July 16th, 2019
July 15th. Travel day to chiangMai
As much as I am really liking ChiangRai and feel like I could stay here indefinitely, I am really REALLY looking forward to Chiangmai! It’s like going home for us. We have 10 days booked at our favourite boutique hotel, the Baan Ratchiangsaen, I’ve secured our favourite room for the whole time and I am really looking forward to seeing our friends.
We are set to check out at noon and a taxi is coming for us at that time! I’m highly focused on making sure I get my ‘points’ for this stay assigned correctly bcz I am looking forward to the next time I can use points to stay here again! We went down for the buffet breakfast and it was not a disappointment that’s for sure. Who can’t get fully behind fresh mango and sticky rice for breakfast??!!
The taxi was right on time, early in fact, and we said our goodbyes, hopped in and were on our way! Word was there would be a lot of construction between Chiangrai and Chiangmai and there certainly was! We were told it round be between 3.5 and 5 hours drive. They are clearly somewhere in the process of twinning this highway the whole way as once the construction started it went on all way to Chiangmai. It was a lot like driving on the transCanada in the summer except no campers! The road was pretty windy in some places but a lot less ‘mountain edge driving’ than I expected, so all in all a pretty sane transition. That being said, troy knows me well and I would have hated this on a bus, so good call on the taxi!
We rolled in to Chiangmai right at the 3.5 hour mark! So dare I say ‘kudos’ to our driver for meeting the lower end of the time target!? 🤔🤔
Rachael and Nick are here already, they got to CM last Friday. So after a visit to Purple Haze and Et for a pedi for me and foot massage for troy, we meet up with the kids and head to Arnos for a burger! Rachael has been having tummy troubles and a head ache for a few days, so we encouraged her to go see a pharmacist (which she did and she has some antibiotics and paracetamol now). But nothing helps a girl from Alberta feel better than beef! So burger time it is! Really delicious and worth every dime! Where else do you get THIS for $12??
Walked around old city for a bit after supper, troy and the kids went to WatChediLuang and I perused a night Market that popped up right in front of the Wat! The evening would not be complete without some mango sticky rice and banana pancake from our favourite people!
Looking forward to our time here….
