Day 7- Onto our next adventure

As much as we loved Koh Samui, G and I were ready to get up and see/experience Thailand. When we started talking about where we wanted to go on our honeymoon, we both agreed that it had to be a place that both of us had never been and offer both relaxation and some exploration. Thailand was just that. Koh Samui was a great place to relax, but we were ready to explore! Chiang Mai, here we come!! As mentioned before, the Koh Samui airport was completely outdoors and actually very pretty.

We flew Bangkok Airways again and had a layover in Bangkok where we enjoyed some noodles and fried rice. By this time, we fit right in.

We finally arrived in Chiang Mai. We prepaid for a metro (taxi) and when we got to where our metro was parked, there was a car parked behind it. G and I were confused/amazed that out of nowhere, 3 guys pop out and moved that car by pushing it. Apparently this is really normal. Our metro had a little trouble finding our hotel in the Old City, but we finally arrived at Baan Klang Wiang! I can't even began to describe how cute it was. It was a little boutique hotel with 10 rooms that all open to a central area with a plunge pool that is open to the outdoors.

We walked through the markets in the Old City area. G grabbed a beer (30 Baht=$1) for the walk and I decided on a red bull (10 baht=$0.33)

 
There were temples (Wat) literally everywhere inside the Old City and outside the moat that surrounds the Old City. We knew that we wanted to have a suit custom-made for G. We decided on Chiang Mai since we were going to be there for 4 full days and they would have plenty of time to make it. We took a tuk-tuk to a highly recommended tailor. After a little consultation, they talked me into making me a custom pair of pants. Day 1 of suit making: measurements, pick out fabric, cut fabric.

I had done a lot of reading in my tourist books about Chiang Mai and was aware of the night bazaare, but I clearly was not prepared for what we stumbled upon. Streets after streets with vendors, people, music, food, massages, you name it-they have it! We were planning on going to dinner later, but I was starving (per usual) so we took a quick seat to people watch and for me to scarf down my 4th plate of fried rice in less than 24 hours. *True Story*

They serve ice with their beer. Just found interesting. Yes, it's that hot over there! G and I strolled upon a booth with handmade ornaments so we did very little negotiating and scored Christmas ornaments for all of our families. The night bazaare offered literally everything including feet cleaning. G found this so repulsive. I actually thought about it thinking about all the dead skin those fish could eat off, but figured I would be too tickilish. I bought a lot of little trinket stuff at the bazaare and then had to buy a large 'North Face' bookbag to carry it all home in. G and I are now ready to go backpacking!

I loved these laterns! They were a great price. Wish I could have boxed them all up to bring home!

 

Then it was time for our foot massage. There was still a lot that I wanted to see so I didn't want the 1 hour foot massage for 150 baht ($5 folks), so G and I negotiated and each got a 30 minute foot massage for 160 baht ($2.70 for a 30 minute foot massage). Ah..Heaven!

We ended our evening at The Whole Earth restaurant. It was so delish and authentic with beautiful teak porches. We had to take our shoes off before entering (like a lot of places in Thailand) and I actually took a liking to eating barefoot. And yes, I ordered fried rice AGAIN! This time inside a pineapple.          Nom Nom Nom

One of the smartest things that hotels in Thailand do is hand out a card to each of it's guests upon check in that is mostly in Thai and any red truck or tuk-tuk could read it and know exactly where to take you. This was very helpful as G and I never could figure out exactly how to get back to our cute little off-the-beaten-track hotel. A ride back home from the about as far away as you could get in a tuk-tuk would at MOST be 100 baht (about $3.30). We had such a wonderful day and have fallen in love with Chiang Mai. Tomorrow starts our real adventures...