The Thais that Bind:
Our 20th Anniversary Trip to Bangkok.
Our 20th Anniversary Trip to Bangkok.
Lions and tigers and bears...oh my!
Sunday
Chris didn’t sleep a wink all night. (Marisa thinks otherwise.)
We got up before the crack of dawn and made our way downstairs to meet
Tong in the lobby, at the stroke of 7 am. She greeted us warmly, and
introduced us to the driver who would accompany us today (as her car was
“in the hospital”). We piled into the car, and off we went!
We stopped a little way down the street to ‘make merit’ with the monks at a
local temple, which consisted of buying breakfast and presenting it to the
monks and their helpers…all to boost our collective Karma.
We drove about one hour south, stopping at the Benjarong ceramics
factory to visit their artisans and use their nice, clean “happy room.” It was
interesting to watch these skilled craftspeople making and decorating
these genuinely beautiful dishes. We even saw collections they had made
for the Thai royal family.
Moving on, we made a quick stop to pick up our first bit of street food: hot
coconut puffs (not sure of the Thai name). Who knew that a simple blend of
coconut, sugar, rice and green onion could be such a treat? They were so
good, we'd ask for an encore the next day. We drove past the Maeklong
Railway Market on our way to the floating market, but did not stop. Not yet,
anyway.
We arrived at the Damnoen Saduak floating market and met Tong’s boat
man. We soon learned that this was his first day back to work after serving
four months as a monk! As we slowly plied the waters, everyone was
eager to welcome him back. The market itself is somewhat touristy, and
undoubtedly a shadow of its former self, but the advantages of going with
Tong are (1) you’re not in a noisy motorized boat, (2) you can easily visit
canals less traveled, (3) she knows where to get the best food, (4) she will
steer you away from rip-offs (she generally discourages shopping here;
fine with us, as we're not really shoppers).
The best part of this, of course is the food. We enjoyed several types of
spicy noodles, fried bananas (some with coconut), mango and sticky rice,
and some coconut brittle-type candy, as well as some Thai coffee. Well
fortified, we took our photos and left; it was getting very crowded on the
canal, and we needed to get moving toward the Tiger Temple. We stopped
along the way at a wood carving factory…for the happy room, but also to
see some of the amazing work. Some of the pieces there had taken one
year to carve, and you could tell by their intricate details.
We drove about an hour and 40 minutes to Kanchanaburi. The terrain
began to change along the way and become more hilly, wooded and
scenic. We stopped at the bridge over the River Kwai for photos for some
photos and a brief (and informative) history lesson from Tong.
When we arrived at the Tiger Temple, the stars of the show (i.e., the tigers
themselves) were already lounging about the place (chained, thankfully).
They were mostly inert, having just been fed, but some, especially the
younger ones, were in a more playful mood than others. And man, these
beasts are photogenic! After a while, everyone got a turn to walk with and
pet one of the larger tigers as he was led down into the specially
constructed “tiger canyon."
After a brief and informative talk, we were given the opportunity to take more
pictures. After some consideration, we paid an extra fee to get ourselves in
a “special photo” with the tigers, which entailed having the monks place
the head of a resting tiger in one’s lap while they take pix of your awkward,
nervous smile with your own camera. No matter how big and heavy you
think a tiger’s head is, trust us…it’s twice the size when it’s in your lap!
When we were finished taking tiger pictures, we walked around the
complex with Tong (who really knows her way around). We saw new
enclosures being built, then we got to meet and feed Bam Bam the Bear
who was extremely happy to see Tong. We all fed this jolly, friendly
bear…even feeding it dried fruit mouth-to-mouth…before moving on. We
saw some other animals throughout the complex: a few goats, some wild
boar, a solitary lioness, and a herd of water buffalo.
There's certainly some controversy surrounding the Tiger Temple. Are the
tigers drugged? Who knows, but we did not get the impression that they
are. They're exercised, fed, and then doing what our cat does at home,
regardless of what's going on around her: sleep. Has the facility become
too commercial? Probably, but they do seem to be making improvements
there that will benefit the animals, and the breeding efforts certainly seem
to be successful. Whatever the case, after spending two days with Tong,
one thing was very clear to us: she really loves animals. She's at the Tiger
Temple multiple times per week and has been for years. We got the
distinct impression that she wouldn't do this tour if she thought there was a
major issue here.
