Wednesday, September 17, 2008

During check in at the Marina Phuket we arranged our complimentary resort transportation back to the Phuket International Airport for this morning. The desk staff seemed to think that an hour for transit would be more than enough so we went with recommendation and planned to leave the resort at 7:00 to catch our 8:50 AM Air Asia flight from Phuket back to Bangkok. We then had a 10:45 flight from Bangkok to Chiang Mai.

Again we had packed the night before, before heading out for dinner, to allow ourselves extra time and avoid being rushed. We awoke around 5:50, showered, checked the room for anything that escaped being packed, checked in one last time on e-mail, and then headed down to the second restaurant of the resort, Sala Thai, for the breakfast buffet.

The open restaurant overlooked the pool and surrounding area and the buffet set up was quite extensive. Again, the mix included both Western style breakfast favorites, dry cereals, waffles, scrambled eggs, pastries and muffins, as well as Thai noodle dishes and an excellent soup. Several cooks were also preparing made to order omelets and pancakes with your choice of ingredients.

The seafood soup was simply excellent and, odd as it may sound, went well with orange juice and the other breakfast options. The soup station also provided several ingredients of which you could mix-and-match to your own combination desire, and, of course the traditional four Thai accompaniments of sweet (sugar), salty (course salt), vinegary (diced peppers in vinegar or fish sauce), and heat (crushed dried peppers).

Finishing with breakfast we headed back to the room and found one of the porters waiting just outside our door to take our bags to the front desk. We glanced over the room once more and headed to the front desk to finalize the checkout. This only took a couple minutes and we were soon loaded into a mini bus and heading to the airport.

Arriving in plenty of time we checked in for our flight, obtained our Express Boarding stickers, and headed to the gate area to wait for the plane to begin boarding. We were both a bit anxious to get on the plane in a hurry and end up with seats at the front of the plane because our connecting flight allowed us little time to navigate the huge airport in BKK. It's here in Phuket that I, inadvertently, cut in front of the British woman and Travis found a new Aussie friend.

You see, when they call for Express Boarding on Air Asia people en mass run to the boarding gate. Even those without the Express Boarding privilege. Seeing as we had a connection to catch I was determined not to let that happen here in Phuket as it had in Bangkok (on the way to Phuket) and, so, I rushed to the front of the line when they called for Express boarding. It so happened that the woman I rushed in front of also was an Express Boarder. When Travis brought my attention to that fact I sincerely apologized and returned to my rightful spot behind her.

Previously, just after we had made our way to the gate waiting area, Travis had sat down in a seat near the boarding gate area. He had just finished positioning the roll ons next to his seat when a man, with an obvious Australian accent, stated that the seat Travis had sat in was saved. Not before he had sat down. Not as he was sitting down. But, rather, after he had sat down and placed the bags next to him. At any rate, Travis got up and found new seats, all the while muttering under his breath, no doubt.

We boarded the plane and ended up sitting in the very front row which provided us not only with extra leg room but also a quick exit when we landed at BKK. Again, the flight was non-eventful, which, when flying, is probably a good thing, although we did note that Travis' Australian friend was with a young, Thai who spoke little to no English. Draw your own conclusions here.

We anxiously watched the minutes tick by as our departure flight from Bangkok drew closer. Air Asia has a clearly stated policy that all check in counters close 30 minutes before every flight and since ours left at 10:45 that meant we needed to be at the counter by 10:15. The flight from Phuket to Bangkok being about an hour and ten minutes meant we had a buffer of only fifteen minutes.

Landing we rushed out of the plane and onto the waiting buses that would ferry us back to the airport terminal. Then it was a mad rush back to the ticketing and check in counters. We arrived at such counters to find significant lines waiting for us. By the time we finally reached a airline rep it was seven minutes past the 30 minute deadline and no amount of pleading would change this fact, apparently. We were told there was nothing more the airline could do.

We ended up having to re-purchase tickets for the next flight out of Bangkok, which, thankfully, was at 12:50 and only a couple hours off. Missing the flight meant we would have to swallow the cost of the tickets and repurchase new ones that, again thankfully, were still pretty inexpensive.

We passed the time in the airport by checking out some of the duty free shops, which were not surprisingly much more expensive than shopping in the city, and reading up on our next destination. Soon, we were on board and heading to Northern Thailand.

Landing in Chiang Mai we exited the airport and headed to the taxi stand to the left of the airport entrance. We advised the attendant of our destination, The Bodhi Serene Hotel, and were given a ticket and pointed toward a line of taxis at the back of the airport. A second attendant took our ticket and ushered us to a driver and taxi who spoke very little English. Still, we were soon off and heading across the surrounding city moat and past the centuries-old city walls. While I had selected the Buddy Lodge in Bangkok and the Marina in Phuket, Travis had done the research for Chiang Mai and selected the Bodhi Serene and, as we generally do, selected a hotel within the old district of the city center.

The taxi driver was a bit perplexed with the address that the attendant had given him and we had to backtrack a bit to find the hotel as he inadvertently passed it. It didn't help matters that it wasn't clearly marked with any type of sign and that the building proper was actually hidden behind a large, stark wall.

