Thursday, December 4

Travel day!  We checked out about 4:30 and waited while they verified that we didn't destroy the room :)  and got our deposit refunded, minus the charges for water and electricity. Not bad.  The red taxi was here so we loaded the luggage and headed to ChiangMai International Airport!

Met Chap and Mam and got through security and all.  55 minute uneventful flight to Bangkok and their old (and smaller) airport.  Changed from Thai Lion to an Air Asia flight to Siem Reap, Cambodia which took about an hour.

The Cambodians do like paperwork!  We had to fill out four different forms before we landed, including a visa application, and then stood in line for quite a while for security, passport control and visa,  complete with photographs & finger prints.  Had to get two taxis to the hotel because they are quite small.  Many run on natural gas and have huge tanks that take up a good bit of the trunk!

Arrived at hotel Angkor Paradise which is 8 stories and very nice.  Lovely entry and nice outdoor sitting area with a gorgeous pool.  Rooms are nice as well, with big showers, mini fridge, coffee maker, etc.  The staff is large, well dressed and extremely friendly and polite.  Learned that there are several schools in the area which train hospitality staff for Cambodia and they do a good job!

 Sue, Mam, Chap and Greg in the lobby.

 Lotus flowers, a sign of hospitality.

View from our 4th floor balcony

Sam from New Zealand

Our rooms weren't quite ready, so we had lunch here.  Cambodian food is similar to Thai from what we can tell, but not spicey.  Curries, fried rice, noodle dishes etc.  Some western dishes on the menu also, but we didn't try those.  We arranged for a driver and guide to Angkor Wat for tomorrow morning $40 for a van and $40 for the guide, for all of us.  Greg struck up a conversation with neighbor Sam from New Zealand from the balcony.  Settled in our rooms for a bit and then met for a walk to central part of the city - about 6 blocks or so.

The tuk-tuks here are basically motorcycles with hitches that pull little carts.

 We walked for a bit, and Chap and Mam cut their walk short because Chap isn't feeling too well.  He took some medicine and went to bed. Tom and Sue and Greg and I continued to walk but then the clouds overtook us and it began to rain.  Waited a bit but it didn't let up, so we flagged a tuk-tuk who rolled down zippered plastic around the seating area to keep us dry - felt like an Amish buggy with a motorcylce instead of a horse!  Back to the hotel.

Met in the lobby bar area for drinks, followed by light dinner in their dining room. There is a marathon going on here this weekend so things are fairly busy.   Food good and presentation excellent.  Service great, with someone there to pull out chairs, refill water, etc. all the time. Lovely linens and table settings.  Lots of orchids and lotus flowers throughout.

December 2, 2014 Chiangmai, Thailand

Tuesday, December 2

Tom and Sue set off for a power walk, while Greg and I wondered around the morning market by ChiangMai Gate.  Bought some black sticky rice for 10 baht and a waffle for 12 baht (total about 60 cents.)  waffles are popular street food - we've had banana, chocolate, raisin and the one we had today had a little something in it - we think maybe rose apples.

We wandered through Wat Jetlin again - very quiet and peaceful place.  Then stopped at a tiny place called Bagel House Cafe which produced some pretty good bagels!

At 10:00 we went back to the hotel and caught a taxi that Mam had arranged and went back to Ban Twai and their shop.  Greg wanted to re-visit a wood carving shop there called Baan Tipmonee and we delivered Mam and Chap's pictures.

Cars and trucks here are not tiny, though most are compact and though there are many pick-up trucks, none are the monsters that you see in the US.  Many Toyota, Hilux, Isusu, Chevy, Ford...few BMW and Mercedes.  Most have manufacturing plants here.

At the wood carving shop, a gentleman took us upstairs and showed us quite a few buddhas, monks, furniture, etc.  His English was broken but he expressed much enthusiasm and told us he had opened the shop 20 years ago.  Some of the carvings are large and very intricate, taking 3-7 years to complete!  People, animals, nature scenes, etc. No photos allowed  inside:(

We visited a few other shops before meeting Chap and Mam for lunch, and then Chap drove us back to town.  Read, blogged and relaxed till about 6:00 when we headed out to We's with Tom and Sue.

Tonight's adventure was Muay Thai Boxing.  There are several arenas around town and we went to one over by the Night Bazaar.   The Boxing arena is surrounded by bars, clubs, pool halls, etc. - lots of music and neon.

We saw several fights, including one with women, and saw 2 KO's.  Each match consists of 5 3-minute rounds and the fighters wear gloves and use their feet as much as their arms.  There were about 100 spectators - mostly farangs (foreigners) like us.  We suspect this is not the highest level of fighters and it was interesting but not terribly exciting.  It is their national sport, so now we've seen it.

