We went to Thailand last month. It already seems like it happened ages ago, and I feel like we've come home different people.
We began our trip in California where we left the boys with my parents for the almost two weeks. We don't have much pictures of them from these weeks, but we know that they had a fabulous time with their grandparents. They went to the fair, the beach, swimming at their great-grandparents pool, parks, and even a Gas and Steam Engine Museum. They knew what was in store for them, so they were eager to have mom and dad go! My parents were great, and I'm glad they got that time with them.
We had a great flight going to Chiang Mai. Phil's parents drove us from my parent's home in San Diego up to the Biola area where we had a nice dinner with some of our close college friends. Then, our good friend Luke drove us to LAX so we could catch our almost midnight flight to Hong Kong. The flight was about 14 hours long, and I spent most of my time trying to sleep, watching tv shows and movies. I just love the personal screens! My adrenaline kept me up for much of that flight. We arrived in Hong Kong around 6AM Hong Kong time and then caught a shorter 3 hour hop to Chiang Mai. I slept most of that flight which gave me the energy to stay awake most of our first day there. We arrived in Thailand around 10AM.
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| Hong Kong Airport |
We had a lot to do our first day there. We had to check into our apartment, get phone and Internet access, and buy a bus ticket to Mae Sot on the Thai/Burma border for the next day. We also had to procure food for our weary bodies. We were pretty excited to be able to eat Thai food in Thailand.
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| Our $15/night studio apartment |
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| Another view |
Our apartment was nice. The building actually hosts many people who just live there permanently, and there were a lot of farang (foreigners) around. It was amazing for the price. Unfortunately, it's A/C unit was broken and there was no fan. For these Seattle-ites, that was pretty tough especially with the humidity. It was also a long walk into town, so we probably won't stay there if we go back.
There are 7-Elevens everywhere. This amazing convenient store is where we acquired our phone and Internet for the week, where we changed our money to more reasonable portions after going to the ATMs, and where we hydrated! Our phone and Internet card cost us less than $15 for the ten days we were there. Thankfully, Phil's phone is unlocked so it was simple to just put in a new sim card.
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| You can find one of these everywhere! |
The next stop was lunch! We stopped at the first Thai restaurant we saw, and ordered a crispy garlic fish with rice. Phil also got a papaya smoothie - our first of many, many smoothies on this trip as we coped with the heat and walking almost everywhere.
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| Our lunch was looking at us |
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| Phil enjoyed his smoothie |
After lunch, we walked another few kilometers and finally decided to get a Tuk Tuk ride the rest of the way to the bus station. Tuk tuks are basically a built-out motorcycle rickshaw thing that are everywhere in Chiang Mai. It was an easy way for us to get around although more expensive than the songthaew which were pick-up trucks with two benches in the back and are covered. We used both modes of transport while were there. Thai traffic is amazingly fluid as the cars, tuk tuks, scooters, bikes, etc. all take the lines on the road as a means of suggestion. They also drive on the left side of the road which will take some getting used to.
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| In the back of a tuk tuk |
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| One of our tuk tuk drivers |
After getting our bus ticket for the next day, we started our trip back to our apartment. We thought it would be nice to walk through the Old City, so we aimed for that area of town. We ended up walking by the ESL Certification/Thai Language school that I'm interested in and the English used book store that I think I'm going to find myself in quite frequently. The Old City was fun. It was built in the 1200s, and it is about a square mile surrounded by a moat and many old walls.
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| Part of the old wall and the moat |
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| Us |
It is really touristy with lots of hotels, guest houses, restaurants, stores and massage places. It was a fun place to visit, but I'm thinking that we won't go there often if we move here.
We continued our walk home after getting some ice cream. =) When we finally crashed on our bed, I looked up about how far our walking had taken us. I'm guessing we walked about 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) that day. Not too bad for two people who just got off a plane! We didn't even get heat-stroke although Phil kept throwing water all over himself. We went to sleep that evening around 7PM and slept until 4AM ready for another day in this new country!
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