Exhausted from 4 days of FusionDojo training and rather buffeted out, there was no option but to have dinner in the Club Level (now that we had moved to our new hotel room) and take advantage on the complimentary cocktails and canapés.
Armed with our laptops and still so buzzed from the training that we had to do more, the food was incredibly delicious and reasonably healthy, and they featured a pretty good Australian unwooded Chardonnay. It was all good.
From the Club Level we had a view over the Shangri-La complex and pool (which we had not yet splashed in) and, being the rainy season, we were also greeted by a beautiful and very long rainbow, leaving us wondering whether we were really going to find our pot of gold here in Chiang Mai.
We talked more about the possibility of taking a year’s siesta and spending it in Chiang Mai – the climate is not too bad, it’s incredibly cheap to live like a king, and it’s become quite a little Internet Marketing hub. But there’s a lot of hurdles to jump yet and serious consideration to be had, particularly with respect to our families, friends and the kids.
The most impressive thing about Chiang Mai are the people – so warm, friendly and respectful. We visited the night market last night and we were really impressed with the quality of the items on sale, at incredibly reasonable prices. More impressive was that we felt safe and we were not hassled, unlike many of the other markets in Asia we had experienced.
We were also incredibly relaxed – although that could have been the 1 hour foot massage we’d each just had at Arissa’s Boutique (as Leon’s friends we got a special price of 200 baht or $6.20 each). Be assured we’ll be trying more massage from Arissa’s for the rest of our stay.
Despite the streets resembling a cleaner version of Rangoon or almost anywhere in Indonesia, overall we are really impressed with the level of cleanliness and hygiene here, which was rather unexpected. In fact, the local people are far more hygiene conscious than many Australians. It’ still not safe to drink the tap water other than bushing your teeth unless you’re used to it (bottled water is easily and cheaply bought), but in Chiang Mai it’s highly unlikely that you’ll get any belly complaints from the local food which is delicious!