Heading north

After our big day in Bangkok which was supposed to be a small day because of my sickness, we then proceeded to accidently have another big day! 

Still feeling sick, we jumped in a Grab and headed up to the Chatuchuck weekend markets. Boasting 15,000 market stalls, this place is absolutely enormous!

We picked a spot to start and just dove in and started looking around. Not losing the kids in here was going to be a challenge so one eye was on them while the other was on all the stuff we don’t need, and certainly don’t have room to carry.

The kids were keen to do a bit of Christmas shopping and Jim and I were after a couple of bits of clothing so we narrowed down our search to take care of those. I got some ‘elephant pants’ – I don’t know their real name – the light pants that often have elephants on them, not that the pair I bought do…and a skirt…also sans elephants.

Jim and Hamish got some Thai soccer team kit, and Heidi bought herself a necklace and bracelet. 

The kids also got their Christmas shopping sorted, and we stopped every now and again for food. After over four hours I was most definitely flagging so we jumped back in a Grab and headed home to inspect our loot.

That night, as with the night before, I wasn’t really well enough to go out to dinner, so Jim went foraging and we had an excellent laska (actually the same meal two days in a row it was that good). He also combined it with a trip to the laundromat which was conveniently located next to a bar so we now have clean clothes and Jim had a few moments to himself enjoying a quiet beer.

We also packed that night, ready for a very early departure the next morning. We were up at 5:45am and out the door by 6:30am to head to the train station for the 7:30am train to Chiang Mai.

We’d booked 2nd class seats in the air conditioned carriage on this train (that was the best you can get – no 1st class), and the seats were actually pretty comfortable, although the train did look a little tired. 

The kids settled in with their books and toys and I slept on and off, having found a pharmacy at the train station that sold the good drugs that made me very drowsy. At around 11am they came and took our lunch order (fried rice and chicken), then delivered that at about 1pm when it was collected from whatever station we’d pulled into. The train was mostly full with people coming and going at each stop and the countryside was interesting with rice paddies and sugar cane early on, before we started heading up into the hills towards Chiang Mai.

The train arrived exactly on time at 5:50pm and by then we were glad to be off it, but by no means sick of it. The kids, as usual did very well with no complaints, just read their books, napped and looked out the window.

We hopped in a car thinking that the 6km trip to the hotel wouldn’t take very long, but then got stuck in a massive traffic jam, so the trip took nearly an hour. By then we were very glad to get out of it.

Jim and I came to Chiang Mai about 15 years ago and really enjoyed it. We’re staying in the same hotel as we stayed in back then, which has lush gardens and a lovely pool. 15 years ago it was in a quiet area of town, but the city has grown so much that it is now in the thick of the action! We barely recognise the place and it seems to be thriving.

Checking into our accommodation, we knocked on the door of the room two doors down where we found granny and grandpa – they just keep popping up in random places! 

We went out to dinner straight away as we were tired and starving, and luckily being in the thick of it all there were plenty of options available.

The next day I woke up feeling just as sick, and now Hamish has gone down too. So I decided I needed a day off after over a week of ignoring it. I grabbed my book and headed for the pool while the others spread in various directions to do some Christmas shopping. 

We didn’t all reconvene until mid-afternoon, which is when Jim and I snuck out to do our Christmas shopping, finding a place for dinner while we were wandering around. Of course if it was just us, we’d be grabbing something off the street, but with the fussiest eater in the world with us we had to find something with ‘Western’ options. Eventually we managed to do that so Hamish could have his beloved chicken nuggets and chips when we returned later on.

It’s now Christmas Eve morning, and I’m still pretty unwell, but Hamish has overtaken me I think, having a restless night dealing with his coughing/breathing issues. So we’ll be back to the pharmacist this morning to deal with that, and then all going to plan, heading off to Chiang Mai zoo. We went to this zoo years ago too, and held baby tigers, in an effort to find out if Jim is allergic to big cats as well as domestic ones (he most certainly is). Those cats will be all grown up now, but we’ll be keen to see the pandas, and the kids will be hoping to see capybaras. 

Hopefully we have a Christmas miracle and are all back to full health for Christmas Day. I’m used to being sick, but it’s not much fun for the kids when they are too. ;-(