Chiang Mai – 29th May

Our last day in Chiang Mai fell on Monday 29th May and I had scheduled in to get some work done. This meant that I would still have plenty of play time at our next holiday destination this week. It had been a bit touch and go as to whether Captain Caveman would have to go back early to be the cave expert of an extra trip this coming week but so far, so good. We had another, and final, trip to SP Chicken for breakfast which we did not regret – it is definitely one of the best restaurants we’ve ever eaten at. I took a couple of temple photos just to show willing but it was too hot to be bothered to visit any. Captain Caveman and I had toyed with the idea of doing an Elephant Sanctuary visit while in Chiang Mai but I was dubious, especially after Covid, if they were really as legit and respectful to the animals as portrayed. Captain Caveman decided to take himself off to the barbers while I headed back to the hotel to start work. I’d not walked back to Deluxe Boutique Hotel alone before so I had directions from Captain Caveman and no working phone between us. Luckily, Spiderman and an inappropriately named hostel helped me remember the way back.
By the time I started work there was heavy rain so I ploughed through from 11.30am to 6pm without a break. When I finished work, Captain Caveman was back and it was his turn to decide a location for dinner. We had wine and pizzas at the By Hand Cafe – an Artisan Pizza Lounge. They were really good, the service was good and we both liked the place, so much so that we came back later after a couple of cheeky martinis at the House of Ginger. We probably shouldn’t have drank so much, given that we were due for checking in for our flight back to Vietnam at 6am tomorrow morning.

Chiang Mai – 28th May

On Sunday 28th May Captain Caveman asked me where I wanted to go for breakfast and I decided that the best thing I could go for would be SP Chicken. On the way, Captain Caveman wanted to stop off at a cafe, called Sun Ray, for a coffee. I ended up getting hangry and moany as they had an inefficient system for seating people and I hate pretentious coffee places.
This time at SP Chicken, we ordered the chicken (obviously), rice and 2 plates of veggies. I always give Captain Caveman the skin from the chicken and it’s been barbecued on a spit so is reasonably healthy. It was so delicious that I said I could eat it every day!
It was extremely hot, compared to what we had been used to in Sapa, so we headed back to the hotel. On the way there, Captain Caveman met an astronaut and I took his photo. At the hotel, I managed to book in at my favourite opticians back in Vietnam for Tuesday.

That evening, wearing one of my favourite dresses from a Dalyan friend, we went out to Why Ribs and Rumps. A place with a terrible name but excellent pork ribs, which we shared. I really liked it there and can’t recall the prices as Captain Caveman paid and I didn’t keep a receipt. For dessert we went to another old favourite, Cru, for wine and a cheeseboard. Aside from there being far too many tomatoes for my liking, we enjoyed it. We walked via a shop for beers and water which we had when we got back to the room, tomorrow would be our last night in Chiang Mai.

Chiang Mai – 27th May

Much to Captain Caveman’s dismay, we didn’t get to a cafe for breakfast in Chiang Mai until 10am on Saturday 27th May. He ordered coffee and a şakşuka type of dish, I ordered snow pea tea (as you do) and a banana pancake. I wrongly thought it would be a healthier option as it came with fruit but it was massive. It also had on it one of the worst fruits in the world (in my opinion) – papaya. If you’ve not had it before, I think it tastes like the smell of baby sick/gone off milk.

Back at the hotel, we decided we would perhaps check out the rooftop pool and Captain Caveman sent me off to investigate the situation. It was so hot that I burned my feet on the flooring round the pool and had to come back, quick sharp. There was no shade up there whatsoever so we decided swimming was off the agenda.

For a late lunch we went to check out one of our absolute favourite restaurants, SP Chicken. It was open and not too busy so we grabbed a table and started to complete the tick-style menu. Obviously we had the chicken, which they are well known for, but we ordered veggies, pork and rice to go with it. I had a Chang beer while Captain Caveman prefers the Leo beer and had a bottle of that. The food was so good, as it always is, and when we came to leave there was a sign saying that they had run out of chicken so we were lucky.

That evening I popped on my new dress again and we were off to House by Ginger for fancy cocktails and good food. Captain Caveman had an Espresso Martini and I had a Passion fruit mojito. We shared the chef’s recommendation of the mixed Thai sharing platter which was really tasty. For main course Captain Caveman had pork and rice, I had a pork stew – both were so good and we would definitely return. Our meal with 4 drinks came to a total of 2,165,000vnd (£71.45) which included the 10% tip and was definitely good value for money.

Photo credit – some photos by Captain Caveman

Sapa to Chiang Mai – 26th May

We were the first in to the dining room of the Silk Path Grand Resort and Spa Hotel at 6am on Friday 26th May. At breakfast we made up a sandwich to take with us for the long journey as we didn’t have long until our limousine bus was coming to pick us up. As I drank my cup of tea, I realised what was missing from our afternoon tea yesterday – the tea! I’d been looking forward to trying all the teas but had not noticed that they had never brought us any tea, nor even asked if we would like some. How odd, and even stranger that I’d not noticed! We’d already packed and checked out ready to make the journey to Hanoi airport which was just under 300km away. Unfortunately, the bus was over an hour late and we had to sit in the back seats which were more bumpy. At the service stop off along the way, we saw a cute dog with red dye on it and some very interesting ladies toilets.

We arrived on time for our flight to Chiang Mai, Thailand, checked in and got a beer which was $5.50. It was the busiest I’d seen Hanoi airport and we sat at a different gate to our one to eat our ham and cheese sandwiches.
We arrived in Chiang Mai, got a taxi to the Deluxe Boutique hotel and quickly checked in around 6pm. We took a Grab taxi to Gekko restaurant where we were meeting an old friend of Captain Caveman’s for dinner at 6.30pm. Sid Perou has been a caver and film/documentary maker as well as having written a book – a very interesting man. We got there as they were arriving and sat with Sid, his wife and grandson. We all had beers and I ordered Pad Thai, Captain Caveman had a masaman curry. Both meals were great and we had a good laugh chatting with our friends. It wasn’t a late one as Sid and his wife had to be up early tomorrow and it was already past their grandson’s bedtime.
We had a relatively early night for our first of three nights in Chiang Mai.