Learning about Chiang Mai Night Safari

When I booked Studio 99 Serviced Apartments I noticed a night safari on their list of tours.  No word says, “getting out of the big city” more than safari.  Being the animal lover that I am, it sounded much more appealing than the Chiang Mai zoo although the zoo is home to famous Chinese panda along with its baby panda.

As soon as I arrived to my hotel after the hour flight into Chiang Mai from Bangkok and 10 minute taxi ride to the hotel, I asked the front desk about the night safari.  They told me to arrive there around 7pm and told me a little about it.  They tried to find me a driver as well.

Getting There

Even though I rented a scooter I didn’t think I would be able to find the night safari as it was out of town.  Like I mentioned before, there are no regular taxi or bus services in Chiang Mai so I resorted to tuk tuk.  I asked a driver how much and they asked for 400 baht ($12 USD) for a ride out to the night safari and back 4 hours later.  While I could have probably negotiated I accepted his offer and packed my camera and tripod for the journey to the Chiang Mai night safari.

The tuk tuk ride from Montri Hotel smack dab in the center of Chiang Mai took around 30 minutes.   Upon arrival myself and tuk tuk driver noticed about 100 various types of deer roaming freely before the entrance which was a sign of things to come.

As I got there (picture on very top is entrance) and paid the fee of 500 baht ($15 USD) I was greeted in the lobby by an amazing elephant who could play the harmonica while swinging a hula hoop around its trunk (video below).  It could also play this other instrument which its master put in its mouth.  Banannas and bamboo were available for purchase to feed this talented beast.

Looking across the lake from the lobby I could see a bunch of trees and nothing man made.  I was smart this time, and purchased some mosquito repellent lotion so I wouldn’t get eaten alive while taking photos.

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Walking around Lake

They gave me an itinerary of the night safari experience as I purchased the ticket.  I arrived around 7pm and the tram ride safaris were not until around 9pm which allowed around 2 hours of time which was not idle.  They recommended a walk around the lake which was surrounded with various animal exhibits from tortoises to tapirs.  Most of the exhibits were minimally distracting including the tiger’s in which the fence seemed pretty low to prevent a tiger from escaping.

Towards the end of the walk around the lake I nearly jumped out of my pants as I was passing multiple wild cat exhibits and heard a giant roar/growl from what I thought was a lion and it actually turned out to be coming from a nearby speaker.  Walking in the dark alone surrounded by cats ranging from small house cat sized wildcats to cervals to scary looking black panthers while not scary was kind of uncomfortable.

They recommended returning after an hour to watch the water and laser show but I decided to stay across the lake and take some pictures without anyone in my way.  The water show was a photographers dream with a bunch of cool looking lights and reflections which make some pretty spectacular looking, easy to take photos.  After the water show I made my way back to the main area where I had some Thai food at the restaurant.

Watching the Laser Water Show on the Other Side of Lake

The Safari

At around 9pm they ushered the English speaking guests to one side and the Thai/Japanese speaking people to the other side for each tram safari.  Everyone packed on these tram safari vehicles and they were off.  I would guess there were 25 people on each tram which could have accommodated for 100 so I considered myself lucky because I had the ability to move from side to side to get pictures of animals on either side.

Each safari was separated into sections which included animals of southeast Asia, Africa and Australia.  The tram would slow down and a spotlight would turn on each side which enabled everyone to see the animals 90% of the time.  Trying to photograph the animals was made difficult by the driver who would slow the tram down to a crawl but never really let it come to a complete stop.  Coupled with the low light, movement made it very difficult to get a good picture of one of the animals.

I saw a bunch of animals which I have never seen before including about 10 species of deer/cow like creatures which didn’t excite me too much.  The animals I was really impressed with were the hyenas.  They were almost twice as big as I thought they would be.  You can see some pictures of some of the animals at the bottom of this post.  After returning from the first safari there was a 30 minute break until the next safari which enabled everyone to get a drink or…

Before Boarding Safari Tram on Beautiful Chiang Mai Night

Surprise Surprise

I was presented the opportunity to handle a baby tiger for a picture which cost a couple hundred baht.  While I have no interest in being anywhere near a blood thirsty adult tiger a baby was a lot more appealing.  They had 3 baby tigers in this glass encased room.  Two tigers were very small baby orange tigers which I thought I was going to have my picture taken with and there was this older white tiger which was twice the size of the little orange ones.

After I washed my hands they walked me right in and had me sit down on this wooden step and before I could sit comfortably I see this white tiger come running at me!  The handlers handed me a bottle with Tiger’s milk as the tiger jumped on my lap and I fed it for 30 seconds as they snapped pictures.  I must say the fur on the baby tiger felt EXACTLY like my sister’s dog, a year old male corgi.  They gave me a CD with the pictures on it as well as a print.  After the tiger feeding I went on the second tram ride to see the animals from Australia and more from Africa.

