Chiang Mai part 2
Trip Start
Aug 07, 2008
1
33
79
Trip End
Ongoing
Chiang Mai,
Thailand
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
a couple more days in Chiang Mai
two nights in Pai
take a three day trip via mini bus and then a boat into Laos ending at Luang Prabang
a few days there, then off to Vang Vien ... the site for intertubing and Friends Cafes
then from there we go to Vientiane to catch a flight to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
north through peninsular Malaysia
boat from Penang to the island of Sumatra, Indonesia
make our way south to Java
southeast through Java to Bali
backtrack to Jakarta and fly north to northen Malaysia where we'll head through southern Thailand
we meet Janice and Min in Bangkok and head down to the Thai islands for some scuba diving
then we catch a flight to New Zealand....
that's what we've got so far!... it feels confining to have set dates for things, but if we waited any longer to buy plane tix, it would have been too expensive..BUT, we did do well on the ticket prices for those who are thinking about doing a similar trip.
via Air Asia our tix from Vientiane, Laos to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia ($160 for both tix)
and Jakarta to Penang ($120 for both)... and Bangkok to Christchurch, New Zealand via Jetstar Airlines for ($900 for both)... big expenses, but for major flights, we did alright!
ok... so that was the morning... the afternoon to that day was the best part of thailand thus far. first, we rented motorbikes (we are seriously considering getting either motorbikes or motorcycles or something when we get back home... cruising on a bike is just awesome)... the cool thing about renting these in Thailand is that they are for 24 hours. so we get to keep it overnight and the next morning. ok.. back to the afternoon. we went north about 20km to a place called the "Tiger Kingdom". this place has three options for you. for a small fee (about $9-$15 each per person) you get to jump into the enclosures of tigers: you can do full grown tigers, 3 or 6 month cubs, or new borns.... eunice and i opted for the 3 month and newborn tiger cubs... the full grown ones looked a bit drugged up.
we first went in with the 3 month olds... so awesome! when do you ever get a chance to play with 5 toddler tigers at once?!!! we LOVED it despite eunice getting her pants ripped by a tiger bite (the tiger got whapped on the head for that naughty move)... eunice and i were all smiles holding, petting and somethimes annoying the little furballs...
then we went in the room with 5 newborn 1 month old cubs! softer coats, gentler demeanors, and just a small hairball of utter cuteness. it was an absolutely wonderful time! so wonderful that it overshadowed our small dilema with our motorbike. the owner didn't bother to give us the right key for the bike lock. good thing it was a chain lock... the nice people cut the chain for us while we were playing with the cubs... score one for the peeps at tiger kingdom!
the next day, although not as much of a highlight as the day of the tigers, we great in its own right. we had the motorbike for the morning so we opted to drive it into the mountains and the national park with the mountain top temple as our destination. it was a nice temple with all the buddha fixings, the typical ornate decorations and bells. the best part of the trip was the drive up and down the winding roads and the view from atop the temple. good times.
other than that, we found a really good restaurant and just chilled as that is what chiang mai and northern thailand is best know for.... next entry will be about the lovely Thai hippy town of Pai....
Comments
lucky!
how cool is that!! was it like playing with puppies?
I thought you guys would be almost done with Asia but it sounds like you're not even halfway through! Don't forget to save money to buy plane tickets back home!