Sawasdee

Transit day. Which means I’ll keep this mercifully brief.

One of the quieter perks of The Key was a sit-down, à la carte breakfast in the main dining room on disembarkation morning. No buffet chaos, no jostling for toast. Just coffee, eggs, and a civilised farewell to the ship.

We ate around 8am and disembarked at about 8:45. Nothing in the process itself was slow, but the line snaking off the ship certainly was. One crew member commented that the morning had been unusually quiet until suddenly… it wasn’t. Everyone, it seemed, had chosen to leave at exactly the same time. My guess? A high proportion of locals, none needing to catch flights. I do have to mention here that Royal Caribbean has done a great job of moderating the Asian tendency to queue jump...

My mother had arranged for the same driver to collect us at the port and take us to the airport. From there, we boarded Scoot for our flight to Chiang Mai. Thank you to our Amex cards which fed us all breakfast number 2 as well as an early lunch at the lounge.

This leg of the trip was always meant to be economical. With several other adventures on the calendar, restraint was required. When we started brainstorming affordable, short getaways that would work across generations, Southeast Asia was the obvious answer. Chiang Mai won out for its food, familiarity, and the fact that the kids had never been to northern Thailand.

Scoot was… Scoot. No frills, no fuss, exactly what we paid for. The cabin crew were friendlier than many full-service airlines, and we landed fifteen minutes early, which in budget airline terms feels like winning the lottery. Immigration at Chiang Mai airport was efficient, with luggage coming out quickly as well. We did have a minor snafu when the children noticed that Opa was being taken away into some small interrogation room! Thankfully the immigration officials were friendly and helpful and let me back into try and help. Minor problem of the Thailand Arrival card somehow not attaching itself properly onto his passport. Phew!

Hello again Singapore

For those who love details...the menu for breakfast at disembarkation

Crab benedict. Tasty

For those who are still enamoured with the Dubai chocolate craze. The OG Fix had a pop up at Changi Terminal 1 until 30 Jan

Decent food offering! Hainanese chicken rice was one of the made to order choiced

Sticking with the no-middleman theme, I’d once again organised things directly through a local travel agency. It was inexpensive, so expectations were appropriately calibrated. First impressions were solid. Communication was clear, airport pickup was on time, the van was clean, and the driver friendly.

Our base in Chiang Mai was the Duangtawan Hotel. And honestly, it perfectly reflected the overall tone of this part of the trip. Well-located. Four-star on paper. Right near major hotels and the night bazaar. Very much “Asian standard,” in the sense that nothing was actually wrong… but everything was a little tired.

The rooms were spacious, the air-conditioning worked beautifully, and the facilities were extensive — including a surprisingly enormous gym with every machine imaginable. But everything was old, and the décor had seen better decades. The hotel was full, largely with Asian sporting groups, which gave it a very specific energy.

Would I recommend it to clients? No. Especially not Western clients.
Would I recommend it to friends? It depends.

For my parents, it was perfect. Clean room. Good location. Easy access to shopping and food. Tick. Tick.

We’ll reserve final judgement until the sightseeing begins.
For now, it was time for sleep.

Day 5 – Goodbye Ship, Hello Chiang Mai

Our private transfer at Chiang Mai airport

Duangtawan Hotel lobby

Room definitely looked better online than in real life

So long as there was no mould in the bathroom, I'm happy

Welcome fruit punch. So so...tasted almost like fake orange juice crossed with yakult

Evening stroll to find food

Dessert time

When you're tall staying in an old Asian hotel

The big gym

All the gear...even if they were only Gen 1

There were even classes if you were that way inclined!

Even the scales looked old school. And no I did not hop on