Abrams Family World Travel

Chiang Mai: Walking The Walk

WE were told - before and after we arrived - that Chiang Mai was a walkable city. In parts it is, but on the whole it isn't. And when we first arrived, we had a paranoid feeling whenever we battled our way along crumbling or/and narrow sidewalks amidst the pollution and the noisy traffic. Was it us or is it just tourists and ex-pats who walk? Where were the locals?

Once inside the city centre, where it seems a bit calmer than the roads around it, it feels safer to go on foot. But it appears most people have a scooter or drive or take a rickshaw or taxi or bicycle.

We started off using rickshaws, but found they charge a lot more than the many red trucks. For between 20-40 baht (50p-£1) per adult (they don't charge for children) you can pretty much get anywhere around town. You flag them down, tell them where you want to go and if your destination is en route you jump in the back. When you want to get out, you press a buzzer. Simple. Some friends of ours offered a tip: don't negotiate the fare - just pay 20 baht per adult (the going rate) when you get out. 

Mostly, though, we walk from our apartment base to wherever we need to go (if within 25 minutes walking distance). Jamie and I will carry Kobra. And we often get some strange looks from the locals, especially if Zenchai is without his shirt. This the Thais seem to find highly amusing rather than offensive. 

And when I look around, I don't really see any other kids - in spite of the heat - without their shirts. But Zenchai has always been that way - hot-blooded. I remember once arriving at Detroit airport one winter and Zenchai stripping down while it was snowing outside and people were entering the terminal with ski jackets, woolly hats and scarfs. People looked at us like we were abusing our kid, but Zenchai was genuinely feeling warm. 

I am digressing, though. You can walk in Chiang Mai, but be prepared to arrive at your destination with a mouth tasting full of dust. And even in the back of the red trucks, you get a mouthful of exhaust each time the vehicle pulls away. Early into our stay here, Kobra came down with a rash which we thought was smog/pollution-related. Thankfully, it cleared up. Jamie's been complaining of a sore throat since she arrived.

If you are on a tight budget - as we are - renting a car isn't a legitimate option. More practical and economical would be buying one (and selling it when you leave), but seeing as we head off soon (for Malaysia), that's a consideration for our return visit, particularly if we opt to live further away from the town centre.

There are public transport vehicles which go further afield and for next to nothing, but we tried one such journey recently (to Mae Taeng) and we counted on the way back over 32 people inside and on the vehicle! It was seriously uncomfortable.

Right now, with all the pollution and traffic issues, we're a bit torn with regards to our feelings for Chiang Mai. We want to give Chiang Mai another stab when the air is cleaner. There is so much still to explore. But we are still unsure whether we want to be close to the city and all that comes with it or move further out, where it is more peaceful and, in terms of accommodation, your baht stretches much further.

But that's not a decision we need to think about at the moment. Our (near) month here has given us some valuable experience for what to do when we return and also for when we begin our next adventure - in Penang. 

 

Detroit: Henry Ford Museum

Fascinating, fun, but definitely not cheap at $15 per adult (children under five are free). Beware the added $5 fee for car parking, which we thought was a bit cheeky (there ought to be signs to that effect when you enter the car park).

To visit Greenfield Village (next door) or the Imax Theatre will incur an extra (and chunky) entry fee. There is also a Ford Rouge Factory tour, but this is separate, too.

There are diners and shops in the museum, all carefully placed to help you spend more money (I guess I am spoiled by the free museums of London). Costs can really add up at this place. Their best deal is the museum and village combination – at $32 per adult! Ouch.

However, it’s not all bad. In fact, the museum is highly impressive. The collection of cars and airplanes is vast. In addition there are homes, machinery and exhibits depicting the industrial revolution. The museum is the largest of its kind in the United States.

I found the civil rights exhibition one of the most interesting, while Zenchai had great fun in a play area (he went back three times!) as well as sitting in a vintage car (his favourite moment, but he is a car fanatic) and giant combine harvester. One can easily spend a day here, probably two. In fact, for the cost, you’d be foolish not to.

Some of the outstanding pieces in the exhibition include John F Kennedy’s presidential limousine and the bus in which Rosa Parks, a civil rights activist and known as the “mother of the freedom movement”, famously refused to budge when asked by the driver to give up her seat to a white passenger.

The bus, like almost every other item on display, has been preserved in immaculate condition.

Opening hours for the museum and village 9am-5pm seven days a week.
Location: 20900 Oakwood Blvd, Dearborn, Michigan