Thailand in 15 Days - Day 3

Day 3 ? Time to wake up early and fly to Chiang Mai (Northern city, quite important for Thai people). The flight is really fast (1hour) and I liked the fact that the "Domestic Flights Area" at the airport had this sign saying that you should report to the airline in case you would like to travel with weapons. :)

So, and there we were in Chiang Mai. Once again, Lonely Planet is not very accurate about "how to get out of the airport". There were almost no alternatives when we got there besides going into this ?red van?. We paid 60 Bahts for both and that was it. He left us exactly where we asked him to leave us and headed to Sara Guest House since it seemed to be an ok place accordingly to Lonely Planet and quite central too.

Once we got there the first thing we noticed is that Chiang Mai is actually quite a small place and that the map on Lonely Planet just makes it look huge! (well, we could have also simply noticed the scale line on the map instead of keep accusing the guide, but what to do now?). We checked the place and actually didn't like it that much, a little bit too old and musty and it didn?t seem to have that many people, and we wanted to make friends! ;) (me and my need for being social!) So, we ended up walking back a little and stayed at Tana Hotel. Although we didn?t even noticed it in LP as its description was quite plain, it is quite a nice place. They offer different type of rooms for different types of budget. At the time we were there, just to give you an idea, it was 700 Bahts for the "hotel type of room", 400 Bahts for the new building rooms and 350 Bahts (with AC) or 250 Bahts (no AC, just fan) for the main building rooms, the ones in which we stayed and that were quite acceptable. Plus, they have this open area on the ground floor where you can just chill out and talk to other backpackers. And they also have a swimming pool too.

Yes, I did force Nadine to pose for this picture, anticipating this posting!

Funny thing is that most of the people staying there are Israelis and they even have poster frames of Israel on the walls! :) Apparently, the hotel has this big deal with a youth tourism agency in Israel, coupled with the fact that all Israeli have to attend 2 years of compulsory military service (both men and women!!) so majority of them choose to have one year off, simply traveling, once they finish it.

I have to admit that after being in the Middle East for a while, you end up talking about Israel much more often that when being in Europe but at the same time you never really hear about what is happening socially in the country apart from all the Israeli-Palestinian conflict topics. So it was quite interesting to meet Israeli people and get to know them on other levels besides war and regional conflicts.

Back to Chiang Mai "topic"?It is a cute "little" city with lots of backpackers and activities especially addressed to them. It is quite relaxed and chilled out and I would definitely recommend it. Since we had 6 full days in town, we had time for lots of activities and now that I look back I wouldn?t even mind staying one more day or two.
Our first day in town (actually, half day, as our flight arrived after lunch time) was spent crusing around the city and checking out the main Wats. Since it was Sunday, it was also "Sunday Market" day and I would also recommend planning your stay in Chiang May in a way that you get to see it. Majority of the products are hand made sold by hill tribe natives, to provide extra income to sustain their families.

We found things for sale here that we didn't see anywhere else and I actually regretted that I didn't buy a couple of things as I wrongly assumed they would also be on sale at the night market (yes, Chiang Mai also has a night market) or in any other store in Chiang Mai. Some things you can also still find in the night market, but without so much variety and more expensive too?

That night, we headed towards the river (10-15 min walking from the guest house, on the other side of the bridge) and once again enjoyed some nice cocktails - If you are used to pay 50 Dhs for just a simple drink in Dubai, then you will understand why I say Thailand is heaven? On average, we paid about 10 to 15 Dirhams for our drinks!! :) There are 3 or 4 nice places right on the riverbank which are quite nice.. I guess we ended up staying in the "poshy" one, but it was also the one that clearly didn?t look like an English pub so it easily won the battle against the not so fierce competition. Ahah. For location's reference, I think it's the third one, but anyway, it is not difficult to find.

After a couple of drinks, we simply headed home. Big days awaited us!!!! :)