On a recent trip to Northern Thailand, I had the opportunity to visit Fern Paradise, the #1 rated hotel in Chiang Mai by the readers of TripAdvisor. Walking around the property, I felt like I was in the middle of a rainforest as I was surrounded by a sea of green - many species of ferns (as well other plants and trees) grew profusely, and the air (unlike most of Chiang Mai) was so fresh and pure. Dr. Niwat, the owner of this small family run resort, explained to me that the many fern plants cleaned the air, filtering out the pollutants and producing a healthy supply of oxygen. An architect by trade and a fern enthusiast, Dr. Niwat gives every visitor a proper briefing and tour of Fern Paradise. According to the good Doctor, he would like to do his part in saving the world from environmental degradation and pollution through the planting of ferns, plants and trees.

Surveying the property, I didn’t get a chance to visit the rustic looking rooms, but from what I understand they include such modern amenities as cable TV and a DVD player. As a lover of plants and all things green, I was truly impressed by the concept of Fern Paradise. Located only 20 minutes or so from the heart of the Chiang Mai’s tourist zone, Fern Paradise is definitely a breath of fresh air and a return to nature. Rates are from $88 – 148USD per night including daily breakfast.

As a traveler, I am very fussy about restaurant food – it must be tasty, healthfully prepared and of course it must be completely vegetarian (no animal or animal byproducts and no seafood). If you haven’t guess it by now, I’m a full-fledged vegetarian. Thailand is a destination that I have traveled extensively, and there are many restaurants - even outside of Bangkok - that have excellent vegetarian options to choose from. Below is my “Best of Thailand” a partial list of some of my favorite restaurants (excludes Bangkok). My opinion is subjective of course, and my choices are influenced by virtue of being a strict vegetarian. Bon Apetit!

• PAI (Mae Hong Son Province) Na’s - Khun Na can cook up a storm
• KAMALA BEACH (Phuket) Baan Rim Klong - Thai, English and Indian food
• MAE SALONG Salema - A Halal Thai restaurant, runner up for best Pad Thai
• KANCHANABURI Sri Rung Reung - One of my all time faves
• MAE HONG SON Sang Tong Huts - Creative Thai cookery , the chef here is one of the best in Siam
• CHIANG DAO Malee’s Nature Lodge - Excellent family style dinners. Brown rice is the default here
• KOH CHANG Morgan - I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve eaten here!

For the best Thai food in Thailand from a vegetarian’s perspective, here are my personal nominations.

• Best Thai food overall

Plearn Ply, Khao Sok National Park

• Best Tofu Satay

Whole Earth, Chiang Mai - hmmm very tasty peanut sauce

• Best breakfast overall

Sanctuary - an upscale vegetarian & seafood Restaurant in Pai - I had a very delicious plate consisting of scrambled tofu and vegetarian sausages

• Best Pad Thai

Sri Rung Reung -excellent Thai restaurant in Kanchanaburi

BEST OF BANGKOK (Sukhumvit, between Nana BTS and Thong Lo BTS )

• Best Spicy Thai food

Raan Derm on Soi 22 - Very spicy, just how I like it….. Many choices of entrees including spicy vegetable dishes - Morning Glory, Broccoli, Asparagus, Mushroom and Spinach. Brown Rice available

• Best Pan Asian Fusion Food (Vegetarian)

Tamarind Café on Soi 20 -Creative vegetarian food, I have eaten there 10+ times

In November 2007, I stayed at the River Resort & Spa in Sakaeo. Located on the main highway about 3 KM east from the town center, this small hotel of 35 rooms is not a really resort per say but a small western style motel - rooms are large and comfortable with TV, A/C and hot and cold water. Facilities include a small restaurant, a petite freeform swimming pool and a small spa that features different massage treatments. I may be wrong, but I believe River Resort & Spa is probably the most modern and most westernized of all the hotels in this city. If you have a laptop computer, you can go into their restaurant and take advantage of their free Wifi signal. The staff was very friendly and accommodating despite their very limited facility with English, but it is understandable as their primary clientèle are Thai tourists from Bangkok. Khun Petsch, the affable young owner, is well versed in English however, having spent some time in USA (Oregon) as an exchange student.

