Diane

Wednesday, December 4<BR>After breakfast we went to the Chiang Mai Cookery School. There are a number of cooking school in Chiang Mai, but this one is the &quot;original,&quot; and is highly recommended by a number of guide books. www.thaicookeryschool.com. The first stop for the course was to a local market, then to the owner's home for the class. I got as far as the market when I decided it would not be a good idea to stand on my leg cooking all afternoon -- so Marian went to the class and enjoyed it very much. At least I got the free cookbook. I walked a little and stopped at an internet cafe. It's $.75 an hour to connect -- some shops have fast connections, and some do not, but in any event there are one or two shops on every block. The one I chose was air conditioned, I was able to prop my legs up, and they brought me a glass of bottled water. I sent email postcards at www.webshots.com. Great site where you can search for photos and attach commentary.<BR><BR>Took a tuk-tuk (I'm really getting used to these) to The Mango Cafe for another great lunch. I ordered mango with sticky rice again as I was too full to really appreciate it the day before -- the portion was huge and served cold. This time they served it warm with milk. Also ordered celery stuffed with pork that came as a soup.<BR><BR>I stopped into a pharmacy where I picked up an ace bandage for my foot, pills to help me get rid of the swelling, transparent bandages (great product that I've never seen here), and antibiotics for my wound. Just like in Europe, I was able to get antibiotics without a prescription. With what I already had, I was now walking around with a small pharmacy in my bag.<BR><BR>Met Marian back at the cooking school office and we wandered around poking into some of the shops. Every now and then we'd come across a shop trendy enough to fit right in on a San Francisco street. I didn't like Chiang Mai much when we got here, but it grows on you. In this case, beauty is skin-deep.<BR><BR>We headed back to the B&amp;B after wandering through the Night Bazaar and stopping for massages at the Let's Relax over McDonald's. This was our least favorite place for a massage -- too noisy as we overlooked the Night Bazaar during the massage and could hear the traffic as well as music from the shop next door. Back at the B&amp;B we finished up the junk food we'd bought the night before.

Diane

Thursday, December 5<BR>Today is the King's 75th Birthday and the entire country is celebrating. All week we saw displays being built in his honor. It's obvious that the people of Thailand love their king.<BR><BR>Joe picked us up at 8:30 am and drove us first to the Maesa Elephant Camp. The elephants were really cute -- I never thought I'd use that word to describe elephants, but they really were cute. The 30-minute show was enjoyable. We got to watch the elephants paint pictures with their trunks. We fed the elephants, had our pictures taken with the elephants, and got to ride one for an hour. Our elephant kept walking along the edge of the path and I kept asking the mahout to have him move to the right where the other elephants were walking...but no, our elephant just had to walk right at the edge making this The Thai version of a Disneyland E-ticket ride. Our mahout kept us entertained and took pictures of us with our cameras. They also take professional photos for purchase that we bought after the ride. Yup, we were real tourists.<BR><BR>Then we headed to the Sala Mae Rim Restaurant at the Regent Hotel. The hotel has two restaurants, western and Thai. Mae Rim is Thai. Lovely setting for another lunch in a tranquil atmosphere. I had rice with pork (that I thought looked like rope) and shrimp inside a pineapple. Marian had sea bass in a brown sauce. We started with shrimp balls that were excellent, and also had two Thai iced teas. All for 1,400 baht. The hotel has a nice gift shop where I bought a Christmas present for someone.<BR><BR>We'd been so busy we hadn't worked much on shopping and headed back to the factory road. We liked this more than shopping at the Night Bazaar. We spent some time at the lacquerware shop where they gave a demonstration of how lacquerware is made -- everything is done by hand. We both made purchases. The umbrella factory was not so interesting. We'd hoped to find some nice paper products, but the shop had a lot of junky items.

Diane

Friday, December 6<BR>Had a late breakfast at 9 am. We were joined by guests who had arrived the night before. Turns out they live in Pasadena, not far from where we live. We talked with them for almost two hours before heading out. We went into town and I called a friend in California from one of the many shops we saw advertising &quot;overseas calls.&quot; Prices ranged from as little as 15 baht to 35 baht a minute. We even saw a woman on the street with some cell phones and a sign advertising overseas calls. The people here are entrepreneurial for sure.<BR><BR>We had lunch at a German restaurant near McDonald's. It seems as if McDonald's is in the center of things and is a good landmark for getting where you want to go. A couple of times the tuk-tuk drivers did not know where I wanted to go, but when I said McDonald's they were able to get me close enough that I could walk the rest of the way. I had schnitzel and spaezle and peach iced tea. Marian had sausages, french fries, and a beverage -- all this for 450 baht. We stopped at yet another internet cafe, sent some email postcards, and I checked my home email. Marian left me to play on the computer while she went off browsing. She found something she wanted and took me back to the shop where we both bought the same style jacket.<BR><BR>One last time to The Mango Cafe for fruit slushies, then taxied to the Central Airport Plaza for a food and wine festival. There were about 75 booths set up from different restaurants in town and live entertainment. Foods ranged from 10 to 40 baht per serving. I had pot stickers and Marian had fried chicken, both from a Japanese vendor. We saw (finally) a lot of middle class Thais out with their families. It was a pleasant way to end our stay here.<BR><BR>The majority of bathrooms we encountered had western style toilets; a couple were Japanese style. All the bathrooms we saw were clean, unlike many restrooms in the States. There were a few times that toilet paper was not provided, so be sure to bring your own. The bathrooms at luxury hotels are beautiful and rival those at top hotels at home. Most of the toilets have hoses attached. We were never charged to use the facilities.

