No, not big bird!

There is a saying that you don't know what you've got till it's gone. Well I would like to add that sometimes you don't know what you were missing until you get it back. That is how we feel about coming back to Thailand. There is a friendly relaxed vibe here that we felt as soon as we landed back in this paradise.

Our day of travel to Thailand started with a taxi to the Hanoi airport which is about 45 minutes out of town. Once we arrived we had some time to kill so we ordered some breakfast from the airport cafe. Well I ordered breakfast, Ryan tried to calm his apprehension of flying by ordering a coffee with baileys which turned out to be more like a baileys with coffee or possibly just some warmed up baileys. It was strong!

The flight to Bangkok went well, as did our entry through customs. Our next flight to Chiang Mai was delayed by an hour but our hotel pickup was still waiting for us when we got to the airport. As soon as we walked into the Aitsawarisa Hotel we knew that it would be difficult to leave. We were greeted with a welcome drink while we checked in and then brought up to our amazing room with the most stunning hotel bathroom we've had so far on our trip (I know, an odd thing to get excited about). The pool at the hotel is quite spectacular and is also environmentally friendly. It is a salt water pool that is heated by the waste energy from the air conditioning. We headed down for a dip as soon as we'd gotten settled in our room because it had been a little while since we've had the luxury of a pool.

Our first adventure out had to be the Chiang Mai Zoo and Aquarium. Neither of us knew what to expect but it turned out to be the nicest zoo facility that we have been to on our trip so far. The area that the zoo is located on is gigantic so there is a monorail and a tram to take you around the park. We figured that we hadn't done enough walking lately and decided to hoof it. There was so much to see in this lush and hilly zoo including elephants, lions, penguins, and many different species of gibbons and monkeys. Ryan had the pleasure of feeding one of the elephants some bananas and sugercane and then we both had our picture taken with it. The walk-in aviary was also very well done. After walking for a few hours and many kilometers it was time to head back to the hotel for some dinner.

On the way to the zoo we took a tuk-tuk but on the way back we used a songthaew (Thai for two benches) which is a pick up truck with benches in the back that drive around town. You hail them from the side of the road and then ask them if they are heading where you need to go. If so, you hop in the back and then when you are nearing your destination you hit the button that is on the roof and he will pull over and let you out. It's the Chiang Mai version of the bus.

Our second adventure was a gastronomical one which we could have easily done without. There is a restaurant a couple blocks away called The Big Bird Kitchen. They serve nothing but turkey and ostrich dishes. Since neither of us have ever tried ostrich we figured why not, can't be that bad right? Probably tastes like chicken right? Nope! Ryan had the big bird taco and I had ostrich curry and they were both really bad. Ah well, never try, never learn.

For more photos of Chiang Mai click here...