CHIANG MAI (Day 4 - part 2)

We put our shoes back on and made our way down the long stairway bast the throngs of vendors. We took a songthaew to the Chiang Mai zoo.

A picture of the queen graced the entrance.

There were no real sidewalks around the zoo (only in sections of it), so driving was required. Fortunately, for 20 baht (about 50 US cents), there was also a tram that you could hop on and hop off whenever you wanted.

Our first stop was the pandas, but they were charging foreigners as extra 100 baht... with no guarantee we'd even see anything other than just their enclosure. So we went to see the white Bengal tigers instead... which were free. Two of them were actively pacing. In the next pen, a regular tiger lay sleeping. Beyond that, a black and regular leopard lay sleeping on a very tall ledge, and after that, four jaguars lay in the shade.

We caught the tram past rows of wonderfully smelling orchids on one side and rows of vendors selling souvenirs, watches, etc on the other. past the dromedaries. It was quite the wild ride around sharp curves and up and down hills. One had to really hold on!

At our next stop, we saw some hog deer, an agouti, some meerkats, rabbits and a bunch of porcupines.

Eventually we arrived at the elephants.

A hopeful trunk!

For a few baht, we could buy short sticks of bamboo or sugar cane to feed to them. The large animals were very gentle and patient as their rough, dry trunks took it from your hand.

We took the tram to the monkeys and apes. The orangutans weren't out but the gibbons and small monkeys were in rows of tall old cages. The monkeys would catch food that people tossed to them.

Our next tram stop was at the penguins. Next door was an aquarium with various fish. Down a long wooden walkway to the next building were Cape fur seals but it was hard to see much in the extremely dirty and green water.

We left the zoo and walked uphill to Huai Kaeo waterfall (also written as Hauykeauw on another sign). Many vendors stood selling food and renting picnic blankets. There wasn't much water but kids splashed in the tiny pools. Family picnics were everywhere.

We caught a songthaew down to main city gate. There was a large Sunday market going on. We had dinner and did a bit of shopping at the night market. We also took in a 'lady boy' show. These are men in various stages of transitioning to becoming women. Some just dress up; some have breast implants; some take hormones; and some have a complete sex change operation.

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