Jim is feeling better today, but went back to rest after breakfast. We think it was too much sun all at once, since it's so inviting to be outdoors all day when you are in Koh Chang!

So I am posting our Chiang Mai Walking Tour that we thought was interesting. We found the map and directions of things to see as we walking through the town in a National Geographic Tour Book. Below are some photos and events (Koh Chang photos will come soon...first another Chiang Mai post with our Elephant Trekking, Thai Orchid Farm, & Bamboo Rafting 1-Day Tour). We were in Chiang Mai 4 days, but wish we had stayed a bit longer, as there are many excursions and tours that are 2 or 3 days and take you just outside of Chiang Mai. Maybe next time!

Thailand: Trip Bangkok to Chiang Mai 2/15

This was an easy flight, much like flying from LA to SF. We arrived in Chiang Mai, and unlike Bangkok with its busy and noisy feel, we felt a sense of calm and country as we exited the airport via hotel shuttle.

Driving through town, we saw many internet cafes, coffee houses, very modern, cool, contemporary, and clean. We liked it very much. We drove past Chiang Mai University and saw many local Thai students as well as international.

Our hotel was Amari Rincome, one we found online. The hotel was just beautiful, and the service was outstanding. We couldn't believe how beautiful the view was from our 6^thfloor room. The pool was very welcoming, and we couldn't wait to use it the next day, once we got settled in to the hotel and explored our surroundings. We were so happy with the hotel quality, especially since the next leg going to Koh Chang we were also booked at an Amari Hotel (Emerald Cove Resort). So at least we knew we'd like the hotel since the service at Chiang Mai was so great.

Chiang Mai Amari Rincome Hotel View Daytime

Chiang Mai Amari Hotel Sunset View

2/16 First Full Day in Chiang Mai: Laundry & Walking Tour

The first thing on our list to do was laundry! The hotel averaged about 100-150 baht per item, which was about .50 USD. Added up, we would have paid almost $50 in laundry! Jim was on a quest to find a Laundromat, and found one not too far from the hotel. His favorite part of Chiang Mai was having all of our laundry done by a nice Thai lady for $7!

So our first full day in Chiang Mai whilst our laundry was being done, we decided to take a Walking Tour in Chiang Mai that Jim found from a National Geographic Travel Book. We had the hotel make a copy of the page we needed, which included the map of starting point and the directions how to go. That way we wouldn't need to carry the book around, just the paper.

According to the Walking Tour, it would take us about 1.5 hours and about 2.5 miles to do the walk. The starting point looked easy enough to get to from our hotel, "just across town". We both had our backpacks on, and really looked like tourists with our Walking Tour Map. Many locals whizzed by on their motor bikes, bicycles, in cars, "tuk tuks" etc. But whenever we met their eyes, they would bow and smile.

Several people just came up to us and asked where we were headed. I showed them our Walking Tour Map and they said, "Wow, that's far, are you going to walk?" Yes! We wanted some exercise, and the starting point at the First Church looked pretty easy to walk to. After they asked where we are going, they always seemed to ask, "Are we having a tailor made suit, and where?" Sheesh...that was like the question of the day! They commented that Chiang Mai is where many people from Bangkok and even Hong Kong go to get their clothes made. One man told us he has had 600 suits made for him here. Wow! To me, how does one keep up with 600 suits? Maybe it's like a prestige thing around here.

Turns out that by the time we found the starting point, about 1.5 hours had passed. It was already near noon, and hot! So we found a place to refresh and have a snack and cool drinks at the Good View Restaurant, just on the river. And a good view it was! We had some spring rolls and juice drinks. Delicious!

We were finally ready to start our Walking Tour.

Start at the First Church, then proceed on the bridge, to the pedestrian bridge. Veer right into the Wororat Market. Easy enough as we marked off 2 of 8 things to see on the Walking Tour. Next to see was the Chinese Temple, as something different form the many Thai temples we would see on our tour. We came across a Chinese Temple, it was hard to find since the local people didn't seem to know what or where it was. So we were happy to find it, we took our shoes off, went in, and took some photos. We even saw a Chinese man doing some beautiful calligraphy. He gave us permission to take his photo.

We continued on our Walking Tour, and found ourselves talking with some ladies from Bermuda. They said we had to go inside the Wororat Market...we thought we already did! Turns out, we had just walked around it instead. So we actually went inside and we were amazed at all of the vendors. This is where the local Thai people go for produce and goods. Wow! It was very cool.

When we exited the Wororat Market, we discovered another Chinese Temple, and found that is the one we were supposed to see in the first place according to our Walking Tour. He he! The magic of taking a Walking Tour on our own; we got to meet many people who were trying to help us get to the next place.

Continuing the Walking Tour, we actually made it one by one. Turn here, go left at the red cobble-stone street, etc. We were getting tired, but still amazed and the beauty and friendliness of the people. We found ourselves in alleys and on little streets we'd not ever have seen had we decided to skip the Walking Tour. It was fun to finally find and take photos of the places along the way, and to cross them off of our list. The most fun was meeting people along the way and seeing the sights.

Arriving our last place, we were exhausted and our feet were sore. After touring the last Wat on the list, we wanted to cab it back to the hotel. We decided to take a "tuk-tuk", and Jim decided to negotiate. Squabbling with the driver over a dollar, we lost the deal (and I think offended the driver, not by intention!) and had to walk a few big blocks to find another tuk tuk. We ended up taking it for what the other guy started with...we just wanted to get back to the hotel and not on foot! We were laughing that when we negotiate in bath, it doesn't seem like we have a real grasp on the amount, and once we converted the negotiations into USD, we realized how silly it was. It's like trying to get a cab driver to drive us across town for $5 instead of $6! At some point, you just have to get in and go.

