Tuesday 18 February 2014

Thailand 1 13th - 16th February


Birthdays, puppies, tigers and elephants !!

I arrived in Bangkok from Brisbane on Feb 13th, in the evening.  Damien, Hannah and Poppie had flown over from Perth the day before and were going to babysit our house and Trooper while I was away.  Janet had flown up to Bangkok a week earlier to spend some time with Sarah - It was exactly a year since either of us had been up here to see her and Benn.

The 14th Feb was Janet's (65th !) birthday, and it all happened on the 14th !!  After breakfast Janet, Sarah and I went for a wander across to The Emporium, where we bought a mixture of local foods and a salad which we brought home for our lunch.  Then we waited for a special delivery - Sarah and Benn had ordered an English Cocker Spaniel puppy from overseas, and he was due to arrive from the airport !  It was a
public holiday so Benn was home when the "package" arrived - And on opening his travel cage door this gorgeous little face appeared - Cimaron was "home".  Amazingly he quickly settled in, and because he is some 18 weeks old, he is already mostly toilet trained and more capable. 
Then it was off to the airport to pick up John and Di Skidmore who were flying in from UK for 3 days in Bangkok, en route to New Zealand, and then a wedding in Melbourne. So Janet's birthday was spent with a few G&T's, a bottle of red, and a delicious Thai meal cooked at home by Wannee, Benn and Sarah's maid.   And of course Cimaron was the centre of attention as much as Janet !

The next morning, after a leisurely breakfast, John and Di, Sarah, and Janet and I set off to the floating markets for lunch afloat - About a 2 1/2 hr drive west from Bangkok. On arrival we hired a boat, and set off into the markets, looking less for shopping but more for lunch !  As we passed boats, we eventually spied some mango and pineapple sellers, followed by chicken and other delicious hors d'oevres, and of course a beer sales lady who hooked her boat to ours while we got our drinks and paid for them.  So we munched on our food as we were paddled around the markets, admiring all the local wares for sale from the stalls beside the canals.  After the boat ride, we headed into the markets on land, in search of the "noodle lady" and our main course ! And as we sat and ate our noodles, we watched the parade
of tourist and vendors boats continuously passing us - What a great way to spend the day !  We did a little shopping as we headed back to the car, finishing off our lunch with a fresh coconut ice cream before we headed home. Later on in the evening John & Di and Janet & I headed off down to the local Irish Pub for a few pints of Kilkenny and a burger !!

Sunday 16th was an even earlier morning, and at 5 am John & Di, and Janet & I were downstairs and off in a small tour bus west to Kanchanaburi 3 hours outside Bangkok to the Tiger Temple and to see Elephants - Little did we realise how special the day was gong to be !

We had seen the tigers last year, but only in passing.  In the meantime Sarah had found out about walking them, feeding them, and bathing them, and had also found a place where instead of just having a ride on an elephant (which is something you really only need to do once in your life), you go in the river with them and wash them !!  First task
at the Tiger Temple was to provide food for the local monks, so we had stopped en route and bought suitable food, and as soon as we arrived at the temple we were organised with our food behind tables, and the monks, headed by their Abbot, came along the line and we put food into each of their bags.  You have to Wai (bow with hands held up high in prayer position) before and after giving, as a sign of respect, and with all the monks coming down the line, it was difficult to repeatedly and quickly perform both Wai's and put the food in their bag using both hands !!  But all successfully completed !

Then it was off up to their forest temple where, once we had removed our shoes and climbed the stairs, we were faced with all sizes of tigers - Little 3 week old cubs, some 2-3 month old cubs, and also some older 8-9 month olds on their leads around the outside.  We were given bottles and started feeding them !!  What an incredible experience !!  The older ones you had to be a little more careful with as they are now quite strong and able to inflict a bit of damage !  The tiny little ones were making a lot of noise, while the 2-3 month old ones were absolutely gorgeous and just loved playing. To me, the most amazing thing was the size of their feet - Absolutely enormous !

Shortly afterwards the monks started their prayers and chanting and we sat around more quietly, with tiger cubs wandering amongst us !
  Then it was breakfast of local food, and more feeding and playing with the cubs, before it was time to head out to walk the larger 8-9 month cubs.  Each group of 4 or so had a tiger, and took it in turns to walk with them.  Certain etiquette had to be followed - Always walk behind their heads (anything in front of them is potential food !!), stop when they stop, and run when they run !! Lots of laughter and fun, I can assure you.

After walking our tigers, we had to wash and feed them ! So it was out with the hoses and soap and we all scrubbed our tigers, and when we were finished, we were given chicken to feed to them by hand - And reminded to keep our hands very flat and thumbs out of the way of their teeth !  They were so
gentle though, and their tongues just so soft - Not rough like a normal cats - Just smooth.

