The First Two Days In Chiang Mai

First Two Days In Chiang Mai

Our flights were uneventful and mostly sleepless. We arrived at 11 pm in Chiang Mai, retrieved our luggage and asked for a taxi. The man that pulled up shook his head indicating the luggage and passengers would not fit. So we took the next one which was a mini van size. We were checked into The Dome Residence by midnight and after a quick shower we were off to dreamland.

The next morning I began an online chat with our friend Ursula. She is the one I wanted to surprise and she had no idea we had arrived because August was our original date. She asked to make a time to chat at 9pm Chiang Mai time. I told her that would not work. She thought I was mad at her, which I could never be because she is so sweet! The next message told her we had arrived the night before and would like to meet her. I think she was in shock and could not believe it was true. We finally met for lunch and her face was smiling so brightly it was very heartwarming to see. Before we left the mall I picked up some shampoo, cream rinse, coffee, creamer, hot chocolate, cold tea, and green tea bags. All of the items except the shampoo and rinse were imported and were expensive by US pricing. The hot chocolate was $10.00 and the coffee was $16.

We went to The Antique House 2 on the Ping River for lunch. We were the only people in the entire place and for 2 hours we chatted, relaxed and had a wonderful lunch. We went back to her condo and made an appointment with the woman at the property management company to show us some condo units the next day. We went to Ursula's condo and had a lovely visit until I began to feel like a hologram....I needed to go to our hotel and sleep.

There is a strangeness about being sleep deprived. Ordinary things that your brain handles with ease become tantamount to being in a body with no motor skills or cognitive functions. A little back story here.......Many years ago I borrowed our son's sports car. When I started it up, the sound system was bone rattling and the bass would have re-started a heart! I had to find a way to turn it down! The console looked like the inside of an airplane and having no idea what it all meant I began pushing ALL the buttons. It worked! Peace and quiet resumed and I forgot all about the incident, that is until I got home and he took his car back. I was asked, “What DID YOU DO?” “What do you mean?, I said” With a look that said....”I can't believe you did this”....he said, “I had to completely re-program my sound system.” I tend to do this with other things too and I push all the buttons till something happens. To this day I am lovingly teased about it.

So, back to the story. I was in desperate need for a cup of tea. The room has an electric tea kettle and I happily plugged it in....nothing happened. So I found another outlet to plug it in and still nothing, no light came on and I was feeling frustration and tears behind my eyes. Realizing what was happening I began to talk to the tea pot as if to convince it of my plight and it would magically work. I took it to the bedroom where I found yet another plug....still nothing. I left it on the floor alone in the corner as a punishment and sat on the bed with my computer. Periodically glaring at it I felt some control over my emotions.......It is just a kettle, with water, that SHOULD be boiling by now. Several hours went by and as Vince listened to me harumph loudly every time I looked up he decided to put me out of my misery. He went over to the kettle and pressed the one and only button ...in plain sight...big as life....on the handle!

Our leisurely morning with coffee and fruit before a light breakfast downstairs and then off to the condo. We met Fuang and she showed us 6 units which ranged from 28,000 baht down to 18,000 and were one and two bedrooms. All were different in the décor and layout, but she saved the best for last and she told us she knew we would love it. At our price of 15,000 baht ($456 USD) we are now the proud renters of a one bedroom, 79 meters, open floor plan, two large sliding glass doors with a long large balcony on the top floor 19^th with a view of the Ping Rive and Doi Suthep! We move in on Sunday!

Lunch from the market which is a 5 minute walk across the street and meeting Alaia in person for the first time.