Apartment Hunting in Chiang Mai

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Hey All,

Today was decision day, decided to stay one more day in Chiang Mai and luckily my room was available for another night. I visited a travel place and after mulling over several options from taking a bus to Lampang to flying south to an island, I opted to fly to Krabi, then take a ferry across to the island of Koh Lanta. It’s a very quiet, very non touristy place with lots of guest houses and bungalows along the beach. I figured a few days of beach time would be nice. I have about 3 places in mind from my research and will check availability before I head that way. It’s a pretty full day of travel, fly to Bangkok, then to Krabi, then find a minivan and drive to the dock for the ferry crossing, then find transportation to wherever I stay. Would have been much easier to bus to Lampang, but sometimes the best places are not the easiest to get to.

Spent the morning relaxing, did a bit of reading and sitting watching the small soi come to life. Went to the mall round lunch to pick up a few supplies and replace my alarm clock. It was not as nice as the Central Plaza, but it was 4 floors of shopping, just not as swank. I found a department store called Central and it was in the middle of the mall and had 4 floors. I searched all the floors till I finally found some alarm clocks. This place is amazing, you see these people dressed in black polo shirts everywhere and when I stopped to look at the clocks 3 people rushed over to help me out. I made my decision and let them know that is what I wanted. 2 of them got down and started rummaging through this hidden shelf looking for one like the display model. They found one and right away this guy in a blue shirt and tie runs over and points out a small dent in the box and makes them rummage some more for a non-damaged one. I was saying it was ok, cause there is no way that small spot hurt anything, but they would have nothing to do with it. After finding a good box, they opened it up for my inspection and installed the batteries for me, making sure I was happy. After putting it back in the box one of the salespeople escorted me over to the register for check out. He put it in a sack while the lady rang me up and took my money. They all bowed as I thanked them and headed on my way. Maybe JC Penney could learn a thing from them – lol.

I found a store that is a smaller version of Wallgreens, called Watsons and bought some more deodorant and body wash, but it was not easy to find, they stock things with no rhyme nor reason to what goes together. But it was a successful trip despite the language barrier.

After I left Watsons I spotted a Sizzler Restaurant and decided to have lunch at the salad bar. It is a hoot some of the items on their bar, like quail eggs, some bamboo shoots and other items that I have never heard of. But, it was a very good salad and all you can eat for only $4.50. I did not know Sizzlers existed anymore, but they are big in Asia. Go figure.

Met the Aussie Bloke at the mall Coffee shop and it was a very short ride over to a couple of apartment buildings. One was very swank with a swimming pool, nice fitness center and such. Looked at a 1 bedroom and a studio, with the 1 bedroom being $350 a month and the studio was $275 month. Not bad. Then went down the street to another building that was not as new, no pool, but had a 24 hour guard for security, and all they had for me to see was a studio and it was $150 a month. These were all unfurnished but you can get furnished at each place. My camera battery died at the mall so I could not get any pics, sorry, I was so disappointed. I picked up a few brochures and it was a very informative visit. Bill was a very nice gent and I thanked him for all the info.

Bill set me up with this Thai gentleman to take me to one of the places I wanted to go tomorrow, Inthanon National Park. This place is atop the highest mountain in Thailand, over 8,000 ft. and in the park there are several waterfalls and great scenery. Seeing this place will be worth the extra day in Chiang Mai.

To answer a question, yes its fairly humid here, but the temp has not been to bad. As I sit here typing this outside my guesthouse, there is a little breeze and its very comfortable. You do get pretty sticky by days end. It’s really nice after dark, and that’s when most Thais get out, when all the street vendors are at full swing, and it’s the best time to watch life.

I have been taking a lot of video and will be working on some good videos I have taken when I get some beach time. I think you will enjoy them, but I have to put them together, edit them, and hopefully get them to download, depending on what kind of connection I get on Koh Lanta. If not very good I will try when I get to Bangkok. Worst case I will do it when I get home.

Happy Travels, Don

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Comments

[Karen Hauser]

Having fun
Hey Don, Looks like your having a great time there. I really look forward to your blog every morning when I wake up (or should I say afternoon). Karen

[Nurse Don]

Thanks Karen, its a lot of fun for me, and it makes it even better when I hear it from someone :)

[Xine]

K, now I'm jealous
The pics and talk of going to the beach are making me jealous. I just love the name of the bar! When I got to work this morning, we were all talking about how great and detailed the blog is. It's almost like talking about the next episode of an awesome TV series. It's funny....you have fans! Yeah, I'm gonna say it.....this is better than The Walking Dead! Miss ya!

[Nurse Don]

Wow, that is a compliment