[Thailand 2024]
Chiang Mai day 1
Up at 7am for a 10:40 flight to Chiang Mai from BKK…Bolt to airport took about 45 minutes…way shorter than Google stated at that time. We were that early we nearly boarded the earlier 2 hour flight. Expensive airport coffee later we were in the air for the 1h15m flight, no dramas, arrived on time and Bolt to Blue Coffee at old town for a couple of exotic caffeinated beverages. We then wandered to lunch where I had the local speciality “Khao Soi” which is deep fried crispy egg noodles, pickled mustard greens, shallots, lime, ground chillies fried in oil and meat (chicken in my case) in a curry like sauce. Mel had spring rolls and we shared a Pad Thai. All was delightful. And less than a fiver for all of it. Had a mooch around after than and walked the 500 metres to the hotel - Chada Mantra. Beautiful place in a gorgeous area of the North East quadrant of old town Chiang Mai. Settled in and went for a swim at the pool. Delightful. So relaxing. Shared a beer poolside and went out. First pub was “The Soldier Bar”…a quirkier bar you could not imagine! Like an old rag and bone man’s shack that has been built up in instalments over the decades, was full with 8 people in - including weed smoking Aussies, south Africans and Germans. We then headed down to Lanna Square which is an open air food market with live music. Every catering whim was covered here from Indian, Italian, Chinese and many more. I settled on a Chinese curry steamed roll and then a (Chairman) Mao Bao bun - questionable reference to one of the top 3 murdering dictators in the world, but the bun was lovely…and meant another 2 new foods ticked off my catering revolution. Mel had a chicken kebab and then a pancake contraption. A couple of Chang’s and Leo’s completed the evenings intake. Nipped to 711 for a beer and some essentials as we have to be up at 4:30am to go chanting with Monks.