During the 5 days that I stayed there, a wedding ceremony was staged outside in the pool area – the groom was a middle-aged limousine driver from England and the bride, a local gal from Sakaeo. Consequently, most of the hotel guests at the time - friends and relatives of the groom - were from the United Kingdom. One thing struck me as being very odd. Why did they name this hotel ‘the River Resort & Spa’ as there was no river within 15KM of the hotel? Wouldn’t it have been more appropriate if they named the hotel, No River Resort & Spa?

Located two doors down from Posada Tonala (the place where I stayed) on the main street in La Manzanilla is Jolanda’s. Specializing in European and Southeast Asian Cuisine, Jolanda’s is probably the most eclectic restaurant in town. Jolanda, the co-proprietor and her husband Leon have a most interesting story about how they ended up in La Manzanilla, but that is another story in its own right. Jolanda spent 9 months in Ao Nang, Thailand in 2001, and was trained in all styles of Thai cookery by a renowned gourmet chef who owns the Laughing Gecko Bungalows. Since the chef was shorthanded, he allowed Jolanda to work for him for 9 weeks.

Jolanda’s has legions of fans and is one of the most popular restaurants in town. As someone who loves spicy Thai cuisine, I decided to sample Jolanda’s her curried tofu dish on my first night in town. While the curry was fairly tasteful, I was a little disappointed that it did not have any vegetables, that usually accompany this type of dish. Upon Jolanda’s suggestion, I ordered a side dish of red cabbage. My 2nd time there, I had a tasty homemade tofu burger which was loaded with tomatoes, onions and lettuce. In addition, I had mustard soup, a traditional Dutch peasant dish. The soup was a little too rich in my opinion, but maybe that’s just the way it is supposed to be prepared. The menu is varied and there are lots of yummy non-vegetarian dishes to choose from. As far as the service goes, Leon is the headwaiter and he is very attentive to the needs of his customers.

Jolanda’s has a very quirky and artsy ambiance, exhibiting a variety of paintings, ceramics and indigenous arts and crafts from all Mexico. On Wednesday nights, they have a special Rice Table (Reservations only). During the season, the upstairs dining room is often jamming on Rice Table night.

My reviews of three of the restaurants that cater to gringos in La Manzanilla.…

#1 El Quetzal
This French owned restaurant specializes in crepes. On two separate occasions, I had dinner there and on both occasions I had a vegetarian crepe filled with mushrooms, onions, tomatoes and peppers. It was very tasty with large, generous portions. A small salad and some French bread came with the entree. I think the cost was about 5.50USD. Service was fairly good. The owner plays a different style of music every night- one night is reggae, another night it might be classic jazz or blues. On my last night in town, I returned to El Quetzal with a Mexican friend of mine and I had two very powerful and delicious margaritas. Needless to say, I felt a bit happy, and slightly intoxicated afterwards. Definitely a good value for the money!

#2 El Girasol Cafe© and Bistro
A carefree outdoor café located directly across the street from the zocalo, El Girasol is a wonderful place for breakfast. Not a bad choice for dinner either! They make their own pastries and serve shade grown organic coffee. The fruit salad with or without yogurt and muesli was pretty good and contained a variety of fruits in season. Portion sizes were pretty generous and service was friendly. As a real bonus, the cafe had free Wifi on a secured digital network for patrons of the café. I had breakfast there 7 of the 9 days that I was there (on Sundays the café is closed) and had dinner there on two occasions - the first time, I had a wonderful Mediterranean-spinach salad with feta cheese and vinaigrette dressing along with a bowl of tortilla soup with avocados (completely vegetarian). I guess you could say that I liked El Girasol a lot! The fact that the owner of the cafe, Davison Collins, is a dedicated environmentalist and is active in conducting ecological tours of the nearby mangroves was another reason for me to patronize this cafe. It can get kind of noisy on Friday nights and on Saturdays, when the music concession on the zocalo is playing their Mexican hip-hop CD’s at a deafening volume! Ouch!

