Our second day in Chiang Mai started early with a roadtrip to Tiger Kingdom about 30 minutes north of Chiang Mai. As this was one of the top “attractions” in Chiang Mai we were very excited to experience it for ourselves. What is not to like about getting in a cage with a 1,000 pound, live tiger? Oh wait, nothing.

Now, some notables on Tiger Kingdom:

-Entry is not cheap; this one of the more expensive activities during our entire trip (approx. $40 USD per person for the Big+Medium+Small package)

-Included in the price of your ticket is short-term medical coverage as almost all health insurances would exclude coverage for any incidents resulting from a Tiger injury (as they should)

-You can hire a photographer to accompany you and it might make sense if there are only 2 people in your party; however, with groups of 3 or more it would not make sense as someone is always available. The photographer is not cheap

-The Small Tigers were the most active and, quite frankly, the scariest to me as they were the most unpredictable. The Medium and Big Tigers were relatively calm and used to human interaction

-The Tigers appeared to be well-cared for and we never felt like we were in danger but Tigers are large, live, dangerous animals (it is important to note that accidents do occur at Tiger Kingdom locations – a tourist was killed in the Phuket location several weeks prior to our visit to the Chiang Mai location)

Overall, I would recommend to future travelers to make the trek to Tiger Kingdom as it is an extremely unique experience that provides lasting memories.

We arrived back at our hotel just after lunch and headed out to enjoy the rest of the day with no plans. Wandered out to grab some lunch, tour some temples, and ended up staying out at some local bars before heading back for the night.

Coming up: Early morning flight to Krabi on AirAsia and 2 nights in Krabi at the Sheraton Krabi.