Thursday morning was my day trip to Chiang Mai via Bangkok Airways. After hearing the horror stories of cab drivers in Bangkok, and after dealing with the horrible cab drivers in Vietnam, I was dreading hailing a cab. N. had already said that he thought the cab fare shouldn’t be more than 300 Thai baht. I’d read on-line that many tourists paid up to 1600 Thai baht for a cab to the airport from similar areas, and that most cabbies refused to turn their meters on. I hailed a cab easily enough, the driver turned on his meter, then asked where I was going. When I said “Suvarnabhumi,” he switched the meter off; not sure if it was because of my accent or simply because he didn’t want to use the meter en route to the airport. We haggled the price a bit, with him reminding me that he’d have to pay some tolls along the way. We eventually agreed upon 500 Thai baht, so I didn’t get ripped off as much as I’d worried about. He was a very pleasant driver, too. I arrived at the airport with plenty of time to spare, so relaxed and stuffed myself with the complimentary food and drinks in the Bangkok Airways lounge area. That’s a good incentive to fly them!
Now for a little background. For those of you who know me, you know that I frequent North Beach, the Italian section of San Francisco. E. is an Italian man from Bari, who used to work at one of my favorite restaurants in North Beach. He moved to Chiang Mai and opened his own Mediterranean restaurant. We’re friends on Facebook as well. When he saw my posting about going to Thailand in October, he asked if I’d be stopping by Chiang Mai. Once he said that it was only about an hour’s flight and that he’d be happy to show me around, I bought a ticket to fly up for the day (since my apartment in Bangkok was already pre-paid).
E. met me at the airport and even had a suitcase of his own! He explained that, after he’d committed to picking me up and showing me around that day, something had taken place with his business that required him to go to Kuala Lumpur a few days before. The only way he could make it back in time to pick me up was to fly to Bangkok the previous night, then take an early flight to Chiang Mai that morning! I said that he should have contacted me while he was in Bangkok, then we could have had dinner and/or drinks that night! He’d been tired and in a bad mood, though.
When he noticed that I was wearing a dress and little heels, he said that he should have mentioned he’d be taking me around on his motorbike! He asked if I was afraid of riding on motorbikes, which I’m not. I love riding on the back of motorbikes/motorcycles! We had to go to his apartment first in order for him to drop off his suitcase. While there, I met his Thai girlfriend, who was in the process of cooking something. She was telling me that she’d gone to Italy with him and not only loved Italy, but really loved Italian food. They both also highly recommended me to go to Koh Lipe on my next trip to Thailand; said it was amazingly beautiful and peaceful – nearly untouched, in comparison to other parts of Thailand. They said it’s a pain to get to, though!
E. and I headed up a hill on the motorbike, en route to a temple known as Doi Suthep. The ride was wonderful – on a very curvy road where the temperatures were cooler than down below. We stopped at a lookout point to see the city of Chiang Mai before making it to the temple. The temple was very nice, with a fair amount of steps to get there. I noticed some ethnic children and took a picture before realizing that there were many children planted around the temple, asking people to pay to take pictures of them. E. gave them some change, though. I then rented a sarong and put it on, happy that my arms didn’t need to be covered this time. We wandered and took pictures, then stopped off at a small waterfall on the ride back down the hill. We had lunch somewhere; I had the equivalent of a chicken soup with lots of herbs and veggies. He had khao sod or khao soy or something. Then we rode around and walked around the old part of the city. It was a cute area, where I’d like to spend more time in the future. I mentioned to him that there were an awful lot of dentistry places; he explained that many, many people from other countries go there to have their teeth done for much cheaper prices than in their own countries, and that most of the Thai dentists had been trained abroad in Europe and/or the U.S.
We ended the evening at his restaurant, Why Not. I checked out his pride and joy – the wine cellar! He had an impressive selection in there, too. We opened a bottle and sat outside enjoying it until it was time for me to head towards the airport. Of course, my flight was delayed. However, upon landing, I was able to catch a cab at the lower level, where it’s regulated. My cab fare DID cost about 300 Thai baht on the way to my apartment. Since I didn’t get back until after midnight, I went to bed straight away.
Bells at Doi Suthep
Overlooking Chiang Mai
Tree at Doi Suthep
My Lunch
Somewhere in the Old Quarter
Enjoying Some Wine Together