Tigers and Pandas
Trip Start
Mar 22, 2012
1
7
14
Trip End
Apr 08, 2012
Had a very nice sleep on the train to Chiang Mai. At 8am they delivered a breakfast of eggs, sausage, and toast. We arrived Chiang Mai at 10am and A quick Tuk Tuk ride brought out to Baan Klang Wiang. It is a newer boutique hotel and very spacious and nicely decorated. We got a great deal via Agoda.com. The kids did some homework and we took a quick shower before we headed out to lunch. We found a random place that had wonton soup and free wifi. We each had a large bowl of the tasty wontons and the kids even finished all the soup. Our bill with drinks was about $5 US.
We found a Tuk Tuk to take us to Tiger Kingdom and the zoo for $400 baht. Tiger Kindom has newborn tigers, several months old tigers and full grown tigers. I was ready to opt for all the tigers but the kids were only allowed to be with the newborns. We paid for a photographer / cd so we got to interact with the baby tigers for 15 min. We then walked around to see the other tigers. I'll have to come again to check out the bigger tigers when Reggie is older. We met a college age volunteer that is helping out for a month (think Reggie's friend Hudson will want to do this). There has been controversy regarding whether these tigers are drugged since they are often sleeping and my personal opinion is that they are HOT! Ever see animals in crazy heat at the zoo or in the desert museum-they are usually sleeping because they are sooo hot.
Next up was the zoo and I was very amused by the zoo's promotion to like them on FB. We got to the zoo around 3 so it was too late to do any of the hippo feedings so the kids want to come back. We did catch the panda's being very active which was great since I remember when SD zoo got its pandas and after waiting in line we only saw them sleeping and had a view of their back. So this was a great treat for the kids. The pandas ate, climbed, tried to see each other through a gate, etc. Also it is possible to volunteer and learn to take care of Pandas; 2 days- 5000 baht. Luckily we paid for the shuttle bus since the zoo is very spread apart and we would have melted trying to walk the zoo.
After the zoo the kids cooled off at the pool while I checked some emails. The kids got to swim awhile and we then decided to grab dinner and see some Muay Thai Boxing. Out Tuk Tuk driver happen to speak Chinese so he took us to get tickets first (400 baht for general seats) and then to a Chinese restaurant nearby. We walked over to boxing after and picked up some banana chocolate roti on the way (30 Baht) We got decent seats and saw multiple fights ranging from kids, women, and men. But the funniest fight was when they blindfolded 7 fighters and let them smack each other around including the referee.
It was getting late and we have elephant training in the AM! Great first day in Chiang Mai!
We found a Tuk Tuk to take us to Tiger Kingdom and the zoo for $400 baht. Tiger Kindom has newborn tigers, several months old tigers and full grown tigers. I was ready to opt for all the tigers but the kids were only allowed to be with the newborns. We paid for a photographer / cd so we got to interact with the baby tigers for 15 min. We then walked around to see the other tigers. I'll have to come again to check out the bigger tigers when Reggie is older. We met a college age volunteer that is helping out for a month (think Reggie's friend Hudson will want to do this). There has been controversy regarding whether these tigers are drugged since they are often sleeping and my personal opinion is that they are HOT! Ever see animals in crazy heat at the zoo or in the desert museum-they are usually sleeping because they are sooo hot.
Next up was the zoo and I was very amused by the zoo's promotion to like them on FB. We got to the zoo around 3 so it was too late to do any of the hippo feedings so the kids want to come back. We did catch the panda's being very active which was great since I remember when SD zoo got its pandas and after waiting in line we only saw them sleeping and had a view of their back. So this was a great treat for the kids. The pandas ate, climbed, tried to see each other through a gate, etc. Also it is possible to volunteer and learn to take care of Pandas; 2 days- 5000 baht. Luckily we paid for the shuttle bus since the zoo is very spread apart and we would have melted trying to walk the zoo.
After the zoo the kids cooled off at the pool while I checked some emails. The kids got to swim awhile and we then decided to grab dinner and see some Muay Thai Boxing. Out Tuk Tuk driver happen to speak Chinese so he took us to get tickets first (400 baht for general seats) and then to a Chinese restaurant nearby. We walked over to boxing after and picked up some banana chocolate roti on the way (30 Baht) We got decent seats and saw multiple fights ranging from kids, women, and men. But the funniest fight was when they blindfolded 7 fighters and let them smack each other around including the referee.
It was getting late and we have elephant training in the AM! Great first day in Chiang Mai!
