Floating Markets and Tiger Temple

Tiger Temple
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I'd heard about the Tiger Temple through photos really, photos of other travelers (here on the site) sitting next to a tiger and smiling for the camera. The traveler was smiling that is, occasionally the tiger was laying on its back yawning or laying with its head on the travelers lap. I wondered many things about these photos - why was the tiger there? Why was it chained? Is the tiger cared for properly?  I really didn't know that much about it, but I was curious.

So having heard that you can take a day trip from Bangkok to the Tiger Temple, I made plans to go there and came back from the islands a day earlier to book the tour. The tour I decided to take was supposed to start out with a trip to the Floating Markets, then to the Bridge over the river Kwai in Kachanaburi, the War Museum, and then to the Tiger Temple. It only cost $10 which seems like a good bargin for an all day tour. So at 7am we left from Khoa San Road in an air conditioned mini bus and headed to the floating markets. If you've seen photos of boats floating down a canal with fruits and vegetables, then you've seen the floating markets. It's pretty kitchy but photogenic - ladies in straw hats rowing tourists down past vendors who literally can hold you captive. Wooden animals, lights, clothes, fruit you've never heard of - all of these can be haggled for. You can even go see a cobra show, or hold a huge snake for $100 baht (around $3). We really enjoyed the sensory overload. Then, if you've booked the all day tour (you can choose to just do the markets in the morning) you head out to lunch before seeing the rest of the sites.

Woman Chatting at the Floating Markets
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After lunch, our tour guide hurried us back into the revving minibus and told us we had a lot planned that day so we had to get to it. After about 10 minutes drive, the bus stalled and stopped. This happens to be quite regularly whenever I travel - planes will be canceled, cars will not start for some reason, and buses will break down - I was happy that it happened only on the last day of the trip. Luckily, we were right across the street from a machanic, and there was a shady tree with a table that was just bigg enough for the 6 of us to sit around. Coincidence? I'm hoping so. After two hours, the minibus was fixed (cost him 900 baht) and only had time for the temple which was what we most excited for. Outside of Kachanaburi (around 2hours from Bangkok), we drove down a dirt road to get to the temple. Mountains were off in the distance and it looked like rain. Dust was flying up from other vans leaving. Once we parked and paid the 300 baht to get in, we walked down a path to the tiger canyon to see the tigers. There were wild boar and cows walking around under the trees. They didn't seem to mind us much. Once we walked down the path to the canyon, I could people in yellow t shirts and about 6 tigers on chains lying around, pacing, yawning and posing. People were lined to go in, pet the tigers and get their picture taken with them. It's a highly organized situation - you give your camera to the handler while another one holds you hand and guides you to a few of the tigers for photos. The handler with the camera takes photos of the tigers themselves for you, and then with you and the tiger.

"wild" horse
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It's very overwhelming at first. These are big cats. But once you are there they seem very tame. A monk walks around observing the situation, and if you pose for a "special photo" (1000 baht), the monk will put the tigers head on your lap for a photo. I didn't have the money or bravery on hand to do this - but it would have been pretty cool. After that, they walk the tigers back up the the temple. After they walk all but one, you can take turns walking the tiger. This is also pretty amazing.

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The one thing I was not aware of or expecting was the hundreds of animals that take refuge daily at the temple grounds. And by hundreds I mean, picture one of those disney movies where all of the animals are running in the forest, and this is what it's like - wild boars, horses, water buffulo, peacocks, cows, pigs, reigndeers all of a sudden were everywhere. Of course it was feeding time, but it was an experience I really will never forget. Little baby piglets and baby boars were crossing in front of us. At first they were afraid to cross and stood still as to appear invisible. Then they just took off. I was so amazed by how close I was to all of these "wild" animals that I didn't even notice to wild horses that were right behind me until people were pointing and laughing. The horses could have licked my face they were that close. The monks rescued an abandoned tiger cub and nursed it. Then another, and then they started breeding. They are peaceful for the most part and each on has a personality that the monk wrote about in a booklet they give you. All of the other animals are wild as well and mostly come down for the hills at feeding time, or hang around the grounds. The animals aren't afraid of you and get pretty close. I bumped into some of them along the way - there was a lot of chaos when they started feeding them. If you love animals, this really is a great place to see.