.

.

Isn’t she lovely! We took our rental car for a spin around the island of Langkawi beyond the beautiful Cenang beach and discovered it was monkey business as usual wherever we went. While winding up the roads to the north we passed over 20 monkeys relaxing on the side of the road. We watched a family of monkeys cool off in the pools of a waterfall we reached on a hike.

But the prize for the most adorable monkey goes to this sweet lady who was ‘waiting for us’ on the roof of our car (read: trying to break into our car). Staring up at us with those big green eyes, she seemed hungry. Unfortunately she picked the wrong pair, as we were starving too and had nothing to share. The three of us stood and stared at each other before we eventually got in the car and went off in search of a big post-hike lunch without her…

]]> http://globetrottergirls.com/2012/02/polaroid-cute-monkey-lady-in-langkawi-malaysia/feed/ 1 http://globetrottergirls.com/2012/02/new-orleans-get-outta-town-swamps-alligators-and-plantations/ http://globetrottergirls.com/2012/02/new-orleans-get-outta-town-swamps-alligators-and-plantations/#comments Tue, 21 Feb 2012 06:07:01 +0000 Dany http://globetrottergirls.com/?p=6962

.

.

Although we could spend months immersed in that particularly sweet blend of  New Orleans urban life, there came a point during our visit where we just had to get out of town…what we discovered were the rural roots that throughout history have melted together to make the Crescent City so unique.

Out on the Bayou

The picture of Louisiana I had in my head had been formed by the movie ‘No Mercy’. A very 80s Richard Gere plays a Chicago cop gone to N’Awlins to settle the score with some gangsters. He ends up having to escape them with a seductive Cajun woman, played by an equally 80s Kim Basinger, by trudging on foot through the swamps of Louisiana.

I wasn’t interested in the danger but wanted to experience what life out in the Louisiana Bayou was like. In New Orleans we had seen plenty of tour options to explore the swamps, most of which take place in Honey Island Swamp, the closest swamp to the city. We opted for a tour with Cajun Encounters, who pick you up at the hotel and use smaller, slower passenger boats instead of fast airboats, as they are quieter and made for getting up close and personal with much more wildlife.

The hour drive out to the swamps meant passing by camps, or houses built on seven to ten foot high stilts. We’ve done a lot of road-tripping through the States, but I’ve never seen anything like these houses, completely off the grid and built to withstand massive floods and hurricanes.

When we arrived, 16 of us were loaded into our boat and greeted by Captain Mike, who was Louisiana bayou through and through. Between rolling his cigarettes and drinking his coffee, Mike entertained us with stories about growing up in the swamps and we sat, mesmerized at the deep southern drawl escaping through his tar-stained teeth.

I couldn’t have felt safer with anyone else for our day of alligator-spotting along the Pearl River, a wide river bordered by huge cypress trees covered in Spanish moss on both banks. The river led us into narrow channels where the still water was covered by a thick layer of green algae and looked like a bright green carpet undisturbed on the top of the water.

It didn’t even take ten minutes until we spotted our first alligator, and we all jumped to our feet for photo ops as our captain beckoned them to approach the boat with pieces of meat.

We saw plenty more of these giant native lizards sun bathing on the shores and wading discretely just under the water’s surface, along with turtles and birds like herons and eagles. Then, as we were taking in the beautiful scenery around us, Captain Mike announced he had a surprise for us: He introduced us to baby alligator Brian, only six months old and barely as big as my hand. We all got to hold him and feel his smooth white skin.

Later, we drifted past a few very basic houses up river. Old boats tied to rickety wooden piers and porches, some ravaged by weather and storms, others with families sitting outside waving as we go by. “Cajuns,” explains Captain Mike. “Couldn’t be happier out here, these families, but plenty of ‘em moved into the city a long while back.” We only notice that these houses look like people are having a great time, even boasting water slides that drop right from the porch into the river. Yes, the same river that we just went alligator spotting in. When we asked, Mike answered only, “Tough guys, Cajuns are,” with a glint in his eye.

The Laura Plantation

We had learned so much from our visit to the Boone Hall plantation in South Carolina and couldn’t wait to visit a Creole plantation in Louisiana, though we weren’t entirely sure what ‘creole’ really meant.

While Cajuns descended from French settlers in the Canadian provinces who relocated to Louisiana, Creole people were originally the first generation of French and Spanish settlers born in the Louisiana colony. Two very distinct cultures at the time, people often mistakenly combine the two today. Creole plantation owners were some of Louisiana’s most successful businessmen, and although having a New Orleans ped a terre in the French Quarter was common, most of the hard work and daily lives were primarily based out on the farm. It was a two to three day boat-trip to the city back then, but now, at just an hours’ drive away, we squeezed in a visit to two different properties.

The first stop was the Laura Plantation, and we arrived just in time for a tour of the house, grounds and gardens. Originally named l’habitation Duparc after the Duparc Family who owned the plantation in the late 1700s, today the property (named after the great granddaughter who sold it) is one of the best preserved examples of a creole plantation. The tour guides are extremely knowledgeable. In fact our guide was a direct descendant of some of the landowners in the area, a true Creole with a working knowledge of French, English and the French Creole dialect.

