Tigers and Temples - Bangkok, Thailand
Bangkok, Thailand
Bangkok What can I say about Bangkok... I have heard so many stories, good and bad, as well as what I've seen in movies. ;-) My mom and brother have both been and my sister in law is from Bangkok. I also have several friends that have visited so I've had many perspectives. In short, I felt it was like so many big cities I've visited... once you've seen the main tourist attractions, it's just another big city. You really have to live there for a period of time to really find the real Thai life in Bangkok. I had to skip Chiang Mai but I have a feeling it would have given me a better idea of what it is to be Thai. I have already made myself a promise to return to this region some day and Thailand will be on my list. Tours?! Unlike most cities, where I either had a planned self guided tour or stayed in a hostel with a tour desk, I arrived in Bangkok with very little planned. I knew what sites I wanted to see but didn't know where they were in the city or how to get to those in the outskirts. I spent the first day orienting myself and trying to find a way to book my tours. Finally, after visiting 3 travel agencies and two other hostels... it turns out a tour operator was staying at my hotel. She isn't affiliated with the hotel but was able to help organize my tour for the next morning and had plenty of good information for me. Tiger Temple Thailand It's 4am... my alarm goes off. My first thought is "WTF is that?" then I remember. I set my alarm before going to bed... 5 hours ago! I thought I was on vacation! Lol I get out of bed, get ready, pack a bag and I'm out the door. I get to the lobby and my driver is waiting for me. I look outside and see only darkness. It's way too early... this better be worth it! I doubt my decision of booking this AM tour to the Tiger Temple. I hastily agreed to it 6 hours before and still not sure if it's a scam or if it'll turn out as amazing as I imagine it being. I'll explain... the Tiger Temple is a wildlife sanctuary run by Buddhist monks 3 hours outside of Bangkok. If serves as a home and breeding ground for 122 endangered Indo-Chinese tigers, as well as shelter for wild boars, deer, horses, bears, water buffalo and many more animals that were either left for dead or orphaned by poachers. The highlight is clearly the Tiger repopulation program. For a small donation, which is the $150 admission price, you can visit this amazing facility and have your picture taken with a tiger! However, if you purchase a $350 VIP morning package from a tour operator, includes 3 hour transportation from Bangkok, you can be a tiger handler for a day! That was the up sell I bought and sure hope it was worth it. The drive to the sanctuary went by fast as I slept most of the way. I woke about 10 minutes before getting there which was a bonus to catch some extra Zzzzz's. Upon arrival I am greeted by a Canadian named Archie who used to live in Ottawa near South Keys! Small world... and this would come in handy for me later. ;-) We are briefed on the way the Temple is run, how every morning the monks go to the local markets and are given food. Seeing on how they have taken a vow of poverty, they rely on the kindness of others to eat every day. Our admission price includes food for us to donate to the monks. I chose a medley of pre packages vegetables o give them, others chose meats or rice. The monks queue up and one by one they come by. We each make our offerings and bow in respect. Once completed we follow them into the sanctuary. This compound gives "open concept" a whole new meaning. As we walk we are greeted by several animals. First there is Jane, a doe who comes to greet the monks. She was rescued when her mother was killed by poachers and, being only 9 weeks old and useless, they left her for dead. The baby deer was found by a villager and brought to the open arms of the sanctuary. Then there is Sausage, a wild boar found by a nearby farmer, near death with two broken legs, the monks nursed him back to health. Now Sausage is healthy and fat... and the monks have a joke that says they are thinking of eating him, but given his incredible story of survival, they figure his meat would be too tough. Lol The list goes on... before even reaching the temple, I have crossed paths with several animals including ducks, boars, horses, deer, chickens... and then I see my first tiger... Sala. The only tiger not in a cage. She is considered the temple guardian and roams free. The equivalent of your Veterinarian's in house cat, only bigger. She is 4 years old and small even for a female. Her growth was stunted by her owner who kept her in a Bangkok apartment as a pet, until her 3ft square cage became to small and she was too expensive to feed. Brought here by her anonymous owner in hopes of giving