July 12th, 2019
Travel day July 12
I set my alarm just in case I am not awake by 7:00am. Even though I know I’ll wake up by 6:15am just like I do every day. We need to be packed up and ready to go at the front desk by 8:30am! Seems doable, even for people on vacation. We had arranged with the nice lady at the front desk to get us a taxi to airport. She said it would be 700 baht 😳😳. Seems high but then she tells us it is 45 minute drive. WHAT? We didn’t know that, but apparently the airport is 45 minutes north back towards BangSaphon!! Hmmm should have planned that better. Anyway it is what it is and the options are relatively limited so we agree to the fare. Then she takes us over and I think we get into her car and she personally is going to drive us 🤔. 🤣🤣ok. I guess I don’t care who drives us…..
When we check in at NokAir counter, I notice offhand as he is tossing our bag onto the conveyer belt that the airport code on the tag is for Don Muang (not ChiangRai). As often happens, things here are not what they seem. After digging into this and possibly squabbling with the guy for a while, it seems that Even though I booked one flight from Chumphon to ChiangRai with a layover in Don Muang (Bangkok), they claim it went through their system and is booked as two separate flights, so we have to pick up our bags in Don Muang and re check in, go through security etc in Bangkok. The guy’s English is limited, so he calls over a guy with better English (and maybe some authority) to “explain” to is that they can’t do anything about this situation. I insist he print our boarding passes for the second flight and they agree to put priority tags on our bag so it gets pulled from plane and we can get it right from plane before it goes into luggage system in Bangkok. The last thing we need is to miss this flight or not get our bags in time. There are very limited flights to ChiangRai and I am NOT missing one minute of my time at the really nice hotel I’ve booked up there! Le Meridien
The airport is very small. Like there are only two airlines that use it and one gate. They make us wait until 20 minutes before boarding time to even open the security area. Then we get let through to the one gate and we wait. The plane shows up (it’s the only one) and they unload it, presumably clean it, load us and the luggage and we are off all within 20 minutes. Pretty impressive and best part. ON TIME! Super shall propeller plane seats are 2 and 2 across the aisle but I guess it’s to be expected!
off to our next adventure!
Smooth sailing from here on out for the day! Landed in Bangkok transferred planes, landed in ChiangRai, caught 200 baht taxi to hotel (exactly what hotel told me it would be). Arrived in PARADISE! Oh my gosh, we stay in nice places, always clean and comfortable with good services! But I’m now officially spoiled. I booked three nights in ChiangRai at Le Meridien with points from my credit card. They have a whole new level of service here. Last year in HoChiMin city I used way more points to stay at a hotel that was nice, sure, but NOTHING like this. It’s over the top! And I love it ❤❤ They have high tea from 3-4 with complimentary food and tea, everyone knows our name, the beds are like clouds (seriously more comfortable than my bed at home), it’s huge, pool and view of the river are exceptional. Once the sun goes down, they light hundreds of tea lights everywhere. It’s beautiful….
This is going to be an awesome three nights here 🎉
There is a free shuttle to various places in town including the night bazaar, so we took it tonight and while in Troy’s mind a market is a market, he humored me and came along. It is much more manageable size and chaos level vs the markets in Chiang Mai. There was a stage with local entertainment, and it was peaceful to sit and watch under the beautiful moon.
TTFN
