Chiang Mai

We had a meeting in Chiang Mai this week and got to see a little of the city while we were there. We'd heard some really good things about it ... the quaintness of the small city, the friendly people, the touristy stuff. We landed and quickly made our way to the hotel to begin our whirl-wind trip.

The view from our hotel ... typical of Asia. Nice buildings bumped up against those barely getting by. It was a great reminder that His love has no ethnic or socioeconomic bounderies.

Emma taking our family theme of "flexibility is key" to heart as she watches Thai-speaking Flintstones on Cartoon Network!! :)

We met a very nice English-speaking taxi driver who took us to the Chiang Mai Night Safari. We met some friends for brownies and ice cream at their home earlier that day and they told us great things about it. It was one of the most fun family things we've ever done.

The park entrance ... looked like it might rain, but it never did.

Some of us went inside the baby lion exhibit while others looked through the glass! This guy was a little rowdy at times, but it was neat to be so close with a future king of the jungle.

There were two night safaris ... the first one started at 7:45 PM and took us through the Savanna while the second one took us on a predator prowl afterwards. Before the tours began, though, we got to spend an hour or so walking through paved trails of different exhibits around Swan Lake. Peaceful, beautiful, relaxing....

Some of the animals we saw......

Yep, this bunny was a chased bunny. Emma couldn't contain herself!!

Elizabeth really wanted to put one of these cool guys in her purse to take home....

Waiting on the first safari to get started ... these three had such a good time!!

It finally starts....

To keep from startling the animals, we weren't allowed to use our flashes. The guide did a great job with the lights and telling us all about the different animals.

The zebras came right up to the tram and ate carrots out of our hands!!

The baby elephant on the left was the show off of the night ... he talked, he stood up, he entertained. His partner on the right got a big drink of water and sprayed it towards us. These two were fun...

Our guide did a great job....

We ended the night with a spectacular light/water show around the lake.

A few photo ops on the way out....

We were up at 5:30 AM that day to catch an early flight, but as tired as we were driving after it was over, we all decided it was so worth it!!

We had a meeting the next day and afterwards, we decided to surprise the kids with a drive out to Tiger Kingdom. As we left the city towards the country, we couldn't believe how similar the landscaping was to our home state!! Country-road drivin' at its best!!

After a 35-40 minute drive, we finally made it....

We got to choose which tiger cage to play in ... didn't take long to figure out that the babies were more our speed!! The excitement was definitely in the air as we made our way down the boardwalk and to the cage!

Noah quickly found his way to this 6 week old cub.....

Nothing quite like playing with a baby tiger....

A good day to be in a tiger cage....

Our guide, Gate, took us on a tour of the park after our time in the cage ended.

The one was one of our favorites...

We also liked watching these brothers in action....

Memory-makin' day for all of us...

It was finally time to say goodbye....

We then made our way back to the city for dinner and a walk through the Night Market. You can see part of the moat below that goes around the central part of the city. We were told that the brick work is the original. A neat, neat city...

Our restaurant was right in the middle of the night market, an area of town that comes alive every night from 7 PM til midnight with shop after shop on both sides of the street selling anything you can imagine. The World Cup was playing everywhere, which added to the excitement!!

The poodle wasn't for sale....

We then met a man with several tricks up his sleeve. Noah can now do some pretty neat things with a matchbox and 4 metal rings while Emma can baffle you with a simple coloring book. Don't be surprised if they hit you up the next time they see you!

After a few hours of sleep, we were back at the airport the next morning for an 8:30 flight back to Bangkok. Our time in Chiang Mai was short, but we are thankful the Father gave us another opportunity to experience Him in a brand new place.