Wish we had a bit more time…

Day 4 in Chiang Mai… our last day.  When we first arrived, we knew we would want more time in the city. (You know that feeling when you just connect with a place?)  We had originally planned to leave Chiang Mai mid-day, but we changed our flight to an evening flight for a very nominal cost.  This allowed us the ability to enjoy our last wonderful breakfast at the hotel, swim in the pool a bit (which was probably Little K’s favorite part of the trip so far because she’s a water baby) and just relax without any pressure of doing anything before sitting on a plane again.

We very much enjoyed our stay at Tamarind Village and would recommend it to anyone traveling to Chiang Mai in the future.  The staff there were incredibly friendly and provided excellent service.  The hotel had cool activities each day, a spa if you wanted to take advantage of it, a pool, the staff delivered fresh fruit each day and it was a super convenient location.  If we go back to Chiang Mai again, we’d definitely return!

On the last day, we enjoyed lunch at the restaurant at the hotel before heading out.  J got a traditional Thai dish and I branched out from my usual and tried the chili-lime sea bass which was quite delicious.

After lunch, it was time to part ways with the city of Chiang Mai.  We bid it adieu via Air Asia to get from Chiang Mai to Bangkok; it was definitely nice to get to “skip” people in line due to Little K.  In Asia, they really do do a great job of prioritizing the elderly or those with young children which I think makes travel smoother and more pleasant for everyone around (not just those aforementioned).  Waiting for our luggage took quite a bit of time (although I suppose it’s relative though we are accustomed to the efficiency of some of the US airports).  We also flew into the Don Mueang airport which meant a lengthy drive to our downtown Bangkok hotel.  It was pouring rain and traffic was terrible so Little K feel asleep on the ride there.

Upon arrival, I promptly checked into our hotel while holding my sleeping baby.  She slept through check-in and then didn’t make a peep when I changed her into her pjs.  For convenience sake and for a little familiarity we chose to stay at the Courtyard Bangkok Downtown.  While the location was great, the hotel itself was not very family friendly and in retrospect, I may have chosen a different hotel.  We appreciated the convenience of the location in relation to the things we wanted to check out.  The most redeeming factor of the hotel was a subset of the staff who were phenomenal including a server at the hotel’s restaurant, the MoMo Cafe, who took care of us each morning at breakfast.  Her name was Fon and she was AMAZING.  She also became fast friends with Little K and gave her a little tiny doll with golden hair and big brown eyes on our last morning.

Anyways, more to come on our adventures in Bangkok.

Sometimes no plan is a good plan

Day 3 in Chiang Mai…. and guess what time I was waking up again? You guessed it, 3:30am with the roosters.  Luckily J woke up early too and I was able to coerce him into watching Ocean’s 8 with me while Little K still slept.  We had toyed around with the idea of going to another place to see elephants, but figured we’d leave on a high note with Little K having enjoyed the afternoon with the elephants and explore the city instead.  Before heading out to explore though, we wanted to take advantage of the free “welcome massages” that the hotel offered us.  Just a 15 minute shoulder/neck massage, but boy was it awesome!

After our massages, we walked around town and checked out a few more of the the Buddhist temples.  I really wanted to do a monk chat while there to learn more about their way of life. 

We visited the Temple of the Great Stupa (Wat Chedi Luang) because it was just a short walk from our hotel and we’d heard that there would be pretty constant availability to join a Monk Chat (pretty much any time from 9am-6pm.  We read on this website that the monk chats typically take place at the outdoor tables on the north side of the temple and that there are usually several large tables with many young monks waiting to talk.

I think I had this romanticized idea in my head of what a monk chat could be like… although I read on many websites that it would be much more like what it was in reality, I sort of wanted it to be this great philosophical discussion on spirituality with an old monk.  In reality it was a chat with several young monks between the ages of 13 and 18 who really wanted to practice their English.

By now we had worked up an appetite for lunch.  J and I have a little tradition of visiting a McDonalds in every country just to see what different special foods they have.  Silly, I know, but fun and a tradition nonetheless.  So we hitched a ride on a tuk-tuk to go to the local McD’s.