When asked to clarify questions on Creole culture, we learned how Creole business practices were reflected in the architecture of the main house of the Laura Plantation, and, as we made our way to the slave cabins in the back, he explains another significant aspect of the creole plantation. Pre-Louisiana Purchase, the mainly West African slave population could purchase their freedom from their earnings on the plantation. Thousands actually did, until the practice was made illegal when Louisiana joined the United States in 1803. They joined a free mixed-race class that had developed over time when (white) Creole men took black mistresses in addition to their wives, creating second families. The children’s education was paid for, and the family of the mistress, if slaves, were set free.

Although a co-existence of free blacks and slaves is hard to understand now, the role these racial attitudes played in the culture of New Orleans certainly played a major role in making the New Orleans of today so distinct from the rest of the country.

Oak Alley Plantation

After touring Laura Plantation, we continued our until suddenly a row of impressive oak trees came into sight. We had arrived at Oak Alley Plantation, named after the 800ft long alley of 300-year-old oaks on either side.

Affectionately referred to as the “Grande Dame of the Great River Road”, this Greek-style antebellum mansion continues to impress today with its towering oaks and the 28 massive white columns that surround all four sides of the house. In fact, Oak Alley Plantation has hosted some of the world’s biggest celebrities. Brad Pitt’s character Louis in Interview with a Vampire called the mansion home, and more recently, Beyonce and Jay Z star alongside Oak Alley in Beyonce’s Déjà vu video, filmed here in 2004.

On the day of our visit, we were the last guests of the day and had the place to ourselves. Amazed at what a grand entrance the trees make, I sprinted the 800 feet and back and then we explored the grounds, including the modest cemetery where the most recent owners and their pets are buried. We had essentially a private tour of the house by a beautiful young Southern belle, dressed in traditional costume. She told us stories of the owners throughout the years and that, like the Laura Plantation, Oak Alley had been a sugar plantation and how, after releasing the slaves post Civil War, the plantation could not sustain operations and was auctioned off for only $32,800 in 1866.

As we drove back into the city that evening, we felt like we had a much more profound understanding of the city: the people who created the French Quarter and those free blacks and slaves who would have gathered together on Congo Square, and how the music grew to reflect the struggle and the celebration of the people of New Orleans.

We’d like to thank the New Orleans Visitors Bureau who helped make our trip to the plantation possible. All ideas and opinions, as always, are our own.

.

.

Welcome to our Hotel Tip of The Week series. Traveling 365 days of the year means we stay in countless hotels, and at almost two years as nomads, we have stayed some of the best (and worst) accommodation the world has to offer. We cover everything from budget to luxury accommodation, and believe that any hotel worth recommending must be comfortable and clean, offer good value for money and treat people as guests, not clients. We have personally stayed in every hotel we recommend to you here on Globetrottergirls.com.

The day is scorching in Penang, and just hoofing it with our luggage a few blocks through Chinatown has been tough. We’re hot and thirsty by the time we get to Campbell House, where we are due to spend our last night during the incredible Thaipusam holiday.

It turns out that our stay at Campbell House ends up being just as much of a highlight as the festivities!

The deliciously cool air quickly soothes our burnt skin and we are warmly welcomed by the smiling owners, husband and wife team Roberto and Nardya. Within a few minutes we have checked in, discussed life in London, talked about our onward travel plans, and Nardya has solved a major transportation issue for us. We can fly to our next stop, the island of Langkawi, for the same price as the ferry – and have a whole extra afternoon in Penang, she explains. As a sufferer of seasickness, I am pretty sure I can see the halo above Nardya’s head as the duo exit to run an errand in the sweltering Malaysian afternoon heat.

Quick problem solving and customer service – all second nature to this pair who both have backgrounds in high end hospitality back in Europe. Roberto is a lover of colonial buildings, and it was he who discovered the property a few years back. Originally built in 1903, it has always served as a hotel of some type, but had sat vacant for years before Roberto and Nardya lovingly restored it to create Campbell House.

The interior design harks back to Penang’s past as a major trading post between east and west. I am immediately struck by the antique accent pieces, Persian rugs and smooth hardwood floors throughout the building. The third floor terrace is a quiet outdoor place to enjoy a drink, but we spend time relaxing in the Library on the second floor, where hundreds of paperbacks, magazines and novels fill vintage armoires and soft sofas beckon us to sink in and read for hours.

Once our room is ready, we are barely through the door when we begin to wish we could stay longer. When designing Campbell House, the original room dimensions were kept rather than putting up walls to cram more rooms into the same space. That means that the ten individually designed rooms in this boutique hotel are quite large, with lofted ceilings and exposed wooden beams making the rooms feel grand, yet comfortable, livable yet luxurious.

