Chang Mai or... Thailand Again!
After doing the rounds of the family in Australia, we decided to spend a week in Chiang Mai in the north of Thailand with elephants, tigers, Thai food, night markets and rock climbing on the menu to meet the appetite of the respective parties. Chiang Mai is Thailand’s second city but it is far from the hustle and bustle of Bangkok. The city is based on a grid and has a moat and the remnants of an old city wall to add to the sense of atmosphere.
The first outing was a visit to a tiger park so the girls could pat a tiger. We were a little concerned about the ethics of the park given some of the reviews in which people were concerned about the tigers being drugged. On arrival we found the operation to be professional and very commercial. They have a significant number of baby, adolescent and very large mature tigers and from the way that two of the large tiger’s fought with each other while people tried to evacuate the cage, they were certainly not drugged. The Park forms part of the breeding program for Bangkok Zoo and they certainly seem succcessfull. You can pay to go in the cages and pat the tigers, the babies being the most expensive and the large males being the cheapest. I guess it is relative to the probability of being eaten!
Although Ada was keen on a big tiger, seeing the tigers rough house with each other was enough for her to downgrade her expectations. After changing shoes and washing our hands we went in a cage with 5 four-month old tiger cubs. They were really just like big house cats with very, very large feet. The girls had a great time although there were moments when they were about to be used as a scratching post. After our time was up we wandered the enclosure with just a single chain link fence between us and the big cats. There was certainly plenty of potential to lose a digit.
The next outing was to an elephant park about 45 minutes north of Chiang Mai which rescues injured elephants from trekking companies, begging in the city and the few remaining logging companies. Some of the elephants had been severely injured with broken hips and legs that resulted in permanent deformation. One of the highlights for us was seeing the truly dedicated, mostly volunteer, staff handle a 7 day old elephant that had been rejected by its mother. Everything was being done to keep it alive. He was very cute and we hope he is still around.... The elephants don’t give rides or do tricks, they just eat and hang out. During the day you feed them several times and help to wash them in the river. You get to interact with them very closely but as one of the handlers told us “the elephant is not interested in you, only interested in food”. Sounds like teenage children!
Chiang Mai has a vibrant tourist orientated night market but also a significant number of hipster shops in the parts of town frequented by the wealthy locals. One of the highlights for me (Chris) was the culture of fixed gear bikes (fixies) with a number of specialist fixie retailers. The bikes were cheap and very cool and I almost purchased one....instead I went the other route of popular sub culture and bought a new electric guitar:)
The night markets were always fun and we helped to support the local video piracy industry. Ada was fascinated by the transsexuals who were in the middle of the night market drumming up business for their cabaret show. They assured us that the show was “ok for baby” so we went in for a look. They were true to their word and we all enjoyed the well choreographed and costumed performance. Ada thought it was all very spectacular and Kate had fun tipping the waitress by putting baht in her/his bra.
Once again Thailand had provided an affordable, friendly and welcome break from the day to day of life in India.
