Back to Thailand - And the Food!!!
Trip Start
Jan 20, 2005
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55
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Trip End
Dec 27, 2005
Chiang Mai,
Thailand
Friday, September 23, 2005
Well, not just any hotel, they were going to put us up at the Sheraton, but it was full so they put us up at the Ritz Carlton. Holy jeez I've never stayed at a nicer hotel than this place, V and I thought we were in Heaven after Africa (and we were dressed in grungy clothes we have been wearing for months - talk about sticking out like a sore thumb). We kept saying how dad would have really loved this place after the last 2 weeks of camping.
The airline paid for a town car to drive us the 30 minutes to the hotel, the night accommodation in this amazing room and a huge breakfast buffet that beats everything I have ever seen before. The Ritz Carlton is a hotel you don't want to go to if you see yourself going to Motel six the rest of your
life, it is to high of a bar. The big plush bathrobes and slippers and the huge feather bed after sleeping on a crummy foam mat and a tent too small for you to stretch out was like eating a 5 course meal after getting used to McDonalds. We could get used to that luxury. And the service, let me tell you about the
way these people in the hotel take care of you. You only have to ask and like 3 people are jumping to and fulfilling your every wish. My wake up call was a live person (not the standard recording) wishing "Mr. Volpe" a good morning, would he like anything?" heck yeah, get me some toast and coffee! The marble
bathroom, tub, sitting area and view overlooking the Arabian sea were stunning. Man, I don't know how they afford to do it, but I will make every effort to fly them again. Plus the flights that we had were on planes with on demand movies, music, and video games.
I can't remember the last time (never happened) wherethey had to kick me off the plane when we arrived. 9 hours went by like a snap. I cry thinking back on the beauty of our flight back here. 9 hours to Doha from Jo'burg and 7 hours to Bangkok. Miss that plane already.
We then got our tickets and Visas set up to go to Myanmar (Burma) and found we had a week so we decided to go visit Kristin up in Chang Mai in Northern Thailand. Kristin is living here working for a German NGO (Heinrich Boll Stiftung). She has been showing us around the city which is set right in the hills of northern Thailand. It's the second largest city in Thailand, but has a town-like feel to it.
It seems that we spend half out time discovering new little places to eat here. The food is so amazing and so cheap that I can't stop commenting on it. The spicy coconut soups, thai noodles, mixed vegetables, deserts, fresh fruits are so amazing, especially after Africa. For 4 dollars two people can eat a huge meal of 4-5 dishes and still have money for a couple drinks. This is probably the best food of anywhere we have been.
The other wonderful thing about Thailand is that it has the infrastructure of a western country so getting around is not hard at all. It has to be one of the easiest places for you to go in the world and have a great time without the stress of hard travel. I can understand why Kristin would want to move here.