For all the commitment to an old-world feel, this room has mod cons we didn’t even expect. There is a large flat screen TV (and an incredible selection of DVDs downstairs to choose from) and an iPod/iPhone docking station. But the best part is our own Nespresso machine direct from Harrods in London. A piping hot, no mess coffee first thing in the morning in my white robe and slippers? Yes, please! There is also a carafe of fresh ice tea and another of filtered water in the mini-fridge and a kettle to make tea as well. The wet room is spacious, and as always, a rain shower-head always makes me weak in the knees. The colorful Peranakan tiles only add to the colonial charm. There is a complimentary pure organic cotton bag with locally made toiletries to take, but we minimalists leave that for the next guests.

On paper, staying in a city-center colonial building might sound romantic, but we usually find them incredibly noisy, as old world construction does not block out the honking and humming of mopeds. This is not a problem here. The stained glass windows have been extra soundproofed and the noise from outside is minimal. The shutters keep out the much of the light and we make sure to take that extra lie-in on the incredibly comfortable king-size bed. Breakfast is served in the Il Bacaro restaurant downstairs, and though we are not given a menu, a full breakfast of fresh fruits, three different types of homemade bread and eggs any style lands on our table along with a carrot and ginger juice for me, and a freshly squeezed orange juice for Dani.

Stand out features: Location 

Campbell House is the perfect base for visiting George Town, Penang’s cultural heartbeat. Located on a main road in a clean, quiet part of Chinatown, Little India is also within a 15-minute stroll and the ferry can be reached by cab in under ten minutes. In the other direction, 1^st Avenue Mall is a ten-minute walk, as is the Komtar Tower, Penang’s highest building and the 6th tallest in Malaysia. Being so close to everything, you can easily stop in to refresh and relax, but be careful or you may sink right in to the bed, or end up watching a DVD and then ordering up dinner from the restaurant…

Room for improvement: Wi-Fi reach 

The hotel’s website advertises in-room Wi-Fi, but in reality the signal is patchy and hardly works in our room, though it works perfectly fine in the Library.  Not just digital nomads or business travelers, but most people nowadays are used to having Wi-Fi access across their devices, if even just to stream a video on an iPad or make a quick Skype call home. This was the only ‘miss’ that we could find here.

Overall 

Unlike the majority of upmarket hotels in South East Asia, which tend toward formulaic approach and reserved owners, Campbell House provides an unprecedented level of personalized luxury with fabulous amenities to match. It is upscale but not posh, classy but not snobbish and its owners are genuinely helpful, knowledgeable and make you feel right at home in all the hotel’s colonial splendor.

Location: 106 Lebuh Campbell, 10100 Georgetown, Penang, Malaysia
Price: Doubles from RM380 / $125
LGBT Friendly: yes
Digital Nomad Friendly: without in-room wi-fi on the 2nd floor, unfortunately not quite (yet)
Amenities: Complimentary breakfast, free wi-fi in the Library and public spaces, Italian restaurant Il Bacaro, DVD library, fresh iced tea and water, Campbell House branded organic toiletries and our very own Nespresso machine.
Website: www.campbellhousepenang.com

.

.

.

When we booked our tickets to South East Asia, we fantasized about spending months on tropical white sand beaches, splitting our time between island hopping, tanning on the beach and moving from hammock to hammock.

The reality, however, was nothing like that. Since arriving in Thailand in October, we had seen few beaches, except for stops in  Koh Lanta, Ko Phi Phi and Phuket right at the start. Otherwise, we divided our time between landlocked Laos and Central and Northern Thailand. Our time in Malaysia was mostly spent in the capital and the Cameron Highlands, miles from any sort of relaxing beach time.

After some new friends started recommending time on Langkawi, we decided to treat ourselves to a week on this island in the Andaman Ocean. We got exactly what we were looking for: powdery white sand, crystal clear water, palm trees and not much to do other than relaxing for a few days, sipping coconuts, and taking in the spectacular sunsets on the beach every night.

Heavenly!

.

.
I don’t expect to be wielding a pencil during a cooking course, but that is exactly the tool I find in my hand for the first hour of my Time for Lime course on the island of Koh Lanta, Thailand. Our teacher Junie, who was born in the States and grew up in Norway, has been cooking Thai food for the past 25 years, nine of which spent at Time for Lime, her breezy beachfront restaurant here on one of Thailand’s more laid-back southern islands.

We arrive via the restaurant’s pick up service, slip off our sandals as is customary in Thailand, and make our way to the beach bar to meet the other five students for the day:  a Swedish couple, a friendly couple escaping chilly London and a solo German traveler. After sharing an exotic drink and some small talk, we are seated at one of the restaurant tables, nowhere near the kitchen.

Like much of life: Thai food is all in the preparation

Immediately I am glad we chose Time for Lime over the other options on the island. Junie understands the complexities of Thai food preparation like a native, but is able to explain them to a bunch of foreigners in a way we can understand. She takes nothing for granted, and starts the course by teaching us the basics. Really, this course is all about food preparation, not cooking, as the former can take hours, the latter just minutes.

