Captain Thailand In Chiang Mai

The story of Captain Thailand began back in last July, during lunch time. I stared at the trip to Pontianak that would happen in September. At that time, it was the only trip left in 2023, so I couldn't help wondering that it'd be a long while before I am going for another trip again in April 2024. It would certainly be nice to have a short trip in January, wouldn't it? 

While daydreaming, I was toying with the idea of Chiang Mai in our group chat as I hadn't been there before. I didn't expect much, so I was surprised that of all people, Hendra suddenly said he was keen to go!  

Hendra (left), with Surianto and Taty at Changi Airport.

An unlikely candidate, Hendra never went overseas with us before. The last trip he did with us was Tour de Java and he was the first to bow out from Japan trip last year. I was extremely intrigued that he wanted to see Chiang Mai. Thus the moniker Captain Thailand was born and Hendra became our captain. 

As usual, things happened rather quickly when it was another trip by Robinson Travel. Interested members were gathered and tickets were settled. Instagram links were shared in the group, giving me the rough ideas what the members would like to see. It was a good thing, as I couldn't for the life of me figure out what to do in Chiang Mai. 

Arriving at Chiang Mai Airport.
(Photo By Surianto)

Six months later, we arrived in our destination. Cicilia and Hendra had flown in earlier from Jakarta and we took the same flight from Singapore to Chiang Mai. The airport felt dated, but things were quite efficient there. We booked Grab, checked into Novotel, then began exploring the city on foot. 

We reached a local eatery not very far from our hotel. It was situated right next to MAYA Lifestyle Shopping Center. We stopped there and had our first Thai food in Chiang Mai. I personally find it interesting that our captain thought pad thai was too sweet when I normally eat it with sugar when in Thailand.

Taty and Cicilia waiting for their first meal.

Once we were done dining, we had a glimpse of MAYA and continued walking to Old Town. Half way there, we passed by a roadside stall called ราชาบะหมี่ เกี๊ยว ปู หมูแดง. It was crowded and Google Translate said this is the King of Noodles, so we sat down and ordered. Turned out to be good!

We resumed walking towards Old Town after that. Some parts of the city felt like Pontianak. The stretch heading to Hard Rock Cafe reminded me of Legian in Bali. But two things stood out in Chiang Mai, though: the cleanliness and the pavement. The city was really clean and the pavement was so wide that it was nice for walking in a breezy night. 

Making our way to Old Town.

From Hard Rock Cafe (because it was a must-visit), we browsed the night market and had a drink at Kalare Night Bazaar, then we Grabbed back to Novotel. Since there were five of us, we soon learnt that we either took GrabVan or Grab RodDaeng. The normal Grab didn't have enough space for five. 

We returned to Old Town on the following day, this time by taking a songthaew. This is the one called Grab RodDaeng. Had our breakfast at Chiang Mai Breakfast World. The rice soup was delicious. Next stop was Tha Phae Gate, because Cicilia wanted to feed the pigeons.

Trying out Grab RodDaeng.

Mae Kampong was our next destination. It was on a mountaintop, so we booked a van to get there. The van window had a Rambo sticker and Tom was one helluva driver that made us hold on tight, so we nicknamed him Rambo. We reached Mae Kampong around 11:21 AM and we would stay there for three hours. 

Mae Kampong is basically a small village with only one main road. Shops are lining up on both sides of the road. Thanks to its nice weather, it offers a relaxed atmosphere that suits the leisure mood. We walked as far as we could before having a coffee break at ฮ่อมดอย Coffee. The place was secluded and we were the only customers!

At ฮ่อมดอย Coffee, Mae Kampong.

After Mae Kampong, we headed back to the city and went to the Big Bee Farm because Cicilia would like buy some honey. The salesman did the presentation and we ate all the honey products he offered to us, haha. Later that night, we returned to Old Town and had our dinner at Lanna Square. My turn to get my first plate of pad thai with sugar!

The night was ended with a cabaret show. We waited at Anusarn Market as the show only began at 9.30pm. Some of us had never seen a cabaret, so they were enjoying it. Memorable moments including a rose squeezed by butt cheeks! As for me, I was nervous because I stood the closest to the stage. True enough, one of them came to tickle my chin!

Waiting for the cabaret show to start.

Kapten Thailand Di Chiang Mai

Cerita tentang Kapten Thailand ini bermula di bulan Juli silam, di saat jam makan siang. Kala itu saya terpaku menatap liburan ke Pontianak di bulan September yang tertera di aplikasi TripIt saya. Itu adalah satu-satunya rencana liburan 2023 yang tersisa pada saat itu, jadi saya pun membayangkan betapa lamanya saya harus menunggu hingga liburan berikutnya di bulan April 2024. Tentunya lebih menyenangkan bila ada satu liburan singkat di bulan Januari, bukan?  

Sambil melamun, saya iseng bertanya di grup SMA, apakah ada yang berminat ke Chiang Mai karena saya belum pernah ke sana. Di luar dugaan, Hendra ternyata berminat! 

Hendra (kiri), bersama Surianto dan Taty di Changi. 

