{"id":351,"date":"2016-07-12T14:09:36","date_gmt":"2016-07-12T14:09:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/justinwellman.com\/blog\/?p=351"},"modified":"2016-07-12T14:09:36","modified_gmt":"2016-07-12T14:09:36","slug":"exploring-thailand-days-6-13","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/justinwellman.com\/blog\/exploring-thailand-days-6-13\/","title":{"rendered":"Exploring Thailand: Days 6-13"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chiang Mai.<\/h3>\n
\"Chiang<\/a>
Chiang Mai<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Today I am headed for Chiang Mai. Travis leaves for his adventures with his classmates somewhere near Bangkok, I head to the north-country. We arrived at the airport at 6:00 to give me time to get to my gate and Trav to find his classmates meeting point.<\/p>\n

I was a bit concerned with security and checkin. The lines were pretty long and perhaps its PTSD of dealing with American Airports\u2014lines take forever! I made it to the ticket counter in about 8 minutes, had my ticket in hand and was in the line for security 2 minutes later. A line in security that would have easily taken 45-60 minutes to get through in the US took about 20 minutes, including a manual checking of my bags. No big deal. I was off and headed to my gate. I arrived about 40 minutes before boarding and found myself to be the only person at the gate. I was a little nervous thinking perhaps there was a gate change, or the wrong day\/time, but I had never been the first to arrive at a gate, even when arrive upwards to an 1.5-2 hrs early\u2014there is always someone more obsessed about being early than me!<\/p>\n

There were no electronic terminals on anywhere. The TV’s that normally show gate departures were not yet online. It felt almost like being the only person at the airport! Quite creepy to be honest. I sat for about 10 minutes double, triple, quadruple checking my boarding pass, flight apps, gate apps\u2014I was a little rattled if you can’t tell; when finally another farang (foreigner) showed up to the gate with similar bewilderment in his eyes. We smiled at each other, he pointed at his ticket:<\/p>\n

“Chiang Mai?” he asked.<\/p>\n

“Guess so?” I showed him my boarding pass. “According to this.”<\/p>\n

He made a little\/short motion with his fingers (think itty bitty hand sign) “little English.” I smiled, nodded pointed at the gate sign. “Chiang Mai.” He nodded and sat down.<\/p>\n

We were the only two passengers there for a while until about 10 minutes before boarding when finally others began to show up. I watched as they had similar reactions as we did and cautiously sat down waiting… and then the Thais arrived and there might have been a global sigh from all the farang waiting.<\/p>\n

Shortly before the appointed time for boarding two flight attendant arrived and began their pre-boarding routine. There were no speakers to speak through, no digital signs to reference, just paper print-outs they held up with Zone 1-4 in Thai, English, Japanese, Russian and German. We walked through the boarding ramp to a set of steps that led us to a Bus. Our plane was a small one, to small for the terminal arm things…. can’t remember what to call them.<\/p>\n

The flight was pleasant. We were served a meal, which is crazy considering it was a 50 minute flight! Quick up and down. Arriving in Chiang Mai was very different. Its a very mountainous area. Bangkok lies in a flat area, felt much like Northern Ohio with palm trees and wicked humidity. Chiang Mai is mountainous, wet, and slightly cooler, but higher humidity. The air and moisture gets trapped in the valley where Chiang Mai rests, so there are times the air is so thick its hard to breath, but the air is similarly cooled by the mist hanging in the air. Its an interesting feeling. I find myself sweating and getting chills at the same time.<\/p>\n

Getting from the Airport to my AirBnB was pretty easy. I was told by others to avoid taxi and tuk tuk (no problem there!) and to take the Red Trucks. They are more affordable because other people can ride with you. In this case, I was the only person climbing into one, so I think I overpaid a little. I wasn’t all that concerned with the fare at that moment: 100baht = $2.84. I overpaid probably 50 baht\u00a0so I’m told. But the trick with the red trucks is don’t be the only passenger. The more people in the truck the less expensive. Good to know for the future \ud83d\ude00<\/p>\n

\"Second<\/a>
Second Floor Apt.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

My AirBnB is a cute little apartment near the west gate of ‘Old Town’. Its a busy little street with lots of sounds. There’s a bike shop next door, so I get to hear revving engines, there’s two food venders down on the street below so I get amazing smells wafting up through the windows. There’s a temple across from where I am and up the street less than a block that has chickens\/roosters. I hear their calls\u00a0all day. The apartment is fun. The bedroom is the largest room. and is just large enough for a Queen sized bed, \u00a0a small closet, and a tiny desk. \u00a0The living room is a small table, a couch, coffee table, and half-fridge. The kitchen is on the outside patio. The toughest thing to get used to here has been the bathrooms. Asian bathrooms are “wet” everything is tile, and the shower, toilet and sink are together essentially. Thai plumbing can’t handle paper like in the US, so you use a sprayer (like your sink sprayer) to wash yourself and then use TP to pat-dry your bum and toss the used paper into a trashcan. Took me a couple times to get used to it. But its second nature now and honestly makes SOO much more sense than the other way!<\/p>\n