November 23, 2016
Two lazy days in Chiang Mai
I didn't feel like I wanted to do the tourist excursions or activities in Chiang Mai. The tour operators seemed to be pushing trips to elephant centers and cooking classes. Those didn't appeal to me at this stage of my trip. I'll be heading north, past an elephant center and can see it then if I want. I just wanted to chill out.
On Tuesday morning, I got up and went to the front desk to verify that I could stay in the same room. I don't think it was the best room, on the ground floor near the stairs and entryway to the pool (did I mention there is a pool?), but I really liked the convenience of rolling my bike onto the room. They didn't actually have my booking from Agoda yet. I sorted it out later on, and was able to keep the room. But I met Christa in the lobby, and soon Bettina was out, and we had breakfast together in the coffee shop next to the guesthouse, and went our separate ways.
My first chore was laundry. There is quite a business of laundry by the kg around the guest houses, but I elected to use one of the coin operated self-service machines, and keep control of my laundry. After it was finished and I hung it up to dry in my hotel room, I lazed about a bit before heading off to a dentist visit I had scheduled yesterday. Visiting the dentist doesn't sound like a very tourist type thing to do, but I was due for a cleaning, had heard good things about dentists in Thailand, and was curious about the ex-pat dental experience.
I saw Dr. Pongsakorn. He speaks good English, as does his receptionist, and is dentist to a lot of the ex-pats in Chiang Mai. As you can guess, Christa recommended him.
The office was clean and comfortable, and he advertises that his services are "performed under autoclave sterilization technique". The cleaning was much like one done at home, with a few notable differences. First is that his pricing is completely transparent. It's posted on a sign board outside his office.
Second is that, like many Thai homes or offices, you don't wear shoes inside. Third is that he draped a cloth over my face, with an opening for my mouth. And fourth, perhaps most significantly, the dentist did the cleaning himself, not a hygienist.
But the cleaning was typical of what I'm accustomed to, and it included the usual lecture about the importance of flossing. I paid 500 baht, about 15 USD, and realized after I left that I didn't get a receipt.
After the cleaning, I wandered through some shops for a bit and then went back to the guesthouse to say goodbye to Bettina, who was flying out today.
I walked to the night market for dinner. The night market, or at least what I found of it, was 100% for the tourists. I had some good khao soi, at tourist prices and in a tourist atmosphere, and then some mango sticky rice. Both good, classic northern Thai dishes.
Wednesday I went out and bought a map of Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. I wandered around for quite some time before I found a bookstore that had one. The streets got crowded very quickly.
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Then I had a one hour Thai massage at Somphet Massage, near the guesthouse. It felt great! I told the masuesse that I was new to this, and she took it easy on me. I probably could have done with a bit more force, but my cycling muscles and my sitting muscles appreciated it. Then I had a late lunch at a good vegetarian restaurant, and juice at a juice bar.
I have to say that I could see just sort of chilling out and spending time in Chiang Mai, with its good food and comforts. On the other hand, I'm getting a little itchy to move on. And I've learned that if I call it an itch I need to scratch it! So I'm leaving tomorrow.
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