Thailand Here We Come (Part 3)

After a good nights sleep Annie and I were up early in the morning raring to go. We only had a limited time in Bangkok so we wanted to make the most of it. 

Just a short distance from our hotel was a major shopping mall the MKR so we decided to take a look. http://www.bangkok.com/shopping-mall/mbk.htm#promo 
The malls in Bangkok do not open until 10am so whilst we waited for opening time Annie grabbed a coffee from a street vendor. This was a husband and wife operation set up on the side of a busy road, basically a cart with an umbrella for shade. Annie ordered a Thai coffee and in no time at all they whipped up a delicious hot coffee in a large takeaway cup. All for the sum of $1. 

Whilst waiting at the mall to open an elderly Thai gentleman approached us and started a conversation in English. He was a charming man and gave us some insights into Bangkok. Through just these few encounters we realised we were going to enjoy our stay in Thailand.

The mall was huge much like any mall anywhere in the world. It was modern and stocked with just about anything you would want. Some things were cheaper than at home whilst most items were about the same price. It didn't take long for us to be over our mall experience so we moved on to find a place for breakfast. 

We went back to the hotel, packed and then left our bags in the lobby whilst we went out to explore. Our hotel was situated close to one of Bangkok's premier tourist attractions, Jim Thompson's House so we decided to take a look. 

Jim Thompson was an American who fell in love with Thailand during his service in World War Two. After the war was over he relocated to Thailand and jumpstarted the Thai silk industry. An architect by profession he bought and remodelled several traditional Thai houses and filled his house with Thai art and treasure. In the sixties whilst on vacation in Malaya Jim went for a walk and was never seen again. 
http://www.jimthompson.com/index.asp

Interior Jim Thompson House

After his death his family gifted his house and artefacts to the Thai people and now it is a popular tourist attraction in Bangkok. Tourists can just wander around the compound or take a tour. The tour is only 100THB ($3) so we took the tour. 

Our guide was a charming young Thai women who spoke good English and via the tour she gave us a very good insight into Thai culture, tradition and history. 

After the tour was over we made our way back to the hotel via a walkway that borders one of the many canals that criss-cross Bangkok. Only a little wider than a single lane road it was amazing to see long passenger boats charging down the river. There are stops along the way to put down and take on new passengers. The fare is extremely cheap and it is one of the favourite modes of transport as it bypasses the chaotic Bangkok traffic congestion. 

We had pre-ordered a cab for our trip to the airport for our late afternoon flight to Chiang Mai. The trip was uneventful and the traffic was light. That couldn't be said for the traffic heading in the other direction, the four lane highway was like a parking lot and we were told the reason for this was it was towards the end of the annual holiday period. 

We were flying on a rather new Thai airline called NOK. http://www.nokair.com is a budget airline and the fares are relatively cheap. There was some congestion to enter the check in area as all baggage is scanned before you enter. Ever since I had booked our tickets I had tried to buy additional excess baggage. Our Scoot flight to Bangkok had 40kg excess but I could only get 20kg from Bangkok to Chiang Mai. I had spent many hours on the phone, online and via email to rectify this. So it was with some trepidation we approached check in with our 4 bags.

The lovely girls at check in were quite bamboozled by our ticket and it took almost 30 minutes and many phone calls to come to a resolve. The determination was that we would have to pay an excess fee of 6000THB ($200USD). This wasn't unexpected so we were prepared though not happy. We paid it, went through security and went to the departure lounge.

As we were sitting there I noticed the woman from the check in counter approaching us. She came straight up to us and explained in halting English that there had been a mistake. Oh no we both thought we are going to have to pay more. 

In fact it was just the opposite they had made a mistake and they were going to refund the entire amount. What a relief! As the money had to be reaccredited to my credit card the woman had to make three trips back and forth to rectify this. Each time it was done with elegance and a broad smile. 

Our time to board came and we moved to our seats at the front of the aircraft. It was an hour flight to Chiang Mai and even though a budget airline each passenger was given a paper bag with a cake and water inside. Impressive service!

Just as the sun was setting we flew into Chiang Mai our home for the foreseeable future. There was a haze over the city caused by the farmers burning off their fields. The city looked compact and welcoming and both Annie and I looked at each other and smiled. http://wikitravel.org/en/Chiang_Mai

Wat Chiang Mai