The temple on the hill

Wat Doi Suthep is a special temple and pilgrimage site for Buddhists. It is located at the top of a mountain a few miles outside of Chiang Mai. We rode up to the temple in the back of a red pickup truck, holding bandanas over our nose and mouth due to the extreme amount of exhaust fumes coming from this truck. Honestly, my eyes were burning! Sadly, we ended up on the same truck along with seven other unfortunate individuals on the way down. It was a curvy road going up, but it was more like a roller coaster ride coming down. Only because of her extreme mind control abilities did Barb manage to avoid gifting all nine of us crammed in the back of the truck with the contents of her stomach. It was a minor miracle!
Thai people practice a type of Buddhism known as theraveda Buddhism . This combines elements of Hinduism and Buddhism. This temple had a plethora of Buddha of every kind. This green one was the prettiest in my opinion.


Before going into the temple you must take off your shoes.


This golden chedi is almost blinding!,


On every side people were praying. Many held a flower to their forehead as they prayed.


The guy in the blue shirt below is holding a flower.


This lady is putting money in a stick which goes onto a vase that you can see above her head. There were lots of bills already there?


These people were using ladles to add oil from the vat below into the raised bowls, each of which had a flame burning. I have no idea of the significance.


You'll notice a slender can of what looks like chopsticks sitting on the red carpet below. A person holds the can and shakes it up and down until one stick falls out.


Each stick has a number which corresponds to a little paper with your "fortune" on it. Barb tried it, but I can't bend my knees like that so I guess I'll never know my fortune. Hmmm.


You know how people put locks on bridges? Well here you buy a bell and write your sweetie'qqs name on the ringer and hang it up at the temple.





See all the bells everywhere?








In this area apparently you burn a candle and then use the wax to affix coins to this board.


There were elaborate wood carvings,


And statues,






And dragons named mom?


As well as super life-like statues of monks. This guy was not real but he sure could have fooled me.


Now in this little temple there was a real monk who was sprinkling people with water and giving them a white piece of yarn to tie around their wrist. I just did not think it was respectful to take his picture.


There was a lookout point where you can see Chiang Mai, which is the second largest city in Thailand.


Cool little gardens



And this weird tree sprouting some kind of strange fruit out of its trunk


Since the entrance to the temple has 309 steps, we rode the tram up and down. My knees were thankful.





This is a row of bells that anyone could ring. Gosh they were really loud!


After visiting this temple from hundreds of years ago, we stopped at a shopping mall and ate subway salads topped off by DQ ice cream. Yes they have Dairy Queen here. It was good!

Location:Chiang Mai

Night safari

Here in Chaing Mai there is a very unique opportunity to do what is called a "night safari".


If I under stand correctly, it is one of only three "night time " zoos in the world. The most famous is in Singapore. There is another somewhere in China. The facility is a large and modern park built by the government (I think) as a tourist attraction. Behold the glitz and flash of the entry way!





Color changing laser lights in the elephant fountain were pretty impressive.





Inside is a large plaza backed by a small lake. We got there before dark to see the exhibits scattered around the lake.






Around the lake they had a large collection of albino animals including albino wallabies, raccoons, alligators and porcupines, among others.


Once it got dark the shows started. These dancers were moving so fast that you can't tell they were actually young men in drag. Hmmm? Apparently this passes for family entertainment here, as people were posing their children with them for pictures. "Ladyboys" as they are called, are accepted socially here among the general populace and are not treated as an oddity. Which was certainly an oddity to me!


Another part of the show involved this gaily decked out elephant who made an appearance to dance around and eat some bananas for a few minutes.






They also had a dramatic laser lit dancing fountains show on the lake which was pretty cool but I only caught a glimpse and did not get any pictures.
Next we boarded open air trams and were driven back into depths of the park where it was very dark. Not sure how the driver could see where we were going. At certain points they would turn on a spotlight and search around the enclosure to locate the inhabitant. I must admit it was a thrill when you caught sight of the lion, or the tigers or other animals who were much more active and alert at night. It was really hard to get a decent picture, though.






Some of the animals you could feed, like this giraffe .


There were two different tram routes and I enjoyed them both very much. It was such a unique way to see the animals!

Location:Chaing Mai

Tiger Kingdom

Here in Chiang Mai there is a place called Tiger Kingdom. It's probably one of those places people really disapprove of in the U.S., but could you pass up a chance to put your hands on a real live tiger? I couldn't. This place has a lot of tigers. They are not Bengal tigers, but rather indo-Chinese tigers.




I only had the nerve to pet the cubs, who were about 3 months old.


They were sleepy for the most part, but seemed to like having their belly rubbed.





I have to thank Barb for these photos as, to my horror, I got the "memory card full" message after taking just one photo here! I had another memory card at the ready, but forgot to bring it! Anyway, Barb and her iPhone saved the day. Also, I had to pick a few images from google to show you more of what it was like.


First of all, we were sad to see so many tigers in so many cages. I think they have over 50 tigers here. Supposedly, according to their literature, these tiger were all born and raised in captivity and have nowhere else to go. They can not just be released back into the wild as they did not learn to hunt and survive from their mothers. Another problem is that the jungle and forest where they should live is no longer a huge unpopulated area, nor is it well stocked with the deer and other animals that are their natural prey due to hunting by humans. Even if they did have the skills needed to survive, the habitat is not robust enough to support them. So what should be done with them?



They did not seem too distressed, at least not the ones on display. They seemed well fed and healthy. They had "yards" where it appeared they might have been allowed to go on rotation.


Some of the yards had pools for them to swim which they seemed to like. Everything was clean and the attendants seemed very happy with their jobs and affectionate toward the tigers.


When you arrive at tiger kingdoms you pay according to which size tiger you want to interact with. The cubs, being the most popular, cost the most. I paid about $20. Then the biggest tigers and then the middle size ones. I really did not have the courage to go in with the big ones as this girl did, but there was no shortage of people doing it.


Their paws are huge and they are not declawed.


The first question everyone asks is "are the tigers drugged?" The facility devotes a a lot of effort to explain that drugging the tigers is not necessary for these reasons.
- The tigers are well fed
-They have been raised from a young age "by hand" and been around people all their lives
-They are nocturnal animals who sleep most of the day (18 hours a day) and are active and more playful at night.
They did not appear to be drugged to me, but they were kinda sleepy.



In the end, I was really not sure how I felt about the animal tourism I have witnessed in Thailand. Of course anyone who loves animals would want these majestic creatures to live in the wild as nature intended. For various reasons this is not so easy anymore. At least with these places there is a way for them to be cared for. I have to say it was an incredible experience to have such a close up experience with the tigers. I never dreamed I would have such an opportunity!

Location:Chiangh Mai