Chillin’ in Chiang Mai

November 14^th, 2024

Our plan for today was a slightly ambitious one, and that was to rent a scooter and head up to the highest point in Thailand, called Doi Inthanon which is 2585 meters above sea level.  It would have been a two hour journey each way with an elevation gain of 2275 meters.  However, theses plans were thwarted as it was impossible to find a rental place that had any bikes left for hire.  The city of Chiang Mai is packed to the gills with tourists due to the lantern festivals.

 

After trying for about an hour, we decided on a plan B…Naomi suggested that we have a relaxing day.  We checked out a movie theatre at a nearby mall and Gladiator II was playing.  I was a bit surprised that Naomi wanted to see it, in fact she was more excited than me.  It was also her idea to go for the VIP cinema which had reclining seats, a blanket and you were served popcorn and a soft drink.  I’d never been to one of these types of cinemas and it was quite the experience. 

In the VIP waiting lounge.

This looks comfy.

I hadn't planned on my matching outfit...even my socks had some dark red that matched the blanket.

Yup, pretty comfy.

Ready to be entertained!

All ready to go.

Part of the tribute to the Thai King, played before every movie.  We stood up, as one is supposed to.  Other foreigner tourists didn't...

The movie was entertaining, albeit gory at times.  We stopped for some decent pizza afterwards and checked into the Craft Hotel, our home for the next two nights.

That evening we walked a few blocks down the road to head up to a fourth-floor rooftop patio at the YaYee Hotel for a few drinks.  The view was pretty good, although there was a big hotel nearby that blocked some of the vista.  I enjoyed watching planes taking off from the airport, which was only a few kilometres away.  There was a hen party for a young woman from the UK which occupied most of one side of the bar.  They had asked to put on their own music, which surprisingly was all 80s stuff, starting off with a lot of Madonna.  

Singh-Aaaah...

Cheers!

Lookin' good Naomi!

We had a nice chat with a young telecommuter named Jamie, who was originally from New York but has been based out of Paris for a number of years.  She was a copywriter and was planning to stay in Chiang Mai for a month or two.  Naomi remarked to me later that she could see why Chiang Mai attracts a lot of telecommuters, it is a cool city.

A nice evening.

Our appie of bruschetta bread.

Tomorrow morning will be a chill morning as we will be heading to the big lantern festival around midafternoon, which is the main reason that we are in Chiang Mai…it should be interesting.