Another exhibit I was keen to see was the dessert hothouse, all succulents and cacti. It was very beautiful. I also found it facinating to see such profound examples of pattern in nature. All the spirals within spirals and repeat patterns were amazing. It was a very controlled atmosphere in the hothouse with no humidity. I know I put too many pictures for you to see but they're the best part!

Royal Flora Insects

One of the exhibits I was most excited about seeing was the insect pavilion. I was initially a little let down because although it was interesting with interactive displays and lots of info, the only insects were specimens in shadow boxes. Then we discovered that the exit from that display led into a greenhouse full of plants and insects. There were lots of live insects in little terariums and some screened in areas you could walk into but the bulk of the insects were free to move around the greenhouse including lots of butterflies. Can you tell which piece of green leaf is the insect in one of the pictures? Cool isn't it? It was at least 5 inches long.We saw one of these insects in Northern Thailand when we were visiting a temple. The picture of twigs with a bit of a sign in it is actually two insects on the left which look exactly like the twiggy tree they were in. They were about 8 -9 inches long and really hard to see as insects because they looked so much like twigs. The orange insects were about 3 inches long and in a tree. The juicy looking caterpillars were about 5 inches long and nearly an inch in diameter. They were furiously chewing the leaves off the bush they were on.

There were a lot of different butterflies but hard to take pictures of without tramping all over the plants. For the most part I had to settle for just watching them. The giant insects were outside of the building and give you an idea of the over the top disney like aspect of some of the grounds and displays, but of course all set in beautiful gardens that the Thais are so good at.

Royal Flora Show Orchids

Wow, did we ever get lucky! We found out a few days ago that there's a 'Royal Flora Show' and International Horticultural Exposition happening here in Chaing Mai and we landed here right in the middle of it. It takes place in a park outside the city that is used for horticultural development and experimentation. Free transportation is provided daily. The entrance fee was about $10 for the two of us with Philip's 'seniors' discount. That was a first for him! When we got inside, for a small fee, we were able to take an open bus around the site to case it out so that we could decide what was a 'must see'. There were pavilions from many countries and many many other exhibits and greenhouses including an orchid competition and exhibit. We could have spent the whole day just in that one pavilion it was so fabulous. There was even a room with an English speaking orchid specialist to tell us about propogation. One hothouse area was set up like a jungle with a faux waterfall and lots of lush vegetation and beautiful pathways to wander through to admire the orchids. I have a suspicion that many of the orchids sold in grocery stores and florists at home come from Thailand. I hope you enjoy these pictures. It was hard to choose because we took hundreds!