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Tastings Menus to Try in Bangkok

We were hungry as soon as we arrived at our room at the Anantara Siam in Bangkok after our flight from Hong Kong. We scouted out the choices and found that there was a Michelin-starred restaurant called Paste within easy walking distance. It was early Sunday afternoon and we were hoping we could grab one of their tables. Initially, the hostess said no, but as we were leaving, she said they had a cancellation. It turned out to be one of the most memorable meals of the trip, a 7-course tasting menu created by Bee Satongun, who was called the finest female chef in Asia. Each dish was prepared like a work of art on the plate and was the proper size for sharing. But it was the unusual spices that excited the palate. Favorite appetizers included roasted duck, nutmeg, and sawtooth coriander on rice crackers, and tapioca pudding of smoked trout, toasted peanuts, Thai mustard leaf, and wild sesame. Then came a hot and sour soup of crisp pork leg, roast tomatoes and fried garlic in a smoky chicken broth before the sublime entrees arrived. Laos Duck Curry was a highlight. The next dish was equally tasty but I had no idea what it was. Here’s what it said on the menu: "Southern Thai-Muslim origin. Kimmedai, saffron, in-house made curry powder and nutmeg. Fried off in ghee, served with pickles and cured catfish eggs." Say what? It’s actually a type of fish. 

The last night in town, friends had recommended Issaya Siamese Club to celebrate Lisa’s birthday. Set in a Colonial-style plantation house, you dine in separate rooms on couches, like being in a relative’s house. We were sitting in front of an RCA television, circa 1960s. Once again we ordered the Tasting Menu and, while it wasn’t nearly as innovative as Paste, it still was very tasty. We started with mojitos in tall chilled glasses and dined on a palm salad before diving into entrees like a full lamb shank, tender off the bone, served in a tangy curry sauce. We were told to order the "Broken Bucket" for dessert and that’s what I’ll remember years to come. A woman arrived with dry ice to create an abstract concoction of goodness, replete with smoke, white chocolate, and coconut sorbet. What a festive way to end our trip! 
 

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Enjoy Fondue on the Rooftop Bar of Yotel Boston

Celebrate Winter Solstice by dining on fondue in the Seaport at Yotel Boston’s rooftop Sky Lounge. It’s supposed to hit a balmy 60 degrees in Boston tomorrow, but even if it does get a bit nippy, you’ll be under overhead heaters and sharing big thick blankets. The Quattro Formaggio Cheese Fondue combines Gruyere, Blue, Swiss, and Cheddar Cheeses with cherry brandy, white wine, and secret spices. Order a cocktail and then watch the sun set…at 4 pm. 

 
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A World of Adventure at the Boston Globe Travel Show Tomorrow

For those of you in the region, I’ll be leading a panel at the Boston Globe Travel Show tomorrow on “The World of Adventure.” A very generic name for what many travelers are really yearning for, an authentic travel experience. A truly authentic vacation refuses to be prepackaged and is hard to emulate. Indeed, it’s the opportunity to live like a local for one hour, one day, or one week. The panel includes Rob Burbank from The Appalachian Mountain Club, Judy Allpress from The Wayfarers Walking Vacations, and Joe Luchison from Ciclismo Classico, as we discuss off-the-beaten-track locales to hike, bike, and paddle across the globe. The talk takes place from 10:15-11 am, Saturday, at the Seaport World Trade Center. Hope to see you there! If not, do something active this weekend.
 

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The Talented, Multi-Tasking Croo at the AMC Huts

 

 
"You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
For a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body 
love what it loves."
 
At 6:30 am at the Galehead Hut, I awoke to Kimball reading this poem, Wild Geese, by Mary Oliver. At 6:30 am at Zealand Falls, I rose to the sounds of banjo being played by Levi. Then there was guitar and sweet song at Mizpah Springs and the lovely sounds of Emily playing the violin in the hallway at Lakes of the Clouds. This is the way you wake up at the AMC Huts. No alarm, no Reveille, just music or verse. 
 
Oh, by the way, Kimball, Levi, Emily and the rest of the amazing Croo team at the AMC Huts also pack in over 60 pounds of food and pack out over 60 pounds of garbage twice a week to trailheads that can be a long as 4.6 miles away if you happen to be working at Galehead. They make a scrumptious dinner of fresh baked bread, soup, salad, entrees like lasagna and stuffed shells, and heavenly desserts such as blondie brownies for up to 90 people if you happen to be staying at Lakes of the Clouds, the largest hut. Then they do it all over again at breakfast, when served oatmeal, pancakes, eggs, and bacon. They clean the bathrooms and ensure that all rooms are tidy. After dinner, they introduce themselves and answer questions like what’s for dessert? After breakfast, they perform zany antics in costume like the Saturday Night Live skit Hans and Frans (“We want to pump you up”) to ensure that you pack out all your garbage, fold your blankets properly on the bunk bed, and tip. You best tip the Croo after all the work they’ve done! 
 
Want more? After breakfast at Zealand Falls, Levi presented young AJ with his Junior Naturalist badge for completing his workbook. But first he had to wear a faux-raccoon cap a la Daniel Boone, recite about 20 lines out loud on how he would be a steward of the land, and then throw that raccoon cap in the air like graduation day. After dinner at Lakes of the Clouds, naturalist Sarah took us on a 45-minute walk to see the diapensia, bog laurel, and bunchberry, alpine wildlflowers in bloom. Every morning, the Croo told us the weather and advised us on the best trails to make your ascent or descent based on the forecast. 
 