Took a tuk-tuk back to the hotel about 11:30.




Wednesday, December 3
This morning we went to a little coffee shop that overlooks the market from an upstairs balcony.  Quite nice - quiet, not too busy and friendly folks.

The security at our hotel is interesting.  The elevator is accessed with a card that is scanned and a female voice says "Ok, verified, Thank you."  The door to our apartment is accessed with a palm reader and 4 digit code.  And of course we have a room safe.  There are many small hotels and guest houses, as well as some large "deluxe" hotels.  Rooms can be as little as 200 baht a day ($6.50) or as high as $300-400 a night.

We walked an area of town west of the hotel, through small neighborhood market and little side streets and alleys and ended up in the night bazaar area at a large white museum called "Art in Paradise".

 We expected an art museum but discovered that it is a 3-D museum.  Very well done and we had a ball posing for pictures. We spent a couple of hours here! .

 Began walking back and stopped at an Italian place called Georgio's that Chap had said was good.  Obviously a nice dinner place, they did serve lunch and we shared some pizzas.  Very good - very thin crust. We ordered one with 3 toppings and were surprised that they were separate, not mixed.  Only one other table was occupied.

Back to the hotel and worked on pictures, read.  At 3:30 we all headed out for a Thai massage and foot massage at Sabi-Khlavsen.  2 hours for a grand $12 including tip.  Ahhhh...a little tough (I ended up with one bruise) but good overall and felt good afterwards.  They served us tea and since we were close to We's restaurant, we decided to go there for our final ChiangMai dinner.  Talked with the owner a bit - he is from Finland and married to a lovely Thai woman who is the chef. We had assorted dishes and ended by sharing mango sticky rice and a fried banana with ice cream.

Back to the hotel to pack for tomorrow. Verified check-out with the front desk and set up a red truck to take us the 15 minutes to the airport tomorrow morning.  We leave the hotel at 5:00 and will meet Chap and Mam at the Thai Lion counter to fly to Bangkok and then on to Siem Reap, Cambodia.  Chap has graciously made all the arrangements, so we just show up with passports in hand.

Chiangmai, Mae Ping River, night safari

Monday, December 1

Happy December.  Hardly seems like it here, but there are a few Christmas decorations here and there in businesses that deal with Westerners.  An occasional Christmas carol as well...

Good thing we are early risers, as the hotel's gym is just above us and someone runs on the treadmill about 6:30, which creates a rhythmic thumping that is difficult to sleep through!

Spent early AM working on pictures, checking email, catching up on news, etc.  Dropped off laundry - they do a great job.

Decided to do the Mae Ping River Cruise this morning, so we walked the mile or so to the site.  The boats leave from the Chai Mongkul Temple, home to a heard of cattle.  They are selling small birds in small cages, which you are to release for good luck.  Poor birds!

We boarded a boat and headed 8 km upriver.  The guide/driver was a little difficult to hear/understand between his accent and the noise of the motor, but we did glean some information.  We passed some familiar landmarks initially, then got into less populated areas.  Saw lots of fishermen, variety of homes from stylish condos to basic shacks, sometimes right across the river from each other.  Passed the US embassy and several others.

We stopped at a Farm/Market/Restaurant and our driver walked us through the area, pointing out many vegetables, fruits and spices that are grown there.  From lettuce and long beans to mangos and starfruit to cinnamon, basil, ginger and more. We were served juice (i had lemongrass which was tasty) and fresh pineapple and watermelon.  There were many old farm implements and tools some of which our driver demonstrated and explained.  Many had to do with rice, since that is their main food crop.  Part of the movie Rambo 4 was filmed here.

Cruised back and walked up the river a bit to Riverside Market, a rather upscale place in an upscale neighborhood featuring several resorts including 5-star ones.  Lovely table setting by the river and the food was good with larger than normal portions.

We took a tuk-tuk back To the hotel - 100 baht for the four of us (about $3.00).

We decided to do the Night Safari tonight, which our hotel arranged.  Young man in small toyota picked us up and drove about 30 minutes.  Night Safari began in Singapore.  Basically there are small trams which travel through the park in the dark and they stop and spotlight animals along the way.  Many antelope and deer, giraffes, zebras, hyenas and other animals, some of which we could feed the carrots and bananas we had.  A few bears and lions and tigers as well.

Overall we were not terribly impressed, but it was an interesting concept.  In other areas they had some dancing and other entertainment including a circus-like tiger show which we opted out of.  (Had to chuckle as one of the groups performing were dressed as cow girls and sang some western song while a cowboy did rope tricks :)

Back to the hotel with "win some, lose some" attitude.  The river cruise was a win, the night safari a lose.