One one things

Just before I left Colombo I asked a couple of friends who had just been to Thailand how best I should spend my full free day there. “Kanchanaburi” they said in unison. They explained that this was a temple just outside Bangkok where the priests rehabilitate tigers rescued from poachers. I recalled seeing something like this on Nat Geo and it seemed right up my street. I wrote notes on my phone on how best to get there; “South bus terminal BKK, 2.5 hours by bus to K’buri, take a car from the tourist info spot and keep the car till you return.” I woke up early on my last day and had a quick breakfast with Fernie so that we can get to the Southern bus terminal by 10. We had to get to the temple by 1pm and not before that since that’s the time the tigers are released. We thought it’ll be worthwhile just asking the hotel for some advice, and at the reception they said that it takes at least an hour to get to the Southern bus terminal, and the journey would take 4 hours by bus, which would mean 10 hours journey back and forth. That information completely deflated me, however they offered the hotel car which could do the journey in 2 hours each way, plus having the car at hand to travel all the way to the temple, not just to Kanchanaburi town. This sounded sketchy, and when he said it’ll cost 4k I knew it was a ridiculous offer. Having convinced them that I will not use the hotel car under those conditions, I asked the reception whether there was any other way to get to Kanchanaburi, the receptionist shrugged and suggested the only other option was to try my luck with a travel agent on Khao San road. It was close to ten and the Kanchanaburi idea seemed to be fizzling out. In the back of my head I was considering alternative ways of spending the day in BKK. I was waiting in the lobby for Fernie when 4 young backpackers were checking out of the hotel. I tried my luck and asked one of them whether they knew of a way to get to Kanchanaburi by 1pm. By some amazing chance the girl said, “hey we’re just going there now, the bus is leaving Khao San road at 10.” I was thrilled, I looked at my watch and it was 9.45, shit, where the hell was Fernie? The backpackers left and I stood outside the lift waiting for Fernie, the doors opened and there he stood grinning, I all but dragged him out the doors explaining the plan on the way. Fernie wasn’t too hot on the temple but since I accompanied him the previous night he was happy to tag along. We hopped a bus to Khao San and got there at 9.55, he took one side of the road and I took the other as we looked for travel agents.

The first agent I found was closed but a sweeper took me to another one further down and between gasps for air I asked the lady at the desk whether there are buses to Kanchanaburi. She grinned and said “all buses to Khao San are full sir, they all go at 7am.” For the second time my heart sank. “But there’s one leaving at 10, I know that for sure” I said, she shrugged, and I took off, hoping Fernie had better luck. Khao San was quite dead, still recovering from the previous night’s partying, it was very quiet and fresh after the rain. Fernie showed up, bottom lip out and hands inside out in a typical Sri Lankan “empty” gesture. It was 10am and I had just about given up hope when out of the corner of my eye I saw the backpackers from our hotel sitting outside a small store, studying a map. I ran towards them, and the girl I spoke to earlier smiled and said they’re waiting here for the bus and that I should try get a ticket from the same travel agent. I spoke to the travel agent, praying for a final piece of luck. The girl told me to wait and started hammering away at her keyboard, “yes sir I have last 2 ticket for you, leaving in 5 mins, bus will be here, you wait outside please, 200 Baht each.” I could have hugged her, I was absolutely thrilled. I paid and gave Fernie the good news, he was genuinely happy for me more than anything else. The van was full to capacity, carrying 10 ppl including the driver. We drove through the back alleys of Khao San road, and I realised how much of it we didn’t see on that 2nd night. Travelers were lazily waking up and having breakfast as we drove passed them. Just as we got on to the highway the driver put on a tape, “..bound by wild desire I fell into a burning ring of fire, I went down down down, and the flames went higher..” the girl next to me said “Woo! Johnny Cash!” and we were off.

As we left the city we passed a series of fabulous large houses that looked like a hybrid of British Colonial and American country houses. The Dutch girl next to me was trying her hand at Sudoku and she was struggling a bit. I was rudely watching her do it and eventually she gave it to me and I spent the next several minutes undoing her mistakes and solving the rest of the puzzle. Almost three hours later we got to Kanchanaburi and stopped at a place called the Bamboo House. Fernie and I were supposed to find our own way from here to the temple, and at the Bamboo house we asked the chap in charge how best to go about it. He said there’s a vehicle going to the temple in an hour from here and for a total of 350 Baht it will also take us back to BKK. This would be perfect so we relaxed at the Bamboo house for an hour and had a bite to eat. The place was fabulous, located on the grassy banks of the Kwai river, within site of the famous bridge. There are something like 4 little wooden chalets on the bank of the river and two more floating on the river, all ranging from 150-300 Baht a night. I got chatting with an Irish guy over lunch, he is traveling across South East Asia teaching English along the way. He was typically laid back and easy to talk to. We were soon joined by the cutest dog who would put his paw on my knee every two mins to ask for a titbit off my plate. I was sucking one of those red flowers whose stems have honey and I shared these with the pup who wasn’t quite taken up by it. I had a look at the Bridge on the river Kwai and told whoever would listen that the movie was filmed in Kitulgala - doing my bit to help tourism in SL.

