Asian Trip 2018 – Chiang Mai

After a restful night’s sleep, it was time to jump back on the train to Changi Airport to catch our Scoot Air flight up to Chiang Mai. I can understand why the Changi Airport is voted as a top-ranked airport. The signage is easy-to-follow (English is prominent), there’s waterfalls, gardens, shops, restaurants, and other diversions to while away time spent waiting for your flight. Scoot Air has an entire row for check-in and bag drop with a ton of self-service kiosks. In less than 10 minutes, we checked our bags and had our boarding passes in hand. The automated outbound immigration process was even easier than inbound. From the time our train dropped us off to when we were airside in the airport, it couldn’t have been more than 20 minutes. (And this year, the airport has a bunch of Harry Potter themed Christmas decorations, which was a bit incongruous seeing as it was about 94F/34C outside.)

Because I have a Priority Pass membership, I decided we needed to check out the lounge available to us, the SATS Lounge. Located upstairs from the main floor, it was a quiet, calming spot to hang out and use the free wifi. Even better, our seats in the lounge had a view of the A320 that was going to fly us up to Chiang Mai. After hanging out for 30 minutes, we headed back downstairs. Security at Changi is at the individual gates and we got in the security line just as the boarding doors opened.

Scoot Air is a budget airline and nowhere was that more evident than in the amount of legroom you get. I was crunched, and I’m short as hell. I can’t imagine anyone over 6 feet (2 meters) tall could even fit into the rows. The cabin crew was super friendly though and before too long, we were at cruising altitude. (If you take this airline, note that they prohibit you from consuming anything not bought from them – so don’t think you’ll bring on lunch and a beverage to get around for paying for their stuff. They make the announcement about it at periodic intervals.) The non-stop flight from Singapore to Chiang Mai is blocked at a hair under three hours (with a one-hour forward time change). Landing in Chiang Mai is beautiful, as you get views of the surrounding mountains for the last 30 minutes of the flight.

The Chiang Mai Airport is cute in a decidedly old-school vein. Because it was a non-stop from Singapore, we had to clear customs and immigration into Thailand there. Unlike Singapore, it was definitely the “stand in a line in a bright white sterile, no phones or photo taking allowed” environment. But the line moved fast and before too long, I was standing at the taxi counter paying 150 baht for a fixed rate ride to our hotel. I figured it was the least stressful way to make sure that we got to where we were going.

Our cab driver ended up being a delightful young lady who spoke decent English. She drove us through the crazy Saturday market traffic, and then through tiny alleyways barely big enough for the SUV we were in before depositing us at the door of the DeChai the Deco Hotel. The doorman quickly whisked our bags inside and we were greeted by the extremely friendly desk staff (who gave us a welcoming drink of passionfruit juice, which has totally spoiled the other juices for me – seriously, orange juice is blah compared to passionfruit. I’m sure I’m going to be frustrated to no end trying to find it in the States.)

DeChai the Deco Hotel is located outside of the Old Town moat, but only a five minute walk to the Thapae Gate. I thought it was a perfect location because you were pretty much exactly in between Old Town and the Ping River. We threw our bags into the room, grabbed showers, and then took off exploring.

We opted to turn towards the river, deciding it might be a better bet to get lost in Old Town during daylight hours. There was a temple right at the end of the street, which made a great landmark for us to navigate back to the hotel at the end of the night. Somehow, we found ourselves at the Ploen Ruedee Night Market, filled with vendors selling food and drink. We grabbed huge, icy cold Singha beers and settled in to watch the bands performing. The first band was this crazy mash-up of traditional Thai music, Australian didgeridoos, electric guitar, and percussion instruments. It was weirdly hypnotizing. After an hour, a completely different band came on. The lead singer was a gorgeous young Thai woman who sounded like she had grown up her entire life in California. They played a bunch of current Top 40 pop songs and a few oldies thrown in for good measure. A bunch of older Western couples got up to dance periodically, showing us youngsters that growing up in the 60s provided them with a larger set of dance moves than those of us who basically just shake our butts in time with the beat. And the final band was a bunch of young Thai men who played reggae with surprising authenticity (ya mon). We stumbled our tipsy way home around midnight (thank goodness for that temple chedi stupa because it was like a navigation beacon).

