9/29/13: Adieu to Chinag Mai and Bonjour to Bangkok

Our last morning before flying to Bangkok in the afternoon and I badly needed a manicure by this pint of the trip as I had last had them done on 8/2, the day before we left on this grand adventure.  Two thing we began compiling a few weeks into the trip were a “What not to bring/do for next trip” list and also a “What to bring” list; definitely at the top of the former list is NOT to have my nails done before a long trip as I found it impossible getting acetone nail polish remover along the way.  Yes, I had brought some with me from home but it leaked and I had to toss it!

·        I asked Victor, the Canadian owner of the guesthouse, if he knew of any nail salons nearby; he kindly asked Thunya, his Thai wife for recommendations and she took me to check out a few places on her motorbike while Steven still slept as it was still only 8.  I hadn’t been on a motorcycle up for close to 45 years when my brother John took me for a spin up Birch Ave, our home street in Ottawa.  I remember being petrified then but not so much now as her bike was a much smaller and quieter version of his, or at least what my memory of what his was all those years ago!

·        No luck finding a place open or available to take me with no appointment so I toddled off in another direction by myself and found Joy’s Salon; like many, if not most, salons in SE Asia we saw it was a combination hair and nail salon.

·        I paid just 300thb for both a manicure and pedicure done simultaneously by 2 women; the place was hopping even at that early hour.

·        While I was being worked on, I spoke to a Dutch expat who was having his toenails clipped; he said he was one of 25 thousand expats living in CM and he had emigrated here b/c his pension goes so much further here; he bought a 100 sq meter (about 9000 sq ft) 2 bed, 2 bath condo 3 years ago for 1.7 million thb and it was now worth about 3 million thb; he had just had all his baseboards repainted for only 300thb in one day.

·        As we were waiting for our taxi to the airport in the guesthouse, I spoke to a 60 plus year old man from Carmel and his 50 plus year old Thai wife who had just moved to CM; they both had had a full battery of tests done at the local hospital the day before b/c they wanted to qualify for Thai health insurance; it will cost them, he said, only $2500 all inclusive per year, i.e. no co-pays, for all medical care except dental.  I understand that the level of medical care in Thailand is supposed to be very good and that many Americans routinely come to Thailand for medical procedures to be performed – I believe it’s called medical tourism?

·        You may have guessed by now as to the LARGE number of Western men we’ve seen with MUCH younger Thai women/wives – very apparent b/c it’s not something you see in any other country we’ve been to before this. 

·        Steven and I both found that Chiang Mai has been one of our favorite cities so far this whole trip and by that I mean, not just the city itself but our time there discovering Doi Suthep and the tours we went on with Travel Hub to Doi Inthanon and the Golden Triangle; plus our accommodation was perfect for us because of the lovely patio and it was so easy to get around and see the sights and the markets from where we were.

·        The attendants on our afternoon Air Asia flight to Bangkok were very laid back in appearance wearing tight dark blue jeans with “Air Asia” emblazoned on their derrieres and red and white baseball style buttoned shirts.

·        The airline is much like Spirit in the States where you know up front to the penny exactly what you’re paying for – I know many people disagree with that policy and prefer one comprehensive price but I much prefer the user pay system and only pay for what you’re going to actually use or need.

·        There were very strict rules on Air Asia’s website about only being allowed to bring one carry on bag which had to meet very precise size requirements, NOT being able to consume your own food on board, etc.  Everything had to be paid for when booking the ticket or the cost would go up exponentially at the gate. We packed very carefully so that neither our duffle bags or carry ons would be overweight so it was tough seeing 80% of the other passengers totally ignore the carry on rule and not being held accountable by the airline staff.  Had we but known that’d be the case, we certainly would have packed differently!

·        Very surprised about how people in the Bangkok airport were so low key about leaving their suitcases, bags, etc unattended in the bathroom while using the toilets.  We’ve been so conditioned for so many years now in the States to NEVER leave bags unattended and to report any we see to the authorities that it made me quite uneasy to see what women were doing in the Bangkok airport.  

Note:  I had planned to include photos but have been having so many problems with loading them, I'm just posting the text now.  I'll include the photos asap.