her a better life. She has never known the wild, never taught to hunt or shown how to be a tiger. She is essentially a confused big house cat (temple cat in her case). Putting her with the other tigers would endanger her so she simply roams the grounds. My day as a tiger handler After a quick breakfast with other staff, it was the tiger cubs turn to eat. We broke off in groups and grabbed a few baby bottles of milk formula. "Pick a baby" a staff said to me pointing at corner where baby tigers lay awaiting there feeding. I approached a cub, bottle in hand, and lay beside him. As I raised the bottle he reached for it like a gentle but hungry baby. In second he was lying on me bottle in mouth sucking away! In an instant, my doubts about this VIP morning tour disappeared! Here I sat with a 12 week old baby tiger on my lap suckling away as I rubbed his fury coat! The best part is we had just started the day! In the next hour I fed 4-5 baby cubs ranging from 8 weeks to 5 months. The staff were around for safety but mostly to guide and take pictures. After the feeding came time for exercising these cats. First, we were each assigned a cat to walk to the exercise yard. Archie, my fellow Canuck, looked at the group and, with a wink of an eye, assigned the big cat to me. He introduces me to Sono and gives me a briefing: "Ok so... Sono is a nine month and weighs approx 290lbs. He's shown great skill and character and is about to graduate to the big leagues, so watch him carefully. He's still a playful cub but still getting to know his new found strength. Remember, he's walking you... if he stops you stop... if he runs, you run... if he turns to you and wants to play... you loose!" o.O The leash is handed to me and I'm off! Sono starts walking and seems to know they routine. I feel like he is guiding me and only a few times did staff need to step in to keep him focused. Incredible to walk a big cat yet exhilarating knowing that he could turn on me and playfully decide to crunch my skull! We walk for about ten minutes, he stops, looks at boars some 100 feet away, then resumes his stroll. He approaches a tree and suddenly decides to try to climb!! Unprepared for his leap, he pulls me forward and I stumble, take a step and land on his tail! "Oh f*#%!" I think "... he won't like that!!" I have flashes of him snapping, turning on me and opening a large gash in my chest with his deadly sharp claws! He drops from the tree turns and... calmly resumes his walk! Somehow I'm still holding the leash and walking next to him! "Phewww!" somehow I feel like I cheated death! We get to the play area and I hand the 300 lbs deadly beast over to the staff member. "Now that... was something!" I tell myself. :-) Once all the tigers are in the play area, we are split into two groups... those who want to play with the baby cubs and those who want to play with the big cats! I am torn... the babies are so cute but how often do you play with a full grown tiger?! I step into the big play area and am handed a bamboo rod with a bag at the end. We are instructed to get in the water, back to the wall and, no matter what happens, stay close together and don't wave your plastic toy in front of someone (for obvious reasons). They let the tigers out and suddenly we are surrounded by 20 of the worlds deadliest hunters... and waving sticks with bags attached in hopes they will want to play with those instead of us! One hour goes by as the cats jump up and down trying to grab hold of these bags we wave about as if they are common house hold pets we are playing with! Incredible to be a few feet away from these wild beasts with as many as 4-5 within ten feet of you. You can't help but wonder "What if one decides he didn't eat enough..." or "What if he simply doesn't like me?" ;-) Wash & feed After their play time on land and water, it is time for us to wash them. We are hand liquid soap as they hoes them down. We rub the tigers from top to bottom, washing their majestic fur of the sand and dirt they rolled around in at playtime! As we wash the attended give them chicken as a treat... and just like their smaller domestic feline cousins they do not like being washed. They growl and hiss but are distracted by the chicken they are being bribed with. After washing the small and medium cats, it's time for the heavyweights to play. This is done by the staff only as these jungle kings can kill with one wrong stroke. We watch from a fenced area and take pictures. These animals move so gracefully and swiftly, a great display of their capable hunting skills. A few more pictures and it is time to go. As you will see by the pictures and videos, this was such an amazing experience for an animal lover such as myself... one that I will treasure for a very long time. Elephants On the way back to Bangkok, I ask the