Petting Tigers!

Feeding time at Tiger Temple, Kanchanaburi, Thailand
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I was surprised that the LP didn't mention anything about Tiger Temple. Melina had mentioned it to me in one of her emails and then of course, it was one of the activities mentioned at all the tourist information centers. I was picked up from my guesthouse at 2:30pm and we made it to the tiger temple by 3:15. That didn't give us much time to get down to the tigers as they are only out in the canyon until 3:45.

Once at the canyon there was a line of people waiting to have their picture taken with a few of the 6 tigers, including one cub. The 300 baht (approx $9.40) entrance fee included basic pictures with the tigers, but if you wanted to have a tiger's head in your lap, you had to pay 1000 Baht (approx $31.25). I decided the few shots from my camera would suffice. Once it was my turn, one of the many workers took my arm and guided me over to a tiger sitting on a rock. It was all kind of a blur since they get you in and out pretty quickly with another worker snapping pictures as quickly as possible. Oh and Nik, you would have been out of luck - apparently wearing orange or red quite upsets the tigers so you are refused to go near them in you wear one of those colors. Once done I hung out for the next few minutes as the picture snapping finished up, then it was time for the tigers to go back to their cages. We were warned to stay back as far as possible as the tigers were lead out. I felt bad for the one worker who had the lovely job of holding an empty water bottle behind a tiger that decided to urinate. I guess she was the low woman on the totem pole!

Petting a Tiger Cub at Tiger Temple, Kanchanaburi, Thailand
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When it came to the last tiger, we were told that we could all walk with the tiger back to it's cage, but you had to make sure that you always stayed behind the tiger and petted him when it was your turn to have your photo taken and to make sure as a woman you didn't touch the monk that was leading the tiger.

Once at the cages two of the cubs were left out so that more pictures could be taken with them and of them. They were extremely cute, especially the younger of the two that only wanted to play. When it was time to leave to get back to our transportation, we were not able to go the way we had come. It was feeding time and now there was a sea of cows, horses, boars and rooster happily chowing down.

Tiger at Tiger Temple, Kanchanaburi, Thailand
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It is often asked if the tigers are drugged, but this is not the case. All the tigers have been hand raised, either being brought to the temple as cubs as a rescue effort from hunters, or as offspring. Despite being somewhat touristy and way too rushed, I definitely enjoyed seeing and petting the tigers :)