I’ve been wanting to do a top travel books post for a long time, but each time I start to compile a list, I am overcome with profound self-loathing over how few of the supposed “great” travel books I’ve actually read. Sure, sure, I’ve read most of the biggies, the Therouxs, the Chatwins, the Brysons, I even picked up and savored a St. Exupery recently. But taking a look at the list of Top 30 Travel Books over at Worldhum, I realized that my travel reading repertoire is pathetically anemic. Their number one pick, for example, is the book “Arabian Sands” by Wilfred Thesiger, which I have never read. No. 2 is “The Road to Oxiana” by Robert Byron. Ditto. Not until we get to Theroux’s Great Railway Bazaar at number three do we get to a book I’ve read. And thereafter there are a smattering of others I’ve read — Pico Iyer, Bryson, Mark Twain, Matthiessen — but still many others I have not. Oh well. Let’s just say that we can be thankful to folks like Worldhum to help us improve our libraries as we move swiftly into summer and the reading season.
Siam Palace – Bentonville, Arkansas
Good Thai cuisine in Bentonville, Arkansas was the last thing I expected to find, but a slight change of plans lead me and my hungry, exhausted, walking troop to Siam Palace. We strolled in to find the restaurant had only been open for a few days which gives me the perfect opportunity to be one of its first critics. So without further delay allow me to give you the delectable low-down.
Anyone entering Siam Palace for the first time will instantly feel at ease from the soft, pale, greenish-yellow freshly coated walls, dimly lit lights, and various aromas drifting from the kitchen. For a second it almost feels as if you’ve stepped into a dining area adjacent to a soothing spa where the host greets you with a smile warmer than the Thai sun and happily escorts you to your seats. (There are two ways to dine at Siam Palace: the Western way and the Eastern way. My party opted for the Eastern way seated on the floor.) Once settled in order a cool glass of Thai tea. It’s sweeter than most, but not as much as sweet as a dessert. For the main meal – If you’re in the mood for something both sweet and slightly tart order the pineapple chicken dish in a special Siam sauce. If noodles are a priority, sample some traditional style Pad Thai with their own special twist.
Judging from all the happy faces and tummies in my group I figured you could order almost anything off the menu and be pleased all the same if you had opted for a slightly different dish. I enjoyed my experience so much I tried making one last late lunch visit the following day, but found they were closed for a two-hour period of the day. If you’re anywhere near or around Bentonville, make sure this one gets placed on your list of dining destinations. You won’t regret it!
Siam Palace is located at 3404 SE Macy Road Suite 20, Bentonville, AR 72712. Ph. 479.254.8559. Hours vary since the plaza is fairly new with several new businesses springing up. Be sure to call ahead to make sure they are open. Most dishes range from $10-$15.
Magnum in Motion on Your Ipod
The pain of being such an early adopter is that you always find yourself having to upgrade to the next great thing instead of waiting for others to test what’s out and then getting the 4th, 5th generation or whatever. Such is the case with me and the ipod. I have three ipods. Yes, three. I have a 1st gen, a 4th gen and a nano. The only reason I haven’t got my hands on a video yet is I beleiver the hype and rumor about the next version being one wit ha huge screen and lots of new features. So I’m holding out. But it is stuff like this that inspires me to get the newest one after all. Magnum in Motion is a well-known photography organization founded by Henri Cartier Bresson, and they are putting together video podcasts from their catalogue, providing the opportunity to stock up your ipod with gorgeous images. The podcasts feature the work of folks like Cartier Bresson (from the past) as well as Jonas Bendiksen (the present).
Ten Destinations Under $1,000
I don’t know if we can call these “cash-strapped times”. I suppose it depends on your station in life and whether you are a CEO of a major corporation who just got a $250 million bonus even though your company’s stock is down. But for most of us, the idea of taking a trip and not having to take out a second mortgage is rather savory.
I have been doing some shopping around for plane tickets to Europe this summer and — whoa — it is hard to find ANYTHING for under $1,000. And that’s JUST FOR AIRFARE! So what are we middle-class folks to do? Well, you’ll have to get your own fact-checkers on board to look into the deals here, but its coming from good ol USA Today, so you can probably be sure the stuff is accurate.
Here in this article they offer a solid list of rather impressive adventures for under $1000. Per person that is. What kind of stuff do they suggest? A road trip to the next state? Nope. Better than that. There are trips here to Chile and the Torres del Paine (a favorite of mine), Utah (for biking), Belize (for diving) and Tuscany (for eating and shooting photos). Could you really imagine that you could get to for under a grand? Me neither. That’s why it’s important to note that many of these trips don’t include airfare. And more, many of them (like the excursion) are timed for winter, which right now seems way too far off, especially for those of us trying to make up our razadooks what to do this summer.
NY Mag Great Cities of the World
We are, by most accounts, though not officially, out of springtime, so perhaps a look back at a Spring Travel guide is doing y’all a bit of a disservice. But I failed to catch this site back in April, so I offer it now in the hope that you’ll be able to troll it’s pages and find something of interest, like I did.
The guide here is of many of the world’s top cities and comes from New York Magazine. Miami, Sydney, Rome, Los Angeles, and more are covered in decent detail, with luscious photos, restaurant guides and even a handy phrase book that can help you navigate the linguistic warrens of places like London. (i.e. Nang: means really good, excellent….does it now?).
But again, we are progressing smoothly (or not so smoothly if you count the torrential rains yesterday) into summer, so tread wisely as you use the guide to augment your summer travel planning.