J was pretty stoked to try some of the local McD’s options – some were very un-fast food like and others were just more exotic offerings of an McD standard like the pineapple pie I tried.  Side note:  I kind of veered off of my health kick for this trip, but have grown increasingly aware of my food sensitivities in doing so.  #learnthehardway

After McD’s we explored the city a bit more, relaxed in the hotel while Little K napped and then headed down to the night market. We wish we would have taken more pictures, but there were all kinds of goods for sale and a variety of great food options at the night market.  J had the opportunity to try scorpion, but passed it up with my persuasion since I didn’t want him to feel sick on our way to Bangkok the next day.  I had a tarot card reading done by an old Thai man who told me all about my future… we’ll have to see what may or may not come true, but he wouldn’t have been the first person in Thailand to tell me randomly that I will have another child soon… a boy.  Oh yeah, and I’m supposed to invest in real estate and take care of my parents.  (Mom and Dad will like that one!)

Probably one of the coolest things they had at the night market was this street art which of course we needed to take photos with.  I like to think I’m a pretty awesome photographer.  Look at the one I took of J and Little K… priceless.

Cockadoodle-doo!!!

So little did we know we’d be waking to roosters each morning in Chiang Mai… being a light sleeper I would wake at the crack of dawn with them around 3:30am while J and Little K would soundly sleep until at least 6/6:30am (LUCKY!) Each morning we had a lovely breakfast at the hotel. An expansive buffet was included for free each morning so we enjoyed a ton of refreshing fresh fruits that we can’t readily get in the States like passion fruit, dragon fruit and guava. I also really loved having Lemongrass Tea or Rosella Tea each morning. One of my favorite little nuances in the breakfast buffet was the fried garlic which I added to my eggs each morning (sorry J!) I like to think that the garlic and lemongrass gave me extra boost in keeping the mosquitoes away.

Today was our excursion to the Elephant Jungle Sanctuary which was a bucket list item for me and one of my favorite experiences.  For anyone who knows us, you won’t be surprised to hear that J and I did a ton of research (okay let’s be honest…. J did it all, I don’t have time for that!) before going on the trip as we wanted to find experiences with animals that put the best interest of the animals at the forefront.  We picked the elephant jungle sanctuary because it focused on ethical treatment of the elephants and sustainability.

They picked us up from the hotel early in the morning (sometime between 8-8:30am) and we ended up returning to the hotel around 5ish.

During our elephant adventure we got to feed elephants up close, hug them and talk to them.  We learned a lot about the goals they are trying to accomplish through the jungle sanctuary, the damage that can happen when you ride on elephants (so sadly no elephant rides for us!), some of the challenges with humans competing with animals for food and space to live, etc. and it was fascinating.  We learned how to make treats for the elephants that help aid their digestion and keep them healthy in a natural way and some folks helped make them.  Next, we enjoyed a nice lunch that was included as part of the day followed by the opportunity to bathe/swim with the elephants after lunch.

Little K was terrified of the elephants at the beginning of the day, but by the afternoon, she was giddily helping them bathe.  J and I each got a “kiss” from an elephant on our cheeks too! On the ride to the Elephant Jungle Sanctuary (which was not the smoothest ride), Little K napped and she dozed on the ride home too.  She always looks like an angel when she sleeps. 🙂

By the time we arrived back at the hotel, we were hot and exhausted from such a fun adventure so we just ate a dinner comprised of a little bit of the fresh fruit that the hotel delivered to our room each day and set in for an early bedtime (knowing all too well that the roosters would be waking up bright and early.)

A little on the fresh fruit… we had some of the best bananas there. Thai bananas are much smaller than bananas you’d see typically and they are much sweeter too with (IMO) a hint of lemon in there which made them awesome.  Aside from the Thai bananas, Tamarinde Village would also bring us fresh rambutan too.  I’ve pretty much determined that I’d be happy to live off of bacon and fruit for the rest of my life… with a little chocolate and wine here and there.

Soaking in the culture

We arrived in Chiang Mai late Sunday evening and checked into the Tamarinde Village resort. Super pretty but we didn’t realize it’s full beauty until morning when we were awoken by roosters. Little K told us she wasn’t feeling great after taking her vitamins and then didn’t want to eat much at breakfast except for an apple sauce. We thought maybe she was just tired/jet-lagged when she said she didn’t feel well, but weren’t sure. We didn’t know if we should continue forward with our plans for the day, but she said yes she still wanted to go.

