Outta Bangkok we go. Early morning cab ride to the airport (the cabbie was as terrifying as the Tuk Tuk driver!) and into the long lines to check in to our 1 hour flight to Chiang Mai. No problems at check in this time (phew!) and Bangkok air has a lounge for all of it’s passengers – so we hang out there with beverages and snacks and newspapers for the better part of an hour while we wait for our flight.
Flight goes off without a hitch – 1 hour – oh, and it includes beverage and food service – complimentary. We’re not in Kansas anymore Toto! Our ride is waiting for us at the airport, Na, a personal tour guide who works with Richard (our landlord) and the Twin Peaks condo. Of course she gives us her tour guide spiel, but mostly just chats with us on our way to the condo.
Richard greets us warmly when we arrive. He is originally from Boston, but has lived all over (including Cannes for years), and has been here in Chiang Mai now for 8 years. He’s full of information, and a delight to talk with as he shows us upstairs to our unit.
A lovely efficiency on the 6th floor – we’ve got everything we need: king size bed, nice size refrigerator, 46” flat screen TV and nice bathroom – plus a great balcony where we can watch the sun set over the mountains.
Richard has even set us up with some local fruit (the oranges look like they are bad, but they are delicious! and the weird looking mangosteen fruit is really quite good – tart and sweet at the same time. Weird as all, but really tasty!).
We get organized and settled, then go explore the pool and “lounge area” (which is a great outdoor venue to just sit and relax out of the sun).
We get all unpacked, and now it’s time to go grocery shopping. We head toward the grocery store, stopping along the way at O’Malley’s irish pub for refreshments. WINE! yay! Finally I can have wine somewhere besides the condo/hotel! As we sit outside on the patio – we watch as vendors begin to set up for the night market. This market is huge – and it’s set up and torn down every night here. Amazing. But we won’t really see how amazing until later…..
So – refreshed now – off we go to Rimping’s supermarket. This is just like a normal American market – except of course for the Thai food! But still – think any major chain. And best of all – FREE HOME DELIVERY! Since we walked over here, it’s a very nice little bonus as we have purchased a case of beer and water, as well as other essentials for our 2+ week stay here.
Delivery all scheduled, we wander back home, scoping out the area and the different restaurants and street food carts along the way.
Later that evening we head back out toward the market and – OMG – the transformation is amazing. What was once a sidewalk with empty cart/stalls has magically turned into hundreds of vendor booths selling everything from scarves to carvings to t-shirts, knock off purses, jewelry and more. It’s all lit up like Christmas and it is incredible to believe what this looked like in the afternoon!
We pick our way through the stalls, back to O’Malley’s because we are in the mood for pub grub. Ed gets a Mushroom Burger that is the size of Chiang Mai – I mean honestly – the thing is monstrous! I get a smoked chicken and cheese sandwich which is equally huge. Oh – and WINE – did I mention WINE? LOL
So, totally full – we wander back through the night market throngs to our cool little condo and hit the sack after a long, but satisfying day.
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