Project Rakchuay (Love Help) - Thailand, Chiang Mai (10-20 July 2005)

---

Day 2 (11th July 2005)

If there were perks for the 6 of us who arrived earlier than the rest, this was it. After all the materials needed for the expedition were gathered the night before, we had all the time in the day to roam around the city while waiting for the rest to join us in the evening.

5 of us set our sights to Chiang Mai Zoo, home to the 2 pandas from China, Chuan Chuan and Lin Hui and of course a host of other animals in this beautiful place. The entry fee was a fraction of what I need to pay back home but was nonetheless interesting. Few visitors were in the park as it was a weekday and we took our time to visit the various animals in captivity. We soon reach the panda enclosure but were disappointed that the 2 darlings were still asleep. I had forgotten how long we waited for them to awake but it was well worth the effort.

Feeding time had just begun as we storm forward to occupy the best spot with the pandas’ encounter. We didn’t mind even though the commentaries were made in Thai and we couldn’t understand a word of it.

“The pandas were cute, that’s for sure & nothing beats seeing them right in front of your own eyes…!”

Lunch was this spicy Thai food at Central Shopping Mall located close to the Zoo where the owner made the effort to explain to us how to consume them “correctly”. After a brief meet up with Uncle Sam (our Thai leader in-charge of the expedition), we proceed on for more shopping sprees before heading back to our guesthouse in the evening right in time to welcome the rest of the 11 team members from Singapore.

Two days on, my understanding of Chiang Mai City increased. It’s a scaled down version of Bangkok - with lighter traffic, fresher air, many (Temples) Wats and equally friendly people.

While we were getting comfortable with our bearings of the city, it was time for us to temporary bid goodbye and proceed on for our expedition the next morning….

Good night!

---