The next morning, we headed into Old Town. Chiang Mai has an incredible array of Buddhist temples; according to Wikipedia, there are over 300! Of course, I had to stop in at every one I saw. Each one had its own style, while keeping some themes consistent with all of the others. The proliferation of gold paint everywhere I looked was mind-blowing. I took so many photos, I was afraid that I was going to run out of memory space on my phone. Although I’m not a religious person at all, the tranquility and reverential quiet at each one of the temples triggered some contemplative thoughts. We ended up stopping for another round of Singhas at a bar run by a motorcycle enthusiast from Australia who chatted with us for a few minutes, recounting how he ended up retiring in Chiang Mai only to work even more running his bar (but you could tell that he totally enjoyed it and his Thai wife was the one who actually did all of the work as far as I could tell). We wandered all over Old Town, finally eating a late lunch/early dinner from a local cafe.

The next morning, we decided to head up into the green mountains that surround Chiang Mai and visit the Wat Phra That Doi Suthep, a temple believed to have begun being built in 1383. Legend has it that a piece of Buddha’s shoulder bone was put on the back of a white elephant, who climbed the mountain (Doi Suthep), trumpeted three times, and laid down (or died on the spot, depending on who’s telling the story). Regardless, the local king proclaimed that a temple be built where the elephant indicated. We found a driver of one of the ubiquitous red truck taxis (called Songthaew), negotiated half-heartedly with him before settling on a price where he would take us up to the entrance to the temple complex, wait for us for two hours and then drive us back to our hotel. Although we definitely overpaid, I was grateful to have the entire truck bed to ourselves as well as a guaranteed ride back to our hotel. In the greater scheme of things, that extra 100 baht didn’t mean nearly as much to us as it probably did for that driver – who basically spent all day either driving us or waiting around for us.

Anyway, the drive up Doi Suthep took us through the crowded streets of the Nimman neighborhood (which is party central of Chiang Mai apparently) before suddenly steeply climbing up the mountainside. We quickly went from concrete, exhaust fumes, and traffic to lush green mountainside with stunning peek-a-boo views of the city itself and the surrounding countryside. Up and up we climbed before he finally deposited us at the entrance of the complex. We then faced the 309 steps to the actual main temple. I said a silent prayer to the Naga on either side of the staircase, asking them to protect me from a heart attack as I labored up the steps. (I wasn’t the slowest one but I might have been the sweatiest one at the top.)

At the top, the temple is crowded, no doubt. But the architecture is absolutely stunning. We happened to have a sunny day and the sunlight bouncing off the gold surfaces was dazzling. I wandered, mouth agape, for two hours – drinking in the experience. There’s a terrace with sweeping views of Chiang Mai down in the valley below for when you can’t look at another gold-plated surface without hurting your eyes. I’m glad we negotiated for the driver to give us two hours at the top, because it was just the right amount of time for me to explore all the nooks and crannies of the site.

Wat Phra That Doi Suthep, Chiang Mai, Thailand – November 2018

Back down the 309 steps, there is a labyrinth of market stalls selling handicrafts, clothing, and jewelry. I ended up finding some silver bangle bracelets that I really liked but wasn’t going to purchase; until the woman running the stall played hard ball with me and basically quoted a price that I couldn’t say no to. (And now I have souvenirs that are useful and pretty.)

Our Songthaew driver drove us back to reality and a massive traffic jam. But he got us right to our hotel’s front door eventually. After a full day in the blazing heat, I was wiped out and somehow fell asleep long before it was reasonable. No matter, the next morning we got up early and spent the next day back in Old Town, wandering down tiny backstreets and getting a glimpse of local life before settling in at a very local bar for a passionfruit margarita (and I’m completely spoiled on regular old strawberry margaritas now).

The whole city of Chiang Mai was getting ready for Loy Krathong, a festival that takes place the night of the full moon in November (usually) and is also known as the “festival of lights”. I was regretful that we weren’t going to be in the city itself for the festival as we heard that it is the best place in all of Thailand to experience it. I definitely have it on my wish list to return to Chiang Mai and if that’s the case, I will make sure that I time it to be in town for Loy Krathong.

Unfortunately, our time in Chiang Mai had come to an end. We ended up using Grab (an app like Uber that is prevalent in Thailand) to get a ride to the airport. I really liked Chiang Mai’s mix of little big town feel, the amazing array of temples to explore, the friendly natives, and a vibe that reminded me a bit of Austin. I have a feeling that I will be back in Chiang Mai again in my lifetime.