Tiger, tiger burning bright
Trip Start
Sep 23, 2008
1
19
40
Trip End
Oct 31, 2008
Bangkok,
Thailand
Friday, October 10, 2008
First stop was a World War 2 graveyard and a visit to the museum of the Death Railway - a really cheerful way to start your day.
Then it was a short drive to see the best known part of the railway - the bridge over the river Kwai. We looked at the bridge and walked half way across it.
I found it all slightly weird. The bridge is intact and still being used, it is surrounded by stalls selling a range of stuff and a series of restaurants. The major weirdness was that the PA system was blaring out John Denver songs. Lots of people were having their pictures taken on the bridge - we've been to Auschwitz and nobody had their picture taken there.
Then the tone lightened and we went to the Tiger Temple - this is a Buddhist temple that is famous for the monks raising and looking after Indo-Chinese tigers. You are able to get right up close to them and even touch them. Being a big cat lover, this was one part of the trip that Sarah was really looking forward to. They had 15-20 cats out with handlers, ranging from 4 months to 5 years old. Unsurprisingly, we have lots and lots of pictures.
Then it was off back to the river for a bit of bamboo rafting. After the hustle and bustle of Bangkok, floating down the river was a nice change - all we could here was the river itself and some birds.
Next up was elephant riding.
The final activity for today was a brief stop to feed some wild monkeys. They seem to prefer corn on the cob to bananas.
