Chiang Mai zoo

Last week we went to visit Chiang mai zoo. The zoo isn't very special, but it has some special attractions.

Recently a new Aquarium building has opened. It's a bit overpriced, according to Thai standards. They have some basins with different species and at the end even constructed a tunnel, so you have the impression you're walking between the fish. Ok not too bad.

The zoo has some fine collection of "Cats", the white tiger being my favourite.

The main attraction of the Chiang Mai zoo is its baby panda. Lin Bing is about 1 year and 1 month old now. This little cutie is the star of the zoo. Unfortunately upon our visit he was asleep.

Only a few zoo's around the world can boast to have a panda among them ranks so for Chiang Mai to have one is quite special.

A whole new hall, with a panda playground, is accommodated for the baby panda and his parents Among Thai people Lin Bing is so popular that during the morning news on some TV channels reports are broadcasted about this panda.

Lin Bing Sleeping.

Mommy eating.

Daddy digesting.

Lin Bing's playground.

Chiang Mai Baby Panda

Exciting news from Chiang Mai, Thailand:

After the first successful artificial insemination of a panda by a Thai veterinarian team a cub has been born to Lin Hui, a 7 year old Panda, on a 10 year loan from China, in Chiang Mai Zoo, northern Thailand. The birth came as a complete surprise to zoo staff who did not know Lin Hui was pregnant. The success follows the 2nd attempt at artificial insemination.The 1st attempt in 2007 failed. Previously, zoo staff had tried everything to try to get the pandas in the right mood, even showing the two Pandas a Panda Sex Movie to try to get them feeling romantic.

There is some concern that Lin Hui may not be able to take care of the baby herself as it is her first. A team of Chinese experts has arrived today to give advice on how to raise the cub. The Chinese experts say that the baby Panda is a female. Officials say the cub is feeding from its mother’s breasts and both are doing well. The Public will be allowed to see the new baby Panda cub in about a month.

Fino Yamaha

This month we had to buy a new motorbike. So we got charmed by the cute Fino Yamaha.

Yamaha Fino scooter 115cc 4-stroke engine with manual transmission.

Loy Krathong

This weekend on the full moon of 24 and 25 November the annual Thai festival of Loy Krathong was held. The festival is held 12Th month in the traditional lunar calendar.

Loy Krathong finds its origin in the Hindu festival to thank the deity of the Ganges. Nowadays the festival has been assimilated with the many Buddhist celebrations in Thailand. Loy Krathong is a festival to thank the goddess of the water for using the water for a whole year. All the sins and bad things will also be washed away on this festival.

Loy in Thai means "to float" and Krathong is a kind of self made little raft. The Krathong is made from banana leaves, or nowadays from foam) and holds a candle, three incense sticks and flowers or other decorations. For realising their Krathongs Thai people will go to the nearby river and if possible to a temple with access to the river. The candles and incense sticks will be lit and a wish will be made. A piece of your hair, symbolising the bad deeds and feelings, will be attached to the Krathong. After this ritual the Krathong is ready to go and float on.

This was a description of the more traditional festival, nowadays the releasing of the Krathong is still very important but a lot of different customs have been added to the festival.

Most Thai people get a holiday and anyway this year the festival took please in the weekend, so it is a festival for the whole family and a lot of food and especially drinks will be consumed.

In a lot of cities parades will be held. On the first day the parade will be more like a miss contest. The beauties of the city will be waving from their parade car. On the next day the government offices will decorate the parade cars with big Krathongs.

A more modern form of Kratong has also been introduced and is called khom fai. These are lantern or hot air balloons which are released to wash away the bad things and also a wish is granted when you release the lantern. These lantern are a lot of fun to do especially with a bunch of people it really creates a nice atmosphere. But be careful because the can be a bit dangerous if released when there is not enough hot air. The lantern will go down and can cause some damage. I witnessed it this year a lantern that came down on someone's balcony and burned all the plants.

Loy Krathong is sometimes referred as the festival of fire. The thing you will notice even more than the Krathongs and lanterns is the fireworks! I have never seen so much fireworks and so many different kinds. The disco firework, dinosaur eggs, garlic crackers, rockets in all sizes. I could get a bit of an idea how soldiers would have to live under constant threat of bombardment. Sleeping is a bit of a problem when all you hear is constant explosions and scared barking dogs. In Thailand there is no restriction on fireworks and no legal age to buy it. On the Thai TV news a lot accidents were shown. Especially children who had no experience lost a hand or some fingers.

So I apart from the sleepless nights and the constant state of vigilance I really enjoyed Loy Krathong for its tradition and fairy tale atmosphere.