Diane

Saturday, December 7<BR>It was a quiet morning at the B&amp;B. Norachai took our picture for his guest album. We read the comments left by other people and it seemed so much more personal with photographs.<BR><BR>Norachai drove us to the airport for our 2:15 pm flight. We were early so we could do some last minute shopping, and they had some nice shops. Uneventful flight. It took about 30 minutes to get from the airport to the Quality Suites Hotel at the Bangkok airport due to traffic. The hotel was in a typical Bangkok neighborhood. This hotel was definitely not high end. I reserved a deluxe two-bedroom suite (about $100). Didn't need it really -- two standard bedrooms at the same price would have been more practical. The rooms were spacious but basic and had air conditioning. The mattresses and pillows were great. So was the water pressure in the shower. Booked through www.asia-hotels.com. No deposit required, just credit card guarantee for one night.<BR><BR>Had dinner at the hotel's restaurant, Pink Lotus. I had sauteed spinach with butter and parmesan cheese that was delicious but full of minced garlic, followed by spaghetti with clams, also full of minced garlic. And of course, garlic bread. A great meal if you're avoiding vampires or mosquitoes. Actually, it was very good. Marian had sauteed vegetables and rice. We both had Thai iced tea. Came to about 500 baht for us both.

Diane

I got my stuff organized for the morning and went to sleep at 8 pm. Marian had someone come to the room to give her a massage. That made eight massages for Marian, and seven for me. But, who's counting!<BR><BR>We got up at 2:30 am and caught the 4 am shuttle to the airport. Our flight was departing at 7 am. We each checked one bag. Security was hand searching every checked bag thoroughly. Personally, I was glad to see it. They were efficient and quick. At check-in they told me they were overbooked in first class and offered me a $400 travel voucher if I would move to business class. I doubt it would surprise anyone to learn I said no.<BR><BR>The flights were uneventful and just as wonderful in first class as they were going to Bangkok. Flight time was a total of three hours less than our flights traveling east. We gained back the day we lost -- left Bangkok at 7 am on Sunday and arrived at LAX at 8:30 am the same day.<BR><BR>Great trip, but it was good to be home and sleep in my own bed.<BR>

david

Nice report. We're going in 4 weeks. Thanks for the post.

Andy

Diane-Thanks for the report. My wife and I were in Thailand for the same period. You are a more dedicated reporter than I. My best was a series of observations listed on this forum.<BR><BR>I would be interested to hear what was experience about jet lag/sleep cycle. We acclimated fairly quickly going from Boston to Thailand, but on the return it has taken about 5 days to return to anything approaching normal.

fiona

a really interesting report Diane. We were very forunate in that we had no problems with &quot;scams&quot; in Bangkok but we did see several people being &quot;taken in&quot; by their tour guides. As a &quot;favour&quot; the guide would direct them to &quot;friend of a friend&quot; who would sell them &quot;real fake&quot; watches.<BR>

Anna

thanks Diane for a great travel report! I made several notes for our trip planned in March. I would only hope more travellers post their experience as Diane has.

Diane

Andy -- In all my many trips to Europe I never had difficulty with jet lag in either direction. This was my second trip to Asia, and had jet lag both times on the return flights. Don't understand it. It was tough making it through work this past week -- I certainly was not moving at top speed.<BR><BR>I'm glad some of you are able to learn something from my report to help you in planning your own trips. I know that I've gotten invaluable information from this travel board. Don't know how I managed to plan my travel before the internet!

Andy

Diane-I agree, Europe has never been a problem with jet lag. My experience was that the acclimation period was much longer returning to US than we went to Thailand. Is there a difference in gaining/losing time? Could it be that the body can adjust fairly quickly once, but then it takes longer when it has to adjust again shortly thereafter.

connie

Diane - - - <BR><BR>Didn't you feel guilty flying first class and your friend went coach?

