The kids have all of this week off from school, so we decided to plan a trip during the first half of the break to the North Thailand city, Chiang Mai. I have several co-workers who came from there and many of our friends here insisted we go and see what Chiang Mai has to offer. Boy are we glad we did! What a delightful city, with mountains, cool weather, flowers, activities, and lots to do.
We caught an early morning flight from the smaller of the 2 Bangkok airports (only 20 minutes from our house). We flew on Nok Air and it was a quick 1 hour jump between the cities (if you drive or take the train, it’s about 10 hours).
Our oldest must be getting teenager DNA as he was so tired all he wanted to do was sleep if he wasn’t moving. You’ll see that in the pictures below.
Once we arrived in Chiang Mai, the “hotel” we were staying at picked us up in a fun pickup truck. Our daughter thought it was pretty cool that we got to ride with “no seatbelts! How cool!” in the covered bed. It was kinda fun!
Candace found our “hotel” through TripAdvisor. It was the highest ranked one on the site and we can see why! It was delightful all around. We stayed in a cottage house right next to a beautiful pond with every kind of flower and tropical plant you can name. The owners, a German man, Peter, and Thai lady, Khun Pie, made you feel right at home. If you’re ever in Chiang Mai, stay here.
Another great part of Secret Garden stays is the food! Khun Pie is an amazing cook and treated us with a wonderful breakfast and dinner every day. The kids loved the daily crepes and croissants and Candace and I enjoyed the Thai food and amazing outdoor ambience. Just around the corner from the eating area is a pool table and foosball table. The kids could have played there the entire time.
I took a nap in the afternoon, and then Candace took a turn and I took our daughter on a ride on the 2 seat bike. It was a lot of fun riding around the local village and seeing the smiles on all the locals’ faces as they pointed at the “Falang” on the bike. Check out this table we ran into!
Naps!
That evening, we caught the local white pickup truck taxis into town (only 3 bucks for all 6 of us for a 30 minute ride). We did the night market (have I mentioned how much I love these??), got some great food (the kids are doing pretty well at eating Thai food), and got our favorite Nutella Rotti! The kids even ordered it on their own.
It was getting pretty late, so we caught another taxi back to Secret Garden and almost everyone was asleep by the time we arrived. Great first day!
It's cheesy, but your whole trip just seems... magical. How awesome.
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