spontaneously. Unlike most Europeans, Americans cannot have an extended vacation - they are usually limited to 7-14 days.

Let’s face, it everybody (and their mother) would like to travel out over the Christmas Holidays, Dec. 20-27 or Dec 26–Jan 2/3 (the first Sunday after New Years) - these are real prime time dates, and there is extremely limited availability for affordable airline seats or hotel rooms. It is akin to finding a needle in a haystack.

Many people have come to me a month or so before departure, expecting me to make arrangements for those dates only to be severely disappointed when I tell them there is nothing available, or airline seats are only available at outrageously high fares. They shake their head in bewilderment. My suggestion is - Book for the Christmas Holidays no later than early July or 6 months in advance.

For travel during the peak summer months of July / August as well as January/February to the Caribbean, Mexico or to other popular resort destinations, you should book at least 2 months in advance in order to avoid major disappointment

How about me? I took take care of all my arrangements for my upcoming trip to Southeast Asia, November 18-December 30 over 2 months ago!

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I had taken care all of my travel arrangements over 2 months ago for my upcoming odyssey to Southeast Asia, November 18-December 30, where in a 42-day period I will be visiting Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. However there was one very small loose end to take care of - since my air ticket to Thailand was for more than 30 days, I had to apply for a tourist visa with the Thai Consulate.

I thought I was catching a break as The Thailand Government was waiving the $25 fee for the tourist visa for all travel between June 2009 – March 2010. Little did I know that this small procedure would be turn out to be real hassle - call it The Passport Follies!

About a week after I sent my US passport to the Thai Consulate in Los Angeles by certified mail, I received a call from a representative at the Consulate. She advised me that they couldn’t issue the tourist visa at this time because all the visa pages in my passport were used up, so she was returning my passport to me. I would have to get extra visa pages inserted; upon accomplishing that, I was instructed to return the passport to their office for the actual visa.

After doing some research, I discovered that I had to send my passport to the Passport Office in Philadelphia. Although there was no charge for the addition of extra visa pages, in order to get the passport back in a reasonable amount of time, they suggested I pay for Expedited Service which costs $60.

Without the Expedited Service, the anticipated wait time for was up to 3 months or longer – so the decision to shell out $60 was a slam-dunk! Furthermore there was the additional expense of sending (and receiving) the passport by express mail. Of course, as soon as I receive my passport, I will have to send it to The Thai Consulate by express mail (and pay for return by express mail).

Bottom line – Total damage for adding a few measly visa pages to my passport - about $130 - includes the Expedited Service and all mailing fees, and I can expect to receive my passport (with the tourist visa) about 3-5 days before I am scheduled to depart. It looks like I’m cutting it kind of close. There is a lesson to be learned from this experience!

Located near the city of Kanchanaburi in Western Thailand, The Bridge over River Kwai is our featured travel photo of the week. The Japanese occupied Thailand and Burma during WW2 - the famous bridge was built by Allied Prisoners of War under the supervision of their Japanese captors. The plan was to build a railway line that would connect Rangoon, Burma with Bangkok, Thailand in order to facilitate the movement of Japanese troops between the two occupied countries. By car, Bangkok is a mere 2 ½ hours by car from Kanchanaburi.

The Bridge was bombed repeatedly by Allied Forces to thwart the Japanese war effort and eventually was destroyed before the end of World War 2. Because so many prisoners of war as well as Asian Laborers died during the construction of this railway, it was renamed the Death Railway by the Allied Forces. After the war, the dead were reburied in specially created War cemeteries located in Kanchanaburi town.

After the Thai Government rebuilt the bridge sometime after the war, Kanchanaburi has become quite a popular tourist town primarily because it’s historical significance in World War 2. In addition to the Bridge and the Death Railway, other historical attractions are the WW2 museum and the War cemeteries. However It was the famous award-winning movie of 1957, Bridge over the River Kwai starring William Holden and Alec Guinness, that really put this particular bridge and Kanchanaburi on the map.

While walking across the famous bridge, I couldn’t help but start humming Colonel Bogey, the theme song of Bridge over River Kwai. A most memorable moment!