I find it hard not to gaze out at the late afternoon sun over the ocean, but I quickly focus as we learn our first lesson about flavor balance in Thai cooking. Thai food requires a balance of salt, sweet, sour and spicy which is why in Thailand, instead of our salt, pepper and ketchup on the table, here you find a set of four covered glasses with soy sauce or peanuts, chili peppers, a spicy sauce, brown sugar and then lime, always lime, on the side. To accentuate how perfectly flavorful this balance can be, we taste our first Thai snack – and its nothing like the spring rolls I know from home.
Folding a leaf into a cone, we sprinkle a pinch of peanut, ginger, onion, coconut, chili (shrimp for the omnivores), drizzle honey over it and fold it up into a little edible leaf parcel, creating a popular Thai snack called Mieng Kham. Then, as Junie eats it, we follow suit. My mouth is instantly bursting with flavor, each and every taste bud alive after a cubic inch of just the essential Thai condiments.

Slice, dice, smash and pound: put to work in the kitchen

After an hour of abstract learning, we are handed our Time for Lime cooking aprons and move over to the open kitchen for a chance to use these knives ourselves. Individual cooking stations are set up in a square around the outside of the space each with a burner, a wok of our own, and all the utensils we could possibly need. We gather around the island in the center, which is filled with trays overflowing with colorful, fresh ingredients we learn to chop, slice, smash and dice.

The first task is also the most difficult: green curry paste. We are each in charge of one ingredient, which, when we finish cutting it, we take turns mashing it down using the heavy mortar and pestle. The entire process takes 45 minutes, so after ten minutes, a few of the staff on hand (there are about ten Thai ladies surrounding the scene) take over and we move on to the next dish.
As quickly as we make a mess, these women efficiently move in like a racing car pit crew to clean up and put down the next ingredients before we’ve even noticed. With our own work station, we are free to make our food vegetarian, and Junie’s helpers make plenty of tofu available.

In just under 30 minutes, we have prepared and creatively plated two dishes – the green curry and a lemongrass salad, which we scarf down in the restaurant in much less time.

Back in the kitchen, I can already feel the confidence level soaring as I am preparing the ingredients, so I am slightly disappointed to discover that fried rice is the next dish. However, unlike its greasy Chinese cousin, we discover Thai fried rice to be fresh and delicious, speed cooked in a wok with just a bit of egg thrown in at the end. Despite her love of spicy coconut curries, Thai fried rice becomes Dani’s go-to dish for the rest of our time in Thailand.

Why we’re here: Lanta Animal Welfare

After a second lengthy instruction on ingredient prep, the rice and the vegetable stir-fry dishes take another twenty minutes to cook and plate. And while we were stuffing ourselves silly, Junie melts our hearts by bringing out three puppies she discovered in the forest the day before. Of course, we had expected something like this to happen and it’s the reason we chose Time for Lime’s cooking course. Junie runs the island’s only animal shelter – Lanta Animal Welfare. Through blood, sweat, tears and dump trucks full of gumption, Junie managed to get the shelter off the ground in 2003, rescuing hundreds of abused dogs (and cats). All proceeds from the Time for Lime restaurant, cooking course and bungalows go toward the shelter and just this past year, Lanta Animal Welfare moved in to an excellent new facility in the center of the island.

Eventually, after the puppies have long since fallen asleep in our laps, we slip our shoes back on and hop in the truck to be taken back to our respective hotels, as knackered as the puppies. That’s not to say we don’t leave fully satisfied. Both stuffed to the gills with four delicious Thai dishes, plus we feel truly educated in Thai cuisine and proud for helping support such a worthy cause, which means a lot to us animal lovers.

Notes on the Cooking Class: Cooking classes run once a day, and the menu changes daily, so check the Time for Lime website to see which day covers the dishes you’d like to learn to cook. The class runs from 4pm to 10pm and includes the introduction to Thai cooking, making a curry paste, 4 dishes, rice, and a dessert. The first class is 1800 Baht, with discounts available if you take more than one class. You can book a class online or directly at the Time for Lime restaurant.

Notes on Lanta Animal Welfare: We visited the animal shelter and were impressed by the top quality facility. For those who would like to help, the website takes donations. Travelers can volunteer and stay for free at on-site dorms for anywhere from a few weeks to a few months.

.

.

What is going on here?! The Thaipusam festival

Thaipusam is a Hindu festival celebrated each year on the full moon in either January or February each year by the Tamil community. Originating from the Tamil Nadu region of India and Northern Sri Lanka, the Thaipusam celebrations also take place in Malaysia and Singapore, where there are also large representations of the Tamil community.

The name ThaiPusam comes from the Tamil month ‘Thai’, during which the celebrations take place, and ‘pusam’, the name of the star at its highest point during the festival.

A procession of coconuts and spears

The festival commemorates the victory of the Hindu god Lord Murugan over the demon Tarakusaran with a ‘vel’, or spear, and thus ridding them of evil.

Although the festival is celebrated over two days, devotees begin a period of fasting and prayer a full 48 hours before Thaipusam.  Here in Malaysia,  the biggest Thaipusam festivities take place at the Batu Caves near Kuala Lumpur, where over one million devotees join the 13-kilometer long procession from Central KL to the Caves.

