Day 14 - Dec 28 - Lions and Tigers and Bears, oh my!

First off, if you ever ride a sleeper train, take your own pillow.
We arrived a few minutes ahead of schedule, then our ride was late, not expecting an early arrival. But we held strong against the hoards of taxi drivers trying to convince us that our driver would never come, and finally he arrived. We made it to our hotel, though it was too early to check in. We got some breakfast, then left our luggage in their care and took one of their free shuttles to the zoo (they offer two free shuttles a day into the city).

The Chiang Mai zoo is really big. The size is deceptive though, as it isn't designed for pedestrians. They offer little bus things and a monorail, but we chose to walk, a decision some regretted since the zoo is big.

We saw the animal show, where an otter fetched cans from a pond, parrots rode bicycles and played basketball, a big beaked bird flew around and ate berries, and some furry animals hung by their tails and ate stuff. The narration was in Thai, which made it a little boring at times.

After that we wandered around in a big circle, trying to see everything. We visited the Panda House, where we got to see three pandas. The dad panda was eating bamboo for a bit then he rolled over to take a nap (the other 2 were already napping).

I likened the zoo to a cheap cruise ship, where it's nice, but worn, and they try to sell you things around every corner. (The Panda exhibit was one of those extra things.)

We found the koala exhibit, which was home to no less than 5 koalas of 3 different types. We saw a seal show, the small aviary, Gibbon Island, a White Bengal, and a bunch of other things. My favorite animals were the otters. They were really active and cute. They chirped at us as they ran around and dived into the water and swam around. We visited their exhibit three times :)

After leaving the zoo, we waked and walked and walked, till we came to an English pub where we ate and ate and ate till we could eat no more. Incapable of movement, we called the hotel (using a cellphone they provided to us) and had them send a taxi for us. Then we finally were able to see our rooms and relax a little. Myra has declared this her favorite resort so far. I really like it, but I wish that the Thai shower standards were a little higher.

We expect to sleep well this night in preparation for adventures tomorrow!!