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Published: February 13th 2007
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Sawatdee Khrab from Thailand!
Well I have had an interesting, but exciting past few days.
( You may see from the pictures that I have touched and stroked fully grown Tigers, more on that later... )
I arrived in Thailand, at Bangkok Airport, on Friday. After negotiating with the Taxi driver, I eventually arrived at my guesthouse. I was shocked to see when I arrived that for my 9pounds a night I was getting a big single bedded ensuite room... with linen and towel change every day, satellite tv, air conditioning... everything that a hotel offers basically. Impressive.
I then ventured out and about in the heart of Bangkok. I firstly thought I would visit the world famous 'Koh San Road'. It was an interesting experience. There were stalls everywhere... food, fresh fruit, clothes, tattoo artists, hair braiding, pirate dvd's and cd's... it was mad! Along as all these, throw into the mix...Taxis and Tuk-Tuks... everywhere! If you're unsure what a Tuk-Tuk is... well it is a cross between a motorbike and a 3-wheeled car (see the pics... you will understand it better). Truly amazing though!
Down Koh San Road it is great, because you can
get a big bottle of freshly squeezed Orange Juice, made in front of your eyes, for 35pence. Or even a freshly cut pineapple or melon for about 15pence. But everywhere you go... it is money money money. That's all they want from you.
So after exploring Bangkok for a few days, I decided I would do some Temple Trecking. And I did this with the help of a Tuk-Tuk. I got a Tuk-tuk driver to drive me around all the Temples in Bangkok for a whole afternoon, and wait for me at every stop while I took photos etc. All that only cost me 3 pounds! Pretty cool, and I finished up at the Grand Palace (the famous landmark in Bangkok). I also met a quality girl from England called Camilla... who I went round the Temples with.
It's pretty amazing to see that you see the same 2 images everywhere you go!! The first is the Buddha. You see Large ones, small ones, lying down ones, standing up ones, sitting down ones, waving ones... they are everywhere. Then the next image you see is the photo of the King. King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand has been King
for 60 years... and they love him here... actually, they adore him! Is photo is everywhere! In shop windows, on the side of the road (surrounded by gold and flowers), on streets, in Cars ("long live the king") .... it is crazy! Also, it has been the King's birthday this weekend... and nearly everyone in Bangkok were wearing yellow (the royal colour) with the royal emblem on their t-shirt. Truly amazing how they respect his birthday so much.
So after visiting many Temples, in the evening, Me, Camilla and her friend Charlie decided to go out for a few drinks and a meal. Me and Charlie capped the evening off by eating a Scorpian!! Yes that is right... a scorpian. It was cooked and kinda covered in salt, but we did it. The only thing I can really comment about it, is that it was rather chewy.
The next day I had booked to go on a tour. Had to get up at 6am (which was difficult) and out first stop was the famous Floating Market. This is exactly what it says it is.... it is a market that is on boats. Pretty cool. And the only way
for us to get around the market, was to go on a boat being paddled by a Thai elderly gentleman.
Then we travelled for a few more hours to stop for lunch and visit the famous 'Bridge of Death'... where loads of people lost their lives during its construction and protection in World War 2.
And then for the highlight of the trip...
The Tiger Temple! Once we had entered, we first saw some little Tiger Cubs and a few larger tigers in a cage. But then we went to the 'Tiger Canyon'... where I actually touched and stroked fully grown Tigers!
How did I do this? Well... this is the story. Basically in the wild Tigers get hunted. And a Buddhist monk decided to set up a retreat, where Tigers can come and be protected from these poachers. Firstly there were only 3 tigers, but they had cubs, and now there are around 10 Tigers in total (which includes 2 cubs). They are fed cooked food, which means they don't eat raw meat (i.e humans) and are always kept full. They have also become used to Humans and affectionate towards them, due to them being
looked after by them. So the Tiger temple was set up to allow people to come and see fully grown Tigers close up, and actually get to touch them.
It was by far one of the most fantastic experiences in my life... probably in the top 5. It was just one of those once in a life time things. The tigers were great, and we were kept safe all the way through... by 2 people, who worked there, per person and then the tigers were tied up also.. with another 2 people per tiger. So it was completely safe, but the tigers in 12 years haven't biten anyone. I even got the chance to walk a tiger (see the pic).
It was a long 12 hour day, but well worth it. All of us on the tour left fully satisfied (although some of the girls were too scared to go near the tigers).
Today I got my haircut ... which was an interesting experience. And have also bought a suit, tailored, for about 150pounds. Cheap as chips.
In fact, this place is even cheaper than I had imagined. Food especially. Can of coke costs 20p, a
meal about 1 pound 50, travel by a Tuk-Tuk or taxi is dead cheap. Just shows how expensive England is.
Thailand is a very interesting place, and it is different to what I had imagined. But I do like it here.
Tomorrow I head down to the South of Thailand on the night train to go to a few islands...and then to Phuket. Phuket was quite heavily struck by the Tsunami in 2004, so it will be interesting to see how the re-building is going.
Anyways, enjoy the pictures... especially of me with the tigers!
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Kingba
non-member comment
Problem!!
Dean i have some problems with this last blog of yours. 1) Firstly in the picture entitled, 'me and a tiger' you appear to have your finger up that tiger's anus! I know you spoke about 'once in a lifetime chance', and at least you can say you've done it, but to be honest i think you are exploiting their degree of domestication. 2) You say a meal costs about £1.50 out there and let us assume you buy a large portion of chips for £1.50. You then claim your £150 suit was, 'cheap as chips'....Dean, either chips in Thailand are obscenely expensive or you sir, are telling fibs. 3) Interesting fact you might like to know about tigers: stripy cats in england are actually just underdeveloped tigers, if you feed them protein supplements from a young age you get yourself a tiger. 4) Interesting fact about scorpions (this one's not a lie!) if you put some alchohol on a scorpion's back it will sting itself to death!!! I read that off a penguin biscuit wrapper so it must be true!!! So though i am impressed with you consuming a scorpion, a real man would have swallowed a live one and washed it down with a triple whiskey! Have fun and hijinks etc....Kingba