Day 325 - Flight from Luang Prabang to Chiang Mai
Tuesday, May 28, 2019
Today was our last day in Luang Prabang, Laos, and I have to admit that I wasn’t ready to leave this beautiful city and country. We got up late and had a delicious breakfast on our terrace upstairs. We got ready to check out at noon. We left our backpacks with the manager, who has been extremely friendly, and went to check the library's book store. Sunshine and I got a book, even if we both already have one. The money goes to help Lao schools so it was a good cause!
After that, Gregory and Sunshine walked to buy sandwiches. (Sunshine's note: all the stands open in the evening for the night market. So we walked a long way in the heat to find a sandwich.) [Gregory's note: Actually, Sunshine had a particular stand in mind and wouldn't stop anywhere else along the way.] Daniel and I walked back to the hotel, it was unbearable to be outside in the heat. You really don’t see the locals outside at this time, they are hiding from the heat and napping! Wise people.
Gregory and Sunshine came back wet with sweat and right after that, our taxi driver came to pick us up to drive us to the airport. We left early and we had a lot of time to kill at the airport, but it sure beats waiting outside! We checked in and Daniel and I went to wait in the lounge. It was a small room with very few snacks. Time goes fast, especially when you nap!
We ran into Camille, a French girl that we had met in the Luang Prabang coffee shop l’Etranger. We were actually on the same flight to Bangkok. The flight was only a little over an hour. Air Asia is a budget airline and does not give you anything, nor even water. Luckily we had eaten our sandwiches at the airport. When we landed in Bangkok we had to stand in a long line to go through customs and when it was finally our turn, Daniel went first and was told that he was in the wrong line. An officer directed us to another office that was empty. Good thing we had lots of time to kill. We tried to change our flight to leave earlier. We walked to the gate where there was an earlier flight to Chiang Mai and asked if we could board the 7:00pm flight but they said no, so we had to wait for our 9:00pm flight. This time we agreed that it was worthwhile to pay for the extra person and go to the lounge.
Paying the fee was really worth it. The lounge was very nice and dinner was delicious: red chicken curry with steamed rice and many other things. The kids were thrilled with the dark chocolate that we haven’t had in a while. The internet was fast once again so really time flew and before we knew it, it was boarding time! Again, we had to run, they said that it was the last call for our flight! We made it on time but we forgot to ask to sit us together. Oh well, it was a short flight. Sunshine and I sat way in the back and Daniel and Gregory in the front. We landed at 10:30pm. It has been great not having to go pick up any suitcases since we have been traveling with our backpacks only.
All the taxi drivers were approaching us and asking us where we wanted to go. We told them that we already had a ride. Some of them even followed us to where the Grab car was going to pick us up. One of them even said that Grab was illegal and that we should be careful. [Gregory's note: we have heard that lie from taxi drivers in almost every country.] We waited for half an hour for our driver and he was a little weird. He kept yelling "no no no!", when he picked us up. The crazy part was that he didn’t have his navigation ready and kept asking Gregory to do it and asking him questions, like Gregory knew where everything was (Sunshine's note: by the way, this guy did not speak English at all. He was asking these questions in Thai and a little bit of deranged sign language). The taxi drove through some deserted streets and I worried I had chosen the wrong hotel with a bad location. [Gregory's note: Lili worries every time there is a street where she doesn't see people, even in the middle of the countryside.] Finally, the taxi driver told us that we had arrived but we didn't see the hotel. I did worry a little bit because the streets look deserted but mostly because it was around 11:30 at this point. I went to ask at a small hotel about the location of our hotel. The receptionist told me that it was just next door. We were so close and the sign was right in front of our noses and no one saw it. [Gregory's note: it's 11:30 at night, we are in the middle of 3 hotels and Lili is still worried about the street being quiet. Perhaps a hotel on the boulevard would be better?]
We checked in at midnight. Of course, they gave us the wrong room. Gregory and I wanted a double bed. Fortunately that was not a problem and they gave us a room upstairs. The hotel looked very cute and bigger on the pictures but it was nice! Fell asleep in 3 seconds!
