We were up by 4:45 AM, got dressed, grabbed a quick bite from the buffet for breakfast and head straight to the airport. The check-in for Bangkok Air was painless and we had lounge access. There were complimentary snacks with quite a few vegetarian options: cucumber and cheese sandwiches, sticky rice in banana leaves, pastries, vegetarian chow mein and vegetarian pad thai, coffee and juice in the lounge. We tried a little bit of everything and it was good. We hadn’t flown with this airline yet and already love it!. Heena sat and read her book, while I wrote my journal. I really wish business class in the US would match up to international carriers, especially in service.
The flight from Bangkok to Chiang Mai was on time and in a small little Boeing 717 plane.
For an hours’ flight we were still served snacks (vegetarian hot noodles – mmm!). It almost felt as if we took off, reached a decent height and then flew back down. I got some cool photos of the sky above the cloud.
We landed in Chiang Mai at 10:30 AM and took a taxi from the airport to our hotel (B140), the Baan Orapin, a lovely bed and breakfast. We had a junior 1 bedroom suite with a sitting area and a porch! The property is lush green and extremely beautiful.
After settling down, we were famished and so we headed into the city to get some lunch. We were craving some Indian food and the Lonely Planet guide suggested a place that seemed to be at a walking distance from our hotel. However, after about an hour of walking around we could not find the place and no one on the street had even heard of it. Instead we stumbled upon the Galare Guest house and restaurant by the river and they made a very tasty green curry and fried rice for us. We absolutely enjoyed lunch overlooking the Mae Ping river. It was not too hot and a slight breeze made the lunch all that more enjoyable.
We walked back to our hotel and on our way back Heena picked up some “awala” (Indian gooseberry) and we also got some ice-cream (the weather was hot) from a 7-11. We were glad when we got back to our hotel, since it started to rain (one of those tropical pours); a good thing since the weather cooled down after that.
As soon as the rains stopped, we head out again. Chiang Mai has a Hindu temple and we wanted to pay a visit. The temple was really quiet when we got there and so Heena and I spent some quiet in the peace of the temple. Later we chatted with a gentleman who is from Chennai but lives in Chiang Mai and works as a Yoga teacher. Just general talk his impressions of Chiang Mai (all positive). After a while, we met someone who spoke to us about a religious group he was part of and aggressively put forth his point of view. We did not agree with most (all) of his points, but he did not give us a chance to put forth our thoughts, which was good because I was not in a mood to get into one of those pointless and endless philosophical debates. I heard him out, and the first moment we got, said goodbye and left.
We left the temple and walked to the Kalare night market. It was dinner time and we got some Indian food, Noodles and Falafel (really good) at the night market food stalls. Afterwards, I mostly followed Heena around as she made her round of the stalls. She was so happy bargaining and checking things out. I just walked about soaking in the place. It’s quite touristy, and so are the prices. Fun, nevertheless.
Around 9:30 pm, I was bored. So we made our way back to the hotel. On the way we saw a lot of people bursting crackers by the river. They were doing it right by the firecracker vendors and some power cables. Absolutely safe, right!
Got back to the hotel, watched an Indian Music Channel (I watched more hindi songs on this trip than I have in the past 5 years), fell asleep to bollywood music.
Initial Chiang Mai Impression: Chiang Mai was love at first sight. It’s similar to a small (3rd tier) city in India. People here are friendlier than in Bangkok. Even the style in which they say “Sawathee kaa” is so sweet. We felt there was a touch of true hospitality and welcoming. The pollution is lower and it does not have the hustle bustle of a city. During the day, this place is quiet, but at night, life starts and it’s markets are abuzz with activity. There is also a lot of activity near our hotel due to Loy Krathong. Love it!
