Yesterday evening was nice. Today was the last day of Loy Krathong, and I’m guessing tonight’s events were going to be a ‘grand finale’ to the festival. But first, I decided to move out of Rux Thai and take a single room at Centerplace Guesthouse because I was going to be out all day and tomorrow morning, I would leave for Chiang Rai.
A single room at Centerplace Guesthouse costs just 200 baht (Rs. 300/$6.7/€4.5).
After transferring my bags, I decided to spend my morning at Chiang Mai Zoo, which is en route to Doi Suthep.
Now I knew Chiang Mai Zoo wasn’t going to be as impressive as Singapore Zoo, but the main reason I chose to visit the zoo is to see a rare animal I rank among my favourites in the animal kingdom — the giant panda!
Chiang Mai Zoo has three of them. But the entrance fees to the zoo are broken up by the individual attractions the place has to offer. The zoo fee costs just ฿100, but it does not include the chance to see the pandas. That’s another ฿100. Also, if you want avail the open air bus, that’s ฿20. So all-in-all, I paid ฿220 (Rs. 325/$7.2/€5) for my entry.
The Indian elephant
I walked a bit, saw a few animals at the entrance that I’ve seen many time before and then hopped on to the zoo bus to head straight for the pandas.
You have a driver who gives commentary about the attractions as you go along, but it’s only in ThaiI got down hereYou hand over the panda entry ticket hereFirst up, Lin Ping, the youngest panda in Chiang Mai ZooThis is Lin Ping’s playground. So, where is Lin Ping? (Photo taken on Nokia E72)To the extreme right corner… she was asleep (I hope)Chiang Mai Zoo has 3 pandas, among the only 35 outside China
While young Lin Ping gets her massive play ground, her parents Chuang Chuang and Lin Hui are in a separate air-conditioned enclosure not too far away.
“Ni hao” (Chinese for “hello”)This is the female panda Lin Hui
Play time for Lin Hui
And this bloke here is Xuang Xuang (Chuang Chuang)Fussy eater! Post-brunch sucking-of-thumb*Then ‘tooth pick’ Look at its ears! Lin Ping was actually born using insemination because this bloke wasn’t interested in ‘doing the job’ with wifeyThe entire process of how they inseminated Lin Hui is explained near Lin Ping’s sectionThe first two pandas at Chiang Mai zoo
After getting my panda fix, I moved on.
The zoo has a monorail service too (which costs extra as well)And the ubiqitous 7-Eleven can be found inside the zoo as well
I took the tram car again, and it stopped for a while at the newly opened aquarium.
At those prices, I wasn’t keen on checking it out
Tree hug
Koalas were busy sleeping
Natural born sleepersDunger is one of the koalasThe Kids park
They have a kids section with a bunch of cute animals and some rather interesting tiny creatures.
This creature is called the pygmy marmosetIt’s a really tiny animal and it moved funnily
I moved on to the deer section next
There’s an overhead walkway
LamasI walked to the next attractionThere was a huge tree trunk which had a set of stairs you could climb to get this view (Taken on my Nokia E72)
Next, I entered a birds enclosure.
Lady Amherst’s pheasantLovely looking thingGreat HornbillTrumpeter hornbillOriental pied hornbillIndia’s national bird — the peacock (Edit: A reader just pointed out it took a dump. Didn’t even notice that until she told me!)Got the lighting right on this oneSiamese fireback pheasant
This is the birds enclosure (Panorama comprised of 6 shots)Birds of prey next. This is the White bellied sea eagleA kite… staring at me
Grey head fish eagleSeriously, stop staring“Duuhhhhhhhhhhhhhh”Ostrich (if you didn’t know)Porcupines
After the birds, next up was a large open section entirely for Gibbons.
Apes with really long arms
It was fun to watch these gibbons swing around
The gibbons have a pretty large playgroundBut they share the compound with a Siamese crocodile
Fun to watch apes play-fightLook at their feet. Nature and its designs!
