Backpackers, Tigers, and Temples - Chiang Mai

Yes, they let you chill with tigers here. Gotta love Thailand.

We arrived in Chiang Mai Tuesday evening and finally were greeted with a scene full of foreign travelers. I guess we finally picked up the typical backpacker trail. We met a guy named Adam, an Israeli living in LA, who was alone and decided to check into a guesthouse with him. The following night we met tons of traveler's out at night - some with really interesting and crazy stories. One in particular - a 24-year old Brit who was on his 11th month of travel and had visited, among others, Iran, Iraq, Ethiopia, Somalia (stowed-away on a cargo freighter), and Sudan. Sounded like a "how can I get myself killed fast enough?" kind of trip. But he had some incredible stories about people he met there. Maybe next trip, Dad? HAH.

Chiang Mai is the second biggest city in Thailand (I think), but compared to Bangkok it seems like a small suburb. It is easily walkable and dotted with old Buddhist temples (like just about every city I've seen in Thailand so far). It also has rained a bit more here, which is nice because it cools down afterwards. Yesterday, we met a guy from Toronto and hired a taxi to take us around a few of the major sites/attractions of Chiang Mai. First we went to the Tiger Kingdom. There are a few places where you can hang out with Tigers in Thailand, but we heard that at this place, there was less of a chance that the animals were really treated cruelly and drugged up, and other nasty things.

Anyways - the pictures speak for themselves, I guess - it seemed a little crazy at first. We asked the guide bringing us into the dens if anything bad had ever happened to tourists here. He said yes. We asked him what, and he started laughing and said he wasn't allowed to tell us. Sweet. It was a really cool experience, once the fear wore off, but I think I'll just check that one off the list and not try it again.

We continued on to a lake settled in the midst of some mountain ranges, got lunch, and went for a swim. Chiang Mai is known for having great food, and although we haven't ventured or explored to much to find great places, even the little cafes near our guesthouses serve of very tasty Thai standards - curries, pad-thais, soups, etc. This is more of the Americanized-Thai variety, unlike the foods I was eating with Joe for the first few days in Bangkok - but that is OK by me.

After the lake, we visited a temple on top of a mountain that overlooks Chiang Mai, and got massages.

Today, we are going to head to a town in very-Northern Thailand and take a 2-day Jungle trek. And we are in the process of getting our Vietnam Visas, so it looks like if those com through, we will be squeezing Hanoi into our itinerary before returning to the southern islands of Thailand.

Backpackers, Tigers, and Temples - Chiang Mai

Chiang Mai, Thailand