Lucky for us, Penang has the second-biggest festivities of the country, with over 200,000 people flocking to the island for it – us included! Here in Penang, the procession starts at a temple in Georgetown’s Little India neighborhood and makes its way over several kilometers to Nattukkottai Chettiar Temple on top of a hill outside of town.

On the first day of Thaipusam, a statue of Lord Murugan is carried to the temple and devotees smash coconuts as an offering  to the deity.

On the second day, devotees shave their heads and make their pilgrimage to the temple while performing acts of devotion. This often includes ‘kavadi’-bearers (kavadi meaning burden) who carry their burden – ranging from a simple milk pot to the more extreme mortification of flesh.

Why go through all of this pain?

This self-mutilation is done with a spear, resembling the ‘vel’ Murugan used to vanquish the evil demon Tarakusaran. Many devotees only pierce their tongue for this occasion, but it is hard not to notice the hundreds, even thousands, who pierce their cheeks with vels, or undergo even more extreme pain to thank Murugan.

The more pain endured by the devotee, the greater the merits bestowed upon them by the god of war Murugan.

The pierced tongue also prevents the devotees from speaking, which is another sign of atonement.

The hooks in the back are another form of burden that a kavadi-bearer can endure, and some of the devotees do not only have hooks in their backs, but also pull another devotee behind them by those hooks.

Another burden is the decorated canopy which is carried to the temples on the shoulders of the devotee. Some of the kavadi-bearers only carry the canopy, while others have additional piercings and hooks.

While many of the devotees are Indians, there are also a surprising number of Chinese kavadi-bearers in the procession.

Even if only one person in the family is a kavadi-bearer, the entire family dresses up in their traditional saris and supports their family member in their act of devotion for Lord Muruga.

Singing, dancing, drums, and loud music are also a big part of the celebrations.

Thaipusam 2012 Video

Before devotees make their way up to the temple on top of the hill, they have to take their shoes off. With more than 200,000 people, there are hundreds of shoes waiting for their owners to return…

Cow milk and the silver jars in which the milk is kept and transported up on top of the hill can be purchased at the many stands around the temple.

And of course there is plenty of delicious Indian food – and sweets!

At the end of the second day, the chariot is brought back to Little India in a procession back into town from Nattukkottai Chettiar Temple, and arrvies there just before dawn on the following day.

Don’t try this at home!

You might notice a distinct lack of blood here in these images, considering the amount of flesh just recently pierced. Some say this is due to the fasting, or an all-vegetarian diet, and both most likely play a role, as it is due in part to low blood pressure which results from the fasting. The devotees also do not suffer from scars when the piercings are removed, thanks to a special healing mixture of powders and creams tested over the centuries. Each year, at least a few inexperienced foreigners attempt to take full part in the festivities, and wind up getting fairly hurt. So while this is a once-in-a-lifetime festival to visit – we say leave your ‘vels’ at home!

You can see more photos of Thaipusam in Penang in our photo album on Facebook.

.

]]> http://globetrottergirls.com/2012/02/thaipusam-2012-incredible-images-of-a-painful-hindu-tradition/feed/ 22 http://globetrottergirls.com/2012/02/polaroid-chinatown-at-dusk-penang-malaysia/ http://globetrottergirls.com/2012/02/polaroid-chinatown-at-dusk-penang-malaysia/#comments Thu, 09 Feb 2012 15:49:11 +0000 jess http://globetrottergirls.com/?p=6928

.

.

Only planned as a short stop on our tour of Malaysia, Penang’s unique vibe quickly unraveled itself, exposing just the type of multi-layered urban personality we easily connect with. One of the most unexpected surprises is the way the cultural neighborhoods like Chinatown and Little India are so intricately connected. Turn one corner, and you are blasted with deafening sounds of Hindi music and the smells of cumin, coriander and coconut. Just around the next corner, musky puffs of incense smoke billow from giant joss sticks in front of a Chinese temple.

On a quiet evening stroll, we cut through the peaceful backstreets of Chinatown, under delicate Chinese lanterns strung across everything from major roads to narrow alleys. We couldn’t help but enjoy the distinctly cool evening breeze and peaceful solitude here, so different to its buzzing atmosphere during the day.

.

.

If you like to alternate woo-ing at the top of your lungs with gulping alcohol from a plastic cup on the street, you might think that the open container laws on New Orleans’ Bourbon Street were written for your convenience. A more likely scenario stems from the fact that this famous street was once the very pulse of the city itself, and lively celebration a nightly occurrence.

Of course Bourbon Street was on our radar on our big trip to New Orleans, but after our overpriced Hurricanes from Pat O’Briens and a few minutes watching booze-thirsty tourists falling out of tacky ‘dance’ (read: strip) clubs, we kept right on walking…and walking…and cycling…and riding…

What we discovered were neighborhoods as distinct and unique as the city itself, brimming over with culture, class and a style which ignited a passion for New Orleans inside us we could never have expected. Read on for our tips on going beyond Bourbon Street for an unforgettable New Orleans experience.

Wander the French Quarter

In New Orleans, the most unique city in the U.S., we were constantly reminded of places we have been around the world. Most predictably, this happened first in the French Quarter – but not exactly why you might think.

