TIGER KINGDOM - MAE RIM, THAILAND

Today reminds me that tomorrow i have to go home...the reality. So i have to make the most of it. I have to be bold and brave. What is awaiting for me today? Still unsure though itinerary has been prepared for we planned but The Creator is the Best Planner. 

Thursday - Day 4 - 7.3.2019

I woke up to the sound of rooster at 3.30am. Why he wake us up so early? Fajr prayer is at 4.48am. So i had to force-close my eyes but failed. When you travel your body function abnormally. Waking up is a breeze. It feels light no matter how much you weigh. Why? Because your mind is the processor, as in the CPU for computer. You will always feel excited exhilarated, you feel younger almost like a kid. That is why i LOVE to travel A LOT. My bucket list is never ending. We already discussed about our next trip. Road to Morocco Spain and Portugal. When He will, we will be there. InsyaAllah...

SUNRISE AT YUN LAI

If you ask me would I want to watch sunrise at the hill nearby my house, the answer would be the obvious, pass! haha. But then again, it's in the itinerary! Gotta follow through. It was still pitch black when we arrive at Yun Lai view point. We were the early birds. Only this time no special offer haha but we got the best seat overlooking the entire town of Pai. We could see tiny dots of light scattering everywhere. Ahh they got up early too. While waiting for the sun to show herself, we had nescafe served in a nice teapot. Red hues slowly smearing the black sky. The sun is showing herself. People starting to come and filling up the place. Searching for the best spot. Adjusting their cameras from dslr to hp camera. And there was one long braided hair guy clad in Jack Sparrow attire adjusting his hi tech camera and showing finished photos of his past work. He charges 40THB per 4r photo which i think is ok. So we posed and got 4 sunrise photos from him. The sun came up at 06:53am. Here are few shots taken using my #iphone6plus. Do you think I need to get iphone xs max??

  

We had our special made to order breakfast this morning. 1 plateful of salad with hard boiled egg, 1 big plate of mushroom fried rice with bullseye egg,  toast with butter and strawberry jam, 1 plate of fresh fruit consists of mango, watermelon, honeydew, melon and orange, orange juice and coffee. Ready to roll!

LAND SPLIT

We checked out at 11am and head back to Chiang Mai. We stopped at the Land Split about 10km from Pai. It's actually the hilly area which earth had split because of earthquake and left trenches about 20-30 feet deep. There's no entrance fee though but they serve you with fresh fruit juice like orange, roselle, guava and  fresh fruits. You only have to donate to help them maintain or upgrade the facility there.

THE MEMORIAL BRIDGE

This Memorial Bridge dates back to the World War II. So It's a must stop for tourist. One guy in Japanese soldier uniform greeted us and took our photos. But the sun was so hot that we just managed to pose at the entrance.

We continued our journey back to Chiang Mai following the route below. It was supposed to be an easy route compared to the 1000 corners. Yes it was fairly smooth road but still we encountered many uphill sharp corners and further threatened by dark clouds overhead. We stopped at Maesae Islam Restaurant for lunch. We had simple rice with garlic chicken and iced milo. Yummm for 80THB.

  
TIGER KINGDOM

Last itinerary for today is Tiger Kingdom situated in Mae Rim, 15km from Chiang Mai. The entrance to the kingdom is like a normal counter where you gotta pick which type of tiger you want to mingle with. From tiger cub, Big, Bigger and Biggest tiger. The price is different where holding and hugging tiger cubs cost you more. So we chose the biggest tiger for 799THB/pax. Woww. I was soooo excited that my heart nearly exploded. Well excited mixed with fear to be face to face with the carnivores. They eat meat guys. I watched them on Animal Planet. There are 2 layers of entrance which was pulled up by the skillful tiger-sitter (as in babysitter). They were always holding a big wooden rod to train the big cat which were only 3-4 years of age. We can only touch the backside of the tiger firmly not caressing because he might feel tingly and will go out of control. One sentence that captured my mind at that time was that the tigers there are tamed but still dangerous. So we just follow their instructions and slowly took photos with them with few poses that we can muster in that short of fearful time.

This is the first tiger. Ahh I forgot his name. Yes, it's a male. Tiger boy. 4 yo

The second male tiger. 4 years old. See the fang, still baby lah

I took this photo from lower position than the tiger. Quickly stopped by the trainer. You can't be in the lower position than him. But I think he's busy cleaning himself that he let go of me haha.

Mr Sam happily landing on his backside.

I love his face. They can make funny faces too.

He told me that he's boring. They only give 6kg chicken meat a day. He wants red meat. Ouchh

These rules are not meant to be broken.

That was the experience of a lifetime. The animal that we supposed to be afraid of is only a touch away. The sound of their breath, the growling, the firmness of their muscle and the pungent smell make me wanted to visit them again. Next time ya kids.

This is the highlight of our trip to Chiang Mai. We couldn't make it to the elephant sanctuary this time. It was late afternoon by the time we reach the sanctuary and the elephants were already back from their activities with tourists. Till next time jumbo...Wait for mama...

And till next trip to Chiang Mai- Chiang Rai the golden triangle.... XOXO