Leaving Pai, everyone sadly had to start going separate ways...Ryan and Jo were off for a fast trip through Cambodia, with plans of meeting back up in the Thai Islands. Monica and Leah were off to Singapore where Leah would continue on to Brazil and Monica to India. That just left Elliot and I...We were both planning on heading south towards the islands. With a little peer pressure, I talked him into not booking a flight and heading down by land with me, making a stop in a little town called Kanchanaburi. It's about 3hrs West of Bangkok and is best known for the film "Bridge on the River Kwai," which is based on the prisoners of Japan during WWII who were forced to work on the "death railway." We had gone on recommendations from some people we met at Spicy Pai and were there for two things: to see some Tigers and climb some Waterfalls!
In Chiang Mai there is a place where tourists can pay to go and feed tiger cubs and pose with adult tigers. I really wanted to do it, but decided not to after talking with some people that had gone. They said the tigers were drugged to allow tourists so close and not treated very well. So I decided to pass on it, until...a girl in Pai told me about Tiger Temple down in Kanchanaburi. She had been and highly recommended it, saying that the tigers were really well taken care of and not drugged at all. So we decided to go! Its a huge complex with a section for black bears, tiger cubs, adult tigers and monks walking around, cigarettes in mouth, taking care of them. We spent some time posing with and watching some of the tiger cubs in action...
It was then off to Tiger Canyon...Where they kept the big guys! Each person is escorted by two staff members, one to hold your hand and guide you to each tiger and another to follow you taking pictures.
We decided to pay an extra 500 Baht to get to stay after and see the evening exercises. First we got to "walk" the biggest tiger for all of 5 seconds...
Then they built a not so sturdy cage around us and let the tigers loose. It took them a little bit to get going but will a little encouragement from the trainers with plastic bags tied to sticks they woke right up. We spent about 30 mins watching them chasing the toys, jumping into the water, and wrestling with each other. It was pretty obvious after seeing them in action that these tigers were definitely not drugged!
Being that close to such amazing animals was definitely one of the coolest things I've ever done!
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