Bourbon Street is located in the French Quarter, which means wandering just a few blocks brings you to sleepy side streets lined with with gorgeous colonial architecture. What we didn’t expect was that the Spanish influenced this quarter as much as the French, having been in power here from 1762-1803. The ‘Rues’ (French for streets) were also marked in Spanish with decorative tiles typically seen in Spanish cities like Madrid even today, and because two major fires ravished the quarter in the late 1700s, Spanish design like wrought iron balconies and central courtyards replaced much of the previous French construction. In reality, however, most of the 2,900 buildings in the quarter are either Creole, Greek revival style or, post-Louisiana Purchase of 1803, in the traditional Victorian style of the day. We were actually reminded of another city colonized by the Spanish here. A walk through the French Quarter reminded us of Casco Viejo, in Panama City.

Eat and shop at the French Market

Popular with tourists and locals alike, the French Market is also located in the French Quarter, just off famous Jackson Square, and stretching down to the Mississippi from there.

A popular trading post since 1791 when the Native Americans traded herbs and spices to French, Spanish, Italian, German and Caribbean immigrants, today the most well-known eatery has got to be Café du Monde. In this French-influenced café, we washed down beignets with chicory coffee served by an entirely Chinese staff. Only in New Orleans.

The sprawling market is also home to a European-style food market (where we had delicious salads), and a flea market packed with tourist kitsch and musical masterpieces. Digging through albums and CDs reveals music by New Orleans locals – those who made it big, and those who plow through life proudly playing small stages seven nights a week. The lesson we took home is that New Orleans pride goes beyond anything felt in other cities (save for New Yorkers). The people know their history, their roots, they love their local musicians and their place in the music world. Transplants to New Orleans don’t just end up here, they come here on purpose, and at times, have more knowledge and pride than even the locals.

Faubourg Marigny

One late afternoon we cycled through the Faubourg Marigny neighborhood, just as the blazing New Orleans sun had admitted defeat and begun its descent.

The golden glow colored the classic Creole cottages, which reminded us of the clap-houses of Belize, each reflecting the love invested by its residents. Some of these colorful one-story houses are falling apart while others keep neatly manicured gardens and watch the world go by from rocking chairs on their front stoops.

Years ago, the French Quarter claimed fame with its Dixieland jazz, but today, Marigny’s Frenchman Street is ground zero for live music in New Orleans. The locals don’t want you to know that, though, and are more than content with you staying over on Bourbon Street.

But I’ll never forget what was sadly our only night out on Frenchman Street. It was the experience that signified the culmination and purpose in our 30-day road trip from New York to New Orleans. Live music flowed out of every tiny joint. People poured out onto the sidewalks. A mix of vintage bombshells and bikers covered in leather and tattoos were back-slapping and laughing so genuinely together. The kind of friendliness you see in films from the 40s or 50s and wonder if strangers were ever that friendly to each other. We hopped from bar to bar, each with their own live band spitting jazz, blues and funk, and ended the night watching a dozen or so guys pound out a two-hour, never-ending jam on five trombones, a sizzling electric guitar, three screaming trumpets and two booming tubas. The players were a mix of black and white dressed in hipster skinny jeans and baggy hip hop pants, teens and a couple with salt and pepper in their hair. It may have been the booze, but more likely the beats that made my heart swell at bearing witness to this entirely unique scene happening nowhere else in the world like it does on Frenchman Street.

Outdoor Art at the Sculpture Park

Although we had already achieved that happy ending of our road trip, the access to creativity didn’t end. For a combination of art and a cool breeze, we cycled up to the Sydney Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden, a park with meandering footpaths to view the over 60 sculptures by artists from around the world. We spent over an hour relaxing and admiring world-class art for free. The sculpture garden is open seven days a week, so perfect for whenever a peaceful escape is needed.

Magazine Street

Before we visited here, I imagined Magazine Street to be similar to London’s Fleet Street, which was historically home to the newspaper and media industry through the 20th century.  Quite the opposite, in fact, Magazine refers to the French world for shopping ‘magasin’. Mainly window shoppers these days, we managed to walk for miles and miles, peeking into the hundreds of charming, unique shops and restaurants that give this part of New Orleans a local, small town feel.

Cemeteries and Voodoo

It seems like we are always talking about cemeteries, but the ones in New Orleans are legitimately distinct. Because the city is built on swampland, all white above-ground tombs form “cities of the dead,” more similar to cemeteries in Latin America than anywhere else in the US. The easiest to reach on foot from the French Quarter is the St Louis Cemetery #1 on Basin Street.

This cemetery is the burial place for legendary Voodoo Queen Marie Laveau. We easily spotted her tomb. The dozens of X’s scrawled across it gave it away, but the offerings that believers leave are what’s truly interesting: alcohol bottles, cigarette packs, but mostly, and strangely, lip balm. Chap-stick. Why, we don’t know.

Laveau was famous as an oracle, performing private rituals behind her cottage in St Ann Street in the French Quarter. A devout catholic, her influence on Louisiana Voodoo affected many aspects of the practice first brought over by West Africans before mixing with French, Spanish and Creole customs and beliefs.