More than 120 college students applied for the 12 available spots at the Croo this summer. They come to be part of a proud tradition, one that’s recorded in photographs and numerous books found in each hut’s library. If you have any misgivings about the next generation being slackers, lazy, staring at a screen all day, then hightail it to one of the huts to see these energetic and enthusiastic college kids in action. You’ll leave with a heady dose of optimism and a genuine appreciation for what the Croo does all summer. At Zealand Falls Hut, I met a man, Willie, who worked at that same hut in 1964, returning from his home of Fort Worth, Texas. Once part of the AMC Croo, it never leaves you. 
 

 

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A Wonderful Week at The Basin Harbor Club

To celebrate my mother-in-law’s 80th birthday, my wife’s family headed to the Basin Harbor Club last week. And what a spectacular week it was! 127 years after Ardelia Beach started taking in summer boarders at her 225-acre working farm on the shores of Lake Champlain, the club’s fourth-generation hosts, siblings Bob and Pennie Beach, are proving that a family business can prosper over time. It helps that they have one of the premier locales on the lake, 740 acres overlooking one of the narrowest parts of Champlain. We did it all—golf, tennis, sail, sea kayak, stand-up paddleboard, swim to the trampoline, and my favorite activity of all, biking. Basin Harbor Club is based in Addison Valley, one of the most fertile parts of the state, where around every bend is a dairy farm, rolled hay, a carpet of emerald green, views of the lake, and the Adirondack and Green Mountains forming a ridge of peaks on either side of you. 

 
Basin Harbor Club is perfect for multi-generation family reunions, because everyone can do what they want during the day and meet for dinner that evening. The food was surprisingly good for a property that offers all-inclusive rates. A highlight was the lobster clambake on the shores of the lake while the sun was setting. Magical! The following day, we danced to a live band playing Nat King Cole favorites as we celebrated my 16th birthday (at least that’s what it said in the daily newsletter). Not surprisingly, many families book the same cottage for the same week the following year before they leave. No doubt, we’ll be joining them. 
 
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5 Adventures on a Shoestring, Diving in Fiji

Taveuni, Fiji, is one of those places like Palau or the Red Sea that is discussed only in clandestine conversations between avid scuba divers. They come here to dive the renowned Rainbow Reef, whose intricate corals and myriad fish provide divers with a kaleidoscopic view of the sea. Add white-tip sharks, sea turtles, and manta rays to the equation and you have one of the finest diving experiences in the world. Taveuni Ocean Sports offers a 7-night dive resort package that starts at $1450 per person. The package includes five days of two–tank dives (including guided tour for certified divers, tanks and weights), lodging at Taveuni’s lone eco-resort, Nakia, three meals a day and afternoon tea with freshly-baked goodies at Nakia’s Cliffhouse Restaurant. 

 
In your spare time, skip the hike to Lake Tagimaucia. Here’s my story in the Boston Globe about that painful experience. It’s been fun reliving some of my favorite adventures this week! Next week, I’ll be in Florida visiting family. I’ll be back on February 22nd. In the meantime, happy travels and keep active! 
 
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Climbing the Via Ferrata at Palissades De Charlevoix

Just when I thought I had my fill of adventure in the Saguenay/Charlevoix region—biking, hiking, stand-up paddleboarding, sea kayaking, and whitewater rafting—I topped it all with this morning’s activity. Charlevoix is home to one of the few Via Ferratas in the world outside of the famous Dolomites. Using cables affixed to an 1187-foot rock face, we attached our carabiners and used iron rungs on the steep sections to clamber up the rock wall at Palissades De Charlevoix. Following our relaxed guide, Vincent, (me, not so relaxed), we slowly and carefully made it to the top of the steep cliff. We stopped to pick wild blueberries and to peer down at a sinuous creek below where we spotted a beaver swimming next to his oversized dam. The real excitement starts at the top when we crossed a suspension bridge made of wobbly planks high above the canyon floor. Then Vincent says to me, “now it’s time to rappel down.” I looked down the 230-foot rock ledge and panicked. But Vincent slowly got me to lean off the ledge and believe in the equipment. I descended, kicking off the smooth face of the wall, and quickly found myself at the bottom, heart racing but proud of my accomplishment. That’s one climb I won’t soon forget. 
 
To top it off, we went whalewatching on a zodiac that afternoon from Baie-Saint-Catherine with Croisières AML. Near the mouth of the Saguenay Fjord, the St. Lawrence feels vast here, like an ocean. We zipped out to the heart of the river on the speedy raft and soon were watching the second largest mammal in the world, the fin whale blowing its spout and surfacing the water with its long arching back. Suddenly we heard a huge splash and the naturalist got very excited pointing to a minke whale that was completely out of the water breaching. He noted that the whales breach to wash off all parasites and to communicate to the other whales. Or simply to perform for us. He would breach 3 or 4 times, flipping out of the water like a flying fish. We then cruised over to a colony of gray seals before making our way into the fjord to see a tall waterfalls called the Caribou Falls. At the corner of my eye, I caught a splash of white and soon we were following a pod of beluga whales, jumping in and out of the water like dolphins. That’s what I call a dream day. 
 

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