When looking into accommodation for Chiang Mai we enquired for an apartment as we were having a longer stay here of two weeks or more. We wanted a kitchen to be able to make our own breakfasts and snacks and to make dinner a few nights per week.  We hadn’t heard back from our enquiry with a definitive answer so we were hoping that ‘someone’ would by chance be there to meet us.  The original guy we enquired with didn’t have anything available and he in turn contacted Derek, an Irishman who also owns apartments here to help out.

Knowing we were travelling with children (again proving their worth), Derek had spent the morning getting an apartment ready for us and met us at the train station.  He had no problem spotting us as we haven’t come across many western tourists with kids at the moment and there were certainly none on our train.  After a bit of last minute tile grouting and electrical work the cleaner had it ready for us that afternoon.

Being only a studio apartment the girls share a mattress on the floor and the ‘Thai kitchen’ is outside on the balcony, but was just what we were after, so we signed a two week rental agreement at US$220 per week.

Derek has been here in Chiang Mai on and off for the last 7 years.  He lives in the same apartment block and has given us pointers to some restaurants and sightseeing options even dropping off a bag of luscious mangosteen, a fruit I have never tried before – wow they are delicious! We have been grateful for his help- he was a great landlord for two weeks.

We have spent our mornings doing the obligatory schoolwork, even on Saturdays and Sundays, trying to catch up before spending the afternoons in the pool or exploring our neighbourhood.

On Saturday afternoon we caught a tuk-tuk to the ‘Saturday walking market’, and spent some hours walking up and down looking at the wares on offer and trying out the myriad of street food.

Having an apartment almost feels a bit like home, having to go out to shop at the supermarket, and doing the odd bit of cleaning and cooking. We have managed to spread all our belongings out on every spare surface – yep it’s even looking just like home!