The only Rhinoceros in ThailandWhen I saw this photo, I thought to myself “Looks so much like a stegosaurus”They have elephant rides here, costs extra of course
Humboldt penguins, in a seperate temeprature-controlled zone
It’s only at this point I realized Chiang Mai Zoo is quite bigIt occupies a large area and is quite hilly
The irony of having a shooting club inside a zoo(!) is beyond meThe land has the slopes for luge riding, but I didn’t see anybody in the carsWent in search for more animalsThe Asian black bearPoor thing only has his shadow to talk toDidn’t look at her for too longMore monkeysAssamese macaque
Pig tailed macaqueEmuThe Bare-bum Ostrich*
And finally, the beautiful white tiger
Passed the same elephant on the way out
Also on the way out, I couldn’t help but buy a small souvenir from Chiang Mai zoo. They were selling stuffed toys of the zoo’s main stars, the pandas. I bought a small Lin Ping souvenir for 150 baht.
All in all, I must have spent nearly 4 hours in Chiang Mai zoo. A lot longer than I thought I would spend. I mostly came to see the pandas and ended up seeing pretty much everything the zoo had to showcase.
So is a visit to Chiang Mai zoo worth it? Well, Singapore Zoo didn’t have pandas (they only get them in 2012), and even koalas, when I visited back in September. So yes, this visit was time and money well-spent. At half the price of Singapore Zoo, you still see a lot of animals. Chiang Mai zoo also has animal shows and even a Night Safari. How good those are, I didn’t bother to find out of sheer dis-interest.
Go up this way for Doi SuthepI got back pretty late in the afternoonSo I had a late lunch at the small eateryChiang Mai looked pleasant as everFloats were gatheringAnother Grand Parade tonight?
Rachadamnoen road looked empty todayI asked them what time it would start and they said ‘at sunset’
I had some time, so I decided to go back to my room and rest a bit.
This is what a single bed room at Centerplace Guesthouse looks like (Lin Ping on the bed is not included in the ฿200. I just put her there)The toilet is clean, and has hot shower
I lied down for a while — this day wasn’t over yet.
After the unfortunate turn of events for me yesterday, I woke up today feeling a bit warmer inside. Not in a good way, more like having-a-body-temperature kind of way!
I woke up for a late breakfast, which I had at Rux Thai itself, and then went back to the room… to sulk. Hoping things would get better, health-wise and otherwise.
By the time I told myself there was no use sulking all day, I stepped out… at 6pm.
Lo Kroh looked desertedMany of the bars and restaurants were decorated in celebration of Yi Peng festival
I walked towards Thapae Gate to see if there was anything going on.
Didn’t seem like much
Guess that takes care of dinner for tonightCheap sushi
I walked a bit further, and things had started to ‘brighten’ up.
This wasn’t the only decoration Thapae gate got
Pretty
The one downside (sometimes) of carrying around a pro-looking camera is people assume you know how to take really good photographs and will do a better job than they can. I have often been asked to take photos of strangers using their point-and-shoot cameras and today was no exception.
After being asked by some Taiwanese woman to take a few photos of her, I asked her to return the favourThey had a stage set up for some functionI crossed the road and walked to the other side, hoping to explore morePlenty of stalls set up everywhereThis is Ratchadamnoen roadI entered this place out of curiosityOkay fine, it was the food!Hey, it’s Anthony Bourdain!?*You can never go hungry in ThailandUnless you are strictly vegetarianEven though this was a temple…… it essentially got turned into a ‘food court’
Once outside, I asked Tourist Police officer (an American woman) whether there was anything special planned for today. She told me yesterday was the big release of the lanterns in Mae Jo, today there wouldn’t be anything special and tomorrow would be the concluding Grand Parade.
She didn’t come of as confident and ‘in-the-know’. Something I was used to by now.
Still, I walked on
Steeped into another temple on Ratchadamnoen roadThough I forgot to note down the name of the templeMore stalls inside here as wellLots of eating here too
I was sooo tempted to bang it
I got back out to Ratchadamnoen roadThen I saw this…
… and it looked like a parade……which looked quite, grand
Here’s part one of the videos I took of the parade:
I take it the floats were showcasing Thailand’s culture from across all provincesAnd I also take it these participating groups were colleges, schools, and other establishments
This guy wasn’t part of the parade… but was getting a lot of attention anyway
Here’s part two video of the parade:
Walked this alley out of curiosity
More celebrations awaited me inside.
