Day 202 - Tiger Tiger

We got up with the sun this morning to catch an early train to Kanchanaburi. As the taxi

crossed the bridge to Thonburi (the neighborhood with the train station) we were surprised at how much the bridge's silhouette resembled the silhouette of a famous Paris landmark.

The train itself, because it was a local train only offered third-class cars. The insides of the cars were painted an institutional aqua and mustard that was somehow cheerful in the way of grade school classrooms. Reinforcing the classroom feeling were the rows of wooden bench seats and the slightly musty smell of a classroom at the end of the school year - a faint combination of dust, sweat, and disinfectant. The windows, however were wide, and we passed through some very nice countryside. The Thais of this area are known as a riverine people, and we rode along several lotus-choked canals with houses perched carefully on stilts above.

We arrived in Kanchanaburi at about 11:00AM. The first guesthouse we tried was booked, but the second had rooms floating right on the river Kwai. Literally - many of the guesthouses in Kanchanaburi -this one included - rest on docks floating in the river Kwai.

By 11:30, we were settled around a shady table nursing cold beers and waiting for lunch. Incidentally, one of the top beer brands in Thailand is called "Tiger". As we sipped our Tigers, we discussed what to do for the rest of the afternoon. Aside from its rather famous bridge (yes we're on that River Kwai), Kanchanaburi is also near "The Tiger Temple", a tiger sanctuary run by Buddhist monks. Perhaps fortified by our tiger in a bottle, we decided to spend the afternoon frolicking with tigers of of the stripe-y variety.

It was a bit of a madhouse, as the tiger temple has become quite famous, and now tour buses from as far away as Bangkok make trips to visit the tigers. Despite the crowds, and being less of a temple, and more of a canyon populated with tigers and monks, it was still worth a visit. for the first part, we were escorted into the tiger area and allowed to pet the tigers. Judging from this fellow's reaction, it seems even big cats like Cz.

At 4:30, it was time for the tigers to walk up to their sleeping quarters. The youngest tiger actually got to ride piggy-back on one of keeper's backs. All the grown and half-grown cats had to walk. The younger ones were encouraged on their way by a 'cat toy' of two water bottles on a string being jiggled along in front of them. One didn't want to go in and snarled quite crossly at his handlers. He brought his point home with an impressive jet of pee on one of their shade umbrellas before allowing himself to be led up the hill. The final tiger was the largest and most docile of the group. Each of us got to take a turn walking with him and his monk towards the feeding area.

I was a little bothered that the tigers spend most of their day tethered essentially as a tourist attraction. This was alleviated somewhat because at the end of the day, they are released, and allowed to play with their handlers, the monks, and each other.

In addition to the tigers, Tiger Temple is home to a menagerie of other beasts, from a tiny bantam chickens, medium-size goats and deer, and giant oxen. I don't know how many of these other characters are destined to be tiger food, but until then, they have run of the compound and regular feedings of kibble and root vegetables.

It was hard to tear ourselves away from the animals, but our van was waiting to take us back to the guest house. we returned in time for dinner and few rounds of pool at a local bar. The local bar however, left something to be desired in the music department. When the four songs on repeat expanded to five with "Popeye the Sailor Man", we opted to pay visit to the local 7-11 (They're EVERYWHERE), and take the party home. Luckily we occupied 4 of the six rooms on our houseboat, and the other two were currently unoccupied. Otherwise there might have been some frustrated and sleepy neighbors.