I arrived in Chiang Mai after taking the overnight train from Bangkok – something I would recommend anyone to do, it was such a great experience.
Chiang Mai is a very cultural place – from temples, to markets, to tigers, there’s so much to see and learn.
You can even take the chance and try a Thai cooking class – it’s a whole lot of fun AND you’ll learn something.
*A note on tigers – My group decided to visit Tiger Kingdom, a decision I was actually quite undecided on.
On one hand, I really wanted to see the beautiful creatures themselves, but on the other hand, I was aware of how some places mistreat their animals.
So I was excited to see tigers, but I was also wary.
However, while I didn’t see any evidence of mistreatment, I’m not sure that I’d make the same decision if I had that choice to make again.
Heya,
I love animals so have always been interested in places where you can see tigers and elephants up close but am also wary of this because of the mistreatment etc. Do you know from Tiger Kingdom why the large cats were sleepy? Are they pumped full of sleeping pills? I’d love to go to a place like that, just as long as the cats were treated in the best way possible so if they’re tired naturally, I’m ok with it but I don’t want to support something such as giving them sleeping pills. (But I can’t think of what else is making them tired and not wanting to attack). If you know anything from Tiger Kingdom, that would be great!
Hi Jessie,
Yes I was wary of the exact same thing – I didn’t want to go to a place where the animals were mistreated. The tigers weren’t that sleepy, many of them would just randomly get up and walk around or play with each other, which they weren’t reprimanded for or anything. We were the ones who were warned to be docile and not make any sudden movements. There was a place called Tiger Palace in Bangkok which some others from our group went to and they told us the tigers were chained up, very drugged, and beaten if they did anything “wrong”. So I was much happier to see the animals at Tiger Kingdom treated better, although I still think animals like this should be in the wild, or protected sanctuaries rather than tourist spots. I guess curiosity got the better of me and that’s why I went. However I wouldn’t make the same decision now.