#3 Coco Loco
A beachside restaurant, Coco Loco was taken over recently by an English chap by the name of Jason, his Italian buddy and a well versed Mexican chef from San Miguel de Allende. At the time I visited Coco Loco, the new management team were busy giving Coco Loco a complete makeover. The new menu will emphasize gourmet pasta dishes and seafood. Upon some encouragement from Jason to give his restaurant a try, I went over to Coco Loco one night for dinner. I had a vegetarian Pasta Primavera - the cost was about $7.00USD. While the pasta dish was good and tastefully seasoned, the service could use some improvement.

Coming up is Dining around in La Manzanilla (Part 2) - A look at Jolanda’s

Most of the people who traveled on the 2 day slow boat journey to Luang Prabang did not have any advance reservations for accommodations - I guess you could say they were winging it. In other words, upon arrival they would hunt for suitable (and cheap) accommodations. Many of these travelers carried a guidebook or two to aid them in their search. This spontaneous travel planning is somewhat typical of “the backpacker type of traveler”.

On the other hand, I had booked my accommodations in advance for the duration of my 42-day adventure. In Luang Prabang, I had read a lot of good reports about Thong Bay Guesthouse. Acording to what I read, Thongbay Guesthouse was perched on a hillside above the Nam Khan River and located about 2 KM outside of town. Some of the thatched bungalows had views directly overlooking the river. If one wanted to go into town, the hotel rented bicycles at a nominal charge of $1.00USD per day. As I was looking for some accommodations in a quiet, peaceful setting where I could chill out, this sounded like the perfect fit for me. What was the damage? …. $20.00USD per day for a bungalow with a river view.

For most of my fellow travelers on the slow boat, $20USD would have represented a real splurge. I am guessing that most them stayed in guesthouses costing between $5-15USD and located for the most part in the town of Luang Prabang. There are over 125 guesthouses in Luang Prabang and most of them are in this price range.

I definitely did not regret my decision to splurge at Thongbay. Located amidst some lovely tropical gardens, this small family run resort was very serene and peaceful and I found the staff to be very pleasant and accommodating. My bungalow was absolutely delightful - simply but attractively furnished, my room was very large and comfortable with a huge ensuite bathroom. Going out on my large outdoor terrace, I had commanding views of the Nam Khan River. Every morning, I would have breakfast - fruit salad, a hard boiled egg or two, strong Laotian coffee and hot toasted croissants with jelly - served to me on my private terrace while I watched the local people tend to their hillside vegetable gardens on the other side of the river. After breakfast, I would typically do some work on my laptop computer or continue reading one of my vacation novels, Tyrannosaur Canyon or Broken Prey.

I found Thongbay Guesthouse to be one of the best and most relaxing places that I stayed at during my 42-day odyssey. Owned by an amiable Swiss gent and his Laotian wife, this small resort cum guesthouse of about 20 units is highly recommended.

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On my last trip to Thailand, I brought my laptop computer with me in order to make it easier to keep up to date on my business affairs and my blog. Looking for a reasonable place (preferably free) to utilize a Wi-fi connection in Bangkok and Chiang Mai took a little research but was worth the effort. In both these cities, there is Wi-fi available at any of the Starbuck outlets - albeit at a steep price of 200-300 baht per hour. I passed however, as I wasn’t about to pay stateside prices in Thailand.

