After a wonderful morning snuggling with giant cats at Tiger Kingdom, we continued on our rented scooter to discover the real Chiang Mai. Some locals drew a small map for us with some spots to visit.
We started by visiting Doi Suthep-Pui National Park, where we took a walk through the jungle to see the waterfalls and the biggest, tallest bamboo I've ever seen. Locals were having a picnic on the rocks at the base of the falls and I wished we had packed something to eat. We continued on our scooter and drove past rice paddies where men and women were watering the crops and scattering seeds. We ran into a few elephants on the side of the road and occasionally stopped to photograph huts nestled deep in the foliage. We came across children swimming in a nearby creek with magical light streaming through the massive trees overhead. All of it looked like scenes from a storybook to me.
Some of our best adventures have been those that were unplanned. It's always rewarding to venture a ways out of the center of town to see where the locals live, work, and play. Many of the photos below were taken by me from the back of the scooter while Yuriy drove. Enjoy!
- Julia
P.S.
In honor of our one year anniversary(!), I will be sharing our wedding images on my personal blog. Feel free to join in!
