by Bank Takaeng

This is another delicious typical Thai soup among Thai people. If you have tasted Tom Yum Kung, this dish is much spicy.

Ingredients:
Water – 5 cups
Peeled and slightly crushed shallots – 3-5
Slightly crushed and slice Lesser galangal – 3-4
Slightly crushed galangal – 10
Sliced and crushed stalks lemongrass – 3
Crushed bird chilies – 8-10
Salt – 1 tbsp/ 5ml.
Fish Sauce – 1/4 cup/  60ml.
Slightly crushed kaffir lime leaves – 2-3
Tamarind puree – 3 tblsp/ 45ml.
Palm sugar – 1/4 cup/ 60ml.
Smoked Catfish or Serpent head fish fillet, sliced into bite-size piece – 450-500g.

Preparation:

• Combine water, shallots, lesser galangal, galangal, lemongrass and chilies in a large sauce pan and bring into boil, then reduce heat to medium-low, cover and shimmer for 20 min.
• Add salt, fish sauce, kaffir lime leaves, and sugar, then cover for 15-20 min.
• Stir in tamarind puree and taste for balance of sour, salty and slightly sweet.
• Add fish the increase the heat to medium-high, cover for 5 min.

This dish is for 3-4 people.

by Daniel Fraser

I have had my trip designer’s hat on several times again the past few months. It has been fantastic and has mostly involved testing bike rides or motorcycle routes or finding scenic detours, squeezing hotel pillows, sampling spring rolls, tasting hotel coffee or grilling the local bartender on how to get the keys to the city.

A nice footpath in northern Thailand

Many of our trips involve hikes and bicycle rides, some as short as an hour and others multiple days. Specifically I have been surveying various hike possibilities lately in far flung places like Isaan (NE Thailand), central Laos, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, and more recently in northern, central, and southern Vietnam. I have driven several trekking guides to the point of insanity and we’ve gone back to the drawing board multiple times. I admit that at times I have struggled to explain exactly what I am or am not looking for when it comes to a good hike or bike ride or any day excursion for that matter. So, I’ve come up with a simple quick-list of qualifications that, say a hike must have to get the Smiling Albino stamp of approval.

I’ve omitted the obvious things like ‘carry proper supplies’, or ‘be a friend to nature’, etc., as that surely has been covered already.

Following, in no particular order, are a few steering points that I’ve used when building hikes or bike rides (from 1-8hrs) for Smiling Albino:

1 – Graceful Transitions
This means ideally no driving 45-minutes just to get to the starting point of a hike, or an hour in a van back to the resort when it is finished. Obviously in some regions this isn’t possible, but in the case where any transfer is necessary the hike must be extra special to justify it. Good flow is vital to a perfect holiday, and graceless transitions can upset the otherwise good rhythm of your trip. Now, if the hike absolutely necessitates a commute at the start or finish, or both, then an effort should be made to involve alternative means to get there rather or back than a van ride, such as a bicycle, boat, or even motorcycle taxi. Maintaining good flow is as important to an adventure as the hotels and meals. We are currently planning a couple of hikes in central Vietnam in which we transfer to the start point by a local motorcycle touring club and finish the hike a stone’s throw from a hillside pub – that’s good flow.

2 – Modifiable
As we would like several different types of our guests to enjoy a great hike, it should be modifiable so that Olympian guests can get their burn if so desired, or the leisure stroller can feel like they got what they were after. Shortcuts, scenic routes, fun detours and strategic stops make this possible.

3 – Higher Purpose
Besides a walk in the woods, what is the purpose of the hike?
Smiling Albino does a couple of fantastic hikes in northern Thailand where there is a relevant sub-theme to the hike. We follow village trails once used by smugglers in the former opium trade and use the time discuss the eradication struggles, and witness the new agricultural alternatives the villagers are cultivating. Throughout the hike we’ll discuss the role opium played in the region and how everyone from the Chinese government to the CIA had their direct influence on the villages that feature in the hike.

Not that wandering in the woods and quoting Walt Whitman alone wouldn’t be fulfilling enough, but surely a hike’s purpose, other than getting back to nature and a bit of a workout, must be to connect the hiker with the location. Additionally, bonus points if the hike follows the path of a historic battle, or even traces the migration of a people to a new settlement and the reasons behind it.
A great trip needs multiple layers of connectivity to truly be impactful.

4 – No logging roads or constructions sites!
Although one can’t deny you are still out in nature and far from the city

A guide gives blankets to a local in northern Thailand

streets, walking down logging roads or through forest construction sites or mega agro-projects just doesn’t fill the soul’s need for tree-hugging granola moments of bliss. I once did a hike that followed a series of logging roads until we reached a giant gravel quarry, where we had lunch and observed heavy machinery crunch rocks. Needless to say it didn’t make the cut for SA trips.