We learned our lesson about giving Little K her vitamins before food (even though the gummies don’t say they must be taken with food) because she puked in the taxi. Or maybe it was the motion sickness J sometimes gets… who knows. Luckily I had a pair of undies and a T-shirt for her in my purse….no shorts though. And she was wearing a dress. So when we arrived at Doi Suthep we promptly purchased a dress for Little K. She picked out a dress that was pretty customary to local culture so EVERYONE thought she was the cats pajamas. She attracted a lot of attention already being Caucasian and with her sun kissed highlights, but add a little cultural dress and everyone wanted to meet her. Our mini-celeb accepted some photos and declined others. Rightfully so she only accepted hugs from one or two kids.

We started the climb up to the temple and the view was beautiful with lush green plants, flowers and butterflies everywhere. You can pay to take a cable car up as option; however, the walk up wasn’t bad, even with a three year old. When you get to the top, the temple is stunning. A few things to keep in mind when visiting is that women need to cover their knees and shoulders (so I wore a dress that did both) and you need to remove shoes before going in. Once in the temple, you need to be respectful. Don’t speak loudly, don’t take any selfies with any Buddha statues and kneel in places where it asks you too. Some temples also require that you remove hats and sunglasses.

Doi Suthep happened to be the first temple we visited and it was breathtaking for us despite the large crowds. After exploring the temple and walking back down, we took our taxi over to the Chiang Mai Zoo and Aquarium which I highly recommend if you love animals or have kids who do. This zoo was more interactive than any of the US zoos. For less than $1 US you can purchase baskets of fresh veggies to feed the animals. Naturally this meant we fed hippos and giraffes (and maybe more than once.) 😊 The animals have a decent amount of space and it was sooooo hot; if we had to walk the whole time we wouldn’t have made it to see all the animals. Luckily you can rent a golf cart to drive your family around for around $10 US per hour. We got lunch at the zoo (chicken and rice) for something like $1.50 US per person. You’ll want to bring your own bottled water with you or plan to by some there because like I said, it was HOT!

Little K really enjoyed seeing the panda since she brought her own little panda “Baby Bear” along for the adventure.

Most places in Chiang Mai require cash so you’ll want to make sure you bring enough and exchange your money.

After the zoo, we headed back to the hotel for an afternoon siesta. After nap, we decided to walk around the city a bit. Chiang Mai is pretty walkable so we walked or took tuk-tuks to get around. I recommend asking your concierge how much a Tuk-tuk to certain places should cost or you may get ripped off. That also gives you a ballpark so you know what negotiating power you have.

We stumbled upon a cute little family-run restaurant Farm Story House which we later found out has received certificates of excellence from Trip Advisor and we know why…. it was delicious. We tried fried durian chips, apricot soda and some traditional Thai dishes including my now favorite Pad Krapow Gao (Spicy Thai Basil Chicken).

After dinner, we headed back to the hotel for an early bedtime. What about that for a first day in Chiang Mai?

We love the Seoul airport!

Our first super lengthy international trip… with a kid.  I mean, we flew to Budapest over winter break to see J’s family, but that was really only about half of the time that it took for us to fly to Thailand.  My baby girl did well on the flights, mostly thanks to an ipad, Netflix, Plex and some kids apps like Daniel Tiger and PBS Kids.  I, on the other hand, got to catch up on a whole bunch of movies I’d missed.  When you have 20+ hours of flight time, you have to change up what you’re doing so alternating between movies, magazines and books is a must.  Prior to my mini-me being born, J and I would go to movies once or twice a month.  However, that’s difficult to do with a baby or a toddler; we often want date night to be something that affords us the ability to talk and catch up with each other.  I was able to watch Black Panther finally (LOVED IT), Pitch Perfect 3 (it was okay) and Life of the Party (pretty good, but I love Melissa McCarthy so I may be biased).

Given our previous travel adventures and the fact that both J and I traveled for work in the past, we’ve been to a lot of airports.  I think the one that wins for being the most kid friendly was the Seoul airport.  Baby girl didn’t want to leave!  She was seriously having the time of her life there.  So demerits to the airport for not having as many food options, but major brownie points for making the mini-me happy.

More to come!