Am finally in thailand. Thai Airways non-stop flight was a real pleasure. Business class was great. Wonderful seats and fabulous service. Food was well spaced but not nearly as good as on Malaysia or Singapore. Checked my bags through to Chiang Mai which was also a pleasure.

We are in the new section of Baan Orapin. Compound is lovely. Opas and his staff couldn't be more helpful. Only problem in the room is that there are no drawers. Only problem with the new section is that it is near a house with several dogs in an outdoor run who bark a huge amount. I don't mind but my friend does -- largely because she wasn't able to nap when she arrived and they woke her up last night.

Breakfast was delicious. Met Paige who is having a wonderful time and was tryuing to prolong her stay in Chiang Mai which she said was her favorite part of the trip. cuycwo;i

Taking this morning easy -- walking around the local market and getting the lay of the land.

what did they have for breakfast..give us the details..the sounds and tastes

glad the trip was good...thai seems to be following through nicely...that's two good reports today...yours and terry's....

is it cool there?? lots of comments about unusually cool weather this year...esp. the humidity...

have fun and keep us updated...

suggest to your friend that she bark back at the dogs...

antique house got only a so so report from carl....anxious to hear your report...

Glad you are there safe and sound and liking Baan Orapin!

if you have an extra minute some day and want to explore, could you check out the new hilton across the river and see what it is like....restaurants and rooms?? thanks

bob

Gloria, Thanks for the info on the Thai flight and glad you thought it was good. Hope things work out with the dog barking....see you next week, Kathy

Gloria, Thanks for posting and keeping us posted. Glad your flight went well and looking forward to hearing about your trip as it progresses. You always find and talk about interesting things! As usual, we want details, details, details. Enjoy!

Gloria - can't wait to hear more! Hope the dogs quiet down for you. And give us all the details of what you're doing and the food you're enjoying!
Karen

Hi Gloria - We're going to be staying at Baan Orapin later in the month. We have reserved a 1 bedroom suite. I would have trouble with the dogs barking keeping me awake - do you know if they have the 1 bedroom suites in the older section. Would that take care of the noise from the dogs?

Thanks Joan

PS. This is Bangkok in January Joan. Looking forward to meeting you next week.

Enjoy your trip Gloria, really looking forward to hearing all about it..
Wishing i was in CM myself, can't wait to hear your views on the cooking school and the Antique house.
Happy New Year
Jane

First I can't say enough good things about Baan Orapin. This has to be one of the best values in terms of a hotel I have ever had and I suspect it will only get better as Opas makes more and more improvements. Our rooms really are lovely and the dogs have ended their new year celebrating and sleep through the night. As a dog lover whose dogs bark for no reason at 2 AM it never bothered me anyway. Ann, unfortunately, got ill with a bad cough and fever so is lying low today. Opas and his wife have turned into Jewish parents and are getting her chicken noodle soup. They couldn't be more helpful.

Breakfast was a thai omelet which is served over rice with a hot sauce and bacon. Absolutely delicious. They have several options all of which are served with wonderful fruit and juice. And great coffee.

Yesterday we just sort of roamed around the area getting the lay of the land. Went into Sop Moie and some of the other shops in the area. Sop Moie remains one of my favorite stores in Chiang Mai. The stuff is just gorgeous. Also went to the Rim Ping superstore which is a helluva lot nicer than any grocery store I've been in in the states. I wanted to buy some wine for the room and they were having a sale -- buy one get one free. So for $40 I managed to get 4 bottles of wine.

Also roamed around the local market which was fun. Certainly nothing to buy but I love to see what locals are selling and buying for themselves. We didn't see any other tourists early in the morning and felt like we were actually in asia rather than a shopping mall that could be anywhere.
The weather here is literally perfect.

Had a very early dinner at Good View. I had northern style beef curry which was ok but nothing to write home about. Came home and went to sleep at 9. At 11 I thought Bush had decided to invade Iran but made a mistake and hit Chiang Mai instead. It sounded like cannons were going off. This morning Opas said it was a school celebrating 100th birthday. The "invasion" lasted about 15 minutes and I fell back asleep and slept until 6AM so feel great today.

Am now waiting to be picked up by Oasis Spa. Using the internet at Baan Orapin which is fine for emails -- they say it's slow but it's fine for me and oh so convenient.

More later

Bob-- I assume you mean the Hilton across the river in bangkok. I will try to check it out although I don't think it opens until after I leave. It definitely is not my kind of hotel and the fact that I heard that it was closed because it was unsafe and now they claim it is just fine means I would not be caught dead staying there.

Joan-- yes you can request a one bedroom suite in the front but the ones in the newer section really are lovely and the dogs are fine at night. They seem to bark at certain times when the owners come home after work and were bad when we arrived because of the new year celebrations. They have not affected our sleep at night.

sounds wonderful gloria...hope you sleep well tonight as bush is sending the troops on a door to door search tomorrow nite...

aloha gloria...
glad you are enjoying baan orapin...we all have lucked out by finding this jewel of a b & b. please say aloha to opas from the maui girls...
if you get a chance...visit the wat next door...meet the old caretaker..its quite interesting...great photos of old chiang mai...
also..recommend whole earth restaurant
and then you can check out yaang come village right behind it.
enjoy chiang mai and are you p lanning on seeing poon?

Thanks for the reassurance about Baan Orapin. It does sound great - really looking forward to our visit there. Enjoy!

Joan

Glad you made it safely, Gloria. Too bad we can't meet. I'll be in Bangkok until this Friday evening and then off I go back to L.A. Three weeks has gone by very quickly. I'll be back in August, but that's 7 long months away. I'm already rebooked back into the Emporium. Have a ball! Happy Travels!

Had a fabulous day at the Oasis spa. Strongly recommend it. Four hours and the total cost was $140. I usually think spas aren't worth the money but definitely felt this one was.


Undfortunately Ann continues to be ill so today Poon and I took her to see a doctor at the hospital. Very efficient. Total cost including medication was $22. Doctor spoke excellent english.

hope ann is better quickly....give her some thai whiskey....if it does not kill her she will be instantly better...

Gloria...Just a couple of hours ago, Cotton House delivered my BAGS of clothing here to my apartment. I got a call from the concierge that they had arrived so I had the concierge send them up and the poor guy was slepping all of those bags. Smiles. Everything is perfect...all 13 pieces. They did a great job back in August...only had one slight problem so I brought the item back and they adjusted it. Da wanted me to come over for a fitting ( I told her I trusted their judgement) and to say gooodbye, but I didn't want to travel way over there. When one lives at Sukhumvit Soi 24, one gets very spoiled and doesn't want to travel to the other side of town. So, I had them deliver my clothes to me. So, I'll have LOTS of new clothes again. Take care and hope you have a great time...as I'm sure you will. My three weeks, in Bangkok, are almost up and I have to fly back to L.A. day after tomorrow. Once again it'll be hard to leave. Happy Travels!