5 – No staged village visits
For too long in SE Asia hikers have been subjected to the trumped up ‘remote village visit’. Truth is most of the villages accessible on a day hike are not that remote, and as we know unfortunately some villages are incentivized to stage some of their tribal authenticity. I have no problem with being part of equitable fair exchanges between groups (fruit or blankets or basic medical materials in exchange for a visit to a house for a whiskey with the local shaman or a cigar with the village chief, etc.), but to make the villagers themselves the focus of the hike ultimately creates an awkward mercenary exchange in which the visitor is unknowingly paying for village behaviour to appear a certain way to fulfill his/her expectations. Professor Erik Cohen has a great series of white papers on this topic in his White Lotus books publication.
So, only subtle village visits please, and no cultural dance shows unless they were happening that day regardless of our passing through, and no human-zoo gawking and romanticising the moment. Pass through, learn a bit about them, provide a fair exchange if appropriate, and continue with getting back to nature.

6 – Bush, Plant, Bug, Bird
At least some basic learning about flora and fauna and the types of crops growing in the area is needed. Now, most guests that join our short hikes on our Thailand trips or our longer hikes on our Nepal/Tibet trips are not looking for a comprehensive breakdown of species and biodiversity in the region, but they would at least like to learn about a few crops, bushes, plants and other things along the way.
“Hey is that morning glory”? “Yes, and we’ll have some tonight.” “Cool”. Or, “Hey, can you smoke that?” “No, it is pumpkin.”

7 – Snack
Depending on the length of the hike, appropriate food at an appropriate place can’t be underestimated. I was once on a hike (before Smiling Albino existed) and we had a picnic lunch of rice in a box served under a bridge. Zero points for ambiance – but surely even some basic fruit and nuts under the canopy of the jungle would have tied us over until dinner?

8 – Transcendence (in a hiker’s context)
Ideally the hike actually brings you from one place to another, or, in a perfect world, the hike is part of a larger experience carefully woven into the day. For example, sometimes we do a short afternoon kayaking venture down a river in northern Thailand. If the guests are up for it, then we offer the alternative to hike back to the resort rather than a longtail boat (5km or less) just for a change of scenery. In this case the hike is woven into the ongoing events of the day and becomes part of the kayak trip, which becomes part of getting back to the resort. The activities combine to form an afternoon’s experience which goes beyond the simple joy of each element itself. This adds to the vital ingredient in any adventure: flow. Re-arranging the dots, as opposed to simply connecting them, enables our guests to hike right back up to their rooms after a trek in the woods and a paddle down the river. No vans or graceless transfers. That’s some good flow.

9 – Be a friend to local communities
This is vague of course, but it means that there should be some higher learning that the guests gain about the area and the people. A visit to a local school can be a great way for a few moments of innocent cultural exchange, or throwing Frisbee for a few minutes with children from a rural village. No handing out candies or clamouring for photos, just some dignified human-to-human interaction.

10 – Work-out
Lastly, if a hike isn’t strenuous enough to warrant a cold beer immediately upon completion, go back to the woods and start again. You’ve at least got to work up a sweat, or use some muscles that have been dormant for a while, or push yourself even slightly so that that beer at the end feels like you earned it.

Walking with locals in the mountains along the Nepal-Tibet border

11- Bonus
A great company will prepare cold beer or your favourite beverage of choice at the end of a hike (unless of course operating a vehicle is still required afterwards).

This isn’t a lecture and no travel company is perfect, but having had my trip design hat on several times the past few months I was not able to find what I was looking for just by using terms like ‘flow”, “transcendence”, “graceful transitions” or “connectivity”. So, I jotted down the basic thoughts which have governed my approach to hikes and I realized the way we approach things at SA involves a great deal more analysis than most people realize. Plus we’re very high maintenance. The small details are enormous.

by Bank Takaeng

by Scott Coates

Last week I wrote about my coming trip to Yangon, Myanmar. The trip turned out to be insightful, fun and exciting.

A 1:10 flight took me from one world to another – Bangkok to Yangon. Hard

Typical street in downtown Yangon

to believe in such a short time you can be transported from one world to a totally different one. Arrival at a modern airport was followed by a line to get my visa on arrival, but all in all it was a fairly painless process. You need a travel agent to help you get the visa on arrival, but it’s much less hassle than visiting a Myanmar Embassy and acquiring one before arrival. I was also told by a fellow traveler that the airport is the most modern building in the nation. In the country I waited a bit over an hour for my girlfriend Erika to arrive from Singapore. Erika in-hand we joined our host and jumped in a van to Trader’s Hotel which was graciously arranged for me by a local agent.

