October 27, 2025
Travel day! We headed to our first stop in Thailand today, Chiang Mai. Our flight was not till after 1PM so we had plenty of time in the morning for a normal breakfast and bit of home school while we packed up our rooms. The packing squeeze continues to get old and we are counting down how many more flights we have left to see if we should buy an extra bag.
Pan picked us up with our normal driver and it was a quick ride to the airport. I had all my cash counted out and ready for the end of Laos tipping; Pan, driver, housekeeping, and hotel breakfast staff. Everyone got their tip but someone most have gotten some extra because the money I thought I would have left for airport snacks, ~40 USD, was no longer in my pocket. Someone must have thought we were a very generous family!
The plane had propeller engines and the boys called it a jet, thinking it was going to be fancy like a private jet. We assured them, before we got on the plane, that it would not be fancy and likely not as nice as some of the bigger planes we have flown on. It’s funny how seeing anything new lets their imagination run a bit wild.
The flight was not eventful but we were all tired and hungry when we got to the hotel. Our room is two bedrooms with a shared bathroom. Not the best setup we have had but not the worst either. We decided to head out for dinner and walked towards a Mediterranean place Kayleen found in the Old City section of the city. As we left the hotel and walked, we were all excited to see Halloween decorations scattered around the city. We had been unsure of what we would find for Halloween activities but this was a promising start.
We noticed a ton of pigeons near the old wall that marked the beginning of the Old City section. People would stand among them and then someone would make a loud noise to scare them all into flying which would yield what I imagine is a popular Instagram photo. We were hungry and didn’t have the energy to get the boys to take one right then.
Dinner was good for Kayleen and I but Lenny was in full protest mode. He did not like the hummus for some unknown reason and refused other things. Ollie enjoyed some grape leaves but they were not as good as he has grown used to, a bit fibrous, so he didn’t help himself to 20 like normal.
We headed back to the hotel and started Harry Potter 6, The Half Blood Price, on the TV with Ollie while Lenny got to watch his own shows on the TV in their room. On the way back we did notice that right on the little back street our hotel is on there is a motorbike rental and laundry by the kilogram service. Some of our favorite things in SE Asia!!!
