walking walking

saturday eli, margie and i took a song tao (just like the car rapides of senegal, a cheap little bus that might or might not go where you ask it to) up to the chiang mai zoo. it was huge and spread out, almost set up more for the bus tours than for walking (one guide map said walking the zoo was only for mountain climbers).

it had an impressive collection of animals, in living conditions fairly comparable to those in the states. besides the standard spread of critters, they had many that i know i’ve never seen (understandable given my limited experience), such as casuarius casuarius – like an emu but with wild colors; fae’s muntjack – a little fanged deer-like animal with long sharp horns; and sun bears. lots of the signage was only in thai, so we often didn’t know the names of things.

we probably spent the most time with the malayan porcupines, the river otters, and the various types of gibbons. maybe its just easy to relate to mammals, but we were too charmed to keep our normal pace.

we ate lunch at ___________, a restaurant overlooking a stream, waterfall and lush forest. it also serves some of the best food we’ve had yet. it costs lots more than the food down in town – entrees for the equivalent of about three dollars instead of about one – but its worth it.

then we caught another song tao up to doi suthep, a huge wat about a half-hour drive up into the steep hills west of chiang mai. doi suthep is the most famous buddhist site in northern thailand, and is full of monks, buddhists travelling from all over, as well as tourists. it’s simply packed with golden buddhas, elaborate shrines, ornately carved buildings and bells, gongs, and offerings, all surrounding a massive golden dome that’s visible from our balcony here in town.

many people were meditating among the narcissistic material wealth and human buddha idols, but i went off to sit on a balcony somewhere in the monks living quarters, overlooking a gorgeous spread of jungle, the city, and the sunset (none of which were visible to the throngs up in the palace-monastery). all i could hear was a slight murmur of voices and the clanking of the bells, and the chorus of birds fluttering around me. and the rumble of the occasional commercial jet taking off from the airport in the valley. oh well.

yesterday, sunday, i woke up early and watched the sunrise, sitting on the balcony reading (jose saramago’s all the names) as the city woke up. eli and i went on a hike, taking the same route as yesterday to the zoo, but then walking up the steep road towards doi suthep, where yesterday i had seen several trails leading off into the wilderness. we found one, and explored it. eventually it took us up to a stream which had exposed a hillside of rock, which i climbed and jumped around on, somewhat satisfying one of my recurring itches. the waterfall was beautiful, and the sun was shining through it as it set into the hills above. eli fell in the stream when he slipped on the mossy rocks. twice actually. i felt bad because i made him follow me to the waterfall, only accessible by walking a ways through the water. sorry eli.