Thailand Days 13-14: Bangkok and The Tiger Temple

Man! It's taken me sooo long to get this far! I've been dying to blog about this part of my trip! Well, where did we leave off? We left Koh Lao Lieng in the middle of a storm--a big one. In fact, we were stuck on the island in heavy wind and heavy rain for nearly 5 extra hours because our boat escort didn't think it was safe to take the two hour boat ride back. But when it became quite obvious that we could be stuck there for an extra day in the rain, the packed the boat and shoved us on. Glad to know safety was of the utmost importance.

The ride back to Koh Sukorn was a rocky one. When our boat reached the top of 6 ft swells, the wind would whip us sideways and it was a massive fight to keep our boat from entering the next wave diagonally (which would of course flip us). There were a couple moments when people screamed. I was lucky that I sat in the back; I didn't get the full force of our up-and-down journey. I did, however, get to witness the perilous angle in which we road up those waves on and that was enough to keep me holding hands with the girl next to me!

Thankfully we arrived in one piece on the beaches of Koh Sukorn, safely back at our beloved resort. Taking advantage of the restaurant and running water, we all headed into the bungalows for a quick shower before grabbing lunch and one last pina coloda. Then it was back to the boat. :S The trip back to the mainland wasn't quite as harrowing as the wind had significantly died down while we relaxed on Koh Sukorn, but the rain hit us double force and our bags were consequently soaked. They might as well have been dumped in the Adman Sea.

Once we got off the boat, it was a mad dash to the mini-bus and a two hour drive to the train station. When we got there, we walked around in the rain a little bit looking for food and ended up buying some truly amazing sandwiches from a great little Australian owned dagwood shop. Yum! Then it was goodbye to some of our friends--Rosie and James both left us here and went on their way to Koh Phangan (the big party island in Thailand). The rest of us boarded our train for an overnight trip back to Bangkok.

Once we got back to Bangkok, we checked back into our original hotel, went out for food, got a nice massage, and hit the city for a little shopping. Though Bangkok has become a sweltering city of pollution, corruption and scum of every kind (I'm not too fond, can you tell?), I must praise it for it's nice selection of western sized clothes.

The next day was departure day and I still had a few things to do. I needed to visit the Tiger Temple in Kanchanaburi. I heard about this temple from a few friends and that it was a wild place where monks take in orphaned tiger cubs and raise them by hand, thus making them tame enough for tourists to hold and pet. I HAD to check it out!

It was a little complicated getting there. I didn't want to join the full tour bus group and pay for someone to take me to stores and pressure me into scams so I just paid for the transportation at a tourist office down the street from our hotel. Ha. The bus never came. I was sitting there waiting long after the scheduled departure time with nothing to do but wait for the office to open up. In the meantime, I chatted up some tuk-tuk drivers and shared my iPod with them. It was funny. They were so curious about me. :)

When the office finally opened, the got me on another mini-bus headed to the Tiger Temple with a bunch of other people who missed the first one. Who would have known it would take so long. That was the longest ride of my life in a sweltering bus of stinky, sticky people! However, I did meet a nice guy from Germany named Sebastian that was more than happy to spend the day roaming around with me (too bad I didn't take a picture of him). First stop: The River Kwai Bridge.

I can't really remember it's significance. Something about the Japanese invading and never being able to conquer this bridge and lots of people dying here... Something like that. I couldn't really care much less but hey, we got out of the stinky mini-bus and that was okay with me!

One of the cool things was this little train that carried tourists from one side of the bridge to the other. Nothing else uses this track though which makes it all a little too touristy for me. I didn't have the time but would have otherwise loved to have taken the train across. :)

Next stop: the Tiger Temple. Oh, I had no idea what I was in for!! Upon entering, we had to sign waivers saying that we do acknowledge that these animals are all wild and capable of harming people. Any damage to your person or property is your own responsibility. A little unnerving. Made me think twice about doing it. And then I thought: "But I can hold a tiger!!" and I was quick to sign.

Once you entered the temple complex, you were surrounded by wild, free roaming animals: wild boar, peacocks, oxen, water buffalo, cows, deer, chickens, birds of all types, pigs, dogs, everything!! At one point I had a cow follow me quite a ways, begging me to pet him. It was so cute. Wish I could have taken a photo but at this point my camera battery was dead and I was taking pictures with a disposable which meant limited photos. I had to save those for the tigers and I'm glad I did.

Once we arrived at the tiger complex (while all the animals run free, for obvious reasons the tigers are kept separate--though they are pretty much domesticated, they are still hunters), we had two options. The free option: take a few photos with a few tigers as the tiger boys (workers) led you around. The 1,000 Baht option (like $20): take a photo SITTING with all the tigers, with their HEADS in your LAP, get a cool tiger claw belt (it was fake), postcards, and some literature on the temple. Obviously I chose the B1,000 option. I'll let the photos tell the story.

My first photo. I had just sat down and the tiger boy lifted this guy's head, stuck my hand under his jaw and left me there. Shock and awe. My face says it all. Pardon my language but I was scared shitless. That tiger's head was so big and so heavy. I knew that instant that he could have swallowed me whole. What a humbling reminder of my meager existence.

I don't know if you can tell, but my left hand was BARELY touching this guy's back. I could feel his heaving back moving up and down under my hand and I thought: "Oh my God. He's not stuffed. This thing is alive. My hand is under his jaw. What the hell am I doing with a live tiger in my lap?!"

And then I started to relax. This is my favorite photo.

And then I started to have fun. "Rarrr!"

This is my little friend Hobbes.

Check out those teeth!

Eeenie, meanie, minie, moe...

Perhaps the best part was playing with the tiger cubs though. What a joy! They were so cute!

CUTE!!

When we left the Tiger Temple, we were in for a pretty wild ride back to Bangkok. I thought I was for sure going to miss my flight. Bangkok traffic is ridiculous. Third world all the way. Think of Hanoi and add a couple million more people. Far crazier than China. We passed massive wrecks, drove on shoulders, nearly had a head-on collision, and passed sangtheaws packed with people not only under people, but with people on the roof. It was so late by the time we made it back to the hotel. I had only an hour to make it to the airport and it had taken me probably about two hours to go from the airport to the hotel when I arrived. I was sure I wouldn't make it on time. But I did and I met my Aussie friends there for one last goodbye. The flight back was the best flight I've ever had. I fell asleep before take off and didn't wake until after we landed. I've never slept so well or so hard in my life.

Thailand was certainly a trip to remember and one worth taking again. I highly recommend touring the southern islands and trying to get out to the less travelled ones in the far south. Krabi and Phi Phi were both beautiful, but nothing compares to the seclusion of beaches south of Phuket. Next time I go, I'll go alone, but if you're not up for a solo journey, I highly recommend Intrepid. They were great. The itinerary was well thought out, the included meals were good, the tour guide was funny, the experiences were amazing, the price was right, and the group fun. I would definitely travel with them again. If you're interested in traveling with them yourself, click on the link on the right side of my blog under "Make Your Own Path."

And that concludes my trip to Thailand! There are more photos here and more videos here if you want the full story.