Travel Team

December 15 - 16, 2016

For months, I have been looking forward to a trip to Chiang Mai in northern Thailand with my wonderful friend, Mika, and her little one.  We would have two days together before our husbands joined us that Saturday.  Mika's husband was running in the Chiang Mai marathon Sunday morning.

We rode together to the airport in Bangkok Thursday morning.  It was my first time flying domestic in Thailand, and it was so quick and easy not having to go through immigration.  That was a good thing, because we walked all the way to the end of our concourse, only to discover our gate was back where we started, but down the stairs.  Luckily an empty trolley sat nearby, so we could give Momo a ride.  We rode a shuttle bus past numerous small, prop planes before reaching our colorful Bangkok Air jet.  I was surprised when we received a full meal on our quick little flight.  We collected our bags and taxi driver Bobo drove us to our hotel, the Grand Napat, in the northeast corner of the city.

The taxis, tuk-tuks, and little red baht buses that look like mini firetrucks are inexpensive and plentiful here, so we had no trouble getting a ride to lunch.   Ginger & Kafe is an eclectic yet elegant restaurant Mika heard about, and we were anxious to sample their Khao Soi, an egg and chicken noodle curry with coconut milk that is a Chiang Mai specialty.  It was excellent, and my fresh ginger soda was so refreshing and delicious!

Tuk-tuks here are roomier than the ones in Bangkok

little red baht bus (song thaew)

Tasty Khao Soi

 Ginger & Kafe was one of many locations displaying painted elephants as part of the "Elephant Parade, the world's largest elephant art exhibition."  We were lucky to be in town for the one-month event, and enjoyed the variety and creativity.  We even caught one artist at work.

After lunch, we wandered over to the Warorot Market, an open market that spans several blocks just east of the old city center.  The market offers limitless browsing opportunities of fresh produce, fabrics, clothes and more.  I bought a piece of fabric to make a tablecloth, and we enjoyed some tasty ice cream from a street vendor, a welcome reprieve from the heat of the day.  (I was hoping for cooler temperatures in the north, but it was just as hot as Pattaya.)

We rode a tuk-tuk back to the hotel, and Momo rode on the little jump seat next to the driver.  She quickly grew sleepy, and we had to stop to bring her into the back seat with us, lest she topple off her perch!  After naps, Momo decided she needed to teach me some Japanese - she is a very good, strict teacher!

Japanese lessons with "Teacher Mary"

We had a relaxing evening, ordering in for dinner - I ordered a vegetable salad and got basically a bowl of lettuce, and there was pasta sauce that tasted like catsup, but we were too tired to care much.

The next morning, we had breakfast at the basic buffet in the hotel.  We decided to go to the zoo, even though it was a bit rainy.  We were optimistic that the rain wouldn't continue.  Unfortunately, it rained on and off for our entire visit, with an occasional heavy downpour.  We were undaunted, however, and carried on in the rain, riding the tram from stop to stop and darting under cover when we could.  Mika picked up an overpriced umbrella that broke halfway through the morning.  We found the children's play area, and Momo and I played in the drizzle.

The Chiang Mai Zoo offers lots of opportunity for up-close animal encounters.  We enjoyed the flamingos and the large enclosure with many types of deer and buffalo.  We watched the lions watching us, saw unusually active koalas, and were particularly entertained by a huge orangutan with a security blanket.  With one swift motion, he swept the blanket up around his shoulders like a shawl, He suddenly stood up to his full height on two legs, looking a bit intimidating and otherworldly, casually dangling a piece of grass from his mouth like a cigarette.

Jackfruit tree

first time to see koalas moving!

Chiang Mai Zoo has a pair of pandas on loan from China -
they had a cub!

Deer enjoying some long beans

Requisite potty shot - not sure what this is all about?

After the zoo, we took a song thaew (baht bus) to a lovely Celadon ceramics shop, Mengrai Kilns.  Celadon and other stoneware is a Chiang Mai specialty, having developed in China some two thousand years ago.  Many of the beautiful handmade pieces were art-gallery-worthy, and we enjoyed a lovely cup of tea and soothing music as we browsed the displays.  I could have spent a lot more time, and money, but ultimately purchased just a few small pieces.

As we waited for our purchases to be tenderly wrapped, the friendly staff told us about a little cafe down the road where we might have some lunch.  After a bit of a trek to the end of the road, we turned back, settling instead on a whimsical little cafe, Le Kaa.  It appeared fairly new, with stuffed animals lining the walls and bicycles hung from the ceiling.  Momo enjoyed playing with the toys in the back.  The food was pretty good, but the soundtrack was better.

After crossing the treacherously busy main road that surrounds the city, we finally found a song thaew to take us back to the hotel.  While my friends rested, I took a walk to explore the area.  A large bar had loud music blasting from a band that seemed to be rehearsing or doing a sound check for the night.  I browsed through a few little shops, making my way to the Tesco Lotus down the road.  I picked up some shiny elastic string so Momo could string her sparkly beads, her "treasure" she got from the market the day before.  My Japanese lessons continued upon my return - ask me how to count to 100!

I think we wore this little girl out

It was getting dark by the time I returned, and we looked for a place to go for dinner.  We found a place that didn't look too far from our hotel, but it took us nearly an hour to get there in the Friday night traffic.  Corner Bistro is a little American restaurant tucked away down a small soi, and boasting "the best french fries in the world."  We took a table on the tiny outside deck, staying comfortably dry when the rain started again.  The food was pretty good, and the fries were quite tasty, but again the soundtrack was better.

They seemed to be setting up a tiny corner for some sort of music later, but we were ready to head back before it started.  We asked the staff to help us call a taxi, and when a shiny, black SUV pulled up about twenty minutes later, she said that was our ride!  We were a bit worried it was some premium ride service, but it was quite reasonable.  I asked the driver if he had another job, and just drove as a second job, but he said driving was his only job.  We wondered how he could afford such a nice car while charging so little, but we didn't ask any more questions.

We could hear the loud music from the bars down the street as we tried to get some sleep.