I have said before, and will say for the rest of my life, I am not a big city girl at heart. I grew up in open places, able to see the horizon instead of buildings, and yes, even now my hometown is getting a little too urban for me.
But people live in these urban jungles and are quite happy about it. The lifestyle is entirely different than I am used to, so I stumble around these places instead of glide, but cities are the hub of so many cultural experiences, one must visit them to understand, at least in part, how a country ticks.
We left the airport in a taxi. The first taxi I have taken in years honestly. Absolutely the first one on this trip. The internet warns you of taxies around the world, including every country I am visiting. Choose a ride ap instead. They are safer and the price is set. Taxi’s, even the metered ones will try to get you on extra charges and take longer routes to make more money.
From what I have seen, I have no idea if that is true, but the drivers overall are pests. Constantly begging to take you places if you step foot outside a building. It is annoying.
But, we were led to a taxi stand at the airport. Taxi’s lined up as far as the eye could see and beyond.
It helped ease my mind that apparently MJ had arranged the ride at a taxi counter, and a taxi was brought forth to take us to the hotel.
I was low on cash, and since we were whisked directly to the taxi stand by the very helpful person helping MJ, I did not get to an ATM, so did not have cash to pay a taxi.
The driver took off and when we came to the first toll booth, he asked for cash. Thank goodness MJ was there and had money, because I would have been on the curb.
I suppose that is normal. Again, I do not take taxis. The car was less than quality certified, but we got to our destination, overcharged from what I could figure, but through all the traffic and alive.
So big city in SE Asia. The street vendors are still everywhere. The sidewalks and streets are still narrow. There are scooters dodging in and out of traffic and in my opinion everyone is still on the wrong side of the road. Except the scooters who go wherever, whenever, and however they please.
The skyline of Chiang Mai was mostly shorter buildings and temples, but as with most major cities, things are taller here. And there is a haze over everything. I can feel my throat getting scratchy already, but we are only here for 4 nights.
I booked a hotel that I thought I would need by this point of the trip. Not super nice, got a discount, but nicer than the $20 a night thing I had been doing. I would honestly call it average for US standards, but it has a pool, a rooftop bar, room service. That kind of stuff.
We are on the 17th floor of the Grand China, Bangkok. The pool is on the 23rd floor. The pool area has a balcony overlooking the city with a bar, and Gabby said we must have at least one rooftop bar experience because it is the best way to see and be in Bangkok.
So we decided to go for a swim. I would not call it a swim, but it was nice to have my suit on after so long and to be in water.
The vibe of the hotel was unusual for me. It is very ‘guarded’ and concerned about theft of their items. There is even a price list for things in the room in case you are interested in how much you will be charged if something goes missing. It was off putting and concerning to be honest.
Then there was the fact they asked for a down payment for accidentals. Not unusual, but it was 1000THB, and they wanted cash.
When we got to the pool, mind you we had to use our key to access the floor at all, but when we got to the pool, we had to sign in like at a gym I suppose. Name, room number, Time in, time out, here is your towel. Nice, but the guy running it was creepy. He insisted we shower before entering the pool which is good, but he watched. He watched us in the pool. He told us where to sit if we wanted to after the pool. It was creepy and off putting, or perhaps it was great service. I’m going with the former.
And there was a spot in the pool when I was walking in my little circle around the built in benches that ‘gave way’ under my foot each time I stepped on it. Not unlike walking on a grate on the sidewalk. Sturdy, but it gives a little when you walk on it.
I know there are grates in pools. I have a lot of experience in pools, but this particular spot appeared to be concrete floor. No seams, no indication it should give away, and I checked and rechecked the oddity several times. I assume some kind of liner, but I don’t know. I remarked to MJ, who said she can’t feel when she walks so could not back up my claim.
It was odd.
It is interesting how concerned they are about people throwing things off the balconies, or falling off the balconies. I had to sign a waver saying we would not do such things for our room balcony, and then they went as far as to say children are not allowed on the balcony at all.
We sat on the balcony by the pool for a while and watched the sunset. Gabby was right, it was indeed the best way to experience the city. Above all the rush and chaos of the street, and even I could appreciate the beauty of a sunset around taller buildings in the distance.
Nowhere to go, nowhere to be, just sit and watch from the outside of it all. I felt like I was doing something cultural in a very television way.
All while I assured myself and others I was not going to throw myself or other things over the edge, or jump, or… they must have a real problem with balcony debris here.
Eventually we decided to eat. We could try any of the restaurants in the hotel, but after looking at the menus, they were lacking. The one that had potential for MJ, they were singing karaoke. Loudly. Neither of us could stomach that.
We ended up with room service and a quiet night in. It was a good start to our visit here.
