{"id":184,"date":"2018-01-26T17:44:59","date_gmt":"2018-01-26T17:44:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.around-the-world.ca\/?p=184"},"modified":"2018-05-25T12:18:38","modified_gmt":"2018-05-25T12:18:38","slug":"chiang-mai-going-north","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.around-the-world.ca\/de\/2018\/01\/26\/chiang-mai-going-north\/","title":{"rendered":"Chiang Mai – Going up north"},"content":{"rendered":"

From temples to cooking classes<\/a> to mud-bathing with elephants<\/a>, Chiang Mai, Thailand<\/a> was a tremendous experience.<\/p>\n

Arrival at the airport<\/b><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span>Just the airport experience was hilarious. We had to hire a taxi from the airport going to our hotel. Upon getting a price on our makeshift receipt at the airport kiosk, we headed outside of a relatively small airport. As soon as we stepped out of the doors, we are lost in the crowd of people, all seeming to be searching for something, not so sure what yet! Trying to figure out how we magically convert the receipt into a working taxi, we find the answer through another Thai tourist. Kind enough to explain to us that we need to look for a lady, barely 5ft tall, in the thick of the crowd who will give us a taxi number. #139!! The magic number. Just watching her work, giving out new waiting numbers for the other, newly-arrived-still-lost-westerners, to calling out arriving taxi numbers for already waiting tourists. Only in Asia! The loud shrill voice coming from her was mismatched from her petite stature. And she smiled as she worked under what seemed like stressful environment to an outsider. The laughs coming from the crowd was almost an applause of encouragement for her to continue her work with vigor and enthusiasm. We must have waited for about 20 minutes and finally the magic number was heard again. \u201cNumber 139!!! Go Go Go\u2026This here\u2026.this your taxi! Go now!\u201d No time to be wasted.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span>Anchada Chiang Mai<\/strong><\/p>\n

The hotel was a bit outside of the old town and after having driven about 20 minutes, we were now familiar with the life story of our taxi driver. A rice farmer from <\/span><\/span>Udon-Thani<\/a>, he worked as a taxi-driver in Chiang Mai<\/a> until June, after which he would return home with hopes of good weather, the right amount of rain, and a successful harvest. Our hotel called <\/span><\/span>Anchada Chiang Mai<\/a><\/span><\/span>, a bit in the middle of nowhere, was comfortable to a large extent. After hero-Ueli kills a few spiders in our room upon a humble request from Alisha, life is good again! In order to satisfy our hunger, or just to recover from airplane food, we begin our hunt for food, a late-night dinner. The area surrounding our hotel seems quiet, non-touristy, off-the-beaten-path kind of place. Not 200 meters away, a small restaurant built in the garage of his house with two white tourists. Taking this as credibility, we sit down to eat. As friendly as the owner is, he comes over to chat. His brother, whose day job consists of working as a government officer, is our chef for tonight. With little English that he knows, he explains to us his life, his desire to learn, his two children playing video games to learn English and his desire to continue learning. Ok!<\/p>\n

The next day!<\/strong><\/p>\n

The next day has in store for us a Thai cooking class<\/a>. How exciting! We get picked up from our hotel. I must say, the neighborhood surrounding our hotel looks a lot different during the day. A lot less intimidating!<\/p>\n