You can do a lot of exotic things in Thailand, and a lot of natural everyday things. But we did a very exotic but touristy trip. First we started off in a van and after1 and half hours we were at the Floating Market. The whole market literally floats, but the bad thing is there are so many boats that it’s like bumper cars. We were given 1 hour to walk about before we left, and in that whole hour we walked around the different areas of the market that was on the land. About half way in on the hour we passed a man that had a 6 foot Python, and he was offering 200 baht for some one to hold it. Thanks to Jeff he bartered the price down to 50 baht, when I got the snake around my neck he curled up a little into a bow. The snake skin was very soft if I stroked with the grain, I thought that that was the coolest thing I probably have ever done (with reptiles). When we left the market we went by boat to a reptile house, when we got there we had a choice to see a reptile show. We chose to see the show and I think it was money well spent, because they had HUGE snakes. One of the first snakes they showed was a Cobra and a man went in and caught it. When he caught the snake he got a cup with saran wrap and then they stuck the Cobra fangs in it. The cobras venom they said was so poisonous, one drop of the venom could kill a full grow elephant. Then one of my favorite snakes was the jumping snake, the jumping snake can jump up to 2 meters high. Then one of the workers went into the ring with 3 Mangrove snakes and fought them all, and caught them all but one of the Mangrove snakes he caught with his mouth. After the snake farm we hopped in the van and drove for about 45 minutes to the highlight of the day, the tiger temple. The Tiger Temple is a home to about 20 Tigers, and a variety of other exotic animals. When we got to the temple we had to walk a couple of minutes to a little canyon were the Tigers were. There was not that long of lines which helped out, because the workers would snap pictures of you really fast and so you would be done in a matter of minutes. After we all got our pictures taken they said that the baby tigers would be going in a little while, so Jeff and I ran as fast as we could and when we got there the babies were not small babies they were probably 5 years old, but still they were cool to see. After we saw the babies that was the end of the day for the tour, but I wish that we could have spent more time to see more of the tigers. In the end I think it was money well spent, thank you Grandma Rita.
~Tim~
I must say really enjoyed the entire day, but my favorite time was with the Tigers! My nickname as a little girl was Tiger or Tigger, thanks Dad. Never in a millions years would I ever thought I would have the opportunity to hold a real Tiger by the tail, but I did just that! Amazing! They had close to a dozen Tigers in the canyon as we entered. They were of course chained up and most were sleeping. We were told not to wear red and orange colored tops before the tour and could not carry anything into the area with us. One person with one guide was lead into the area so you could have the opportunity to pet the Tigers. (We could not all 3 go in at once for a family photo with out paying 1000 baht or $30! and that was not in the budget.) I was still visiting the Tigers when Tim and Jeff went to see the baby Tigers, so I was kept behind because they needed to move to of the adult males to another area. They allowed us to follow as they walked the Tiger up, with a monk leading the Tiger. What a wonderful sight. I was able to meet up with my boys again at this point and that is when Jeff and I got our picture together with one of the male Tigers. Pretty cool if you ask me.
~Karen~
One of the parts of the tour I was looking forward to was going to the Bridge over the River Kwai. As a boy, that was a movie that made an impact on me. The bridge and the corresponding railroad was built by POW’s of the Japanese army. Mostly British soldiers and soldiers and citizens from various Asian countries. During the making of the bridge and the railway, thousands to a hundred thousand prisoners died. When this was all built it went through the jungle and the rugged mountains. I knew the bridge in the movie was not the same as the one actually built, but I still thought it would be out in the jungle. When we arrived, I realized a whole town has been built up around the bridge. It looks like any other old bridge in Thailand. Kind of disappointing. We still walked across it though and whistled the theme song to the movie.
~Jeff~
PS no bears accept fluffy (our stuffed bear mascot).
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