The Castle Hotel is nice, nowhere near the luxury of the Centra in Bangkok but then nowhere near the price either. 2 rooms interconnected for 2200 baht - £44 including breakfast. There are some real deals on hotels in Chiang Mai at the moment as visitor numbers are lower than usual due to the recent political unrest. If we had known this then we might have waited, some of the big 4* hotels have offers on rooms at around the some price.
Our rooms are clean, and on the top (3rd) floor so pretty private. Bathrooms are basic but clean and functional. The staff are nice and friendly, possibly all one family. Bong the receptionist has been very helpful.
We had breakfast on arrival - waffles for me and Sid, continental for Sam (Frank wasn't hungry). The huge waffle was delicious and covered in fresh pineapple and banana. Coffee and juice were included alongside another plateful of fruit.
As our room won't be ready till between 12 and 2 we headed out into town. It's about a 5-10 minute walk to the moat/old town. Traffic can be a bit heavy crossing the road outside the moat so if you ever visit be careful.
We wandered aimlessly for a couple of hours. Though a little cooler than Bangkok it is very humid here. We are trying to drink plenty. After a while Frank decided he was hungry, it was now after 12 so lunch was in order. We stopped at the Black Canyon Coffee shop near the Thae Pae Gate. Frank had cheese and ham toastie with chips, we shared some chips. Boys had lovely milkshakes, I had lime juice (so refreshing) and Sam a Mocha Glacier Iced Coffee (drink envy from us all). Bill was under 500 baht (less than a tenner).
We headed back to the hotel for a chill by the pool then showers and out for the night.
The boys were tired after all the travelling so we agreed they could have pizza tonight. We tried the Perfect Pizza restaurant on Ratchawithi Road (north of Thae Pae Gate) - eyes were bigger than bellies for the lads, 2 large slices easily defeated Frank and the 10 inch beat Sid!!! Sam and I shared a 12 inch veggie (broccoli included) pizza. It was nice enough and cost us 1000 baht with a tip.
We then hit the night market - more by mistake than design - we wanted the Saturday Walking Street Market but tuk tuk drivers aren't always the easiest to communicate with. Still it was shopping so Sam was happy. Boys were given £5 each or 250 baht to spend - Franks was gone pretty quickly as ever (just like his mother). He bought a dragon made from rope, haggling down from 450 baht to 200 with some determined sticking to his guns and a little charm, he's a natural! "It's too much" and starting to walk away looking sad! He soon added a 60 baht elephant to start his elephant army! He has plans to collect at least 17 while we are here!
Sid was amazed and transfixed by a green laser pen with the ability to shine amazing patterns. We had our concerns but he wasn't to be put off. 1200+ baht saw us smiling. Not for long though, he haggled hard and was amazed to seal the deal for 300 baht (we gave him the extra in awe at his haggling skills).
Sam and the boys chose some lovely little glass animals (3 for 130 baht) and some tiger balm type gunk for 80 baht.
THAN IT RAINED! RAINED AND RAINED SOME MORE!
We were soaked to the bone by the time we got home around 11pm (Sam did manage to get a belt for her Dad from a leather crafting shop on route).
A great day.