Ice melting for cool drinking water

I was struck immediately with how much more modern things were than I expected. Roads were well paved, there were a good number of cars and businesses abound. This wasn’t the dirt road, third world place I thought it would be. Checked-in it was time for food and we elected to walk to a nearby place, Monsoon, recommended in the Lonely Planet. The walk there, as almost all walks in new cities are, started to shed light on the reality. We came upon a massive stupa that serves as a traffic circle. Sule Paya is about 2,000 years old and definitely gets the prize as most interesting traffic circle I have ever seen. The immediate area features colonial buildings, a church and mosque, truly showing that religions mesh well here. We opted for small side-streets, saw that locals use microwave phones on the side of the road for making calls, palm reading is huge with fortune tellers on most city streets, and a chew mixture of Betel Nut with other spices is very popular and sold at little stands.

Full stomachs we took a different route back to the hotel and I tried some Betel Nut chew. It was really tasty with all kinds of magical flavors colliding. You have to continually spit out your saliva while chewing and I got a big thumbs-up from a man on my technique. The downside, if you chew it for a while your teeth turn permanently red. Due to this I only tried once while in the country. I like my pearly whites! We passed on having our fortunes told while walking by Independence Monument where those with the skill to see into your future were everywhere. Another interesting site were little stands selling cool water for drinking. They have a large block of ice that melts and drips into a bucket giving you cool water. I’m adventurous but not that adventurous and gave it a miss.

While all seemed well and peaceful on the surface dinner with a few different

Having a good look at the pagoda

contacts shed light on the real situation. Names are not mentioned to protect my gracious hosts, but it turns out everything we have read about the oppressive Myanmar regime is true. A SIM card for a mobile phone costs $1,500US to keep people from having them, bicycles and motorbikes are banned in the downtown core to limit people’s ability to move around quickly and to offset the ruling generals’ fears of assassination. You cannot send sms messages out of the country to limit communications and most staggering, if a local resident is going to spend the night sleeping anywhere other than their registered dwelling they must inform their community supervisor who works for the government and the supervisor in the area they will be sleeping. So, my contact has to report before staying at his uncle’s house, each and every time. He also told me that government forces do random late night checks about three times/month at most houses to ensure all registered occupants are there. Wild! But on the surface you would never know these things.

Despite being one of the most oppressed people on earth for roughly 40 years, Yangon residents were some of the friendliest people I’ve ever met. Smiles were everywhere, English was generally quite good and the city is extremely safe. Taking taxis around town was affordable, the drivers honest and there were no offers to go shopping or to other places as often happens in Bangkok. Just a nice, quick drive where we wanted to go – truly refreshing and impressive!

Having tea at the market

Other activities and sites visited include a train ride around the city on their ancient railway, a great way to see real daily city life. A nice run around Kandawgyi Lake, the Bogyoke Aung San Market, a great place to shop, people watch and drink tea. The highlight, aside from chatting with locals was our visit to Shwedagon Pagoda. I was rather nervous about the visit after reading so many glowing reviews of it and being wary that it wouldn’t live up to the hype – I was wrong. From the outside it looks like a massive golden pagoda, but inside it’s so much, much more. Stupa after stupa, statue after statue, gleaming gold and more and more gold made this one of the most impressive/overwhelming sites I’ve ever visited – truly awesome. Much like the Grand Palace in Bangkok in that one visit is not enough, I can’t wait to return one day (hopefully soon) and sit for a while, watch people pass by and take it in again. This is without a doubt a site to be seen once in your lifetime.

Four days later, some great meals had, interesting drinks enjoyed and a half-full memory card, it was time to leave. I’ve obviously only scratched the surface of Myanmar and many people noted that everything outside of Yangon is another world. There’s so much to explore in this vast nation with more than 130 ethnic groups and languages, Himalayan peaks, sandy beaches and UNESCO World Heritage sites. I can’t wait to return and really get into the country.

by Bank Takaeng

This dessert is famous among Thais, perhaps it’s easy to make. However, the secret of this dessert is about the coconut milk what Thais normally use as an ingredient in their cuisines.

Ingredients:
Banana – 3
Coconut milk – 2 cups/ 480 ml.
Palm sugar – 1 1/2 Tbls./ 22.5 ml.
Pinch salt

Preparation:

• Slice bananas diagonally, and cut into 1-2 inches long.
• Heat coconut milk in a saucepan.
• Season with sugar and salt. Bring to boil, stir in banana slices.
• Let it boil for 3-5 minutes, see if the bananas are tender and soft, so they are ready to serve.

