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Published: January 22nd 2008
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Day two...woke up at 5, which is pretty good since we went to bed at 8:30 the night before!
tong picks us up at 6:30 for the ride to the Floating Market.
We stopped at a beautiful small temple along the way, our first of this trip. The walls were all carved with beautiful murals of Buddhas road to enlightenment. Gorgeous!
When we arrive at the floating market we run into the man who owns the car service tong got our airport pickup through. When he found out our driver didn't understand where he was going he apologized profusely...no big deal to us, but it was to him. He gave us a discount on our ride to the airport Friday. We paid for our boat, and started off. It was somewhat crowded, but tong said it was nothing like it usually is. Of course right away tong stopped a boat and bought food...fried bananas, which she warned Bill were very hot then proceeded to drop right in his crotch! It was pretty funny...we really enjoyed looking at all the people, and boats filled with different thing to buy...masks and statues and clothing and such. We stopped again and
tong got us some iced coffee...served in baggies with straws. Delicious! The boat she usually buys food from to feed the dogs isn't there...and she's clearly disappointed. She gets food from another boat, and we stop to get some lunch. The food is so good, and so fresh, I love it!
Went past the turning point for most boats, and got to see a little more of the way the local people live. Fed the dogs, and by the time we got back to the main route to go back...total gridlock! I think it took us a half and hour to get back to the spot where we launched from! We then went to Tiger Temple.
tong said along the way that she used to not take people there, that it took her some time to get a better perspective on what they do there. She said it was probably not what most Westerners would think of when you think of animal conservation, and she would let us make up our own minds about whether or not the tigers are drugged, and whether we liked it there or not. When we arrived they had the tiger cubs out
under some trees, and you could go up and pet them. We took some pictures with them, and then the abbot came with a large tiger.
We were able to have our picture taken with the abbot, something I think is strictly because we were with tong. Then they shuffled all of us aside when the big tiger was brought out, it would be the one we could walk beside to go down to the canyon. There were two woman however who were being treated like royalty...and tong went to ask someone who they were. Apparently they had just made a large sonation to the temple...about 90,000 Baht. So while tongs clients usually are the first to walk with the tigers and have their picture taken with them...these woman had even MORE clout! We opted to have the picture taken with the tigers head in my lap, so we went right after the two women. Bill was taken around first, and he looked like a ragdoll being paraded around to the other tigers...I think we were more manhandled than the tigers were! Then it was our turn with the big tiger. I don't know if these tigers are drugged
or not...but they sure are pretty passive. After we were finished there I was taken around to have my picture taken with the other tigers. Then tong wanted us to go back to the big tiger and I would get to lay down with my head on the tigers stomach...she showed me a picture on her phone of her doing it. Cool! But- the tiger didn't NOT want to cooperate. Every time they tried to have him roll over he just rolled back. Okay by us...but tong would have none of that. We waited and waited and she had them try several times, but the toger was having none of it. We finally told tong it was okay...I think she would have had us stay all day to get that shot if we'd let her!
We then went to see her baby...Bam Bam. Bam Bam is an Asian Black Bear, and she clearly loves her. She brought her some milk, and cookies and apples to eat. We went into the cage to feed her and take pictures...and I don't know if tong taught her or the people at the temple, but Bam Bam can Wai! We took a stroll
around and sw the work on the new environment for the tigers, I can only hope they give the other animals as nice a place to stay as this will be. I was a little disappointed to see the lion cubs in such a small environment...back up front and we got to lay on a tiger cub and get our picture taken, and I got to feed a cub some milk and calcium tablets tong brought along. Other people were trying to do the same, I think they thought it was part of the experience, but the workers told them it was not. Then a deer who clearly knows and likes tong came bounding up, and would not leave without getting some food and attention from her.
We left Tiger Temple, and went to the Death Railway and Bridge on the River Kwai. Got back to the hotel about 9:30, and threw a load of laundry in the washer in the room. It was nice to have...but it took us forever to figure out how to get the clothes back out! If you've ever tried using one of these washer-dryer combos you might understand...
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