driver to stop at an elephant farm where I can have a meet and greet with some elephants. They bring me to a place not far where I can take an elephant ride and bathe the elephants. Obviously the Tiger Temple experience was a hard act to follow... but this place was just bad. The whole time I felt like they were in it purely for the money and didn't care about the animals. The whole time I was riding the elephants, the handler was jamming a medal spike into the elephants back. I know that the hide of an elephant is thick and tough but I wonder if that was necessary. I did get some fun playtime with him in the water. I would spray the elephants with water and he'd spray me back without any prodding from his handler. I washed him and had a bit of one on one rubbing his trunk and petting him. He responded with playful pushes with his trunk. I could tell that this animal was docile and playful but seemed to lack any affection from his owners. Not once in the 2 hours I spent there did I see any of them showing kindness to them. Clearly, I would not recommend this place to anyone and felt ashamed to have paid them. I cancelled my bamboo rafting trip after my elephant ride as I did not want to support this operation any more. Soy cowboy No trip to Bangkok is complete without investigating the shady world of Bangkok's red light districts. I spent an evening in Soy Cowboy getting the low down from one of the thousands of working girls. It was her night off she said so after a few drinks we walked up and down the strip, talking about the various clubs and played a game trying to spot the ladyboys! This place is ridiculous and uniquely interesting at once. I can see why so many westerners flock here to find Thai girlfriends for their vacation time. I personally find it disturbing but it is so widespread and transparent that you can't help but accept the skewed relationship that these people have. I guess it's really win-win for all involved. The city My self guided tour of Bangkok brought to the usual tourist spots. As much as I'm tired of seeing temples and pagodas there are certain things you can't miss when visiting a city. In Bangkok, these sites include the Grand Palace, Wat Arun (temple of the dawn), Wat Prakeaw, Wat Pho (reclining Buddha), Khao San Road and Chinatown. Every city's attraction has it's charm and Bangkok was no different. I'll be back here some day as there is so many things I want to see in Thailand... but until then this will have to do. ;-) December... Xmas?! As I've been travelling throughout Asia I have noticed how much Asians love to light up building bridges and pretty much everything along pedestrian areas. I kept thinking how nice it looks and how much we should do that back home. It only occurred to me a few days ago that, since we are mid December, the reason they are lighting up everything is for the holiday season! It has been so bizarre living in tropical climate... I just can't wrap my mind around the fact that it is the holidays. If I were back home, I'd usually be in the Xmas spirit and putting lights on everything I can! I love decorating for the holidays and it feels weird that I won't be doing that this year. This season I spend Christmas and New Years with friends, in a lush tropical paradise with no Christmas tree, no piles of gifts, no big family dinner. Just one of the costs of choosing to skip winter! Fast tracking to Bali I was sitting in my hotel room in Thailand, wondering where I should go next. If I went to Phuket I could go diving and still get the beach time R&R I need... but if I went to Kho Somui I'd have beach and be close for the Full Moon Party Dec 17th. I check prices and read up on both... both are touristy, both are in peak season with high prices... hummm where to go? What do I really want to do? I decide that I don't need to dive in Thailand... I'll already be going to some of the best places on earth. Full moon party... let's see... Crazy all night alcohol fuel party with 15,000 other people, mostly early 20 something kids. One last big party to celebrate my 40th?? I wonder if my Swedish buddies are going finally? I really need some relaxing beach time... so, after looking at airfare prices and weighing my options... I choose: BALI! If what I really want is some relaxing beach time... why pay peak season hotel prices and go to a crowded beach when I already have a little piece of paradise waiting for me at no cost!! I book my ticket and let Kevin know I'll be there early. It'll be good to see the boys and have a full month to relax, surf, snorkel... just do whatever I want. It's like a vacation from my travels! Lol Next: Paradise! NOTE: I'm a little late posting this as internet has been unreliable. Although I'm in Bali for a month, I'll try to post an entry every week depending on what we do. :-)