Getting to Chiang Mai

It was dusk when we reached  Thailand skies. As if the gods knew we were coming (haha), the sky went on to display layers of pastel colors–yellow, orange, red, green, blue green, and blue (which my phone failed to capture) above the total darkness. Meanwhile, the opposite side is made alive by a flood of dazzling city lights. What a beautiful welcome!

It was dusk when we reached Thailand skies. As if the Gods knew we were coming (haha), the sky went on to display layers of pastel colours--yellow, orange, red, green, blue green, and blue (which my phone failed to capture) above the total darkness. Meanwhile, the opposite side is made alive by a flood of dazzling citylights. Thank you for a beautiful welcome, Bangkok. #wheninthailand🇹🇭

A post shared by Iyyi (@iyyrish) on Nov 30, 2016 at 3:54am PST

We arrived at Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok at around 7:00 pm. First thing to do, aside from watching out for any signs of Mario Maurer (we did saw Mario in a print ad at the airport), is to get local money. Here I am trying to reenact a scene in the Thai movie ATM Er Rak Error. But I didn't get extra money.

From the airport, we hired a Grab taxi to take us to the terminal where we will take an overnight bus to Chiang Mai. Again, as I didn't take part in the planning, I just followed my friends. The bus terminal is located outside the city, which is quite wise for Thailand, because it doesn't add up to the traffic. The trip took us around 30 minutes, which is short. Our driver sped up a little bit saying that he doesn't want us to miss our trip. I'd like to think it's just because the expressway we took was almost empty.

When we got to the terminal, the next thing we did was to look for buses bound for Chiang Mai. There were two or three bus companies, and I couldn't remember how we chose, but I know we were just looking for an air conditioned bus to Chiang Mai, because it would be a grueling 12-hour trip. The three of us are from the north, and thus, we are used to long trips such as this. But man, what an upgrade Thailand buses are! (compared to buses in the Philippines). The seats are comfortable, and has its own TV and music player. Passengers were also given snacks, and were provided with blankets and pillows. The bus has an attendant, too. For several hours, no one sat beside me. The one who was seated got off earlier, and most of the passengers actually weren't bound for Chiang Mai. I started viewing Civil War, but I dozed off before finishing it, yet again. I don't know if I'll ever get to finish this movie. I like Iron Man and other marvel movies, but this one just bores me.

The bus that took us from Bangkok to Chiang Mai had mini tv on each seat. Failed to finish Captain America: Civil War yet again. #wheninthailand🇹🇭

A post shared by Iyyi (@iyyrish) on Nov 30, 2016 at 4:53am PST

Anyway, in the morning, I woke up to a view indicating that we're already in the countryside--a roadside full of greens, and almost no houses or establishments in sight. It was like going home to Baguio City or Cagayan.

Indeed, we reached the terminal at exactly 12 hours. From there, we took a red cab, and asked to be dropped off to the address of our airBnB residence, our home for the next 6 days.

No, that's not the house. That was just the first temple you'd see before entering the small pathway leading to a community inside. I was instantly amused after seeing this, although late on, our host would not recommend for us to visit this temple, which is right infront of our this house:

This is the one. We stayed at the room in the ground floor, the one next to the gate.

Portraits of King Bhumibol and Queen Sirikit welcomedus to our home for the next few days.

I LOVE THIS CORNER where postcards and letters from people who stayed at the house were hung.

We decided to take some rest first, (thus the start of our sleeping marathon while on vacation). In the afternoon though, we had no choice but to go out because we're famished.

Fried and steamed chicken with rice. Na-miss agad ang rice. One day lang di nakapag-rice.