Lanterns from below joining the fireworks in the skyNow it were the monks who wanted to light a big oneA really big oneYou obviously cannot use matchsticks to light a lantern this bigWait for it to heat up insideWait for it…Okay, everybody’s waiting… just let go of it already!And it’s upI leftNear Rux Thai, this was the sightWalked back to Thapae Gate
There was a beauty contest going onPacked audience tooSwitched to the 70-200mm lens for a closer lookI wasn’t the only oneA rather ‘traditional’ looking beauty contest
The judges-slash-sponsorsJust before the winner is announced, the women get the ‘God-I-hope-that-b***h-doesn’t-win!’-lookThe winnerShe gets a placard……which says something in ThaiThe runner-ups get a month’s supply of instant noodles*
Lanterns were still floating up
The stage cleared. I didn’t wait to see what was next.I walked on down to Thapae Road next
As I walked along, I saw a large crowd gather around someone.
Everybody was watching this guyHe was mighty impressive
So I decided to take a video:
I tipped him 10 baht and continued down the road.
There were a few other street performers as wellLots of fireworks today… which is always niceHey, those lion statues resemble the official emblem of India!
Curious as to what the possible ‘Indian connection’ could be, I went inside Wat Buppharam.
Looked like just another Buddhist temple to me
I got back out to Thapae Road and made my way towards Nawarat bridge.
Lots of media
The parade was still on
It was crowded!They had a stage set up… sadly for the band, very few were watchingVolunteers in condom costumes distributed free condoms and promoted AIDS awarenessThe people on Nawarat bridgeMany devotees releasing krathongs into Ping riverAnd if you’re wondering what those people in the waters are doing, they’re ‘stealing’
Stealing what? Money. When the locals pray and release the krathongs, they often place some money as an offering to the river goddess. These shameless people then wait for the krathongs to float their way and then take the money. CNNGo has a good article on these ‘river bandits’.
It’s hard to capture what I saw with my eyes no matter how much I tried
It’s not just the hundreds of paper lanterns in the sky in front of me. There were hundreds more to my left, right, behind me… everywhere! I kept wondering “How does one truly capture the experience in one frame!”
I moved to another bridge
The parade was at the end of its runKrathongs and khomloys (paper lanterns) for saleI walked down these stepsPlenty of fireworks soon went off near Rim Ping Hotel
Kinda looks like the Death Star doesn’t it?
Ping river was packed with devoteesAnd a few big floats
I walked towards the Chiang Mai Municipality buildingCultural shows were going onOne of the performers; dressed very geisha-likeThese paintings were on the walls of the US ConsulateI was starting to get hungry at this pointLots of flowers today as wellNot sure if these were rosesSome temple near the marketIt was nearing midnight, time to head back to the roomCelebrations on Loy Kroh road were timid at bestAs seen at a small Indian eatery near Rux Thai
As I sat on my bed before going to sleep, I reviewed the snaps I had taken today. After yesterday’s disappointment, and how I felt when I woke up today, my mood was definitely more upbeat after I saw my photos.
I chose Thai Farm Cooking Class as supposed to the few that were in walking distance from Rux Thai because after viewing their website, it was the setting that convinced me to go far just to learn how to cook Thai curry.
My group consisted of a British couple, an American woman, a bunch of French women, a young German girl and one Indian guy (guess who)
The farm was out of Chiang Mai city but after picking up all the guests, our first stop was at a market.
Nattaya, our cooking instructor and guide around the market
The market stop was to familiarize us with ingredients commonly used in Thai cooking — which to a South Indian wasn’t unheard of.
Nattaya explaining us the varieties of riceReady-made green and red paste, used in the curries
After Nattaya ran us through the basics, she gave us around 10 minutes to look around the market.
Sweet dumplingsHow they are madeI was amused by the fans they used — plastic bags with meat & bones in them as the fan bladesDespite being in land-locked North Thailand, you still get good seafood in Chiang MaiUpon web research, these pink eggs are preserved eggs apparently
We re-grouped and left for the cooling class farm.
The journey takes around 45 minutes from Chiang Mai city
Once at the farm, we were given a brief tour of the surroundings.
Two group classes are taken every day (while the cat, just sleeps)Nattaya setting up our ‘kitchen’Nattaya first explained to us how to wash riceShe was washing the rice in the steam basket itself
Steam cooking the rice
While the sticky rice cooked, Nattaya guided us out to the farm they have in the compound, in which they grow a lot of the ingredients we use in the cooking classes.
