November 6, 2025
We’ve Been Here Before
Dear little friends,
We slept quite late the morning after Loy Krathong. Our jet lag really has left the house and sleep is needed. And it’s especially needed because it turns out that Bruce is having some dental pain under one of two adjacent crowns and we are 17 miles from superb, affordable dental care in Chiang Mai. He was able to get into the endodontist he wanted on Saturday so tomorrow we’ll leave the winsome Phaya Inn and backtrack on the tall tree highway.
But for now, breakfast. The inn provides a lovely tea/coffee/toast/bao breakfast on their beautiful dining area and we were still weary so we brought our laptop/iPad writing vehicles and hung out there catching up on the journal and chatting with Kitt, the lady in charge here at the Phaya Inn.
It’s unknown what kind of event is happening inside Bruce’s mouth but he is feeling sapped by whatever it is and so we’re taking it very easy today. The weather is cloudy and not overly hot, things are looking up in that regard. In a couple of weeks the humidity will lower drastically, at least that’s what a typical November in northern Thailand should do, but of course an awful typhoon killed a lot of people in the Philippines and Vietnam and is heading mainly to the south of where we are but more rain is forecast this weekend. We may end up holed up in Chiang Mai longer than we want to be.
By mid-afternoon we were ready to venture out on our bikes. Downtown Lamphun still had all its lanterns a-flutter but the street below was quiet, all signs of a crowded festival had vanished, all trash had been swept up. It’s so startling how that can happen so quickly. We rode around a bit and then stopped in at a khao soi restaurant we had marked on the map, parked our bikes out front, stepped inside, and immediately turned to each other: “We’ve been here before!”.
The khao soi was the best yet. Sappy Thai soft rock accompanied a strange Japanese-like cat video on a continuous loop. It was a lot of fun.
There was a temple nearby to peek into, I sat on a bench near a large brass monk on a brass lotus that had holes in it where cats and skunks and toddlers could play hide and seek. I watched clouds. I love me a restful temple.
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After biking back to the inn neither of us felt like leaving again. I was getting worried about Bruce and am very glad he was able to get an appointment that quickly. It goes without saying that getting in to see an endodontist in two days wouldn’t happen in the states in a million years, it would be more like six months. We have a room booked in Chiang Mai, no easy feat the day after Loy Krathong, it takes a few days for the tourists to filter back out of there to the islands or Bangkok or off to see elephants or whatever.
So, this was not an exciting day in any way. We’re taking care of business and at our ages that’s how it has to be. And we get to see Chiang Mai again!
Today's ride: 4 miles (6 km)
Total: 39 miles (63 km)
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