With school starting back up, I’m unsure if I’ll actually be able to finish these posts, but I’ll certainly do my best.

My eighth day in Thailand was one of my transition days, so not spent doing quite as much as adventuring. Nonetheless, there were still some fun experiences I’d love to share.

My next destination for the trip was Chiang Mai, which is a city all the way up in the north of Thailand. I’d heard lots of good things about it, so in spite of it being a little further away, I opted to make it a priority.

Many people take the night train to get up there, but looking at prices I noted there were cheap flights from Bangkok, and with that I’d only spend a shorter time traveling for a similar price. The train was more than twelve hours, while flying was under an hour (though it would take a little more time to get a van back to Bangkok and then to the airport).

I woke early in the morning in Ayutthaya, had some breakfast at my hotel before calling a Grab Car to take me to the van station. My ticket had suggested showing up 30 minutes early, so I did so. This meant I actually ended up catching a 30 minute earlier van, and getting on the road earlier than I’d intended to. The van was pretty crowded, so I was crammed in a back seat with my backpack on my lap. Not the most glamorous ride, but cheap and effective to get back to Bangkok. 

I arrived at Bangkok plenty early, called another Grab car to get to the airport. 

Since I’d given myself plenty of leeway in my flight times (accounting for possible delays on the road, traffic etc), I had time to kill in the airport. So I had a coffee at a shop and relaxed for a bit and then even went to do a sit down meal for lunch (some kind of noodle dish and milk tea). I also wandered around a bit, as I hadn’t seen much of the place when I was coming in on my first day.

I had to admit it was very interesting to me that in the Bangkok airport for domestic flights you don’t go through security until you’re headed to your gate. I saw people with stickers saying they’d cleared security so they could then go back out and eat, but I opted to just wait until I was ready to go to my gate rather than coming and going. A short bit before my flight I went ahead and headed through a quick security line and headed to my gate.  

The flight was very easy, and as it was so short I chose a window seat to really get the most of the views. Bangkok was fun to see from overhead, but I was most interested in seeing more of the North which I’d heard was lovely. Sure enough, the beautiful lush green surroundings to Chiang Mai were beautiful overhead. 

When I’d booked my hotel on Booking.com it came with a complimentary taxi service, so I opted to use that for convenience. My driver picked me up and took me straight to my hotel, making things very easy.

I had opted to stay at the Twenty Lodge, a boutique hotel in the heart of the old city of Chiang Mai. 

I checked into my hotel. They gave me some kind of refreshing tea that I really enjoyed and then showed me to my room. I set my stuff down before taking off to do a little exploring. 

I enjoyed walking around a bit, mostly looking around some of the temples in the area, and admiring the canals surrounding the old city. I also spotted a few fun pieces of street art. Feel free to look through some pictures in the slideshow below.

Then I went back to my hotel and lounged by the pool for a bit. 

At last I was ready to get some dinner. I cleaned up and then headed to find a restaurant. 

I ended up settling at The House by Ginger, this lovely little restaurant in an old colonial home. I ordered a Chiang Mai Sling (white spirit, coconut liquor, lychee syrup, lime juice, white sugar, and pomegranate) and some fried rice with crab meat for my main course.  

Everything tasted delicious, but what I loved the most was the atmosphere of the old house. It was just so fun, such a lovely romantic space with candlelight and an eclectic mix of couches and chairs at tables. 

I was unable to resist dessert as well. I went with a brownie and ice cream, which was delicious and decadent. Definitely the perfect thing to end a busy day of traveling.

After I was finished eating, I headed back to the hotel. I’d been told the pool was open twenty-four hours so I opted to take one more swim before turning in for the night. 

And that concluded another amazing day. Follow along to read about the other amazing days!