Sorry, don’t remember what this plant was but all I remember is that it’s an important ingredient in Thai cookingWe all get individual tables of course…and aprons (Photo taken by the German girl next to me)
Prior to even arriving at the farm, you are given a checklist of 5 dishes you want to learn how to cook. For eg; you have the option to choose to make either Thai green curry or red curry or yellow curry. Similar options for a soup, side dish, spring rolls and dessert. The choices include vegetarian and non-vegetarian (usually chicken or shrimp).
All ready to chop up and mashThe old Thai lady wasn’t too impressed by the old French lady’s mashing skills, so she showed her how to pound a grinding stone the right way!First up for me, Thai green curry (chicken)
I followed Nattaya’s instructions and 25 minutes later…
It wasn’t bad I say Next, Tom Yam soup (I chose to use tofu)
After that, I made stir-fried chicken with cashew nuts (Gai Phad Met Mamuang Him Mapaan). And once that was done, it was lunch time!
Yeah, we had to eat all that we cooked
But as we all gathered around our table, we passed around each of our dishes, so everybody could try out the different dishes one learned to make at Thai Farm Cooking Class. After lunch, we chatted about our respective travels within Thailand and elsewhere. I asked some of them if they had plans to see the mass-release of the khom loys or paper lanterns at Mae Jo. Most of them didn’t know what I was talking about, which was surprising, as I assumed the event was a major draw in Chiang Mai, and everyone knew about it.
I wanted further information about the event and specifically, when exactly it was. And since finding English-speaking Thais is a bit of rarity, I approached Nattaya and asked her if she knew about the events at Mae Jo. She told me she wasn’t sure about when it was but did let me know that she would ask our driver, as he’s better informed about these things.
We still had two more dishes to cook up but Nattaya told us we could take a nap or walk around the property if wanted to. I chose to walk.
Panorama comprised of 10 shots
As if they weren’t lazy enough… a cat in a cooking class!
After a half-an-hour long break, Nattaya called us back in.
We cooked dessert. I made Kluai Bod Chii (Banana in coconut milk)
The desserts were fairly simple and easy, and quite similar to the ‘payasams’ we make in South India — so nothing unique in taste for me.
Last up, spring rollsThe big difference between the spring rolls commonly available in India and the ones I made was the use of rice paper
Any Far-East Asian reading this will be like: “Of course it’s rice paper!” but here in India, a lot of the Chinese food isn’t the least bit authentic. So instead of rice paper, a lot of them use wrappings made of wheat or maize dough. The crispness you get from using rice paper makes it taste all the better!
With each of our 5 dishes done, we sat around our table one last time for evening tea and had a bit of what we had cooked last. I say a ‘bit’ because most of us were full from our lunch not too long ago, and so we packed up our dishes for later consumption.
We were done with all our cooking by 3pmSigh, what a life
As it neared 4pm, we left the farm and made our way back to Chiang Mai. Nattaya told the driver to stop on the way and show me where the Mae Jo celebrations would be, because apparently it was close by from here.
Fifteen minutes later, we reach a junction and Nattaya along with the driver got down to show me where the Mae Jo celebrations will be held tonight!
That’s where I needed to go
I asked the driver what time the event would be and he told me it would be around 7pm onwards.
The main highway leading into Chiang Mai city
I got dropped back at Rux Thai at around 5pm. I had the bike I rented yesterday returned to the travel agent. I contemplated keeping it for one more day so that I could ride to Mae Jo on it but considering the distance, I didn’t want to risk losing my way in the dark.
I freshened up, re-packed my bag with all my camera equipment and quickly made my way out again. This was the main event, what I came for! I wasn’t going to miss it!
I hired a tuk tuk who offered to wait there at Mae Jo and then drop me back, all for 500 baht.
As it neared 6pm, traffic was slowly starting to pile up
It seemed as though everybody was on their way to Mae Jo
The road leading up the ground was jammedTook over half an hour to get to the end of this stretch
By the time I did reach the parking area, I got down and stored the driver’s number. He told me he would find a spot to park and asked to call just as I’m on my way back out.