In Bangkok, I was able to get free Wi-fi at one of my favorite restaurants, Tamarind Café - a very attractive gourmet vegetarian restaurant cum art gallery on Sukhumvit Soi 20 - primarily because I was a regular customer of theirs. On Sukhumvit Soi 22, I also remember passing by a coffee shop - can’t remember the name - that was offering free Wi-fi. When I return to Bangkok, I will have to go to this coffee shop as I usually stay nearby at President Park Hotel

While I was in Chiang Mai, I did a search online for Wi-fi and I was able to get a list of free Wi-fi in Chiang Mai on Stickman’s Website. On this list, I found an interestingly named place named Charcoa located near Taphae Gate in Old Town. So I hired a Tuk Tuk for 40 baht from Tawan Court to take me there sometime after breakfast on my first morning in Chiang Mai.

Well, Wi-fi wasn’t free - it was only 30 baht (about 90 cents) for the whole day but I really didn’t mind paying, as Charcoa was such a delightful place to be. Such ambiance - the décor inside this small café was exquisite and the place oozes with charm. Whoever was responsible for the architectural design and in the interior décor was a real artist and is to be commended for doing such an incredible job in such a small space. Not only that, while I only had breakfast and coffee there, the food was superb and very reasonably priced as well.

If you’re in Chiang Mai, stop by Charcoa for breakfast or lunch (with or without your laptop). It’s a wonderful little café. 4 Soi 1 , Sriphum Road in old town. Tel: 053-212681

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The only real bright moment of my brief excursion to Udon Thani was Good Everything, a small, very stylish café located across the street from popular Nong Prajak Park and Lake. Set amidst a tropical garden setting, one can tell that the proprietors of this small café have an artist’s sensibility. With flourishes of color, the café oozes with ambiance and the menu features some wonderful Asian fusion dishes. On a lazy Saturday morning, I had a very scrumptious breakfast on their outdoor patio - a fruit salad with yogurt, a mango smoothie and expresso coffee. The presentation was so impressive that I did not mind paying the somewhat elevated prices. Too bad, Everything Good did not feature some vegan dishes with tofu, otherwise I would have returned there in a heartbeat for dinner. Special kudos to the young lady, a transplanted Filipina, who showed me around the place - she spoke English very well. The owner, Ms. Naparat Tharananithikul, is a very gracious lady whose mother owns a small hotel in town. Gotta love those those Thai names - they are so loooooong. It’s a good thing that most of the ladies (and guys) have nicknames..

As much as I didn’t care for Udon Thani, I liken Good Everything to be an oasis in the middle of the desert.

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Good Everything Cafe - 43/2 Phoniyom Road, Udon Thani
Tel: 042-245544 Cell: 097122219

Nov. 11 - Every time I come to Bangkok, I make it point to check out some new places or tourist facilities. This time around, my associate, Fatcheek and I visited Phranakorn Nornlen, a small boutique-bed and breakfast hotel, located not far from Khao San Road, Bangkok’s famous backpacker tourist ghetto. This hotel is unlike any other Bangkok - with a cozy garden ambiance, the owners have tried to recreate the feeling of living in a small Thai village-family compound. There is eclectic artwork, paintings and drawings sprinkled throughout the property and every room has a small alfresco watercolor painting on the wall directly behind the bed. There is a special watercolor class offered several times a week, and all the profits from the class are donated to the Rabbit in the Moon Foundation, a local environmental organization. In addition, although they include breakfast featuring organic vegetables, fruits and juices, serve fair trade organic coffee and a variety of herbal and green teas, they do not offer any other meals. Instead they encourage their guests to patronize some of the local restaurants in the neighborhood. Furthermore, the hotel maintains a 100% nonsmoking environment. Wow - if there is one thing that Hanumann detests is cigarette smoke. I would really feel at home here.

Even though, this small boutique hotel of about 50 rooms has very limited facilities - rooms are without televisions but have a CD player on the wall, and there is no swimming pool or fitness center - this hotel is highly recommended as the owners are to be commended for their efforts in sustainable tourism and protecting the environment. Rates for double including breakfast are 2000 baht (approx $60USD)