Anna

Diane-<BR>I am considering hiring a private tour guide. You mentioned $40/day for Joe. Were you obligated to pay for Joe's meals, massages, entertainment, etc.?<BR><BR>thanks again for sharing your wonderful experience.<BR>

Diane

Connie -- for reasons I won't go into on a public forum, I did not feel guilty about flying first class when my friend was in coach. It was a wonderful once-in-a-lifetime experience and I'll always feel grateful for the opportunity.<BR><BR>Anna -- I had the same questions about the etiquette for a private driver. Joe would drop us off at lunch and tell us where to meet him when we were through -- same for shopping. He stayed with us at the elephant park and &quot;guided us&quot; in buying food for the elephants, telling us when the show was starting, etc. When we went to the temple on the hill he stayed with us until we got on the tram and even bought the tickets for us. He knows exactly what to do to make things easy for the tourist. There were no hidden costs, although it would have cost more if we had traveled farther -- much of what we did was local. Joe runs the Marlboro Guest House in Chiang Mai, www.infothai.com/mgh if anyone wants to reach him. I imagine it would be the same routine for any private driver, but I recommend Joe highly. Joe also runs a business for trekking tours although he doesn't go on them himself. He is very professional and speaks very good English. I heard from a man I met in Chiang Mai that he had a private driver one day who could not speak English. Joe answered our questions and gave us commentary we would have missed had we had a driver who did not speak English.<BR><BR>

Anna

Diane-I have been in contact with Joe and he is available for the days we are in Chiang Mai. There are four adults on this trip. This was his response to a suggested itinerary: &quot;visit the elephant camp and do a safari tour include the training, riding and bamboo rafting along the river. And another day I would like to show you the symbolise of Chiang Mai is the temple up on the mountain (4,000 ft from sea level) after that I will take you to the handicraft village, where you will see the village people work for their living . For example , Thai silk factory , an umbrella making , lacquerware , wood caving , celadon pottery , silverware factory and gem stone.&quot;<BR><BR>Was this your itineary as well? I mentioned Golden Triangle and seeing the hilltribes in Mae Hong Sun. I've read these are a must to visit. Joe seemed to think there wouldn't be enough time. Did you visit these places and your thoughts?<BR>

Anna

Diane-You mentioned it would be easier to stay closer to town, i.e. River View Lodge. Would you recommend this place or do you have any other suggestions? We don't mind some noise but not as much noise as a city would have but I wouldn't imagine Chiang Mai would have this. We just would like to be close to everything but still have a &quot;private&quot; resort-feel.<BR><BR>Joe mentioned he would provide transportation to/from airport and that we wouldn't need to stay at Jaiya Mongkol or his guest house. <BR><BR>Did $40 day include him being with you from after breakfast to up to dinner time? <BR><BR>If we decide to use him as a tour guide, we would like to bring him something special from the states. Are there items they can't get out there such as cigarettes and/or alcohol?<BR><BR>thanks again! I look forward to our trip and thankful to you in sharing your experience.

Diane

Anna -- it sounds like the elephant camp he is suggesting is different from the one we went to. I didn't want to do rafting, and the one we went to did not include rafting. Also, I wanted to have lunch at the Regent, and the Regent is close to the camp we went to. I think you'll have a less-touristy visit to an elephant camp with the one he is suggesting.<BR><BR>We also went to the temple on the hill -- it is mentioned in my report. It is beautiful, and you shouldn't miss it. It's the one up 300 steps.<BR><BR>As to where to stay, the most upscale &quot;resort&quot; feeling place we saw was the Regent, but that is very expensive and out of town. Our B&amp;B is great for people looking for a relaxing place to stay, but is not convenient to town. The River View Lodge is close to things, yet is a little away from the hustle and bustle. Didn't see the rooms -- just walked about the lobby area -- looked decent to me. There were many high-rise hotels in town -- about 8 or 9 stories high. Can't offer advice on them, though. Maybe you could throw a question on the board here on Chiang Mai lodging suggestions.<BR><BR>The Golden Triangle and hill tribes are far away and may not be appropriate for day trips. Again, others on this board may be better able to answer that question.<BR><BR>As to what to bring as a gift, I can't think of much offhand. We were looking for a shotglass that said Chiang Mai or Thailand on it. A lot of people collect them and I was looking for one for my cousin. We talked with Joe about this and he seemed intreged with the concept. I suggest you bring him one from the States so he could see what one looks like. As I mentioned in my report, people there are entrepreneurial.<BR><BR>We did go to the factory showrooms. In some we saw demonstrations on how the products were made and my friend and I bought a few items. I found them interesting and preferred shopping there than to bargaining in the Night Bazaar. Many people there are poor and I just didn't have it in me to haggle a lot over the price of something. I was really torn over the need in me to get the best price and wanting to show charity. That's why I preferred the factory showrooms.

Anna

Diane- Thanks again. You and others have been so helpful on this forum. I think I'll be on this forum until our trip in March.

Pam

Message: Dear Diane,<BR><BR>Thank you so much for the incredibly detailed trip report. We are very intrigued by the accommodations you stayed at in Chiang Mai--the Jaiya Mongkol B&amp;B. When you say that you will hear animals, does that mean that the dogs barked all night? I'm sure the roosters were crowing, which is ok. Thanks for your help, Pam<BR><BR>

Diane

Pam: The dogs did not bark all night, just occasionally. The cats meowed and the roosters crowed -- all occasionally. Overall, I would say it would be quieter and more peaceful at the B&amp;B than if you were staying in town. I'd rather hear roosters than motorscooters. I'm assuming you've looked at the B&amp;B's website. I took some photos at the B&amp;B and will post here when I have them added to my website.