Anyway, we found it an interesting experience.
We left the temple complex and headed to a roadside restaurant, where a
delicious Thai lunch was already prepared and waiting for us…including
spicy soup, cashew chicken, fried rice, sweet and sour prawns, cold
beverages and ice cream. Afterward, we stopped briefly at a clearing where
we fed peanuts to a gang of feral monkeys. Chris was less than
circumspect in his handling of the peanut bag, and one bold monkey
quickly swiped a wide gash in it, spilling all the peanuts and causing a
monkey hullaballoo.
Our last animal activity of the day involved riding elephants. In case you’re
wondering, riding these well-domesticated pachyderms is a lot bumpier
than it seems at first, especially when going downhill. Before we took a
ride on "Moonlight," we got to feed them by hand, up close and personal. It
was surreal to stuff whole bunches of bananas at a time into an elephant’s
mouth…but everyone should try it at least once in their lifetime!
On our way back to Bangkok, we stopped briefly at a scenic trestle on the
Death Railway for some pictures. Tong filled us in on the sad story behind
this railroad, and the many souls who perished in its construction.
It was a rather long drive back to Bangkok with a stretch of bad traffic; at
one point, we had to get off the highway. We were both hovering near sleep
when we arrived back at hotel around 8pm. We happily showered away the
day’s accumulation of dust, sweat and elephant saliva, then enjoyed a
nice, cool drink at Riverside Bar at the Peninsula as a wedding reception
took place on the lawn behind us.
Next: The day on the bay
See all of our Bangkok photos
our travels
home
contact us
Sunday
Chris didn’t sleep a wink all night. (Marisa thinks otherwise.)
We got up before the crack of dawn and made our way downstairs to meet
Tong in the lobby, at the stroke of 7 am. She greeted us warmly, and
introduced us to the driver who would accompany us today (as her car was
“in the hospital”). We piled into the car, and off we went!
We stopped a little way down the street to ‘make merit’ with the monks at a
local temple, which consisted of buying breakfast and presenting it to the
monks and their helpers…all to boost our collective Karma.
We drove about one hour south, stopping at the Benjarong ceramics
factory to visit their artisans and use their nice, clean “happy room.” It was
interesting to watch these skilled craftspeople making and decorating
these genuinely beautiful dishes. We even saw collections they had made
for the Thai royal family.
Moving on, we made a quick stop to pick up our first bit of street food: hot
coconut puffs (not sure of the Thai name). Who knew that a simple blend of
coconut, sugar, rice and green onion could be such a treat? They were so
good, we'd ask for an encore the next day. We drove past the Maeklong
Railway Market on our way to the floating market, but did not stop. Not yet,
anyway.
We arrived at the Damnoen Saduak floating market and met Tong’s boat
man. We soon learned that this was his first day back to work after serving
four months as a monk! As we slowly plied the waters, everyone was
eager to welcome him back. The market itself is somewhat touristy, and
undoubtedly a shadow of its former self, but the advantages of going with
Tong are (1) you’re not in a noisy motorized boat, (2) you can easily visit
canals less traveled, (3) she knows where to get the best food, (4) she will
steer you away from rip-offs (she generally discourages shopping here;
fine with us, as we're not really shoppers).
The best part of this, of course is the food. We enjoyed several types of
spicy noodles, fried bananas (some with coconut), mango and sticky rice,
and some coconut brittle-type candy, as well as some Thai coffee. Well
fortified, we took our photos and left; it was getting very crowded on the
canal, and we needed to get moving toward the Tiger Temple. We stopped
along the way at a wood carving factory…for the happy room, but also to
see some of the amazing work. Some of the pieces there had taken one
year to carve, and you could tell by their intricate details.
