Luxury bed
I had an excellent sleep last night, didn’t wake up once. I’m not one for staying in hotels or living it luxury, but once in a while, a nice bed and room are appreciated. To be fair, this was one of the cheapest places in Chiang Mai, so we didn’t splash out outrageously. The breakfast was also wicked, because it was a hotel, it was a buffet breakfast. They had European breakfasts such as fruit, cheese, ham. Then they had Asian breakfast, which included curries, noodle, and rice dishes. You could have toast, sausages, beans, eggs, cereals, the whole job and lot. As much as you want, included in your stay price! We proper hit the jackpot here.
Personally, I had a little of many things: bowl of chocolate cereal, watermelon, banana, chicken sausages, fried eggs, and toast with jam. What an awesome mixed breakfast! Mat and I had a wander around the hotel, seeing what there was, and the different facilities. The pair of us booked a bus to Pai for boxing day. We had a pretty in depth look at the different activities and tours, but since our time was limited, we opted for a simple trip to the Chiang Mai zoo. Zoos aren’t something we usually do or enjoy, due to the morally grey area of captivity. But as our choices were limited, we didn’t want to waste the day. We used trusty old Grab to get us there safely, in a timely manner.
The zoo
Mat and I rocked up to the zoo entrance, paid for tickets, and began roaming around. The zoo was quite expansive, and had some animals I’d never seen before. The first thing we saw were 2 large tortoises having sex, loud and proud, right in the open. I suspect it put a lot of people to shame at how long it went on for! After this, we saw a large pool with hippos in, they were absolutely huge, and so were there mouths. You could purchase food for them, and when they opened their mouths, it looked as though I could stand up in there. There was a large African animal section, filled with giraffes, zebras, antelope, ostriches, and much more. You could also purchase food for the giraffes, they have really long tongues.
After we had seen the majority of the zoo, we came across the aquarium. Most of the time, I find aquariums to be more interesting than zoos to be honest. The diversity of the creatures and habitats here are amazing. From fish and sting rays, to crocodiles and jellyfish, marine life is cool. After spending ages in the aquarium, we had a short sit down, and then finished off the rest of the zoo. We’d been here a few hours, and in this heat we were getting pretty exhausted. I have mixed feelings about zoos; due to the nature of captivity, it sometimes seems cruel to keep them in enclosures, but on the other hand, some are endangered, and zoos are good for sustaining the populations.
For more info on the zoo, check it out here.
The long, tiresome road
After several hours at the zoo, we were ready to leave. Physically, we were already flagging, dragging our heels. What made matters worse was the 6km walk we’d have to endure, back to the hotel. Half of us is just being cheap, and not wanting to spend money. The other half is that we get to see more of the city by walking through it. Just by walking through Chiang Mai, it gave us the chance to eat at a nice corner restaurant. We would never have known it had existed if not for walking. So it’s not all about being a cheapskate!
On the way back, we also came across a large shopping centre. Well, you know us by now, we can’t resist a wander around a shopping centre…especially with Christmas decorations! The ground floor had a statue/model exhibit, with statues of Marvel, DC, and other cult classic franchise characters. We were both astonished, amazed, dumbfounded at how epic this display was. It’s what Comic-Con dreams are made of. One of the most amazing features was the toilets. They had small controls, where you could direct water to squirt, and even a drier for afterwards…it was kinda fun! Whilst I was enjoying some dessert, I put my North Face cap down. Later on, when we were walking around, I realised I didn’t have it on me. I returned to the scene, but it was no where to be seen…I loved that cap.
After the shopping centre, we had a slow, and long walk home in the dark (with lit up streets). It was a very long and tiresome day, but made the most of it. When we reached the hotel, we did nothing but chill. Also, it’s Christmas tomorrow!