Feeding Adolescent? Tiger Milk for 30 Seconds

Overall Impression

While the Chiang Mai night safari was no replacement for actually visiting the animals in their natural habitat it was a fun experience.  I thought the presentation of the animals at night made it tenfold more interesting than walking around in a crowded zoo looking at caged animals.  The price was a little steep for Chiang Mai standards as total I spent over 1000 baht ($30 USD) but it was well worth it.  You can find more detailed information on the Chiang Mai night safari website.

Some of the Animals Seen on the Night Safari

Touring Kuala Lumpur is as easy as 1-2, 3

Kuala Lumpur tower is the 2nd (or 3rd depending how you look at it) main attraction of the Kuala Lumpur skyline.  At night you will see a “space needle” looking structure a close distance from the Petronas Twin Towers.  It is brightly lit at night with sometimes changing colors and it just begs you to get to the top.

For those who already wonder about the Petronas Towers skybridge which is the highest the public is allowed to go in the building is only 557 feet high compared to the observation deck in LK tower, the 5th tallest tower in the world reaching 1,381 feet in all about 1,100 at the observation deck almost twice as high as the Petronas Towers skybridge.  For those of you who say, big deal, just another tall building with an overpriced revolving restaurant and observation deck you would be glad to know that there is more than just a view with KL tower.

More than Meets the Eye

I was at the Thai Embassy to get my Thai Education visa and walked about 20 minutes to look at the Petronas Towers.  I spent a good hour or so looking at and taking pictures of the Petronal Towers before I set off to view the 3rd superstar of the Kuala Lumpur skyline.  I started walking towards the tall structure with the notion that it would be easy to get there which never is with huge objects. Just like the huge hotels in Vegas, which look close but seem very far while walking in 100+ degree heat KL tower was the same.

I resisted the urge to get into a taxi and kept walking.  I came upon a giant intersection which I waited 2 cycles of traffic before I figured unless I risked my life and jaywalked I would be waiting forever.  I had a choice to make, I could go straight or right, there has to be more than a single street leading to this giant tower right?  Well, it was half right.  I took the right which lead away from the business district of skyscrapers and more to a residential-ish looking area.

I kept walking and the road was going in a circle around this seemingly big, dense jungle park with no way through.  I kept going until I came upon a school on the left but I saw an entrance to the park on the right along with some city workers snoozing on the park benches. There was a retaining wall on the left which I saw an animal which I thought was a monkey that I tailed and lost.  The city workers were laughing at me because I guess someone taking a picture of a monkey in the park is like someone taking a picture of a squirrel in any US park. I thought it was pretty cool that a 10 or so minute walk from one of the most famous buildings in the world there were monkeys playing in a park.

When I say park, I really mean mini-jungle as even though there were carved paths, there was thick vegetation everywhere with monkeys swinging in trees.  Word of advice:  Don’t stop if have shorts and short sleeves as I stopped for less than 5 minutes to take pictures of the monkeys and received about a dozen mosquito bites for my troubles.  I was in the park for 20-30 minutes and didn’t see another person. The monkeys seemed to be pretty comfortable with humans.

I didn’t antagonize them and some ignored me while another old looking one walked up to about 10 feet away from me.  I snapped a bunch of pictures, but unfortunately my camera settings were off and most came out blurry.  There was a few different trail options in the park but I was in transit to KL tower so I followed the signs where it finally popped out of the trees (below).  After this grass field with more monkey photo opportunities there is this suspension bridge which is only a few feet above the ground which leads up to the Tower.

At KL Tower

Once you get to the top of the suspension bridges you finally see some people along with typical outdoor SE Asian food stands which I found to have delicious Malaysian food which seemed Indian to me.   I got this stuff called roti canai which was roti (thin pancakes) which you dipped in this curry which had some fish, potatoes and other junk in it.  It was so good I had 3 of them which were astoundingly cheap although I don’t remember the price but we are talking less than 40 cents per order. Once I got filled up with roti canai I decided to head up to the Tower which I expected to be a long wait.  Surprisingly it turned out to be a very short wait.

I paid the fee, sorry I don’t remember how much it was and zoomed up to the observation deck.  The elevator had a timer which told you how long it took to get up.  Something I liked was there was no mandatory wait to get a photo which they try to get you to pay for which I hate. Once you get to the the observation deck it is pretty much a run-of-the-mill round area with telescopes, a couple of gift shops and of course the 360 degree view of Kuala Lumpur which you paid for.

There some nice tourists from all over the world which you can talk to and of course tons of photo opportunities.  You probably want to see the view from the towers but I’ll let you do it for yourself.  My pictures were all taken through a shroud of rain clouds and smog along with dirty windows which I assume they clean every few months. I’m sure they would let you volunteer to hop out 100 stories up and clean the windows if you want;) The only thing I didn’t like about the tower was the view of the Petronas Towers was from the side so you can really only see a single tower.  Unfortunate because the Petronas Towers are probably one of the most picturesque  buildings in the world.