Tiger Kingdom Chiang Mai

At Chiang Mai's Tiger Kingdom, you can purchase  different price packages that allow you to be up close to different sized animals.  More you pay, bigger the animal!  The lions and tigers in these photos are all domestically trained that used to be around the tourist to be up close and taking photos with them.  However, you must be cautious to never to touch front parts of the lions.  These lions are still young lines who are very playful.  You are allowed about 5-10 min spent with them under staff supervision.  This was the first time, I got to be with these animals so close!  I must say it was bit scary but at the same time exciting.

Elephant Kingom, Chiang Mai

Elephant Kingdom tour is another stop specially designed for tourists visiting Chiang Mai. There, you have chance to see and interact with domestically trained elephants. You will receive lectures about local elephants, how to make their food where supplement were added and how to feed them, giving them bath in a small stream, and ride them for short moments, taking photos with them. To me, it was the mostly memorable and meaningful tourist activities in Thailand. After visited these elephants, you got to know how lovely and warm and intelligent these giants animals can be! How as human, we have obligations to preserve and protect them.

Long Neck Village

Long Neck Village is a tourist stop in Mae Salong near Chiang Mai still inhabited by hill people, namely the Akha, Long Neck and Salong tribes.  That place we visited was set up for tourist to see the girls at different ages with a metal coil around their neck while they were manning a gift shop or gave  display on how the scarf were made.

A breif visit to Laos

From border town of Mae Sai, at the tip of Thailand, a short cruise took us along the banks of the Mekong to the small island of Don Sao in Laos.  We got to spend some leisure time at the lively markets before returning to Thailand.