So I had a leisurely morning at my hotel in Chiang Mai eating breakfast and everything. I checked out and left my bags with the hotel. I had a flight in the evening to head down south to get some beach time, but I plenty of time to kill before going to the airport.

I decided I wanted to go to the temple up on the mountain, Wat Phra That Doi Suthep. The Spanish guy I’d talked to at the elephant sanctuary mentioned he’d hiked up but said it was a little slippery in places. I initially thought about hiking it. My phone said it would take about 2 hours… but since I no longer had access to a shower, I decided maybe that wasn’t the best idea to get super sweaty and gross. 

So I figured, I’d get a ride up to the top and then walk down. Sounded like an easy idea.

The driver who picked me up immediately started negotiating about picking me up on the way back too, but I told him I was going to walk back. He was in disbelief, but told me I could just pay him 280 for the one way. 

As we drove up the mountain, I wasn’t seeing any clear pedestrian trail. I think there is one, but it just wasn’t obvious. The road was very narrow and it didn’t seem good to walk up and down. It also had several long curves to get you up to the top, so was longer than the distance my phone was indicating. I decided to be smart and just not do that to myself. 

Sure enough, the driver asked me a few minutes later if I was sure I wanted to walk down. I told him as it was further than I thought, yes I’d appreciate him taking me back. Could he wait an hour and would it be the same amount? 

He told me he’d come back in an hour and a half. I thought he said yes to the same amount, but I think there was a miscommunication somewhere (yay language barriers). I had just enough money to be right at 600 baht, so a small tip on top for him.

Up at the temple I climbed the huge stairs up to the very top and wandered around. It was very pretty, very peaceful and had good views. I definitely didn’t feel like I needed an hour and a half, but went ahead and sat down for a mango smoothie and then looked around for some wildlife. 

I went and waited where the taxi driver had indicated. The time he’d told me rolled around, and then five minutes, and then ten. 

I noticed there were kind of open back trucks heading down the mountain that would take you to the downtown area for 100 baht. I gave him a few more minutes and figured I could take one of those if needed. 

Thankfully, just about the time I was about to get one of the trucks, the taxi driver appeared, apologizing profusely for being late. He drove me back down to the town. Unfortunately, I guess because he’d waited he now wanted 800 for the round trip. I did not have that much in exact cash so had to just give him 1000 for the whole thing (about 30 dollars). I was pretty miffed, but just let it go. What could I really do? 

I went ahead and found some lunch in the city, determined to make the rest of the day better. Had some fried rice and Thai milk tea.

Then I headed over to one of the museums I’d wanted to try called the Lanna Folklife museum. It was in an old city courthouse, so a fun building, and just gave an overview of the people who had lived in the area. It was originally the Lanna kingdom before Siam took over. 

It was a good museum, fun building, good exhibits in English as well as Thai. But it didn’t take me very long. I’d planned to be back at the hotel around 5 to collect my bags and everything, but it was only about 2. 

Looking online there was another museum not too far away (literally across the street), so I headed over there. This was the Chiang Mai City Arts and Culture Center. Essentially just a museum dedicated to the city itself. 

Again, it was a good museum in a beautiful historical building. It was somewhat small, but overall I enjoyed it. I still had to time to kill, so I sat down at the museum coffee shop for an iced coffee. It actually was probably the best coffee I’d had the whole trip, so that was something at least. 

I still had time so walked down to the 7 eleven near my hotel and bought some snacks. I wasn’t sure what options I’d have for dinner at the airport, so thought I’d at least make sure I had something (just wasn’t hungry enough for real food at 4 PM. I ate by the moat around the city and started noticing the traffic was getting pretty bad, so I figured I’d go ahead and head over a little earlier than I’d planned.

Got my bags and took a Grab car to the airport. Compared to most cities the airport is not actually not way out in the middle of nowhere, so the drive didn’t take super long even with traffic. 

At the airport there were definitely limited dinner options so I had a ham and cheese panini just to get some protein and carb. I had figured the plane might give me a snack, but it actually ended up being one of those really budget airlines that makes you pay for everything. So thankfully I was not super hungry anyways and just skipped that.

We arrived in my next destination of Surat Thani about thirty minute early. I was very surprised by that, but I figured the process of getting my bags and using the bathroom and all that would take time. I figured I could maybe buy some water at a shop so I’d be set for the night (wasn’t sure what all would be available where I was), and could find an ATM and get a little more cash to be ready for the next day

However, bags came out within like 3 minutes. I’ve literally never seen baggage claim go so fast. I went to the bathroom, and came out into the lobby only to find the airport started shutting down after 8:30 PM. No water to be bought, no ATM in the immediate vicinity. However, it was just about when I’d told my hotel, Inn Khun House I’d arrive when I’d booked a shuttle service ahead of time so I started looking around. 

No sign of anything in the lobby area. Went outside, no immediate sign of anything out there. The hotel had referred to it as a shuttle service, so I kind of expected an official “shuttle”. A lady working for the airport asked where I was going and tried to pass me off to a taxi driver. I turned him down and told him I already had a ride scheduled. 

It was getting well past the time I’d said, so I went ahead and called the hotel to ask where I should meet them. My phone had terrible service and I could barely hear anything, especially in all the hustle and bustle of everyone leaving. All I could hear was the man telling me the price for airport pickup. I told him I’d already asked to be picked up, would that not work. 

Unable to hear anything else I gave up and hung up. Started to call for a Grab car, but nothing was in the immediate vicinity.

At this point there were maybe ten people left outside the airport.

Thankfully, the hotel managed to message me on the booking app and say they could be there in 15 minutes if that still worked. They asked if I was okay, since I guess I sounded a little frazzled.

I agreed to wait the fifteen minutes, though almost everyone else was gone at that point. 

Finally the driver did show up in a car and drove me back to the hotel. I guess he did remember scheduling but must have figured he didn’t need to be there right at the time I’d said figuring it would take time to get bags and everything. I actually had neglected to say what flight I was on, so he definitely didn’t know I was early, but even so apparently had just thought showing up late was okay. 

Anyhow, I will say it was the one time the whole trip I was uncomfortable and wished I hadn’t been by myself. Definitely learned my lesson to not fly into small towns late at night even with a transportation plan in place. I’m just thankful it all worked out.

We arrived at the hotel. It was very basic but okay for the night. I turned in as I was super tired from the long crazy day, and just grateful to have arrived safely.