Then it was off to the play area, and on the way, we got to walk some of the larger tigers.  Di was walking hers when it decided to have a poo, and John of course thought this was hilarious - Until he walked behind the tiger afterwards and immediately got "sprayed" !!!  Many laughs at THAT one !!

The play area consisted of a sizeable grassed area and we were all given 8 foot long poles with a "toy" tied on the end. Our job was to drag the "toys" around, trying to entice the tigers to play and jump.  Some seemed more willing than others, and some toys seemed more attractive than others, but eventually we had freely roaming tigers leaping around all over the place in front of us - Just amazing. Then it was on to the water pond, where we continued to do the same but in 2-3 feet of water, so we got absolutely soaked.  At one stage I had one tiger sitting on my feet so I couldn't move, while I was wrestling with another who had grabbed my "toy", so I was quite busy for a while !

After the water play, it was off to the canyon where we sat down on the ground crosslegged and then had a very large 4 year old 250 kg tiger lie beside us and put his head in our laps - Yet another amazing experience for the day !  Following this photo shoot, we, the spectators were put into a cage near another water pond while the bigger tigers were let loose around us, and then in their big pool beside us.  Very odd with us in the cage while they played around us.

After the tigers had all left (they wander through the park back to their enclosure at their leisure !), we spectators were allowed to leave - Advised to wait till the tigers were well gone before we headed out !!  By now it was about 10.30 am and we walked back to our mini bus and headed down the road to the elephant washing.

Normal "elephant rides" are done here, where you sit on a seat and just get walked around.  But our tour was to ride elephants bareback into the river Kwai, and wash them !  So we got changed into bathers and old shirts, climbed onto the backs of our elephants,  and set off down the steep bank to the river - I was at the front, right on his head, and honestly thought I was going to fall over the front ! My knees were behind his ears, which were flapping madly like a Dumbo trying to take off, but they just managed to keep me in place, while Janet assured
me it was no more comfortable on the back !!  We went into the river not knowing what to expect - And suddenly our elephant went down on his knees - We didn't know what was happening as we were under water up to our necks, and hanging on for grim death while we laughed like we haven't laughed in years !  As soon as we came back up again, we were dunked again, and this went on and on until we could hardly hold on we were laughing so hard !! 
Meanwhile John & Di were doing the same thing beside us, which made it all the funnier !  Eventually we stopped and got off into the beautiful warm river, and swam around with our elephants while they sprayed us with their trunks !  Then the elephants started picking us up by putting their trunks between our legs, and that only started a fresh round of laughter ! All the noise we were making attracted all the other tourists who had just gone for a "normal" ride, and they line up on the bank taking photos of us lot frolicking in the river with our elephants.   Our elephants then lay down in the river and we were given scrubbing brushes and had to scrub them all over, and behind the ears -
Hard work, because there is a LOT of elephant to scrub !!  After wards we climbed back onto our elephants (neither an easy or an elegant activity !!) before they climbed back out of the river, hooting to us, and putting their trunks up and blowing us "kisses" to say thank you for their bath.  They had obviously enjoyed it as much as we had, and it was truly stunning to see how gentle they were, and yet how strong. Just an amazing hour or so spent with some very special animals.  After getting back up from the river, we fed them some yams in thanks before changing back into some dry clothes and getting back into our bus to head off for lunch at a floating restaurant underneath the Bridge over the River Kwai.  This was a beautiful yet very moving location, and we needed a couple of cold beers and a delicious feed after all our exertions during the morning.  After lunch we wandered over the Bridge for a while, then paid a quick visit to the local museum, before heading back to the van to head home.

What an amazing day, interacting so very closely with some incredibly powerful yet simultaneously gentle animals - Truly a once in a life time opportunity that we would recommend to anyone.  We all felt very special as we drove home, and couldn't stop talking about the experience.

We came home past some of the current (politically based) barricades in the city that are casing a few problems, but saw no activity.  We got home to find Benn had cooked a delicious dinner of lamb shanks, and we had a lovely evening chatting around the table. Truly a wonderful day, if somewhat exhausting !!   Needless to say, we all slept like logs !!

Woke up late on Monday and had a leisurely breakfast, before wandering down the road to a mall called The Emporium, where we wandered around the food area, eventually ending up in BibimBab for lunch - A kind of hot stone Korean bowl of all sorts of fresh ingredients that cooks as you eat it !   Afterwards it was time to come back to Benn and Sarah's so John and Di could pack, and we then took them to the airport for their flight to New Zealand for the next leg of their holiday.  Janet and I will pick them up in Melbourne on the 5th March and take them up to Yackandandah for on and Kate's wedding.  And Janet and I went back to Benn & Sarah's for a rest !!

More amazing photos of the tigers and elephants here :- https://picasaweb.google.com/117739775480775657932/0067Thailand?authkey=Gv1sRgCNvezrnE0J3UtQE#

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