Welcome to Thailand

To Chiangmai, Thailand -- November 28-29

Our flight selection to Chiangmai may not have been the greatest.  We chose the flight at a small travel agency in Kathmandu primarily based on price. Had our geography been better or we had looked at a map, we might not have chosen the stopover in Kuala Lumpur.  Not that it's a bad place. Malaysia is a surprisingly modern country.  However, given that we ended up with a 12 hour overnight layover, we might have been better off with a different flight. Still, I was determined to get some rest and make the best of it, so when I discovered a “Container” Hotel at the Kuala Lumpur Airport, I was stoked. Perfect, we could avoid all the rigmarole of going through customs and getting to and from a hotel away from the airport. Yeah.

Off to the airport

As it turned out, the container hotel wasn't actually in terminal 1 where we landed, but in terminal 2. For what ever reason, that forced us to go through customs anyway and take a couple airport trams to boot. By 1AM, an hour and a half after landing, we were at last checked into our tiny accommodations, and wasted no time falling asleep.  

In the morning (Tuesday), once we got the blood flowing again, we had a few hours to kill in the airport.  We had a tasty Malaysian meal at Grandmama’s and then Meg splurged on some makeup at the Benefit store. More and more, it seems, international airports are really just gigantic, high end shopping centers.

Malaysian breakfast

The Malindo Air flights were surprisingly good.  The kids watched Ice Age, Polar Express and a few episodes of Cosmos narrated by Neil Degrasse Tyson, while I wrote emails and perused the South East Asia Lonely Planet book.  Seems like we’re not leaving ourselves tons of time for Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia, but we’ll just have to make due.

In some exciting news, my sister De Ann said she’d be interested in joining us somewhere.  The kids, of course, were super excited to hear that.  It will need to be after the first of the year, so maybe Australia or New Zealand.

On the way from the airport to the hotel, our first impressions were of how relatively quiet and peaceful Thailand seems to be.  Everything appears to be a step up from what we're used to -- cleaner, more organized, and quieter. Even more spectacular is the Kantary Hills Hotel suggested by a friend living right in Chiangmai. Dex joked that it’s nicer and bigger than our houses, which is probably the case -- two bedrooms, two bathrooms, living room, dining area, kitchen and two small balconies.  Ironically we've gone from a container hotel one night to a super nice suite the next.

After an excellent Thai food lunch, some relaxing, and a swim in the pool, we were met by our friend Isabel for dinner.  What fun to see her again. We initially met Isabel five years or so ago in San Jose. She was one of three girls that had come to town as part of the “City Year" volunteer program and stayed with us for a couple days while looking for a place in San Jose.  One of the three was friends with Meg’s niece Katy, which is how the connection was made.  Meg has, of course, done a great job keeping in touch, so when we learned that Isabel was working in the north of Thailand, we definitely wanted to visit.

As usual when new people are around, Dex and Kylie were super excited and practically fell over each other telling stories of our travels.  Isabel patiently listened and walked us to a small, nearby restaurant for dinner giving us ample time to catch up and ask about her stay in Chiangmai.  She's been in the city since June working with Myanmar immigrants and helping them navigate the governmental systems to get the services they need. Great food and good friends. It doesn't get much better.