I woke up around 5am and couldn’t really go back to sleep. The non-a/c room was starting to heat up and the moment the temp is above like 80 I get uncomfortable. We walked up about a 2 miles to the River Kwai Bridge after breakfast and I finally realized why there was such a hard time to get my camera working- alkaline vs. non-alkaline AA.
AHA!

We walked on the bridge a few feet, then a train came by so we stood on the sides- and yeah, you could touch the train as it passed. I pointed out to J that the tracks bent as the train went over it and the wood creaked. That seemed to scare her a bit along with the fact that the bridge is really just train tracks with a steel casing on either side like rails on a stair case.

If you look at that pic, you’ll see a piece of metal running down the middle of the tracks for people to walk on- looks ok right? Well, there was two way traffic and some people were walking on the unstable water logged wood planks on the side- like me- and feeling the wood bend and stuff.

So I didn’t go too far either. I wonder how many people fall off the bridge into the water.

It was really pretty, the sky was amazing looking. Clouds looked fake and stood out from the blue so much it was pretty unreal. We headed back to the guesthouse, changed our clothes and went to Tiger Temple.

Our transportation to the temple was a modded pickup truck. It had some benches and a canopy placed on the back. Another modded taxi truck drove by at some point and there were guys holding onto the canopy railings and standing on the bumper. Looked pretty dangerous but probably an ordinary thing.

The experience at the temple is unique. You pay a fee, sign a waiver, and walk through the gates. Once inside there are random animals hanging out who normally would run or charge you – deer, goats, peacocks, pigeons, cows… etc… We walked down a dirt path to the quarry and there’s a roped off section with some benches for people to sit and some volunteers or employees explaining how it all works.

Basically, there’s two options-

1: give you camera to one guide, another holds your hands and escorts from lazy tired tiger to lazy tired tiger – you get about 30 seconds to a minute with each tiger – your pic is taken and you move onto the next.

2: pay 1000 baht=30 bucks – you get to do option 1 and have a tiger’s big bony head placed in your lap for a pic. I thought about it for one sec. I was also kind of in awe so I didn’t listen too much. I was too busy staring at the tigers.

One tiger I touched raised his head when I knelt down. I don’t know if it was surprised to see me, smell me, or something or if I tickled him/her but after a sec the tiger just laid down again. Their fur feels like petting a pitbull – straight, rough, thick. Their paws feel like a typical animal paw. They do roll around like a silly cat and stretch the same. They also lick their feet and wash their face. At least these guys did, they were a bit smaller than I expected but still big.

After J and I got to pet the tigers we watched them and then walked with the last one back to their cages. They sleep in these fairly big cement cages at night to protect them and probably to ensure that they don’t leave the place. The tigers are definitely well fed, some are rescues from poachers and others were born there. They do wear leashes and it looks cruel but it seemed to not bug them. Their collars were metal with material wrapped around parts to not hurt their neck. Once in the cages they have no collars on. When they were all placed into their cages, a few got really cranky, I think they were hungry. We got to see a 2 month old baby tiger and watch it eat- ate Little Ceasar dog food and had some bottled water. Then behind us the monks and volunteers put out mass amounts of vegetables- most looked like turnips.

The animals that come to the sanctuary to just eat were so varied and so many! Lots of boars and a few big bulls. It’s amazing they don’t care that you’re walking next to them, they just want to eat and be left alone. We walked around a bunch of horses, bulls, boars, goats, and peacocks – eventually we exited the temple. I guess while we were doing that, some people got to actually hold and play with the baby tiger. That’s the one thing I wish I would have done but I am pretty satisfied and happy to have gotten the chance to see a really peaceful sanctuary and touch tigers.

The other passengers with us on the truck were from England and Holland, 2 guys, both had been travelling for weeks. They were surprised that J and I only have 10 days. I mean I think in some ways we got a lot of days off- holidays and stuff – but yeah, the notion that you could save your whole vacation and travel for 4 weeks is pretty awesome.

When we got back, the baby mini poodle was sitting in the grass being a silly puppy. We had to play with it. TINY NOSE!! Such a tiny little nose and little light feet. I think the pup probably weighed about 4 lbs. SO little… makes my cats look gigantic. It was awfully cute and trying to eat J’s water bottle and hands.

After dinner we took a walk to 7/11 to suck in some A/C – I may have mentioned it before – but there is a bar called Spread Eagle and another called something like 69 Beer Bar. Ho hum.