Today, the offerings are made in return for favors believers ask of Marie Laveau even in death and even gamblers shout her name for good luck. It is rumored, though entirely unofficial, that her grave has more visitors than Elvis Presley’s grave at Graceland.

How to Go Beyond

Streetcar: New Orleans runs several streetcar lines, used as a major mode of public transportation for the city. These antique vehicles run for long distances. In fact we would recommend riding at least one from end to end.

Bicycle: New Orleans is an easy cycling city (avoid summer midday heat) We rented two groovy bikes from the American Bike Rental Company in the French Quarter. The enthusiastic owner provided helpful maps with areas to visit and others which are better to avoid.

.

.

After almost two weeks in the oppressive heat of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia’s booming capital city, we were ready for cooler air and a calmer vibe. We hopped a bus to the Cameron Highlands in central Malaysia, which 1,200 metres (3,900 ft) above sea level, offers consistently cool temperatures around 25 °C (77 °F), with some exciting heavy rain showers in the afternoon.

We spent the last few days doing some hiking in the rain forest, visiting a strawberry farm (strawberry sundaes included), exploring a mossy forest and learning all about how tea is made at the BOH tea plantation, Malayasia’s favorite tea. Black tea is grown here, but the bushes that cover over 600 acres of steep slopes high in the mountains appear as puffy green puzzle pieces literally rolling down across the landscape.

It was a British gentleman who first suggested that the Cameron Highlands were the perfect climate for a tea plantation in the late 19th century, and workers from India and later Sri Lanka were brought in to harvest the leaves.

Sitting on the beautiful glass terrace at the BOH factory and restaurant this misty afternoon drinking tea just recently picked from the hills below was a truly refreshing experience.

.

.

We were recently invited for a sneak peek of the brand new Bangkok Tree House hotel on the banks of the Chao Phraya River, just beyond Bangkok’s city limit. What we found was an eco-masterpiece in the works, conceived by the son of a Bangkok hotelier now very much a world-class hotelier himself!

After a 30 minute ride on the Skytrain from central Bangkok and a 15 minute cab ride, we arrive to the pier next to the Bangna Nok temple and followed the instructions to call the manager of the Bangkok Tree House and he and the captain of the tiny speedboat arrive in two minutes. The manager is dressed to impress in all black, bringing the aura of luxury with him to this otherwise grubby pier.  We load into the boat and are whisked across the river, and in three minutes pull up at simple bamboo pier overlooked by the hotel’s organic restaurant. As we carefully, perhaps clumsily, disembark, an older local man observes us from the comfort of his wooden fishing boat.

His boat is just a few feet from the one of the twelve modern tree house suites behind him, and the contrast between his leathery, wrinkled skin and well-worn fishing boat to the gleaming glass of this modern abode strikes me as relevant. This is the first hotel built on the river in this area of Bang Nampheung, which feels like an entirely different world to the jam-packed chaos, consumption and capitalism just over the river in Bangkok.

We meet the owner Joey Tulyanond in the restaurant, which is temporarily serving as the hotel reception. Joey’s impeccable English reveals time spent abroad working in Washington, DC.  This was before returning to Thailand to open the Bangkok Tree House, an extreme departure from the traditional Thai style of his family’s Old Bangkok Inn in central Bangkok (click the link to see our review of the hotel).

What the two hotels do have in common is a strong adherence to a green policy, but Joey has taken this to an entirely different level. First, the hotel is entirely carbon neutral, and promises to collect a kilo of trash in the area for every booking to the hotel.  As we tour the property, we see the space where the pool will go in. The plan is to create a natural pool, which uses plant life to clean and regulate water quality, without using chemicals like chlorine. The pool, along with the entirely organic restaurant, should be up and running by late February, Joey explains as he escorts us to our bungalow. There will be three set menus available – one Thai option, one seafood and one vegan, all set at 490 baht. For now, only the delicious breakfast (included in room rate) is served here, he apologizes, sliding the door open to the tree house.

The bungalows are set over three levels. We enter on the ground level which is essentially a large bathroom with a toilet nook (complete with glass floor looking down onto the river) and a gorgeous outdoor rain shower (and a second shower) on the bamboo deck, made private by an unrolled, heavy bamboo curtain.  Upstairs, we see why our room is called the Ant room: there are giant 8-inch ants traipsing across the wall and the strikingly familiar wooden IKEA furniture inside. Each room is equipped with 32 inch computer monitor stocked up with hundreds of movies, documentaries and music to watch and play during our stay. The outdoor patio on this floor overlooks miles of mango trees, which are fun to look at from the comfort of the bed.

Upstairs on the roof are two sun beds perfect for sunbathing. On hot days there might be nothing better than going down to the communal refrigerator (rather than one in every room, this communal fridge saves energy) on the ground floor and grabbing some of that bottomless ice-cream – one of Joey’s more creative (and tasty!) hotel policies. Running up and down the stairs to get that ice cream, however, requires full concentration, thanks to the architectural style that keeps the treehouse feel at the forefront of our awareness.

