Phuket to Chiang Mai

Some vacations are full of lazy beach days; my vacations are rarely like those. Here is what I mean, we spend our last day in Phuket on the Simba Sea Trip. This early morning excursion takes you out on a speed boat around to more lagoons. Since there are over 200 small islands it does not get old jetting out. This 5 star luxury experience was the perfect way to end our time in Phuket. Click the website- the landing page is identical to your experience. Sebastian and the whole team there treated us incredibly from raking the sand before we ate to choosing areas that had shade so we could relax to finding private beaches for us. (click to enlarge.. you will not regret it)

After our final day of sun, swimming and satisfying food we checked out of our hotel. With an evening flight to Chiang Mai we didn’t have any time to do anything but grab our luggage and signal for a taxi. Still smelling of sea water and sun screen we head into the airport. We change out of our bathing suites and into dry clothes- on to the next city: Chiang Mai. I squeeze into my small seat on this AirAsia flight. Sunburned and exhausted I try to sleep on the short flight from Phuket to Chiang Mai. This is a challenge because every announcement they make is made in 4 languages which takes some time. I start to wonder how anyone taller than 5’5 fits in these seats and drift to sleep.

After we land and pick up an americano from Starbucks we jump in a cab. We stayed at the Mercur Hotel which was centrally located and extremely affordable but basically one step above a hostel. We drop off our luggage and I force my friend out. We only have two nights in Chiang Mai and from what I have heard it is the hipster city in Thailand. Clearly I’m excited.

We grab a map from the front desk and head out into the night. A couple we met while scuba diving told us about Zoe In Yellow. Apparently it is a bar surrounded by a ton of bars, the scene of Chiang Mai. After a little struggling with the map and dodging some homeless dogs looking for food we arrive. Little shacks line the small streets with music blasting from each one. Discounted offers of 80baht ($3) beers hang on signs. We settle on a reggae bar which a full band and grab two Changs. This is my kind of city already I can tell. Before we grab a tuk tuk home we pass a food stand that I could not pass up. For 40baht which is basically a $1 I can get fresh made pad thai. As we sped home in our tuk tuk, I hold my pad thai feeling really good about city number two on this trip.