Today was a travel day, but we were able to squeeze in enough adventure to say otherwise. We woke up in our Bangkok hostel around 9:00am to pack and relax in the room before checkout, then we headed down to the lobby for free breakfast. The lobby at our hostel was decorated well and the free breakfast they offered was pretty solid. All around a great way to start the day. I grabbed two croissants and jam, then we headed out around 10:30am to catch our 12:50pm flight.
I’m sure you noticed already, but I’ve added in specific timing for my recap of the day so far. That’s because getting to the airport became an ordeal and every minute mattered…
After leaving the hostel we walked to the metro that was about 5 min away and we went one stop to the AirTran for BKK airport. At this point we were all relaxed and reliving our favorite memories from the trip so far. Getting to the airport was simple and there was really no need to stress. Then, after we were on the train for about 30 minutes we realized our flight WAS OUT OF DMK NOT BKK. For anyone who doesn’t know those acronyms, DMK is Don Mueang International Airport and BKK is Suvarnabhumi Airport. They’re both two major airports outside of Bangkok, but they just so happen to be on opposite sides of the city.
triple check which airport you’re flying out of
Travel Tip #11
We looked up how long it would take to re route by train and realized the two hour commute was not a viable option. So, naturally, we panicked and jumped off at the next stop. We thought there would be a plethora of taxis we could catch, but there wasn’t a taxi in sight at the stop we chose. At this point it’s 11:50am, our flight is in exactly an hour and the DMK airport is on the other side of Bangkok. We gave up trying to find a taxi and ordered a GrabCar instead because we had read online that this car service is great for travel in South East Asia. Unfortunately, after we ordered the car we watched in horror as it continued to drive in circles somewhere 5 minutes away.
Then, out of nowhere, a wild taxi appeared. We immediately jumped up from our defeated spot on the sidewalk and crawled in the taxi. We then proceeded to beg the driver to get us to DMK before our flight, and at this point we are already less than an hour from take off.
As soon as the doors were shut, the driver took off. In all honesty I think we got more than we bargained for because it was low key / high key terrifying. He WAS a great driver though…
We ended up going 160 in an 80 the entire way across Bangkok, swerving through the traffic and clutching onto each other for dear life.
If you say drive fast, be prepared for fast and furious
Travel Tip #12
The entire way to the airport our taxi driver was coaching us on how to get to our terminal and gate as fast as possible, so when we pulled up to the terminal we jumped out and ran to check in.
Then, to make matters worse, when we got to check in they told us we were at the the wrong terminal and that our flight was actually taking off at terminal two on the other side of the airport. They said we had minutes to make it and told us to run and jump over the ropes to skip all the queues. With the adrenaline leftover from the taxi ride we ran and jumped all the way to gate 33 on the opposite side of the airport. We were covered in sweat and they were just about to close the door when we rounded the corner and made it onto the flight!
The flight was quick and after taking off from the city scape of Bangkok we landed in the mountains of Chiang Mai only an hour later. When we landed in Chiang Mai we took a second to breathe before calling a GrabCar to come get us. After waiting for the car for what felt like forever, we gave up and decided to grab a taxi instead. That’s strike two for GrabCar all in one day. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice… I’m never using GrabCar again.
When we landed in Chiang Mai we decided to give grab.car another chance, but again it failed to work. Our grab.car ride never came! Fool us once, shame on you. Fool us twice, we are never using grab.car again. So from this point on we gave up on the service and solely relied on taxis.
We hailed a taxi at the airport to take us to our first hostel and the taxi driver was hilarious. He joked with us about our airport mix up and taught me how to say hello, thank you, how much and too much. This leads me to my next Thai tip, which extends to any travelling you do… know how to say hello and thank you!
Hello in Thai is S̄wạs̄dī (sounds like “sah-wah-dee”), but it has different endings based on gender. Women say sah wah dee khaa, with a drawn out ahhhh at the end. Men say sah wah dee khrap, with a short and sharp finish.
Thank you in Thai is khàawp-khun (sounds like “kob khun”), but it also has different endings based on gender. Women say kob khun khaa, with the same drawn out ahh as in hello. Men say sah wah dee khrap, with the same short ending as in hello.
Know how to say hello and thank you
Travel Tip #13
We booked our hostels for Chiang Mai while we were in Bangkok and because of our last minute planning we ended up staying at two different hostels. The first hostel we stayed at was called S*trips Poshtel and it was downtown near the Sunday market. We got dropped off at the hostel and said goodbye to our Taxi driver/ the love of Pat’s life, then we checked in and hit the showers. The showers were cool at S*trips because they were coed bathrooms with individual private rooms, similar to what you see at a gym, and after my shower just I sat with the Hair dryer on cold in front of my face. Being clean and cold felt amazing and once we were all reset we decided to grab a tuk tuk and go to the Sunday night market.
The Sunday night market in Chiang Mai is regarded as one of the best in Thailand and it runs from 4pm until midnight each Sunday. As soon as you cross over into the market you’re surrounded by stalls with everything ranging from jewelry and clothes to food and drinks. Needless to say, I did an intense amount of shopping and collected about 80% of my souvenirs and gifts from this one street fair. We tried mango sticky rice for the first time and it was delicious. I’m slightly allergic to mangos, but it only made my mouth kind of itchy and the sticky rice was too good to pass up.
Explore the local markets, shops and stalls
Travel Tip #14
Towards the end of the market we met back up with the Bens who were on a different flight. It turns out, they also went to the wrong airport, but didn’t have the same skilled taxi driver that we did to get them to the airport on time for their original flight. To celebrate everyone’s safe and timely arrival in Chiang Mai we all went out to eat at a cute restaurant on the water called Ginger And Kafe. I can not recommend this restaurant enough! I got Pad Thai, duh, and I loved it. The serving sizes were huge, the beer was cold and the ambiance was just right. Speaking of beer, this was the first night we all drank Chang beer. That’s important to note because every night since, all we wanted was Chang beer. It’s delicious. After dinner we all headed to a rooftop bar called Dive and finished off our first day in Chiang Mai the only way you should… with a Chang beer.
Try cheng beer
Travel Tip #15
