Tiger Temple Kanchanaburi

Tracy and I set off for the Tiger Temple in the Kanchanaburi Provence, not realizing just how far away it actually was. We were told it was about 2 hours away, which it kind of was on the way there, but certainly wasn't on the way back.

We took a taxi, then local bus, then a tuk tuk to get to the Temple which took approx 3 hours. Managed to have a bit of catch up sleep which was quite refreshing. On arriving at the temple we were informed that we needed to cover our shoulders, which was fine as we took wraps, but Tracy was unable to wear hers because it was a bright pink color, which apparently attracts the tigers. She had to buy a T Shirt to put over the top of her top. She wasn't alone, many people didn't have the right clothing. Anything Orange and Red was a definate no no - it alarms the tigers. Walking alongside the tiger with one of the monks and being able to pat it was a buzz. We were then able to enter the canyon where they had the handlers standing by the tigers and we were able to sit with them and pat them. The smaller tigers were unchained, the bigger ones chained. That was a fantastic experience and apparently these tigers have been raised by the monks from a very early age, needles to say they are used to being handled. Even so, we were obliged to sign a disclaimer before entering the grounds.

Making our way back to the bus station was a breeze but then we were hustled onto a bus which we thought was going to Bangkok. We kept saying "going to Bangkok" and the reply was "yes, yes, hop on" mmmmmm it wasn't going to Bangkok it was going to another area in Bangkok called Bang something. I guess it was all in the pronunciation. Anyway it was the journey from hell - first of all we had this very loud obnoxious family seated behind us and man were we in for a ride!!!!! First of all, one of the family fainted and the bus had to stop for quite a while to get her out of the bus. She finally came good, but the worst of it all was the 10 year old BRAT sitting right behind me. Even my ear plugs could not block her high pitched whinging. Tracy said lucky she didn't have a gun, it got that bad. Then just to top it off the bus ran out of petrol. What a pitty I was just to slow on the take to get a picture of the driver filling it up with a hose and a bucket after he jumped on the back of a motorbike to go and get the fuel. Finally we were back on the road, but wait there's more.............we ended up being taken to the wrong bus station. Lucky for us we both combined our thai and found a taxi driver who pretty much understood what we were saying. He got us home back to Asha. Its all part of the adventure, I kept saying as we were having a good laugh about our crazy day out. At least we could laugh and the tigers made it all so worth while.