Day 10 - cm d4
Happy wedding anniversary!
Can't believe we were married for 2 years!
Thank you husband for being so patient and loving always
Bearing with my mood swing and constant PMS mood
I guess I still got a long way to learn to be a better wife...
I woke up late and husband went for a swim in the cold pool
Then we went for the hotel breakfast
Again we went to the new room for our showers before our checkout.
We didn't planned anything to do before our train
So we went visit another nearby temple
And went for a good massage which was much cheaper than bkk
Anything indoors is good!
Is sad that husband dont really get to enjoy the full Thai massage style
I think is because he is bigger size than his masseurs
That they can't really stretch his body
Everything while I'm being stretched into different acrobatic poses
Husband's side seems so serene and calm
But husband still enjoy the massages
We went back to the same restaurant near hotel for lunch
Then 7-11 to buy food for the train ride
And found a shared taxi to the train station
Although I told husband that the day before the tourists took the shared taxi
For 30baht each to train station
He bargain for 50baht each to the station
Oh well.
Despite the train was leaving at 1810
We board the train at 1710 to enjoy the air on
The cabin before us were 4 French again
But our bunk mates were Indians
Once again, tried to ask whether we will give up 1 lower bunk
Which we declined.
This time, I was prepared for the ride with a fully charged phone
But I fell asleep before 10pm
The train was more jerky that I woke up a few times in the night.
Bye bye Chiang Mai!
Day 9 - cm d3
Happy Valentine's day!
We wanted to go for the elephants care tour or Thai food class
But because we arrived late the night before
We can't sign up for anything
Husband decided to visit the temple on the mountain
And I read online that you need to be there early like before 8, to avoid the tourists
There was a tour counter at the hotel
And she told us that it will be 1200bahts
For a car to pick us, wait for us 1hr and send us back
Husband was not keen because of the 1hr limit
And I suggested that we wake up early and tried our luck to get a taxi
We didn't managed to wake up at 530am
But did left the hotel by 730am
After a 5min walk we found a shared taxi to bring us up for 200baht each
Halfway he detoured to fetch some girls to the train station in opp direction
But after, it was straight to the temple
The staircase up to temple was really tiring
I ended up with shaky leg literally
My leg wont stop shaking
We arrived at about 830 and it wasn't too crowded
We saw a Caucasian and her daughter getting blessed by a monk
So we also went in for a blessing
We went into another part to visit
And met a very cool monk
Because we got the first blessing
We didn't want to do another
But the moment we entered
The monk asked us to sit down and asked where I'm from
And started blessing us
Since he so cool and authoritative, we can't say no
Husband was upset that the monk only asked where I from and not him haha
We walked a little more and it started to get crowded
We went down for a drink and rest my shaky legs
Since we were already at the mountains
Husband suggested we go up to the palace
We took a shared taxi at 50bahts each
And realized we can only visit the garden of the palace
After walking awhile with tourists and sun
We managed to find a private taxi to bring us back to hotel at 200bahts
Husband found a good Thai restaurant
Voted top 100 on trip advisory
The food was not as good as the one we tried
But much cheaper and 5min walk from hotel
Then we rested in the hotel where husband napped.
I woke husband early to avoid the crowd for the Sunday market
We managed to buy some stuff before it became very crowded
It's similar to most of the markets that we went
Just more food stalls and some independent designer stores
It got really crowded near dinner time
And we bought some street food back for dinner
While watching any shows on tv
Eh I think we forgot it was valentines day haha
Suddenly I realized the water heater was not working
Husband took a cold shower
While I decided to call the lobby
After a stupid attempt to boil water for a bath
Sadly, the staff can't do anything
To our surprise,
The staff gave us the key to another room on the same floor
And told us that we could shower there till we check out
I was worried that they expected us to change room
The new room was smaller and near to a pub
That we could hear dance music while in the room
I'm glad we didn't had to stay here.
Day 8 - cm d2
I wanted to sign for a tour to visit the golden triangle
So we signed up for a full day tour to Chiang rai
Which includes visit to hot spring, white temple, black museum, golden triangle
The tour was 1000 bahts per person
Starts at 7am to 8pm
The person warn us that the car trip back will be 3hours!
The van came at 730am
We were the second last to be pick up
And had to be seated in the squeezy and lack of aircon last row
We read on the plane's magazine that Chiang Mai is very popular with china tourists
And it was cny holidays
Apart from another couple, the whole van was of china tourists
Which were not the best tourists to travel with
It crazy how china tourists really invaded Thailand
Because most signs were written in Thai and Chinese
And the people are can speak a little of Chinese!
