Chiang Mai - Part 1

Our first day in Chiang Mai was a bit of a weather shock, having flown in from Koh Samui, a tropical Thai island.  We arrived to a temperature in the low 60s and rain.  We were only spending one night here before we headed to the treehouse, so we were staying in a cheap hostel that was on the outskirts of town.  Staying in our room would've been incredibly dreary, but we didn't have many options of nearby places to go.  

We walked down the road and grabbed some Tom Yum soup and then headed towards a movie theater because we couldn't find any transportation.  We were SOAKED, but ended up catching a ride for the last part of the way in a tuk tuk, getting ripped off on our price, but we didnt care at this point. We saw Star Wars again, this time with the girls.  At the start of movies in Thailand, everyone stands to pay honor to the king and country while a short film of the king’s life plays.  After the movie we caught a Songthaew, which was the first of several rides in this type of transportation vehicle, which is basically a pickup truck that has a covered section added to the bed and seats built into both sides so that riders face one another as they are driven to their destination. It's sort of a cross between taxi and bus as it may stop to pick up others along the way. The word Songthaew literally translates to "two benches" and this is one of the types of “taxis” offered in Chiang Mai. 

Traveling songthaew style!

Staying dry in the songthaew!

After the movie we had dinner at the #1 restaurant (according to TripAdvisor) in Chiang Mai, which happened to be near where we were staying.  It was a beautiful setting and we were thrilled that they had shawls we could use to keep warm with.  We had picked this place because they seemed to serve some comfort foods that we were familiar with.  We were pleased that the food and service was very good as even the owner stopped by to chat with us a bit.

The next morning we were picked up for our treehouse adventure which we have already written about.

After arriving back in Chiang Mai after two nights in the treehouse, we settled into our Airbnb place, which was very spacious yet a bit on the outskirts of the city.  The kids were thrilled that it had a pool table although the size was smaller than a typical table and bumpers were lower which resulted in the balls rolling off of the table more frequently than they should! Additionally it had a consider slope which took some maneuvering to learn to play. All that aside it provided hours of entertainment or distraction from school depending on which way you view it. 

TG at our place in Chiang Mai

We spent our first full day at the Chiang Mai Zoo, which was great to walk around and see the animals up close.

Someone wasn't so excited about the giraffe coming close!

G & SJ in front of the panda

These bears put on quite a show!

Kids at the Chiang Mai Zoo!

That evening we met some friends of one of our YL committee members back home for dinner.  Noot and her husband JJ run two childrens homes around Chiang Mai and work for Seed International, training students to share the gospel and be leaders in their professions.  Noot is also running a food tour business and so it was a treat to have her order some traditional Thai foods and get to sample different things.  It was a treat learning about their ministry and meeting their children.

Dinner with Noot, JJ & family at a restaurant specializing in Northern Thai cuisine.

On Sunday we headed towards the closest, English speaking church we could find, and our driver got lost along the way, so we walked into service about a half hour late.  This church primarily consisted of expats and missionary families.  Mom realized that one aspect of realizing our family has been away a long time, is that being surrounded by English-speaking-people, it became apparent how short our family is!  We’ve been fitting in with the shorter Asian culture quite well, that we had never noticed this!  After service the kids played soccer with the other kids and then we started walking towards the closest mall for lunch.  Humorously, one of the church families drove by in their station wagon and offered us a ride, so our whole family hopped in their trunk and graciously accepted the transportation to lunch!  We found a fun Korean BBQ place at the mall where we enjoyed grilling our own food at table grills.

Enjoying cooking our own lunch at table grills!

After an afternoon of resting and school, we headed to the Sunday Night Market only to realize we were at a smaller market, and the notorious larger market was a separate place.  For the most part they all sold similar items, many elephant themed products, wooden games, and other handicrafts.

Can't find a haircut, buy a Thai headband!

Cute dog on a RC motorcycle at the Night Market

The artist who punched these beautiful elephant artworks made from cowhides.

Monday was a school day for the most part and that evening we had a unique opportunity to take the oldest and youngest child to dinner while the middle two stayed behind to do school.  We really enjoyed this change in dynamics and getting to spend more concentrated time with two of the children seemed so much simpler.  We had a wonderful dinner on the riverfront with great conversation – it was a treat for all of us.

Dinner with oldest & youngest on waterfront!

SJ traveling tuk tuk style with a little seat next to our driver!