We had this tuk-tuk driver take us to pick up our $7 laundry and back to the hotel where we were too tired to go out to find food so we just ate at the restaurant. We felt much better after eating, and crashed in bed around 9p.m.

Setting out for Chiang Mai Walking Tour

Chiang Mai Good View Restaurant Pre Walking Tour

Walking Tour Pre Refreshment at Good View Restaurant

The First Chinese Temple with Chinese Man Doing Calligraphy (we thought this was the Chinese Temple from our Walking Tour, but it turned out not to be it...we randomly came across the other one, but thought it was a cool thing to find 2 Chinese Temples within the heart of downtown where most are Thai Buddhist Temples..and quite amusing for us to think we had the right one the first time!)

One of Many Beautiful Temples on Chiang Mai

Three Kings Monument on Walking Tour

One of the Surprises on Walking Tour was An Art Show at the square where we found Three King's Monument. This was a cool art show, many ice sculptures with frozen flowers as shown here, some had frozen vegetables in there. Many locals and some tourists were perusing the art stands.

Jim Turning Left on Red Cobblestone Road for Walking Tour. This one was kind of fun, because there was no street sign posted on the street or in our Walking Tour directions. It just said to "turn left at the red cobblestone road"...we didn't find it to be that red, but we were pretty sure this was it since there weren't any other roads we say with cobblestones. Don't Jim's walking shoes look comfy? :)

Last Wat on our Walking Tour and Jim is Asleep

And Were Our Feet Tired After Walking Tour 6 Hours  Later. This is our feet on a "tuk-tuk"...a motor-bike type of transportation common in Chiang Mai.

 Celebratory Walking Tour Drink

2/17 Day After Walking Tour (Photos Below):

After all day walking before, we decided to hang out by the pool and rest. We got a burger and drinks poolside. After about 4 hours, I was red as a lobster, and realized I overdid it with no suntan lotion. So the next couple of days were ouchie on my back! Stay inside and try not to get too much sun for the next few days.

We got out of the sun, and decided to take Flat Stanley to the post office to get him back to my niece's school by the Feb. 22 due date. An interesting experience at the post office! We took a photo of Flat before we folded him up and send him to Ani's school with some menus, some photos, maps of where he has been, etc.

What we didn't realize was that you take a number at the post office, as the clerk kindly pointed out as we were standing and waiting for a window to open up. Take a number and have a seat while you wait? We thought that was for the DMV, but a good idea for our local US post to try.

We also had to pick up some film that we dropped off on our Walking Tour, so we went back to the photo store. From there, we walked around the "Sunday Market", which we were told is different that the Night Bizarre because the Sunday Market is where the locals go to shop and prices are reasonable. Apparently the Night Bizarre is mainly for tourists and prices are higher. The Sunday market was so big, so many streets full of vendors, that our feet were reminded of all the walking we did on the Walking Tour the day before! There were many places to stop and get a foot massage, right on the streets, so we did! We sat in big cushy chairs, and had our feet massaged for 30 minutes. A nice treat for our aching feet! Then in the streets, we heard the Thai National Anthem being played. Every person, Thai & tourists alike, stopped what they were doing, stood up, and listened to the National Anthem. No one talking or moving, just stopping to listen and pay respect. Once the song was over, everything resumed as if nothing ever stopped. Jim said he heard that when you hear the song, stop and stand until it's over. Thanks for the tip, because I didn't hear anything of that or what to do so it was a new experience for me. But it was okay once I knew what to do. Afterwards, we resumed our foot massage. When that was done, our feet felt so light, ready to walk some more!

What we didn't realize was that you take a number at the post office (photos of post office in the next blog), as the clerk kindly pointed out as we were standing and waiting for a window to open up. Take a number and have a seat while you wait? We thought that was for the DMV, but a good idea for our local US post to try.

We were feeling like locals now, having been to the post office, the local "Sunday Market", etc. There were a couple more things on our list; one was to get a Thai massage from a place we read about called Let's Relax. So we found our way from the Sunday Market to the Night Bizarre/Mall area and found Let's Relax. They took us up to a room, and washed our feet, then took us to a private room with 2 mattresses. We changed into some massage clothes, I guess you call them! Then 2 ladies came in and started our 1 hour massage. Nice and brisk massages, good for our aching muscles from traveling and walking. That was a nice experience. Once we came out, it was about 9p.m. and we still didn't eat dinner. We didn't want to walk home, so we took a tuk-tuk to go back...whatever price the guy told us is what we paid. We were in no mood for negotiating. Just wanted to get to our hotel since we had a busy day next day full of touring adventures.

But one thing on my list was to see a Thai movie. I'd been seeing ads for a new Thai movie called Chocolate, but was curious where the theater even was and how much it cost.

Day After Walking Tour Relaxing Feet by Hotel Pool

Celebratory Thai Foot Massage Day After Walking Tour at Sunday Market. I think it was 250 baht per person, just under $10 USD. Baht well spent, and what a relief!

Celebratory Day After Walking Tour Thai Massage. After the Sunday Market, we headed to the Night Bizarre to get a Thai Massage. We read about this place called "Let's Relax", recommended for its quality of service and good pricing. We look like we're in the hospital, but we were really relaxing. :) They brought us warm, white towels to relax while we waited for our massage room.

After our long Celebratory Day after our Walking Tour and massages, we were starving. Here is our food at the restaurant hotel. Delicious!

Next post coming is our Elephant Trekking, Thai Orchid Farm, & Bamboo Rafting 1-Day Tour in Chiang Mai...stay tuned!