Published: 03.02.2025
After my two previous day trips, which involved early wake-ups, the start of February was a bit more relaxed. I first comfortably began with breakfast in the lobby and near the pool... As my fresh underwear and shirts were slowly running low, it was time to head to the laundromat around the corner. I had diligently collected 10-baht coins over the last few days. Unfortunately, not everything went as planned, as my coins did not work as expected (there seems to be an - unrecognizable - difference between new and old coins?), but a friendly Thai woman at the neighboring washing machine noticed my obvious confusion and helped me out with working coins. By the way, this kind of friendliness can be found everywhere here; occasionally, the common tourist (meaning me) looks a bit puzzled, and recognizing this, help is often offered unobtrusively. While my laundry was tumbling in the warm water, I treated myself to a coffee in the nearby shop... When I returned, all the dryers were occupied, so I wandered 5 minutes further to the next laundromat for a dryer (there are quite a few laundromats here). I was now well-informed and could thus confidently share my newly acquired knowledge of the local washing process with an older British couple... And while the dryer was working on my laundry, I strolled to the nearby park and observed the hustle and bustle there. The entire morning slipped by like that... And the longer accounts already show that this morning was not particularly eventful, but that’s exactly what is brilliant when you don’t have to rush from event to event on a two-week vacation... or think you have to... After my laundry looked fresh again, smelled wonderful, was folded neatly, and rolled up just right for my travel backpack, I headed back to the hotel and lounged by the pool, reading, writing, organizing a bit, swimming a lap now and then, and occasionally shuffling with lowered head past the hardworking tile layers in the lobby entrance area to the drink fridge and back to the pool. That must have been very motivational for them... After so much relaxation, I went out again to the city for the notorious Saturday evening market in Chiang Mai (or I visited two markets). I wandered there amidst all sorts of scents and enjoyed my multi-course meal at different stalls, added another T-shirt to my collection (I need to squeeze in more when filling my travel backpack), and briefly watched a fashion show featuring the latest winter collection... And of course, the Dynamo game against the Shakhtar could not be missed on the evening agenda. Just in time before the 2:1 winning goal in the second half, I was sitting in a sports bar near the city wall enjoying a cold Chang draft and celebrating from a distance with all the black-and-yellow fans in the Rudolf-Harbig Stadium... Then the day was winding down for me, and without having visited 20 temple complexes today, I fell asleep immediately, completely worn out...
The next day (now already February 2nd) was entirely focused on departing and arriving... My Grab taxi was scheduled to pick me up for the airport at 11:15 AM local time, so not much was possible for activities during the day. I strolled around my now convenient neighborhood with my netbook under my arm and headed directly to my breakfast spot. I had an extended breakfast, took care of some things on my netbook, and it was already time to get back to the troublesome task of cramming everything into my travel backpack... My Grab taxi was perfectly on time, and off I went to the airport and back to Bangkok by flight. Actually, the unplanned plans were different, but the trip to Laos from Chiang Mai would have been more complicated than expected. So I was heading back about 700 km to Bangkok and immediately continued my journey there with a short two-day stay in Pattaya before heading to Cambodia. The flight was delayed by 30 minutes, but that wasn’t a problem since I hadn’t booked the 5-hour continuation to Pattaya yet; so there was no time pressure. Upon arriving at the smaller domestic airport in Bangkok (Don Mueang), I started piecing together my further connections. With train, bus, and long-distance bus, I continued my journey. Google helped me navigate the way, and everything went smoothly. I didn’t know, however, that there are checks and luggage scans in the trains and long-distance bus stations too. I arrived at the hotel right on time at 8:15 PM after I used the 2.5 km walk from the bus station to observe the city a bit. Now I was really hungry, so I headed to a place around the corner for a Thai dinner... I then wandered a bit towards the beach, found a rock pub with live music right away, and let the evening wind down... I then ambled back to the hotel, the nightlife was bustling in the area next to the beach on my way back, and I saw many women offering their nightly services...
