New Year's Eve in Chiang Mai

CD xmas tree

   In Chiang Mai, I have to say, New Year's Eve is a massive deal. At the Tha Phae gate on the east side of the city, was a humongous celebration. Many streets were closed off and packed with people. There were street stalls with tons of food and more stalls selling clothing, jewelery, and lots of other stuff. A huge stage had been set up and there was a massive Christmas tree made entirely from CDs! Far away it sparkled and you could only tell it was made of CDs if you went up close.
   But the most amazing thing was the lanterns. In the streets hundreds and hundreds of lanterns, a paper hot air balloon thing that when you lit the material at the bottom, drifted off into the sky, in vast numbers. It was quite a sight to see them all drifting away. We also got a massage on the street and an iced mocha at a starbucks , where we sat on the 3rd floor, enjoying the view and the drink. Then, at midnight we watched fireworks shoot into the air, beginning the new year.

massages on the street

Tigers in Chiang Mai

   A couple weeks ago we arrived in Chiang Mai, Thailand, by train. After a few days of getting settled in the city, we took a tuk tuk, a small, open-air taxi thing, out about 17 kilometers outside of the city to the Chiang Mai tiger park. There, for an exorbitant price, you could go face to face with tigers and actually pet them inside their enclosures. We started out by meeting the young six month old tigers. It was thrilling and a bit scary to be up so close to such an amazing and powerful animal..... I mean really, they could rip you apart if they wanted.

me with a 6 month old tiger

    Next before we left we decided to look at the other tigers, though we couldn't go in with them unless we got more tickets for it. Well, when we saw the baby tigers, we decided that we had to go in and pet them, so we had to get more tickets. They were adorable.

me with a baby (1 month old)

     In all it was an okay trip out there, although getting there was not half the fun, in a tuk tuk on the car fumed road. It also seemed that the staff could be a tad cruel at times to the tigers, bugging them and shoving them around so the tourists could pet them. A word of advice..... if you are in Chiang Mai, and go see the tigers, only visit the baby ones.