We arrived at the Bangkok airport and moved quickly through security. This airport is just three years old and looks like a huge shopping mall. As we moved toward our gate, we marveled at the beautiful gardens below us and the bamboo trees all around.
The efficient staff on board our Thai Airways flight managed to serve us a simple meal and beverages during the one-hour flight. After collecting our bags, we spotted a man with a sign that read “Ms. Kery”, and we made the deduction that this was “our” man to take us to our hotel. We arrived at the Downtown Inn where Becky Mann, ABC-IM missionary with husband Mike in Chiang Mai, was waiting for us. We unpacked and settled into our rooms, then walked around our immediate vicinity.
Chiang Mai, a city of one million people, definitely has a “small-town feel” to it after coming from Bangkok with a population of 12 million. In walking towards the Chiang Mai “Night Market” just one block from our hotel, we spotted a MacDonald’s and a Burger King, then stopped at a Starbucks for Sandy and Arlene (the coffee lovers in our group) to get a good dosage of caffeine,. Kerry led us to the Galare Guest House, where he has stayed on previous visits to Thailand in his working with ABC-IM missionaries here. A lunch of soup, rice (of course), and veggies was followed by delicious fried bananas. Next, we caught a taxi ride to the Chiang Mai Flower Festival that happened to be going on during the weekend. We counted at least 25 floats loaded with every flower imaginable. There were Buddha’s, elephants, and dragons galore in a vivid splash of color. So many flowers! This was however a sad moment for me when I discovered that my camera was missing from my bag.
Back to our rooms for a brief respite, Becky picked us up and drove through crazy, heavy traffic (what a multitude of motor bikes in this city!) to the Old Chiang Mai Cultural Center. After dining on chicken, pork, cabbage, spicy sauces, pineapple and melon, we were entertained by a program of beautiful young men and women in costume traditional Thai singing and dancing. A final part of the evening was to visit a small theater featuring the hill tribe people (including Akha, Lisu, and other tribal groups) doing their dancing and music. Time to retire! We went back to our hotel after a full day of listening and learning in Chiang Mai.
Beth Kieft
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