New hotels in Chiang Mai

Chiang Mai also called the "Rose of the North" is the second biggest city of Thailand and the biggest city in the North of Thailand. The city itself including its suburbs hosts a population of a bit less than 1 million.


Chiang Mai is the capital of the province with the same name and is a province with still a lot of nature. The highest point of Thailand, Doi Inthanon 2565m, is also located in Chiang Mai province.


Chiang Mai city was founded in 1296 and became the capital of the Northern Lanna kingdom, now the Lanna culture is still very strong represented nowadays. A lot of olde Buddhist temples can still be found in the city center and Doi Suthep is seen as one of the most important temples of Thailand. Next to a well preserved cultural heritage Chiang Mai can be proud of its environment. The city is situated is surrounded by hills and mountains and is held in the valley of the Ping river. A lot of different fauna and flora can be found in the nature around Chiang Mai. All the big elephant camps of Thailand are also located in this province and can be found in the woods around the city.



Because of Chiang Mai's culture, nature and friendly people, a lot of foreigners have made Chiang Mai there second home. A lot of accommodations were build to satisfy guests from over the whole world and it is easy to find your favourite food, the newest clock buster movies, foreign supermarkets, bowling alleys, ... Each year a lot of tourist come to visit the Rose of the North. Some will prefer to visit temples, go mountain biking in the nature, take a stroll on the back of an elephant, go bungee-jumping or learn to cook real Thai food than to relax on a beach in the South of Thailand. And so visitors will certainly come back to Chiang Mai on their next trip to Thailand.

Internationally Chiang Mai gets more and more recognized. They held a European movies week at the local mall and this weekend the "Sumo world championship" was held at Chiang Mai's sport stadium.



The tourist business is hence booming in this marvelous city. On every corner of the street you will found a counter tour to book any information. Free maps from the city all sponsored by the many tailor shops and foreigners making the streets a dangerous place on their rented motorbikes.

The average tourist is not anymore the unshaven rasta backpacker. From the little baby to the old grandpa they are all represented in Chiang Mai. That means that a more demanding clientele have also found its way to the North. The Oriental hotel was the only five-star hotel in Chiang Mai.

Now two more five-star hotels are being build right in the city center, about 600m from each other. The new "Shangri-la" will be completed end of December, while "Le Meridien Chiang Mai" will start operating in January. Both hotels will have together about 800 rooms. That means a lot of work opportunities for the local people. But five-star hotels need experienced and good staff and nowadays a lot of other hotels are afraid their staff might grab this opportunity.



Nok has found work for one of these hotels! Her position will be "shift leader" at "Le Merdien". She will have to train her staff and help them to give a meticulous service to the clients. She is very excited about her new job and the salary isn't bad neither for Thai standards. To work for an international hotel chain can increase her chance of promotion or maybe an exchange project, haha who knows. Meanwhile I am relaxing a bit and I picked up my running habit again, every two days I will finish some rounds at the local sport stadium. I can assure you I sweat a lot in this tropical heat, during the day it's about 33 degrees nowadays and this is wintertime!

Le Meridien Chiang Mai

Apartment

Since begin November Nok and I have started to live together after exactly a relationship of 2 years.

Our home is situated in the city center of Chiang Mai, inside the old city walls near Thapae gate. The neighborhood is not lively at night and is a living area with some Buddhism temples very close. We have some convenience stores on walking distance and also a big market very near. Every Sunday there is the weekend market just outside our door and on this market you will find a lot of food and handmade stuff.

We rent a storey of a traditional Thai house. It is part of a little court complex. The 1 floor is the apartment while the ground floor is used as a storage room for the owner.
The apartment we rent has two rooms. One is the living and sleeping room and the other one is the bathroom. Luckily we have a big open balcony. As Thailand is a hot country a lot happens outside. We do all the cooking (but mostly we go eat out as it is so cheap) and relaxing outside. And those two sofa's the former renters left behind come in very handy for relaxation.
Outside the house but landing on our balcony we have a starfruit tree and a mango tree. Starfruit is growing now but the mango's will come in a few months, mmmm.

This morning the Internet company came to install the line. So the world is at our feet now. The room also includes hot water, air conditioning, TV and fridge (which we put outside to win some space). On some evenings we get a lot of company of the cats living at the court complex.

We are still decorating a bit and buying some furniture. But everything is ready for living. Before moving in we went looking for different apartments and some were really nice, huge or included a swimming pool for the renters. But we chose this apartment because of it's cosy atmosphere, the lower price, the good location and the fact that it is next to Nok's family.


Seen from outside, don't watch all the electricity wires.




Our first meal at home. Hmmm good sofa.
The technicians installing the Internet. Under them the spirit house of the court complex.