Perlu dijelaskan bahwa Hendra ini adalah kandidat yang mengejutkan. Dia tidak pernah bertualang bersama kita ke luar negeri. Hendra hanya ikut serta dalam Tour de Java di tahun 2019 dan dia juga calon peserta pertama yang mengundurkan diri dari liburan ke Jepang. Saya jadi tergelitik oleh keinginannya untuk ke Chiang Mai. Dari sinilah lahir gelar Kapten Thailand yang kemudian disandang oleh Hendra. 

Seperti biasa, proses persiapan berlangsung cepat bilamana liburannya diselenggarakan oleh Robinson Travel. Yang mau ikut serta segera dikumpulkan dan pembelian tiket pun dibereskan. Cuplikan Instagram dibagikan di grup dan memberikan gambaran pada saya, apa yang kira-kira ingin dilihat oleh para peserta. Ini masukan yang bagus, terutama karena saya kesulitan untuk menemukan daya tarik Chiang Mai, hehe. 

Mendarat di Chiang Mai Airport.
(Foto oleh Surianto)

Enam bulan kemudian, kita mendarat di tempat tujuan. Cicilia dan Hendra terbang dari Jakarta, lalu kita berangkat bersama dari Singapura ke Chiang Mai. Bandara di kota kedua terbesar di Thailand ini kelihatan tua, tapi proses imigrasinya cukup efisien. Kita lantas naik Grab menuju Novotel, lalu mulai berjalan kaki menyusuri kota. 

Persinggahan pertama adalah tempat makan yang berada tak jauh dari hotel. Lokasinya pas di samping mal MAYA. Hari sudah menjelang malam, jadi kita pun menyantap menu Thai pertama kita. Kapten kita berpendapat bahwa pad thai ini terlalu manis. Satu komentar yang menarik karena saya justru biasa menambahkan gula pasir di pad thai saya. 

Taty dan Cicilia menunggu makan malam.

Seusai makan, kita masuk sebentar ke MAYA, lalu meneruskan perjalanan ke Kota Tua. Di tengah perjalanan, kita melewati tempat makan di kaki lima yang bernama ราชาบะหมี่ เกี๊ยว ปู หมูแดง. Ramai tempatnya dan menurut Google Translate, tempat makan ini disebut Raja Mie, jadi kita pun duduk dan memesan tiga mangkok untuk berlima. Lezat nian!

Setelah itu, kita lanjut lagi ke Kota Tua. Beberapa sudut kota terasa mirip dengan Pontianak. Sepanjang jalan yang mengarah ke Hard Rock Cafe pun bernuansa seperti Legian di Bali. Akan tetapi ada dua hal yang sangat menarik perhatian saya: kebersihan dan trotoar di Chiang Mai. Kotanya sungguh bersih dan trotoarnya juga lebar, sangat nyaman untuk berjalan kaki menikmati udara malam yang sejuk. 

Menuju ke Kota Tua. 

Dari Hard Rock Cafe (karena ini tempat yang wajib untuk dikunjungi), kita melihat-lihat dagangan pasar malam dan beristirahat sejenak di Kalare Night Bazaar. Dari situ kita berjalan sampai ke ujung jalan dan pulang dengan Grab. Karena kita berlima, kita akhirnya menyadari bahwa pilihan yang lebih cocok adalah GrabVan atau Grab RodDaeng. Grab biasa tidak memiliki cukup tempat untuk berlima. 

Keesokan paginya, kita kembali lagi ke Kota Tua. Kali ini kita naik songthaew yang dipanggil lewat opsi Grab RodDaeng. Kita sarapan di Chiang Mai Breakfast World dan saya memesan sup nasi. Sesudah mengisi perut, kita mampir ke Gerbang Tha Phae karena Cicilia ingin memberi makan burung merpati. 

Naik songthaew. 

Mae Kampong menjadi tujuan berikutnya. Lokasinya di puncak gunung, jadi kita memesan mobil van untuk ke sana. Di jendela mobil ada stiker Rambo dan supirnya memang jagoan, jadi kita juluki Rambo. Kita tiba kira-kira pada pukul 11:21 pagi dan berjalan-jalan tiga jam lamanya di sana. 

Mae Kampong ini ternyata cuma sebuah desa kecil yang memiliki satu jalan dan deretan toko di kiri-kanannya. Enak cuacanya, jadi suasana pun terasa santai. Kita terus berjalan hingga ke ujung, lalu beristirahat di kedai ฮ่อมดอย Coffee. Tempat ini terpencil dan rombongan kita adalah satu-satunya pengunjung!

Di Mae Kampong.

Dari Mae Kampong, kita kembali ke kota dan singgah di Big Bee Farm sebab Cicilia ingin membeli madu. Di tempat ini, penjual menjelaskan produknya dan kita tinggal icip-icip, haha. Di malam harinya, kita pergi ke Kota Tua lagi, kali ini makan malam di Lanna Square. Sekarang giliran saya menyantap pad thai dengan gula!

Dan malam itu ditutup dengan pertunjukan kabaret. Kita menunggu di Anusarn Market karena kabaret baru mulai jam 21:30. Beberapa di antara kita belum pernah menonton kabaret, jadi mereka sangat menikmati hiburan ini. Salah satu kenangan lucu adalah mawar yang dijepit di pantat. Bagi saya sendiri, saya agak gugup karena posisi saya paling dekat dengan panggung. Dan benar saja, seorang banci akhirnya mendekat dan menggelitik dagu saya! 

Menunggu pertunjukan kabaret dimulai.