We drove about an hour and 40 minutes to Kanchanaburi. The terrain
began to change along the way and become more hilly, wooded and
scenic. We stopped at the bridge over the River Kwai for photos for some
photos and a brief (and informative) history lesson from Tong.
When we arrived at the Tiger Temple, the stars of the show (i.e., the tigers
themselves) were already lounging about the place (chained, thankfully).
They were mostly inert, having just been fed, but some, especially the
younger ones, were in a more playful mood than others. And man, these
beasts are photogenic! After a while, everyone got a turn to walk with and
pet one of the larger tigers as he was led down into the specially
constructed “tiger canyon."
After a brief and informative talk, we were given the opportunity to take more
pictures. After some consideration, we paid an extra fee to get ourselves in
a “special photo” with the tigers, which entailed having the monks place
the head of a resting tiger in one’s lap while they take pix of your awkward,
nervous smile with your own camera. No matter how big and heavy you
think a tiger’s head is, trust us…it’s twice the size when it’s in your lap!
When we were finished taking tiger pictures, we walked around the
complex with Tong (who really knows her way around). We saw new
enclosures being built, then we got to meet and feed Bam Bam the Bear
who was extremely happy to see Tong. We all fed this jolly, friendly
bear…even feeding it dried fruit mouth-to-mouth…before moving on. We
saw some other animals throughout the complex: a few goats, some wild
boar, a solitary lioness, and a herd of water buffalo.
There's certainly some controversy surrounding the Tiger Temple. Are the
tigers drugged? Who knows, but we did not get the impression that they
are. They're exercised, fed, and then doing what our cat does at home,
regardless of what's going on around her: sleep. Has the facility become
too commercial? Probably, but they do seem to be making improvements
there that will benefit the animals, and the breeding efforts certainly seem
to be successful. Whatever the case, after spending two days with Tong,
one thing was very clear to us: she really loves animals. She's at the Tiger
Temple multiple times per week and has been for years. We got the
distinct impression that she wouldn't do this tour if she thought there was a
major issue here.
Anyway, we found it an interesting experience.
We left the temple complex and headed to a roadside restaurant, where a
delicious Thai lunch was already prepared and waiting for us…including
spicy soup, cashew chicken, fried rice, sweet and sour prawns, cold
beverages and ice cream. Afterward, we stopped briefly at a clearing where
we fed peanuts to a gang of feral monkeys. Chris was less than
circumspect in his handling of the peanut bag, and one bold monkey
quickly swiped a wide gash in it, spilling all the peanuts and causing a
monkey hullaballoo.
Our last animal activity of the day involved riding elephants. In case you’re
wondering, riding these well-domesticated pachyderms is a lot bumpier
than it seems at first, especially when going downhill. Before we took a
ride on "Moonlight," we got to feed them by hand, up close and personal. It
was surreal to stuff whole bunches of bananas at a time into an elephant’s
mouth…but everyone should try it at least once in their lifetime!
On our way back to Bangkok, we stopped briefly at a scenic trestle on the
Death Railway for some pictures. Tong filled us in on the sad story behind
this railroad, and the many souls who perished in its construction.
It was a rather long drive back to Bangkok with a stretch of bad traffic; at
one point, we had to get off the highway. We were both hovering near sleep
when we arrived back at hotel around 8pm. We happily showered away the
day’s accumulation of dust, sweat and elephant saliva, then enjoyed a
nice, cool drink at Riverside Bar at the Peninsula as a wedding reception
took place on the lawn behind us.
Next: The day on the bay
See all of our Bangkok photos
our travels
home
contact us
Floating Market
Floating market
Floating market, spicy noodles
Tiger Temple
Tiger Temple, Bam Bam and Tong
Elephant Camp, Moonlight
Bangkok home
Getting there and getting acclimated
Diving a bit deeper
Lions and tigers and bears...oh my!
The day on the bay
Our last day and the trip home
Logistics and closing comments
Getting there and getting acclimated
Diving a bit deeper
Lions and tigers and bears...oh my!
The day on the bay
Our last day and the trip home
Logistics and closing comments
Elephant Camp