We paid and tipped the driver and were soon sitting at the check-in desk finishing up the paper work. As with many countries, the government of Thailand requires certain information to be gathered from all hotel guests. Just general demographic info but forms that take a bit to fill out. While working on the paperwork we were offered a refreshing green tea to sip on and were then shown to our room. As in Phuket, we were given a brief tour of all of the facilities, except for the exterior pool and such, as it had begun to pour down rain.

The hotel was three stories and all open-air with the pool and restaurant/bar on the second floor and everything opening out onto a central courtyard filled with flowering plants and a multi-tiered, flowing water fountain. The room was lined with dark wood paneling and accent furniture to match. The balcony opened behing, plush, white-cotton drapes and faced the next building of the hotel.

We unpacked and looked over the brochures, in-room menus, and miscellaneous other info. Unlike in our two other hotels to date, the Bodhi provided drinking water in glass bottles rather than plastic. So, unfortunately, we couldn't take those from our room and with us on our outings very easily. Ah, none the less, we're in Thailand and a 7-Eleven is only a few feet in any direction.

As it was still raining rather heavily after we finished unpacking and looking over the room we opted to head out to check out the other parts of the hotel. We ended up at the bar which was located just off the pool and on a balcony overlooking the superbly designed courtyard. We decided a drink was in order until the rain let up and I enjoyed a Bloody Mary while Travis had a beer. We also ordered a spicy tuna flat bread appetizer that was totally superb in every way. The spices and saltiness were an excellent accompaniment to the drinks.

By the time we had finished with our drinks and appetizer the rain had fully stopped and the sun was out shining again. We picked up the guidebooks we had been reading over, and using to plot the rest of the afternoon and evening, and went back to the room to pick up needed supplies. We changed from shorts to our long pants again, as we expected to visit some temples, grabbed our cameras and the GPS, and headed out.

The city of Chiang Mai exudes a much different feel and atmosphere than that of Bangkok. Even though the city is home to over 200,000 people it feels much smaller and more quaint. Or, at least, the old city center and immediate surrounding area felt that way. During our three day stay here I think only one Tuk Tuk actually pulled over to ask us if we needed a lift. Much different than in the capital city. The surrounding mountains also provided a very different backdrop replacing the smog and pollution filled air of the city of eight million plus.

After the stress of missing our connecting flight and having to re-purchase tickets in order to reach Chiang Mai we wanted to make the rest of the afternoon and evening as restful and easy-going as could be. We first opted to take the walking tour of the city as offered in the Lonely Planet guidebook. This tour was much more concentrated to a relatively small geographical area of the city and visited many of the most popular temples Chiang Mai has to offer.

In addition to Wat Chiang Man, the city's oldest temple, and Wat Phra Singh, the most visited temple of the city, we also visited the exterior of the Chiang Mai Women's Prison. The prison actually offers a massage parlor, opposite the prison entrance, where prisoners offer massages to tourists and locals alike. The service not only provides for non-violent offenders to earn savings to help support them post-release but it also teaches them a valuable trade of which they may earn a living once released. We had decided we wanted to have a massage here after reading about the offerings in the guide books but we planned for such on our last day in Chiang Mai.

After finishing the tour, and as the sun was setting, we headed back to the hotel to change and find a restaurant for dinner. The quest for dinner actually took us a bit as we had selected a location from The Rough Guide and, after traipsing all over for what seemed like hours in an attempt to find the alley it was located off of, discovered the shuttered building with a note posted to the exterior gate. Again, it seems, we had selected a restaurant that was shut for several weeks for renovations. Ahhh... We had passed (and read about) Bierstube another restaurant not too far off and decided to head back and try it. Turns out it was quite a lively spot located just shy of the city moat and city walls and on a busy street corner.

The food featured German influences but also offered the usual and extensive Thai selections. As an appetizer I ordered a soup that turned out to actually be a giant cauldron of soup rather than a single serving. As is common in the cuisine of the North of Thailand, it contained coconut milk but, much to my dismay, also contained copious amounts of ginger. (Since the trip to Thailand I've come to the conclusion that ginger is far from a favorite taste of mine.)

After dinner we headed back to the hotel for a quick stop and then decided to head to the Chiang Mai Night Bazaar. Described in the Lonely Planet:

The market itself spreads for block after block with hundreds of individuals stands radiating outward along the streets leading to the main night bazaar building. Anything and everything, from touristy nick-nacks to authentic Thai antiques, from DVDs to clothing, can be had by the dedicated shopper.

We spent several hours wandering the various stalls, cheking out the Anusan Night Market food market within the Night Bazaar realms, and taking photos while enjoying the atmosphere. At times, just as in Chinatown in Bangkok, the crowds were stifling and jammed in what seemed to be ever-smaller walkways and pathways, but, in all, the experience was much fun. We each purchased a small Buddha for our car back home and a couple bottles of water. We were searching for a large Buddha for the house but didn't find one that we liked and would be easy to get back to the U.S.

After arriving back at the hotel we opted, for a brief moment, to find a lounge or bar and have a nightcap before heading to bed. However, fatigue won out and it was soon lights out on our first day and night Northern Thailand.