Matt Down Under

My secondlast day in Thailand. I had booked a tour to the Tiger Temple about two hours drive from Bangkok. Part of the tour also was a stop at the River Kwai bridge, I only remembered there was a movie and some military background, but I was lacking the historical facts so I was simply hoping to have an interesting day.

After a long drive we arrived in the city of Kanchanaburi and stopped at a war cemetery from World War II. I must admit I had no idea what the background of the cemetery was but right next to it there was museum that explained it all.

If I remember correctly the town had been the place where the so-called ‘Death Railway’ (also known as Burma Railway) was planned in World War II, a railway built by the Empire of Japan to connect Bangkok with Rangoon in Burma. What is so special about this railway is that hundreds of thousands of labourers were forced to build it, including 60.000 prisoners of war. Many thousand of them died, including many Australians, under terrible working conditions. The museum is really worth a visit, they put a lot of effort into explaining their history.

So the province of Kanchanaburi is full of history and our next stop after the museum was the bridge over the river Kwai (Khwae Yai), probably the most famous part of the railway. It was featured in a movie that made it famous, even though the movie apparently is mostly fictional.

I must say I was disturbed when I walked around the site of the bridge, and over the bridge itself. It is a major tourist location and therefore a whole town of souvenir shops and party places seems to have based itself there. Walking over the bridge with party music in the background was really not what I needed, neither was seeing Japanese tourists posing with inappropriate victory signs. The place has significant history and it’s actually pretty terrible history, not the right place for party. I didn’t feel like staying long and went back to the car.

We were early for lunch so we first stopped at a nearby elephant farm. Elephants aren’t normally used for labour anymore, but there was a farm where you could ride on elephants and probably see demonstrations of how they had worked with them before machines became affordable. I was hoping to find something more exciting than the disturbing experience at the bridge, and elephants are great, but when I saw those 20 something elephants chained next to each other, I really wanted to return. Somehow I can’t find any joy watching animals in captivity unless they have the freedom to behave like they would do if they were free.

Those elephants looked so sad and disappointed it wasn’t funny. It looked like their only chance to walk around outside is when a tourist comes along and pays for a ride. But from the car already I saw the fixed trail that they would probably have to walk then. Again I didn’t feel like staying long. So we left and went to the restaurant.

By now I could feel that my guide wasn’t particularly happy with my lack of excitement so far, maybe I’m simply not your average tourist. I never had a ride on an elephant, but I’d rather miss the chance than forcing an elephant who clearly doesn’t live a happy life.

After a relatively long lunch break - it was an all-you-can-eat open air restaurant, the food was awesome - we were heading off to the last and major stop on the tour, the Tiger Temple. First I had to sign a form where they explained the rules for entering the temple and basically I had to sign that it’s my own responsibility if I get killed by a tiger. Funny.

I went inside the temple area with my tour guide and we just so managed to catch up with the other groups, the show was already about to begin. A monk with a real grown up tiger was walking ahead of the crowd, leading us into a canyon where they explained the rules again. Everyone was about to get the chance to touch the tigers and there were about ten of them, all grown up ones. Amazing!

We all had to line up and give our cameras to one of the staff. One would grab your arm and lead you around so you wouldn’t approach the tigers from the wrong side or run around, which could lead to unexpected reactions. The other guy would take your camera and take photos of you and the tigers. My tour guide managed to sneak me in at the beginning of the line, so I was the first to enter the canyon.

I didn’t think much, it all went so fast. One guy was holding my arm and guiding me from tiger to tiger. Then I could touch them, pose with them and so on, while the other guy was taking photos. Sitting next to a huge grown up tiger and touching its fur was thrilling. They were probably used to tourists, but still one hit with its impressive paw would have smashed me to the ground. I had the option of paying another 1.000 baht or so for a special photo where they put the head of a grown up tiger on my lap, but didn’t need it.

After the canyon we walked to the next section of the temple where monks were waiting with younger, smaller tigers. You could come really close and cuddle them, what an amazing experience. Even if the whole stay at the temple didn’t take much longer than half an hour, the Tiger Temple was worth the whole tour. Most people know tigers only from the zoo and this is a rare chance where you can touch and cuddle real grown up ones, very impressive. I really enjoyed my time there and put some money into the donation box. On the way back to the car we could see even more animals around the temple, a leopard, some peacocks, water buffalos and even deer.

Driving back to Bangkok took around two hours and I can’t remember doing anything other than checking out the outdoor swimming pool on the 24th floor with a gorgeous view, having dinner and watching tv for the rest of the evening.