Thursday, February 26 – Chiang Mai

At 5:30am, a porter came through our car waking everyone up. (to be fair though, we were warned last night that this would happen) Not a huge deal for me; I wasn’t sleeping that well anyway (no surprise!).

The overhead light in our car was on all night, and being in the upper bunk, I was right against it. The curtain helped a little, but not much. And with the curtain closed, it got a little warm. I ended up opening it on the end by my feet.

Shortly after the wake up announcement our bunks were transformed back into seats. Breakfast orders were taken, and I’m guessing the dining car was open, but I passed.

I was able to get some (fairly) nice sunrise pictures from my seat…

We arrived Chiang Mai station at 7:11am (4 minutes early!). I’m very impressed with the Thai railroad’s punctuality! So, the trip ended up taking about 12 1/2 hours. I have to say, I enjoyed it! (But I like train travel, and I’m a little weird…)

Some scenes of the Chiang Mai Train Station…

I prefer Chiang Mai to Bangkok. It’s more laid-back, has many cultural and recreational activities, and offers a cooler climate.

This is my third visit to Chiang Mai. The first was during my Thailand trip 20+ years ago. I returned 15 years ago, in March of 2011. This was when I was working in Yokohama, and my trip was a result of the devastating earthquake that occurred in Japan on March 11th. Due to the damage sustained by the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, there were concerns about radiation poisoning in the air, water, and food of the surrounding area. Our company therefore made the decision to send their expats away for a couple weeks. I could have went back to the States, but chose Chiang Mai instead.

(And today, 15 years on, I have not yet experienced any (noticeable) effects from the radiation. Hopefully that will continue!)

I’ve booked an apartment here via Airbnb. I was hoping for an early check-in, but the unit was occupied through this morning, so the cleaning crew needs to do their thing first. I’ve been told that my key will be available at 1pm. The complex where I’m staying has a baggage storage room; I’ll head there first and then do some roaming around.

The ride-hailing app used here is Grab (similar to Uber). I could have booked that and spent 5 USD to get a ride to my apartment, but it’s such a beautiful morning (65 degrees), I decided to do the 40 minute walk instead. I’ve got plenty of time, right? Plus, the walk felt good after the long train ride.

Here are some pictures from my journey…

Fuel Price Check: 31.59 THB/liter = 3.82 USD/gallon

Cute coffee/tea shop…

…just getting ready to open.

Google Maps took me down this interesting alleyway…

…where I came upon this cool old Ford.

The Chiang Mai Samakkee Charity Foundation

It is a Chinese temple and charitable organization

Wat Si Don Chai Temple

Okay, I’ve made it to my destination.

The Astra Condominiums

Lobby

Sign posted at the entrance to the Astra. It’s kind of funny, because there are numerous Airbnb listings for apartments in this complex. Plus, I saw several tourists hanging around the lobby.

After dropping off my bag, I was back in wandering mode…

I ventured into a mall to relax a bit, and came across this smoothie stand. Mmmmmm…

You know I had to get one! Mango/coconut. 60 THB (2 USD). Tasted great! Rivals Panda Tea in Tonga!

The Museum of Broken Relationships. Interesting…

It’s one o’clock, time to get the key to my apartment…

One bedroom apartment

I’ll be here for two weeks

(for the observant ones among you, the clock is broken; in case you’re wondering why I waited until 4pm to check-in!)

42 USD / night

Gym

Rooftop Pool. It’s nice, but actually very small for this large (16 story) complex.

After getting settled in, and resting up, I decided to head back to the food court at the mall for dinner…

Next to the smoothie shop is this dumpling stand. How convenient!

Pineapple/Mango Smoothie – 60 THB (2 USD), Six Pork Dumplings – 60 THB (2 USD).

I can see myself becoming a regular at this place! And interestingly these stands do not accept cash – either credit cards (perfect!) or prepaid cards bought here at the mall (with cash).

I ended up doing 25k steps today. A new personal best for the 2026 Winter Escape!

Friday, February 27 – Chiang Mai

I led off the day with a swim in the pool. Up there at around 9am, and it was a little chilly! I was the only one around!

(I made reference to the cool mornings here, but it ends up getting about as warm as Bangkok. The daily temperature range is mid-60s to about 90 – quite a gap!)

Followed the swim with a grocery run.

Travel Note: I mentioned that I will be staying here for two weeks. I foresee this being a low-key, relaxing stay. That means these Journal Entries could be rather boring. Apologies. In fact, I may not even document every day, if nothing interesting takes place (like my London philosophy of the last couple years).

Oh, today I received a response from the Tonga airport security officer:

“We have reviewed our cctv and monitored your blue checked bag. I can assure you that your blue bag wasn’t opened at any point from check in service desk to loading burrows.”

I don’t buy it, but not unexpected. The only other time it could have been taken was on the receiving end in Fiji, but there is no baggage x-ray, or any time for that matter, on the back end. At least Tonga airport humored me with a conversation!

I got a little bit more travel planning done, and then headed out for some dinner. Care to guess where I’m going?

This is the mall with the food court, and the grocery store.

Back for some dumplings!

Tonight I upped the count to 10 dumplings (they’re kind of small) – 80 THB (2.50 USD). With an orange/pineapple smoothie. And Wow! That was good! My new favorite smoothie flavor.

Chiang Mai is kind of known for its Night Market. It operates every night of the week. Rather touristy, but still interesting.

Back to Wat Si Don Chai Temple

Saturday, February 28 – Chiang Mai

Another morning swim to lead off the day. I went up there a little later today, and a couple lounge chairs were already occupied. Nobody swimming though; just me! It felt good, but I think I stayed a little too long; got a little sunburn! May have to skip the pool tomorrow…

Much of today was spent on Journal work. I was way behind. I shouldn’t call it work though; I enjoy doing it.

Yes, I’m back to the same place for dinner! I mixed it up a little though. Tonight I have 10 pork pot stickers – 80 THB (2.50 USD). They were great! And my new fav smoothie – orange/pineapple.

I know it’s boring to go back to the same place every night, but it’s:

• Convenient
• Inexpensive
• Very Good
• Fast