Thailand Update

Day 58      Chiang Mai

Today we got up early to drive to Chiang Mai as it was a 5 hour drive and we had to get an over night train at 4pm. So on the way to Chiang Mai we stopped off at Chiang Rai where we went to the white temple - it does have another actual name but one which I cannot think of at this present moment. So basically it's designed by an artist man who lives in or near the temple or something and it's really amazing! It reminds me of Narnia with all the white and it has lots of mirror pieces in it so it glistens in the sun which is really beautiful. After having spent so much time in Asia you get to a point where all the temples become one, with only a few outstanding ones for example Taj, Angkor Wat, the golden one in Vientiane, Wat Arun (a mosaic one in Thailand) etc. these ones are different. Most are the same. But just when I thought I was templed out we get shown this one which, excluding Taj 'cause that's a bit different, is my favourite one! Absolutely beautiful. I think I want a house like it maybe. Somehow I don't think that's a request Dad would be able to facilitate. Moving on we went to a cashew nut plantation! Now if ever Dad were to describe heaven to someone, this would be it. Free cashew nuts, and many other nuts for tasting! They had so many kinds. I bought some for Mum and some for Dad but they may not make it home in one piece - they started off as whole nuts but you may receive them as ground nuts due to the over-packing of my 55l rucksack! I've been lugging 1.5kg of nuts around with me for a good week now, so appreciation will be greatly received. Heidi and I had decided that the thing we most wanted to do in Chiang Mai was the Tiger Kingdom (we also had planned to go to a temple but didn't make it due to time constraints, although we ended up being 2hrs 30mins early for the train, hmm). When we got there I was really nervous but Heidi as always was as cool as a cucumber. You had several ticket options ranging from the smallest, small, medium and big cat and then various combinations so Heidi and I decided to just go for it and chose the smallest ones and the biggest ones! Also for $10 we could get a photographer who would take 150-200 photos for us and then we'd get a CD each so we opted for that and it was sooo worth it! Oh yeah, I also had to sign my life away - I was saying to Heidi that my parents would be super angry (maybe a little upset also) if I'd agreed to my own mauling by a tiger but we decided to just not think about that so sign it I did. Firstly we went to see the biggest tigers. The most nervous part was when we were waiting outside the tiger cage for our turn and then when they let us in and locked the cage behind us - that was scary! The tigers were absolutely gorgeous, there were 3 which were just sunbathing and so we got down to stroke them - we went to touch them lightly but that tickles them so they start flicking their tail so we were told to pat firmly which they then prefered and then we tickled their tummies and laid down with them! It was amazing. Then the tigers got up to play in the water and I got really soaked when they started flicking their tails and jumping in the water. You are told that you just have to stay away from their heads and don't approach them head on cause then they'll want to 'play' and that's never going to end well. So we spent about 20 minutes in there with them which was absolutely amazing! One of the best experiences ever. Then it was over to the baby tigers - they were only 3 months old and absolutely adorable! They were really friendly. One was sleepy and we were told we should let it fall asleep with its head in our hands which was so incredibly cute and I held its paw! It was sooo sweet! Then the other one was really really playful! We were tickling it's belly and it was giving up high 5s and rolling around and just having a lot of fun! It also really liked Heidi's ponytail. It was just a really amazing day! Then we went to the sleeper train which was bearable. BYE.x