Today was our last day in Luang Prabang, Laos, and I have to admit that I wasn’t ready to leave this beautiful city and country. We got up late and had a delicious breakfast on our terrace upstairs. We got ready to check out at noon. We left our backpacks with the manager, who has been extremely friendly, and went to check the library's book store. Sunshine and I got a book, even if we both already have one. The money goes to help Lao schools so it was a good cause!
After that, Gregory and Sunshine walked to buy sandwiches. (Sunshine's note: all the stands open in the evening for the night market. So we walked a long way in the heat to find a sandwich.) [Gregory's note: Actually, Sunshine had a particular stand in mind and wouldn't stop anywhere else along the way.] Daniel and I walked back to the hotel, it was unbearable to be outside in the heat. You really don’t see the locals outside at this time, they are hiding from the heat and napping! Wise people.
Gregory and Sunshine came back wet with sweat and right after that, our taxi driver came to pick us up to drive us to the airport. We left early and we had a lot of time to kill at the airport, but it sure beats waiting outside! We checked in and Daniel and I went to wait in the lounge. It was a small room with very few snacks. Time goes fast, especially when you nap!
We ran into Camille, a French girl that we had met in the Luang Prabang coffee shop l’Etranger. We were actually on the same flight to Bangkok. The flight was only a little over an hour. Air Asia is a budget airline and does not give you anything, nor even water. Luckily we had eaten our sandwiches at the airport. When we landed in Bangkok we had to stand in a long line to go through customs and when it was finally our turn, Daniel went first and was told that he was in the wrong line. An officer directed us to another office that was empty. Good thing we had lots of time to kill. We tried to change our flight to leave earlier. We walked to the gate where there was an earlier flight to Chiang Mai and asked if we could board the 7:00pm flight but they said no, so we had to wait for our 9:00pm flight. This time we agreed that it was worthwhile to pay for the extra person and go to the lounge.
Paying the fee was really worth it. The lounge was very nice and dinner was delicious: red chicken curry with steamed rice and many other things. The kids were thrilled with the dark chocolate that we haven’t had in a while. The internet was fast once again so really time flew and before we knew it, it was boarding time! Again, we had to run, they said that it was the last call for our flight! We made it on time but we forgot to ask to sit us together. Oh well, it was a short flight. Sunshine and I sat way in the back and Daniel and Gregory in the front. We landed at 10:30pm. It has been great not having to go pick up any suitcases since we have been traveling with our backpacks only.
All the taxi drivers were approaching us and asking us where we wanted to go. We told them that we already had a ride. Some of them even followed us to where the Grab car was going to pick us up. One of them even said that Grab was illegal and that we should be careful. [Gregory's note: we have heard that lie from taxi drivers in almost every country.] We waited for half an hour for our driver and he was a little weird. He kept yelling "no no no!", when he picked us up. The crazy part was that he didn’t have his navigation ready and kept asking Gregory to do it and asking him questions, like Gregory knew where everything was (Sunshine's note: by the way, this guy did not speak English at all. He was asking these questions in Thai and a little bit of deranged sign language). The taxi drove through some deserted streets and I worried I had chosen the wrong hotel with a bad location. [Gregory's note: Lili worries every time there is a street where she doesn't see people, even in the middle of the countryside.] Finally, the taxi driver told us that we had arrived but we didn't see the hotel. I did worry a little bit because the streets look deserted but mostly because it was around 11:30 at this point. I went to ask at a small hotel about the location of our hotel. The receptionist told me that it was just next door. We were so close and the sign was right in front of our noses and no one saw it. [Gregory's note: it's 11:30 at night, we are in the middle of 3 hotels and Lili is still worried about the street being quiet. Perhaps a hotel on the boulevard would be better?]
We checked in at midnight. Of course, they gave us the wrong room. Gregory and I wanted a double bed. Fortunately that was not a problem and they gave us a room upstairs. The hotel looked very cute and bigger on the pictures but it was nice! Fell asleep in 3 seconds!
For pictures please click here
https://photos.app.goo.gl/oXkdeNtEDs2ESAYV6
Comments
Post a Comment