We arrived in the morning on February the 9th after a flight from Bangkok. Bangkok Suvarnabhumi airport is drastically changed since I was there. In fact it is a completely new airport that the news media has reported was not been built to specs and has serious safety concerns. The government knows that they probably should close the airport down but hesitate to do so for fear of shaking the confidence of the world aviation community. But there are cracks in the runway! We flew through without hitch but my feeling is that not taking steps to assure safety shakes public opinion more. One Thai person indicated that it was such an embarrassment to the Thai people to have a brand new airport fail so badly. But the airport is very nice and has all the modern amenities we expect in a large international airport. There are good food courts and manageable immigration systems. It is, of course, air-conditioned which is nice in such a hot location. And, fear not, it does have that ubiquitous McDonald’s restaurant demanded by some travelers. I ate little Indonesian sweets and sticky rice with mangos instead I think but sadly I can’t remember with certainty which country and which airport offered that great fare. We passed through the new Bangkok airport so quickly though that my impressions are fleeting.
After a short flight on Thai Airways we arrived in Chiang Mai. The airport looked somewhat the same or really to me more like Bangkok airport had looked 18 years before. A from our hotel driver met us so transfer was effortless. As we drove to the hotel we passed the rectangular moat or canal that surrounds the old town of Chiang Mai. This was a feature, which was very clear in my memory so I had that coming-home feeling as we passed.
Our hotel, Yaang Come Village was only about 10 minutes from the airport and as we arrived we were beckoned to take a seat. I didn’t even realize that they had unloaded our suitcases from the taxi. We sat on a open wooden veranda which had large wooden support columns decorated with gold stencil designs and nice sofas. My first impression was, “I’m going to like this place!” The staff rushed to us to offer cold lemon grass tea. Nothing has tasted so cooling and welcome as that tea. The woman who was helping us did not stand at the reception desk but knelt down at the ground by our chairs. The Thais revere the head as the most sacred aspect of a human and always try to lower themselves below a person’s head if they are showing respect. I’m not sure it was me who deserved the respect because the staff was so outstanding it should have me who took this position. Anyway, we finished with the formalities of checking in and were ushered to our room by a very helpful woman who showed us all the special touches we came to appreciate; free bottled water, daily fresh fruit, air conditioning, lovely robes with elephants printed on them and murals in every room. And the room smelled so lovely too because the place little, fragrant flowers everywhere.
The hotel is designed by a local Chiang Mai architect in a style called Thai Lau which is an aspect of Lanna Thai artistic tradition. I mentioned the murals. They are definitely influenced by the murals along the walls of some of the older temples in town and feature quaint Thai villagers going about their rich life. The manager explained to me that Thai Lau style is always very colorful and this was certainly true. The grounds are full of bananas and giant heliconias. It is beautiful! There is also a wonderful pool on the grounds. When you awaken in the morning and walk to breakfast or return from a hot, tiring day you are greeted by the most friendly, kind smiles as staff members greet you with a warm, “Sawatdee Kaa!” if it is a woman speaking or "Sawatdee Khrab!" if it is a man speaking. As they greet you they hold their palms together and raise their fingers to touch their forehead briefly. It is a graceful gesture I had remembered loving when I was in Thailand in 1989. I always wanted to reciprocate the gesture but often found I was carrying too much to pull of the graceful aspect of the greeting.
Breakfast was delicious too, fresh orange juice made from local tangerines, fried noodles or rice, little Thai sweets and the most delicious fruit including papaya. For those needing a Western breakfast they made omelettes to order and other perquisite breakfast items but, for me, noodles are the ideal breakfast. Breakfast is served on another open veranda next to the pool and features the Lanna murals and gold-stenciled details.
There is a wonderful spirit house not far from the entrance
to the hotel. These are little houses you see everywhere in Thailand. I think they provide a home for the spirits who may be displaced by any new building. They have wonderful offerings of food, candles, incense and flowers in front of them. I even saw them on temple grounds below trees. If the spirits did not have a house to live in then they might "haunt" the new building. I believe they are supposed to be situated outside the shadow cast by the building. My interest in them is purely aesthetic though and I hoped to purchase one while in Thailand.
Well I guess you need to know that I saw more than the hotel right?
After shedding my suitcases and washing up I quickly ran out into the surrounding area while Shay rested up. I was so excited to see everything and walked along a street named Thonon Loi Khro with lots of wonderful shops. There were dress shops filled with clothing by local designers; lovely things with light fabrics and unusual seams. I found lots of bead stores and antique stores too. As I walked back I noticed that the sidewalks were filling with the little carts of street merchants. The area around the hotel is the night market. In Chiang Mai most tourists are out on excursions and treks during the day and it is too hot to shop anyway so at night there are many areas of town with vendors. Most of the offerings in the night market were nice but easy to pass although there were spectacular buys and creative goods everywhere.
Before visiting the night market we met a man who teaches at the International School who happened to go the same high school we attended. Paul told us that if the ice cube has a hole in the center then the water used to make it is safe to drink. Ah, what a relief. Now we knew we could have ice in our drinks. We went to a restaurant not too far from the hotel located on the Mae Ping River. The restaurant was called Good View and it certainly did have that. It was a large wooden structure with a large veranda facing the river and as we ate boats floated by with sparkling lights. It was a miniature version of the Bateaux-Mouches on the Siene in Paris!
After our dinner we walked through the night market and found some greeting cards with wonderful photos of Thai children. It was really amazing to see so many inexpensive items for sale but I think I resisted that evening and walked back to hotel before Shay with throbbing feet. This was the only time my feet gave me problems and I walked a lot on this vacation. Hurray for “Old Lady Walking Sandals!”
One thing we won't see on this visit is a festival held in November called Loi Krathong. During this festival many, many beautiful lanterns made from flowers and leaves are launched on the river and there are even lanterns launched into the air. I'm disappointed to miss this because the photos I've seen are spectacular. But you can't see everything and this gives me an excuse to visit again!
