Sawat dee, Everyone!
Our last Thai adventure was in Chiang Mai, a city in the north. Before we left Bangkok, our hosts there gave us a farewell bouquet of jasmine flowers. It smelled very nice! When we got to Chiang Mai, we checked into a hotel close to the night market. We could see the food area of the market from our room.
Grandma taught for two days in Chiang Mai. After the first day, we went to a Thai restaurant with Grandma’s former student, Dr. Jariya. We had traditional northern Thai food for dinner, and I got to meet a fruit carver and ride on a rickshaw. After dinner, we watched traditional Thai dancers. I got to meet the dancing goat before we left.
The next day, when Grandma finished teaching, Grandma and Grandpa took me to a khao soy restaurant. Then Grandpa showed me where to find banana roti in the night market for dessert.
On Friday, we went to the Chiang Mai zoo and I got to meet the pandas! The baby panda was asleep, but the mommy and daddy were busy eating bamboo. They can split big pieces of bamboo into splinters with their teeth. These pandas are very popular and there are statues of them all over the zoo.
The Chiang Mai zoo also has a nice aquarium. The big shark on the sign makes it easy to find. I liked seeing all the fish and I got to make friends with more turtles in the gift shop.
After we went to the zoo, we spent the afternoon touring some of the temples in Chiang Mai. There are LOTS of them! We went to a temple that is built in tunnels, and a very old temple that has elephants as decorations, and two other temples. I got to make friends with another tiger and with lots of nagas (snakes) that were decorating stairs. Grandma helped me ring some temple bells. Then we found a tree from India that is the same kind that grows where the Buddha was born. It has very interesting flowers on it!
We started our trip back to the United States from Chiang Mai airport. The security screeners gave me a special sticker! It took 39 hours from the time we left Chiang Mai until Joe-san and Nancy-san picked us up in Rochester. Grandma said I was a very good traveler, but I got really tired. I think I’ll need a lot of naps before I’m ready for another big adventure!
Love,
Lion-san