Chiang Mai
Trip Start
Oct 01, 2008
1
12
82
Trip End
Dec 30, 2009
Chiang Mai,
Thailand
Friday, October 17, 2008
Krabi - Bangkok
Bangkok - Chiang Mai
3hr stopover in Bangkok airport. They have a good system in the restaurant. You buy an electronic card at the entrance then go round various kiosks and choose your food. They refund the balance on the card as you leave. Met by hotel driver at Chiang Mai airport: very civilised.
We had chosen a room which entitles us to full time free internet access. V useful for blogging. I am going to try and put some more photos on. It also comes with a free minibar. Unfortunately apart from water it only contains 2 cans of beer, a can of Fanta and a can of Coke. We consumed the beers within 5 min of arrival. Also a fruit basket with bananas, green mandarins and another fruit that may be a green plum. The head porter gave us a bit of a hard sell on local tours: "my brother has a car..." but otherwise the hotel is very pleasant.
Evening: 5 min walk to the night market, a local attraction. Lots of stalls selling all sorts of goods aimed at tourists. It all seems quite chilled and much less in your face than Bangkok: the badgering is much more low key. We have really nice meal in an outdoor restaurant at the market. There are a cluster of food restaurants. When we order drinks, a boy is sent to the central bar and returns with our beers. There was a local couple at the next table where the man was drinking from a bottle of Johnny Walker Red Label with his meal.
There are a lot of Caucasian tourists. They seem to fall into three main categories: backpackers, middle aged couples, and older single men. The latter congregate around the girlie bars of which there seem to be quite a lot in a relatively low key way. They generally make a bit of a sorry sight, often adopting the sleeveless vest style dress code
Comments
Saturday in SC
Just managed to navigate this blogging website! So thought I'd make contact and say that I'm so glad your adventures aren't always going according to plan eg jellyfish attack!You'll need the R and R of Chiang Mai before you start in the gruelling cycle ride into Laos! All well here - off to Lyon to see the boy next weekend!Enjoy your further travels - B xx
Sunday in SC
Well this all looks very beautiful and exciting. I was a bit worried about your first entries and the references to the pink fluffy slippers - I hope they fitted ok Andrew. I thought you two were too young for the cheesecloth shirt fashion - that took me back! Sorry to hear of your incident with the jellyfish and hope you are feeling better. All as usual here -Christmas cards in the shops etc. Hope the cycling goes well.
Joanx