We are finally together in Thailand!
Although it looks like the activity on the blog is absent, in reality we’ve been doing a lot. I want to quickly update you all in the cool stuff we’ve being doing, later we will explain more into detail about every activity but for now… let’s get lit!
SUN – Arrival to Bangkok
The Schiphol airport is pet friendly, yet not my final destination, neither the dutch lineage of Alex is strong enough to keep me there, I need the middle westerner girl. Note to myself: flight from the US, not from Mexico next time.
I finally arrived to Bangkok on the previous day to my birthday, I think the next day will be amazing and it was but the best part of this day was to hug my beautiful wife.
We stayed in a cool little place in the city, more details here if you are interested, there is food downstairs in local businesses and also a temple right in front of us, not the nicest but cool enough.
I feel great, despite the jet lag, I don’t feel weird, I feel like I’m in a different state in Mexico, oh look! taro bubble tea, give me one!
MON – King for a day!
Today is my birthday, there is not better way to celebrate than in a new city exploring with my wife, she has a plan not only for the day but for tomorrow too (due to some incompatible business hours).
We went to a temple called Wat Yannawa, you will see the word “wat” a lot, it means “temple” or “monastery” and they are everywhere in Thailand. Anyone can get in (as long as you are respectful) and get a blessing from the monks, they will give you a white bracelet that is for good luck, it will fall off once you don’t need luck any longer, I still have mine, but Alex’s is gone; thanks to Alex’s Thai knowledge we talked to the monk and he made a special chant/pray for me, he said is not common to do but because it was my birthday, he was happy to do it.
Later in the day we went to a bike tour, yes because I love biking guys, it was through a not such touristic side of the city, we went through some alleys where you can easily see people’s houses, literally inside, it was a weird combination between poor, really poor, little workshops, rich areas, temples and finally a boat ride. Overall if you like to see a more realistic side of the city, this is a great option.
No bicyclist were injured during this ride.
By the end of the day we finally have a Tres leches cake that Alex managed to find in Chiang Mai, of course because she knows I love it and more important, she loves it!
She will tell you more about where and now to plan a great birthday, I told you I’m lucky and I still have my white blessed bracelet.
TUE – Extended birthday
In order to adjust to the incompatible business hours for the next thing on the plan, we had to kill sometime before going there, so we went to one of the must fun shopping malls I’ve ever seen, its called Terminal 21 and it basically a theme mall where every floor resambles a country, city or area like the Caribbean, Rome, Istanbul, London, Tokyo and the Bay Area, making us feel like we never left, I think its a cool place to spent sometime, cheap and still fancy, sadly not floors for Michigan nor Mexico City.
Once is dark you should turn on the lights, in our case Alex decided to do the exact opposite, we went to have dinner in a restaurant where there is no light, the waiters are blind people and they lead you through the whole experience, we of course ordered the surprise menu option, the place is across the street of the mall and its called Dining In the Dark or DID.
WED – Chiang Mai baby!
Just when I thought that the jet lag was gone, it kicked back hard after 11 hours of bus ridding with a annoying song that sticks in your brain thanks to Nakhonchaiair bus line, but hey! we made it to Chiang Mai.
We are temporarily at a Airbnb place with a nice view an a nice temple right by it, we will start looking for an apartment soon, we would love to keep a nice view.
The city’s downtown is called the Old City (Chiang Mai means New City) and culturally speaking it is the most representative of Northern Thailand, the Old City is a square area surrounded by a wall and a moat and the whole are a is walkable and picturesque. We are close to the North Gate called Chang Phueak and close to Nimmanahaeminda Road which is where all the digital nomads love to live and work.
THU – Chiang Mai
Walking around the city is not a bad idea, its quite cool actually but is hot a humid, so white people please wear sunscreen and why not trying to move around like a local, you have two options, Tuk-tuks which are motorbikes that can usually have 2~3 passengers, talk to the driver and arrange the price before jumping in, the option number two are the Songthaew, some sort of collective taxi with larger capacity, can be shared or just for you, also set the price before ridding it, both options include a fresh ride.
Same as in Bangkok, Chiang Mai is full of temples, in programming words I could say its a Temples++ city, from small and ancient ones to new or renewed, I personally like the oldest ones, there are a few in the mountains, don’t doubt it, we will visit them.
If you ever watched Anthony Bourdain’s Netflix show called Parts Unknown – Thailand episode, then you know you have to come and eat at the Lady with a hat place close to the North Gate, it took us almost no time to find her; if you haven’t watched show, you still need to go and eat there.
FRI – Getting to know the city
In order to move around faster we needed to go local style, so we got a bike (always wear helmet, one of Alex’s friends just had an accident and he is not doing good yet) and we are having a lot of fun on it, I don’t need to follow directions much so I go through every possible alley inside the Old City and its cool to find places that way.
We also went to Alex’s school, although she is done with her certification, she has potentially good job offers, the school is super good looking and her Thai is also improving a lot, people love her there, I can tell that.
I needed to move my muscles, stretch a bit and earn the sweat drops, not just by default under the local weather, so we went to the 700 Years Sports Complex which is a little North from our place, the pool is not the newest but due to the lack intense use and well maintenance I think it is just great. It’s not supervised, so as long as you pay and have an appropriate swim suit (they check that), you can use the swimming pool and diving pool, it has plenty of showers, the water temperature is ideal, there is no coach so you are on your own but its not a problem for us and they have a board where they explain how to swim, so you are all set dude, go on and swim!
SAT – Salsa day
Back in California we were betting on how much time will it take me to start craving for mexican food, I said 3 months and Alex just laughed but now she is the one craving for it, I think I spoiled her by taking her to so many good places, we research and actually there are a few mexican restaurants in the area, later we will write a whole review about them.
So we decided to give a try to a place called Salsa kitchen, believe it or not, simple great! The place has hand made corn tortillas, super plus! Also their menu is actually mexican and not gringo-mexican, not only burritos ladies and gentleman, cochinita pibil was my biggest surprise and it was delicious.
Alex discovered a Salsa dancing community in Chiang Mai, we decided to join them and our first with them was great, the teachers are from Thailand and Netherlands and were so good, like Pantea in the Bay Area. So watch out for the Chilango and the Michigander because we are shining in the dance floor!
BONUS SUN – Hike to the mountain temple
On bonus Sunday we decided to hike all the way up to the Doi Suthep temple with a snack stop at the beautiful, calmed and ancient temple Wat Pha Lad, we will tell more details about the place but it’s definitively a must in Chiang Mai.