It didn’t look like a major site where thousands had gathered to release lanternsIt was pitch dark with no street lightsBut I just followed the crowd assuming everybody was heading to the same placeIt looked like I had a bit to walkThe crowds slowly started to growFrom here on, people were lighting lanterns everywhereKrathrongs for saleLots of vehicles parked on the other sideLots of pork sausages on sale too!I stopped when a saw a large gathering of people (mostly tourists) lighting the lanterns‘Khom Loy’ is what these paper lanterns are called in ThaiYou get fairly cute varieties of lanterns tooUnfortunately, what goes up, eventually comes burning downAnd if you have a house near these grounds, you probably dread this festival every yearI moved along further down the road in search of the temple groundsSome will get stuck on a treeThe tourist crowds just kept getting biggerIt was a perfect full moon night in Chiang MaiSome people attach firecrackers to the lanternsIf I wasn’t distracted by the lanterns in the sky, I would be with all the food on the ground
I kept moving forward
An attempt by a group of tourists to attach and send many up at the same time… not always successful This one didn’t even make it off the ground
If it isn’t trees……it’s an electric lineSwitched to the 70-200 lens for a bitThe clarity you get out of this lens is simply amazing
Yum
Soon after I took this photo, and just I was starting to move further, I heard a large crowd cheer in the distance. Everybody looks up…
…thousands of lanterns in the sky!
They released it!!
I couldn’t believe it, I missed it!
I start to run, but so do the others… all of us eventually stalling at a point where there were just too many people. I knew I had to capture something, so I quickly swapped my 70-200 for the wide angle lens!
Waited months for this moment… and I couldn’t be there early enough I couldn’t shoot in auto-focus, so I shot in manual — in such a rushed state of mindIn the few seconds I had before the lanterns were out of sight, I tried clicking as many as I could
I forced my way through the crowds, through the sides, apologizing and excusing myself along the way.
I was desperate to get in to the main grounds no matter what, hoping there would be another launch soon after.
“Jellyfish in the sky”I finally managed to get into the site of the launchBut it was a lost cause. It was over.
I was gutted!
So as the many inside stood smiling, content with what they were a part of, I stood there glum. Disappointed and upset. The frustrating part was that I was so close! Had I walked 5 minutes earlier, I could have made it to the main grounds just in time for the big release.
But it was all over. Everybody was on their way out, and there wasn’t anything else for me to do besides join them.
But getting all the way back was going to take some timeThere were over 20,000 people here
As I walked past the spots I spent watching people light their lanterns, I couldn’t help but feel even more frustrated at having spent too much time clicking them.
I even met tourists and other other photographers who invited me to join them. It looked like so much fun, and I was very keen to join them… but I told them I wanted to ‘head on’.
But as Yi Peng celebrations officially began, I was in no mood for any fun
It took me nearly 40 minutes to slowly walk all the way back my tuk tuk. As soon as the driver saw me, he asked me in his broken English, gesturing with his hands whether I saw the big release and got good photos. I shrugged, and said: “Hmmm…”
It was going to be another long journey back
I came wearing just shorts and a tee, because it was quite hot during the day. But the journey back proved to be rather chilly since I was in a rickshaw, and I tried my best to avoid getting cold.
I asked the tuk tuk driver to drop me near Ping River
The events at Mae Jo kicked off Loi Krathong celebrations in Chiang Mai.
The next two days will see Ping river filled with krathongs
The river banks on either side were brim with people
(That is a camera’s flash and a firework going off at the same time)
As people flocked to Ping river, I headed the other way, back to my room.
Today was a long day. One that started with high hopes and sadly for me, ended on quite a low. To add insult to injury, I could feel my body start to heat up a bit and I feared it was due to the cold breeze I had to endure on the ride back from Sansai. The thought of falling sick lowered my spirits further.
For dinner, I had the left over spring rolls and the banana dessert I made during the cooking class. I was in no mood to eat something better. Took a hot bath and went to bed, disappointed.
P.S: For those who are wondering why it was such a the BIG freakin’ deal for me to not be a part of the launch of thousands of lanterns from the Lanna Dhutanka temple, watch this video (preferably in HD). The ‘moment’ starts at 1:46.
Now I knew Chiang Mai Zoo wasn’t going to be as impressive as Singapore Zoo, but the main reason I chose to visit the zoo is to see a rare animal I rank among my favourites in the animal kingdom — the giant panda!
So is a visit to Chiang Mai zoo worth it? Well, Singapore Zoo didn’t have pandas (they only get them in 2012), and even koalas, when I visited back in September. So yes, this visit was time and money well-spent. At half the price of Singapore Zoo, you still see a lot of animals. Chiang Mai zoo also has animal shows and even a Night Safari. How good those are, I didn’t bother to find out of sheer dis-interest.