The hot spring was actually a toilet stopover
After about 1hour drive
So we spent only 15mins there
A lot of people were soaking their legs
But we were not so adventurous
And just took some photos
I think I tend to sleep in car to avoid car sickness
We were so surprised how I seem to be able to keep sleeping
Even in the uncomfortable seats
After another 1+ hour drive, we arrived at white temple
It was hot and really crowded
Basically a queue to enter, turn a round and leave
Kind of remind me of tourists visiting notre dame in Paris.
Husband was energetic to visit while I'm constantly looking for shade to hide
Although lunch was included,
I thought the tour will bring us to some touristy place and we must pay.
But they brought us to a local eatery near the temple, with other tour groups.
Lunch was hainanese chicken rice with free flow of fried egg, vegetables and soup.
I'm quite glad not to pay for nicer food.
After was another 50min drive
This time husband managed to sleep a little
I think is after lunch perfect nap!
The black museum was some sort the home of an artist
I dont find it interesting and dont like the amount of animals skins, horns etcs used
We found a place to have a coconut and rest.
We didn't want to go to the Karen longneck tribe
Because we felt it must be very commercialized
Our group has a few persons who signed up for that so we had to go with them
But didn't went in to visit
But stayed outside to eat an ice cream
And walked around the shops.
Finally, we were heading to the golden triangle!
Initially I thought we can have the passport chopes of Burma and Laos
But we didn't
It was basically a boat ride down the mwkong river
Which was flowing down the 3 countries
We did had a stopover at a Laos island
Which the guide claimed to sell thing much cheaper than Thailand
And spent 30mins there
I managed to buy a powerbank and some socks for husband
Not really sure is cheaper than Thailand
There were many kids asking for money
And the guide warned us that if you give to one, others will follow you
If you give them money, they will skip school to always come ask for money
I found a few free candies in my bag
So I just gave candies to the kids
It is definitely not a pleasant feeling to see the kids.
We then took the boat back and arrived at 5
The guide inform us that it will be a 4hours drive back to Chiang Mai!
There will be a toilet break after 2hrs
We tried to find some snacks but nothing much interest us
Lucky for me, I fell asleep shortly after
I woke up about 1.5hours and husband was struggling to fall asleep
But was unsuccessful and feeling sad that he may fall asleep fast when we arrived.
I tried to accompany husband and played on my phone
Wrong choice!
I got car sick in less than 3mins
And was really feeling unwell trying not to vomit
Luckily we arrived the toilet stop
Which was a shop selling local goodies
I managed to find a pack of sour stuff
And felt better after.
The van reached chiangmai at about 9pm
We were the last to alight at 940pm
We were discussing to stop at some where for dinner as it was late
We couldn't made the decision in time
I remembered there was a street stall opp our hotel
And was hoping that it was open
Lucky for us, it was opened!
We only had 2 choices
To eat stew pork rice at the street stall
At 30baht per person
Or very expensive hotel restaurant where 1 dish is about 200baht onwards
I managed to persuade husband to go for the street food
And was glad it tasted fine with many locals coming fo it.
After so many sleeps on the van,
I was still able to fall asleep at the same time as husband
I'm so well suited for road trip! Haha
I wont really recommend this trip unless you have a lot of time to spare.
It's not expensive but its really board the bus to sleep and alight the bus to take photo kind of trip.
就是上车睡觉，下车尿尿。
Day 7 - cm d1
We were to arrive at 650am at Chiang Mai
The staff woke us up at about 545
And started to keep the bed
Husband only slept 4hours as he was engrossed in his book
We arrived Chiang Mai on time
And was greeted by the cold breeze
It was 16degrees!
We took a taxi (tuktuk van) to our hotel in the old town area for 50baht each
As our hotel was not ready,
We went for breakfast
And start visiting the temples and explore the town
By 11am, the temp went to 31degrees!
We managed to survive outdoor till 2pm
Grab lunch nearby the hotel
And book for the next day tour
We finally check in to take the long-waited shower!
Because we cancelled our previous booking due to the visa saga
By the time we booked, most hostels and hotels were full.
We had not choice but to book a more expensive hotel which end up to be a big suit with separate living room and nice view!
I guess it nice to pamper ourselves some time!
After a rest, I chase husband out to go to the night market
We had to take the shared taxi again as its about 15min drive but I think it was 30/50 baht per person.
We accidently went to 1 of the better Thai food restaurant
It was voted no50+ on trip advisory
The food was good but more expensive than the average places
But lucky for us, the queue starts after we went in.
Husband "dragged" me to see the river after dinner
In the night market,
Things are pricer than BKK and bargaining was really hard
But we were running out of clothes to wear so we need buy to survive
We wanted to take the shared taxi back to hotel
And they quote us at 200bahts for 2!
To our surprise,
A tuktuk quote us 200bahts too
So we took the tuktuk back
Finally an official tuktuk ride!
We rested early for the day
As the tour car will pick us up at 7am for our full day trip....