Trivia – The movie, Bridge Over the River Kwai was filmed entirely in Ceylon

If you have traveled around Thailand, I’m sure you’ve come across
the Spirit House (in Thai, Phra Phum), an ornate dollhouse-like structure which sits on top of a pole or pedestal. Spirit houses can be found everywhere in Thailand. In the city, the spirit houses are situated prominently in front of many hotels, office and government buildings or at the entrance of many bars or nightclubs. They also can be found on the premises of many Buddhist Temples.

Most Thai people who reside in their own house also have a Spirit House, usually placing it in the corner of their property. According to tradition, the spirit house must not fall in the shadow of the main structure. In the countryside, you’ll often encounter Spirit houses at the entrance to caves in the mountains, around a fishing pond or in the middle of the forest.

If you look carefully inside the spirit house, you’ll observe small human or animal figurines – in most cases, the human figurines are dressed up in Thai outfits. Some of the Spirit Houses are fully furnished with fixtures such as miniature tables, chairs, paintings and the like. Sometimes draped with flower garlands, most Spirit Houses have small balconies where flower vases, incense holders and candle sticks are positioned.

Spirit worship in Thailand is a very integral part of Thai Culture and is practiced by all segments of Thai society – from the very rich to the very poor. The Spirit House is the most prominent manifestation of Thai people’s traditional belief in the spirits. Many believe that spirits reside on the land, and if you build a house or a commercial structure, these spirits are displaced from their home.

In order to appease the spirits, a Spirit House is erected on the site to provide them a place to live. Daily offerings are made to the spirits – flowers, food, rice, and coins and sometime even cigarettes - in order to keep them happy. Frequent donations to the resident spirits of the Spirit House is believed to bring Good Luck!

Most Thai people have a very simple Spirit House which sits on one pole, but the more affluent Thais will typically have some very elaborate (and large) Spirit House built for them – these custom made houses are supported by four poles. A whole cottage industry has been developed around the manufacture of spirit houses.

I’ve been on many tours and sightseeing excursions (in addition to conducting my own tours) during my many years as a traveler, so I have a pretty good feeling of how a tour should be properly conducted.

The most common sightseeing excursion is the ½ day city highlights tour.
Many tourists who arrive in a new locale will typically go on an orientation
or highlights tour in order to get a feeling for the place. The tour may include historical points of interests, museums, monuments and parks as well as sampling the local color. Let’s not forget time for shopping.

As a general rule of thumb, the time allotted for such a tour should be approximately 4-6 hours, with the maximum distance from the point of origin no more than 30-40 minutes away. The tour should focus on no more than 3 major venues or attractions – sometimes the tour operators try to cram too many venues and attractions into the ½ day tour.

Take San Francisco as an example, a city I am most familiar with - A well rounded ½ day tour of the City might include Fisherman’s Wharf, China Town and North Beach (all in the same general vicinity) as well as Golden Gate Park (including the Japanese Tea Gardens and the De Young Museum) and perhaps a ride across the bridge to Sausalito, a popular tourist town hugging the San Francisco Bay with marvelous views of the CITY. This would be a good 6 1/2 hours including time for lunch in Sausalito. Of course, additional time will be chewed up in dropping off passengers at their respective hotels.

An all day tour will typically last 8-10 hours. Usually, they will depart shortly after breakfast. – let’s say at 8:00AM– 9:00AM and return by 6:00 -7:00PM in the evening. The maximum distance from the point of origin should be no more than 2 hours away with 1-1½ hours as the optimal distance. Again, the maximum number venues should be limited to 3 major attractions (allowing 1 hour for lunch).

If the distance to the furthest venue is more than 2 hours away from the originating point, the tour operator should consider a one - two night overnight at the primary or furthest venue. Travelers don’t want to spend the whole day on the bus!

Here are some specific examples of all day touring:

SAN FRANCISCO - To Monterey and Carmel via Santa Cruz (a popular beach town) or to Calistoga and the wine country, the drive will take a good for two hours

In COSTA RICA, highly compact country, there are many attraction and points of interest within a 90-minute radius of San Jose including the Caribbean Lowlands, Irazu Volcano/ Orosi Valley and La Paz Butterfly Gardens/Poas Volcano

THAILAND – Originating from Bangkok, a trip to Siam Cultural Park in Ratchaburi Province, the estimated travel time is 1 1/2 hours. To historic Ayutthaya and Lopburi, the approximate travel time to Lopburi would be 1 hour.

P.S. My apologies to my valued subscribers for my absence over the last month