This is served for 2.

by Scott Coates

Enjoy these photos from a recent trip to Yangon, Myanmar. You can see the full gallery here: http://photos.smilingalbino.com/Other-Places/Yangon-Myanmar/10349042_68ytj#716028274_pRGUL

See the full gallery here: http://photos.smilingalbino.com/Other-Places/Yangon-Myanmar/10349042_68ytj#716028274_pRGUL

by Scott Coates

I’ve been living in Thailand and the region for 10 years and have never properly been to Myanmar. What’s up with that?!
It’s always been a place I’ve really wanted to go but always wanted to wait

A balancing act in a Karen refugee camp just inside Myanmar

until I had a couple weeks so I could see the must-sees in one go: Yangon, Mandalay, Bagan & Inle Lake. A couple years went by, then a few more, trips back to Canada happened regularly then mountain biking in Tibet to Mt. Everest, Nepal across the Annapurna’s, Switzerland, Cambodia, Vietnam and on it went.

So, about nine months ago, a regional no-frills airline Air Asia had a Free Ticket Sale, where you only pay the taxes. I looked around and ended up with a ticket to Yangon, Myanmar for four nights for 1,200B ($35US) all-up. If I could go, great, if I couldn’t, no big deal, only 1,200B down the drain. So here we are, November 13 is just two days away and Yangon is going to happen!

Bought the latest Lonely Planet yesterday after years of avoiding it as the edition we have in our office library was written by our friend and longtime Lonely Planet guidebook author Joe Cummings, and he stopped writing for them a while ago. I couldn’t face replacing Joe’s edition. But when I started reading the book and realized it was drafted in 2000 and things have changed (and not changed) drastically in that country since then, the latest edition was required.

Back at home last night I put on relaxing lights, sat on my bed and dove into the book. Next thing I knew I had read the first 100 pages, blazing through the History, People, Food, Where to Drink (big surprise there), Money, To Go or Not to Go? Sections and I’m super pumped now.

One of the incredible things about living in this region is how close you are to so many exotic destinations that are completely different from one another. Travel from Bangkok to Yangon (575km) and you’ve gone just 17km further than San Francisco to Los Angeles (558km). But the language, culture, cuisine, architecture, government and alphabet are totally different. The same can be said for traveling to Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Hanoi, Vietnam or Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from Bangkok. Different, different, different.

Thakeylek just across the Thai border town of Mae Sai has seen my feet before, but it’s just a quick dash to see a couple touristy temples and pick up

Kids in a Karen refugee camp just inside Myanmar

some duty free wine. It’s hardly Myanmar. And I walked across a wooden plank over a small stream about 40km southeast of Mae Sod while staying at Highland Farm and was in an unofficially Karen refugee camp, which was wild, but didn’t really feel I was in Myanmar and truthfully wouldn’t want to go too much further in there.

So, into this city of six million I go and I’m truly excited. After traveling and living in this area for quite some time you grow accustom to going neat places often and probably don’t appreciate it as much as you really should. This is like traveling eight years ago, into the unknown, a new place, I don’t speak the language, don’t have a mental picture in my head and there are so many interesting people and sights I’m about to see. Wow – travel is still exciting!

Myanmar’s largest Paya (pagoda) Shwedagon is here in the former capital. With 53 metric tonnes of gold covering it and rising 98 meters every account I read of this site indicate it’s borderline life changing. Six million people, with a GDP $1,900US apparently live an incredibly peaceful life (when not harassed by the powers that be), 87% are devote Buddhists (4% are Muslim, 4.5%Christian, 5% are animist and 1.5% are Hindu) and dazzle the visitor’s senses.

Recommendations from former residents, colleagues that have been there,

A girl in a longneck village near the Mae Hong Song, Thailand and Myanmar border

authors and hoteliers see me taking a three hour circular route on a rickety train around the city for a look and feel of things, walking all over the place, meeting a veteran in the travel industry, a semi-underground writer/activist and a digital artist. Drinks have been recommended at a bar likely to have had James Bond in it in the early eighties and nooks and crannies in between.

Despite having blazed through a lot of pages and words about Myanmar I’ve still got a pretty blank canvas in my head about Yangon. Invigorating it feels to be this excited to the road and into somewhere new and unknown. A good thing for someone in the business of designing and leading world class adventures.

Next week, the story of how the trip was!

by Bank Takaeng

This is the original Vietnamese dish, delicious and easy to cook.