We start the morning by watching the waves of the river lap at the bank below our hut, thanks to the glass floor beneath the toilet in the bedroom. At the top of a set of staggered steps, there is a second pane of glass in the floor through which we see the river as well. Ascending to the roof requires stepping safely onto a piece of tarp that covers the shower space and below, and then swinging up onto a ladder and climbing that up to the roof.  The warm rain shower requires us to even undertake some of our very personal business outdoors – and we love this as much as we did on the island of Koh Lanta. In fact, all of this in no way inhibits the relaxing effect or luxurious feel of the hotel, and it is actually quite satisfying to ‘climb’ up to the safety of our nest for the night.

As for filling the days, the Bangkok Tree House is not ideal for power shoppers focused on deals in central Bangkok.  Guests are better off staying out here, renting (for free) the fashionably rusty bikes to explore. In fact, if you do not do cycle here, you are wasting your stay at the Bangkok Tree House.

The area surrounding the hotel, where the river meets the land, forms miles of lush green swampland, conquered by the locals by creating raised cement sidewalks that snake in and around amphibious neighborhoods of houses on very low land. The pathways all eventually connect up to larger roads with plenty of roadside restaurants (keep your eyes open for a fantastic coffee shop called Coffee Professionals on one of the main roads).

We lost ourselves in here for an hour or so, stumbling upon the Herbal Joss Stick house, privately run by an adorable husband-wife duo who immediately welcomed us and gave us a tour of the center. Also their family house, the wife hand makes herbal joss sticks, which are like incense to ward off mosquitos, and runs Thai cooking classes, while the husband does cycling tours through the area in his down time from teaching at a Bangkok university. You won’t find them online anywhere, however, (our limited language skills kept us from understanding how they host all these tourists), and the entire Bang Nampheung area feels almost completely undiscovered, save for the newly created Bang Nampheung floating market.

Stand Out Feature: Location

Initially, we thought that the location of the Bangkok Tree House would be an inconvenience, and too far from central Bangkok to attract enough guests. On the contrary, the location of the hotel is by far one of its most attractive features. At night, we felt safe all tucked up in our tree house watching movies looking out into the jungle on the river, and during the day we were some of the very few foreigners riding around typically Thai streets, quite a feat in Thailand, a country where almost everywhere panders to tourism. We felt entirely local, and yet good and pampered back at the hotel – the perfect combination for a relaxing escape anywhere.

Stand Out Feature: The Architecture

Inside our treehouse at night, the lights bounce off the glass and mirrors in a way that create those endless tunnels of reflected scenes, leaving us feeling in a sort of dreamworld, and then climbing up the staggered steps and watching the ebb and flow of the water below creates an atmosphere that make this an entirely unique Bangkok hotel.

Although the local architect Nuntapong Yindeekhun is nearly as off the grid as this hotel is (he is looking to leave architecture and get more serious about eco-farming!) his design is intelligent and modern, using natural and recycled materials wherever possible and creating a perfect balance of an awareness of nature with luxury.

Room for Improvement

As of this review, the hotel was still entirely under construction, so we can’t go naming something to improve upon. We did develop a laundry list of concerns, however. This might include a bit more training for the staff, who are very friendly but still a bit awkward dealing with guests. The ‘ground’ floor of the bungalow gets extremely hot as there are no windows, just sliding glass doors, which, due to mosquitoes won’t be opened after dusk. A fan would be a welcome touch.  Joey plans on selling green products in the new reception area, and we hope this includes the joss sticks from the Herbal Joss Stick house, both for the mosquitos and to support local businesses. We  hope that the wi-fi reaches the bungalows, as promised on the website. Wi-fi was only available in the restaurant (and minimally at that) during our visit. Finally, not because of any extra large fish in the river, but for the flocks of new guests, this hotel is gonna need a bigger boat than its current little four-seater speedboat.

Overall

Bangkok is home to over 800 hotels – the budget cheapies of Khao San Road, comfortable mid-range hotels and uber-luxurious five-star properties reserved for the world’s elite…and then there is the Bangkok Tree House in a category and class of its own. There is enough luxury to deserve the $150 minimum price tag, but enough peace and quiet to marvel at its actual proximity to the buzz of central Bangkok.

Location: Moo 1, Bang Nampheung, Samut Prakan Province; 66-8/1453-1100
Price: Doubles from 4,690 Baht / $150
LGBT Friendly: Not outwardly, but they did invite us…
Digital Nomad Friendly: without in-room wi-fi, unfortunately not (yet)
Amenities: Complimentary breakfast, free wi-fi in the restaurant area, complimentary bicycle rentals, an entire digital library on an in-room media center, daily drinking water, pool, restaurant, free ice cream bar
Website: www.bangkoktreehouse.com

If you enjoyed this, you might find these reviews from our Hotel Tip of the Week series helpful:

We loved the Chaw-ka-Cher Tropicana Lanta Resort on Koh Lanta island, Thailand.
The Hotel Elysee treated us like family in French style in Manhattan.
Try the Little Corn Beach and Bungalow on Little Corn Island off the coast of Nicaragua for an eco-friendly adventure.

.