Thailand travel 10. To market, to market in Chiangmai and boomer no-buy joy
Walk down my side of the Ping River to upscale coffee shops and arty places. At some point across the Ping to Talat Warorot, which I now know is Chiangmai’s oldest and most famous market. Right next door to Talat Ton Lam Yai, which is the city’s fresh flower market.
Thailand travel 9. Monk chat with Nit and foot massage envy
The young monk’s English is broken, but OK. I have been surprised at the unselfconscious lack of English to date. “Thailand has never been colonized,” the young man explains. Guess a self-confidence comes with that. Of “just being Thai.” He says here in Thailand they belong to the Theravada school of Buddhism. Asks me if I know anything about Buddhism. I tell him I lived for three years at the San Francisco Zen Center. Have meditated for many.
Thailand travel 7. Kamala for best Thai massage in the world
Thai massage has deep roots a history dating way back. And Being a modern-day pilgrim is something open equally to all. Women going solo. Men going solo is more of a norm. And boomers. Because to travel, to pilgrim, requires that we stay fit and healthy.
Thailand travel 6. Single boomer? No need for the Marigold Hotel
You don’t need India’s Best Exotic Marigold Hotel to have an adventurous life-out-the-box post-60. It’s easy to live the ex-pat life in Thailand. Men and women, hundreds, it seems, do this. Couples. Singles. Party person. Creative person. Find your spot and enjoy.
Thailand travel 5. Kamala massage makes you Happy and Smile
At some point, suddenly, a wind comes up and the rain comes down and huge umbrellas are dug into the sand and staff hold onto them to keep them planted and the fairy lights twinkle and people laugh and it’s all delightful.
Thailand travel 4. Kamala Market cooks in a swirl of pink flounces
A walkabout in the village and down a side street brings me to a food market. It’s hot. Humid. The market is buzzing. Veggies, fish, meat, cakes. People frying stuff. Grilling stuff. And Markets are always places to be trigger-finger happy with a camera, aren’t they?
Thailand travel 2. Spin-the-bottle and true confessions
Travel writer, boomer and solo traveler Wanda Hennig recently spent a month journeying with a backpack and camera through Thailand and Laos. She blogs about it here.
Thailand travel 1. Solo and on a whim
Travel writer, boomer and solo traveler Wanda Hennig recently spent a month journeying with a backpack and camera through Thailand and Laos. She blogs about it here.
Rapping about Portuguese blues
There are loads of fado spots for tourists in Lisbon, not surprisingly given that it is called “the purest expression of Lisbon’s soul” and that it is “inseparable from the culture and tradition of the Portuguese capital” — and that fado, born in Portugal’s Mouraria neighborhood, was classified as an “Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity” by Unesco in November 2011. But I didn’t, you may understand, want tourist fado. I wanted a small taverna crammed with local fado lovers listening to the haunting musical angst of voice and guitar, a good bottle of Portuguese wine and food made by some mama in the kitchen.
Travel to Poland: Krakow, Chef Adam and Ed Red
Chef Adam Chrząstowski is reviving Polish culinary traditions at Ed Red restaurant in Krakow. “We try to respect the whole animal. Our restaurant is dedicated to meat,” he told the author. Ed Red was the first restaurant in Poland to dry-age their steaks, all the meat comes within 100km. Local products and reeducating palates are among the charming and well-traveled chef’s culinary passions.