Ingredients:
Whole crab – 1 (about 1.5kg)
Salt and pepper
Julienned ginger – 30g
Beer – 1l.
Bunch dill – 1
Light Nuoc Mam – 2 tbls./ 30ml.
Lemon Juice
Chopped Chilies – 2

Preparation:

• Clean the crab well, and rub the inside and outside with salt, pepper and a little julienned ginger.
• Cover the crab and marinated for 15 minutes.
• Pour the beer into a steamer, bring to a simmer, and steam the crab.
• Sprinkle some crumbled dill branches and ginger julienned on top.
• Serve hot with nuoc mamma, lemon juice and chili.

This dish is for 3 people.

by Scott Coates

The Mekong River is one of the world’s most famous and mysterious rivers.

Cat Ba Leopard Gecko of Vietnam

Often attached to the image of war in many westerners’ minds, it’s the world’s 10th longest river, making its way through six or seven countries (depending on whether you believe Tibet is part of China), for a total length of 4,350 km.

The river starts in Tibet with runoff from glaciers. The water is quiet clear in its upper reaches but changes color, becoming quite muddy by the time it makes its way through the Yunnan region of southern China. At the physical Golden Triangle where Thailand, Laos and Myanmar meet, the river is very brownish in color and remains so most of the way to its final destination in the South China Sea. Passing through Tibet, China, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, it’s used in some fashion by roughly 60 million people per day. This is a collection of people using it for transport, trade, washing, fishing, etc. Such a number reportedly makes it the world’s most used river.

Khorat Big Mouth Frog

The Mekong is extremely important in terms of biodiversity. It’s the third most active river in the world in terms of species living in it, with roughly 1,200 species having been identified. The most active are the Congo and the Amazon in South America taking top prize. The WWF International recently announced another 162 specifies have been identified in the greater Mekong Region, and that number is likely to continue to increase as areas once inaccessible and war-torn are now peaceful and open to travel.

The world’s largest freshwater fish, the Giant Mekong Catfish (Pla Beuk), is found in the river, most commonly around Chiang Khong in NE Thailand. These giants can grow to be 3m in length and well over 200kg. Populations have declined dramatically over the last 10 years, with them now being endangered and fishermen in Thailand vowing not to fish for them anymore. Another noteworthy species includes the Irrawaddy Dolphin which is also in danger due to humans, especially the impact of dams built along the river. TIME Magazine ran a very interesting article a couple years back documenting the effect of damming the river, an activity that’s become a serious environmental issue.

With tourism in SE Asia growing by the year and development along the

A Pla Beuk caught

river booming, the fine balance between humans and nature is being tested and along with it the lives of not only the more than 1,200 species in the Mekong, but the 60 million people who depend on it everyday. Now’s the time to see this majestic river and make it an integral part of a vacation. Lets hope it’s healthy for future generations to see, enjoy and live on/with.

by Bank Takaeng.

Southern Vietnamese Pancake or Stuffed Crepes.

Ingredients:

• Water 3 cups/ 750 ml.
• Bot Ban Xeo Mix(rice flour with turmeric) 1 pack/ 375 g.
• Sugar 1 teaspoon/ 5 ml.
• Coconut milk 2 cans/ 800 ml.
• Tiny sliced Spring onions(scallions) 4
• Large prawns 500g.
• Lean pork 250g.
• Yellow onions 2
• Oil
• Handfuls fresh bean sprouts 4
• Head red leaf lettuce 1
• Bunch coriander, basil or mint nuoc mam 1

Preparations:

• Prepare the crepe batter the night before serving. Place 1 cup of cater in a small pan on high head. Thoroughly blend the flour with the remaining 2 cups water until completely moistened.
• Dissolve the sugar in the boiling water and add to the batter
• Add the coconut milk and spring onions and mix thoroughly. Refrigerate overnight.
• The next add, peel and clean the prawns. Cut in a half lengthwise. Cut the pork into 5 cm slivers. Quarter the onion, then thinly slice.
• Heat a few drops of oil on medium-high heat in a 25 cm heavy based frying pan. Add 3 slices of yellow onions and 2 sliced pork, and cook for a few seconds until the onion is slightly translucent and pork is white.
• Add 5 prawn halves and cook for 10 seconds. Pour in 1/2 cups of batter and quickly tilt pan to forma large circle. Cover one half of the crepe with 1 handful of bean sprouts. Reduce the heat to medium.
• Cook until the batter looks solid. Cover partially (if you cover completely, water will condense on the crepe) and cook for 1 minute, until slightly crisp.
• Serve immediately with fresh herbs and lettuce. To eat, tear off a piece of crepe, fill with coriander and wrap in lettuce leaf. Dip in sauce and eat.

This dish is served for 4 people.