Chiang Mai Zoo is brilliant. As good as Paignton Zoo, maybe even better.
85 hectares in the foothills of Suthep Mountain, the zoo is set in a forest, with breathtaking scenery all around.
From the monorail, you can look down, (sometimes from a great height!), on animals from all over the world. Here we gaze down on a lion relaxing in the heat.
An open sided bus takes us all around the zoo, we can hop on and off, very helpful for getting to the enclosures higher up the mountain. I take a picture of giraffes from the bus. 
Nearby is a HUGE Indian elephant with wrap-around tusks. 
The aquarium is imaginatively laid out, sometimes in caves, then looking down on rays, then in long tunnels with sharks, huge fish and turtles swimming all around you. 
Next, the star attraction, the Pandas. In large open settings, they look content. 
The white tigers are alert 
But the Bengal tiger is fast asleep 
The leopards are fighting over some meat some tourists offer them through the wire fence. 
The bird house is the size of The Albert Hall. 
You can zip-wire over the lake, I didn’t. 
The Llamas in the children’s section reminded me of trekking in Peru. 
Hundreds of deer are enjoying the sunshine. 
But it is too hot for the Indian rhino. 
We visit the gibbons who live on natural ‘islands’ of trees and vegetation, the crocs in their mucky water, cuddly koalas, storks, emus, flamingos and the jaguar.
But no time for the penguins, snakes, hippos, tortoises and zebras. Oh dear, I’ll have to go back again another day.
Back in Chiang Mai town centre, I have a few drinks and a meal with friends and meet my bride. 
Take care you all, John
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