Nestled into the foothills of northern Thailand, Chiang Mai is a beautiful and jungle-like place. The pace is much more laid-back than Bangkok. Here, we found ourselves riding elephants, hiking to waterfalls, visiting a fresh strawberry farm, driving a scooter around town, shopping at the artisan markets, taking a trip to the zoo, and visiting their sacred Temples.
We went for an elephant ride. Admittedly, I was scared, more because I was afraid Finn would fall off as we took corners near cliffs and held on for our lives when the elephant tried to feed on branches that seemed out of it's reach. Finn and I got off at one point and let Ben ride alone to catch more pictures and regain our composure.
I think I was also a bit more scared because I am 24 weeks pregnant here. This is how we announced the pregnancy to our friends and family. "Room for one more on this ride!"
Finn was so cute and brave around the elephants.
Took a hike to the Mork-Fa Waterfall where we cooled off and enjoyed the scenery.
The Chiang Mai Zoo and Aquarium is unreal. Never in the United States would you be able to get this close to the animals, especially such dangerous ones as the hippopotamus! We fed them sweet potatoes and as you can see from the pictures we were close enough to pet them (this would never fly in the USA).
The panda bear. We paid extra to see the panda bears. Probably wasn't worth what it cost to peer at the panda through a glass window, while it sat, where it probably had been sitting for hours, contently eating bamboo.
We took a tuk tuk to the most beautiful temple, Doi Suthep in the Hmong Village. We hung a bell with our name to say that we were there.
We definitely felt the burn on those stairs!
We hopped on a scooter and made our way to the countryside where we swam under a waterfall and ate fresh strawberries at a little farm along our way.
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