The hour flew by and soon there were 8 of us in a van on the way to the tiger temple. At the entrance the pungent animal smell was everywhere, I paid 300 Baht and signed a form that stated that I understand that the animals are wild and dangerous and that I take full responsibility for any bodily harm that befalls me and the temple will not be liable in case of my death. Nice. Fernie, Ron and I stayed together and first went towards the Tiger Valley. It was scorching hot and there were other animals roaming around; dear, cows, wildboar and peacocks. We got to the valley and there they were. About 9 tigers lying on the ground, tethered to the ground by a chain but with only a rope between them and the 15-20 tourists who had gathered around. There were caretakers and volunteers in yellow shirts guiding the visitors from one tiger to another, touching them, petting them. We were told that we can not see the tigers wearing “hot” colours such as orange and red, luckily I was in beige and blue. After a few minutes gathering my courage I stepped up to go see the tigers. I was told not to make any sudden movements and to always be with the caretaker. The caretaker came to me and held my hand and took me inside. I felt like a child. Helpless amidst these powerful majestic creatures. But the caretakers were really nice, there was a lot of love and tenderness in the atmosphere, between the caretakers and the tigers and also the gentle way in which the caretakers handle you. We walked up behind the first tiger and the caretaker pushed me down slowly by my shoulder till I was kneeling beside the tiger who was lying down. My heart was beating rapidly, not out of fear but out of excitement and joy, I reached out and touched his fur, and stroked his back. He was massive, and could have killed me with one swat, but he just looked straight ahead, panting in the heat, relaxed. The caretaker took my camera and took a picture of me with the tiger. He then took my hand and led me to the next tiger and again I slowly knelt down next to it and stroked it. I wanted time to stop, to just be in this moment with the world’s most majestic animal for as long as I could. I did this with 6 of the tigers, and it was easily one of the best experiences in my life.

There’s a fair amount of controversy about the treatment of the tigers in Kanchanaburi. Some feel that they are sedated to ensure they are not aggressive, pointing to the fact that they are lethargic when brought to tiger valley, and that caretakers sprinkle water on them to keep them awake. But the priests and caretakers say that the animals are docile bc they trust the caretakers and are very used to human contact, they are lethargic bc they are nocturnal animals used to sleeping during the day and water is sprinkled on them to keep them from getting dehydrated in the heat. I personally found them to be rather alert and not abnormally lethargic; and particularly when they were being brought back to their enclosures in the evening they were very active and vocal. But I don’t think I know enough to make an educated judgement; there’s more discussion in the Kanchanaburi section in thorntree.com. We left Tiger valley and headed up along the path where we found the cutest tiger cub being brought out for his bath. The fellow was a bundle of joy and mischief and reminded me so much of a puppy. He loved the water, playing around and stalking the floating bottle and whatever else the caretaker threw in for him to play with. After dancing around in the mini-pond, posing for pictures and loving the attention, the caretaker thoroughly rubbed him down with a towel. Just as he was dry he promptly jumped up and dived back into the water and looked back with what I swear was a grin. The cub was child-like in the way he found everything to be a delightful mystery and source of excitement; even the most mundane items like hairbands and rubber slippers. He was the star of the show, but a close second was his caretaker. I’ve never seen so much love between a caretaker and his charge, he treated the cub like his own child, and didn’t mind at all when the cub’s paws accidentally scraped him. He showed us his arm which was scarred from top to bottom due to such accidents. It was a privilege to witness such a relationship. The cub was eventually given his milk and taken away to get some rest.

A couple of priests had joined us and strangely I noticed they had catapults in their hands. Being young priests I thought they might be a bit mischievous themselves. But to my shock they began taking shots at the wildboars who were loitering in the area. I was confused but didn’t really want to question anything. My silent questions were answered by a huge roar that shook the forest like area. The tigers were being brought back from tiger valley. The priests were shooting at the wildboars to chase them out of the tigers’ line of sight. One by one the tigers were led back by the head priest and a series of volunteers and tourists behind them. The size and power of the tigers became more apparent as they passed by close to us. I crouched down to take a picture when one of the caretakers ran up to me and pulled me up. I was confused and he told me never to crouch down when the tigers are walking back bc as long as they know we’re human they will not attack, but when we crouch down we’re less like humans. As the head priest passed by one of the caretakers asked if anyone wanted to lead the tiger. I jumped at the idea and was taken alongside the priest and he gave me the tiger’s lead and for a minute or so I guided the tiger back to his enclosure. He was strong and I was awe struck just by being in that position. He stopped next to a tree and someone shouted from behind “He’s going to pee!” and everyone took evasive action as the tiger marked his territory in customary fashion. All the tigers were back in their enclosures and it was time for the other animals to get fed.

3 trucks came up and started unloading loads of vegetables onto the ground, and from all corners the herbivores came running up to the trucks. There were buffalo, cows, deer, wildboar, goats - the works. It was a feeding frenzy as all the animals made for the food - from the biggest and scariest looking buffalo to the tiniest wild piglet who scampered as fast as its little legs would carry it. It was yet another special experience being surrounded by all these animals and watching them gorge. By the time the feeding was over it was almost 5 so it was time to head back to the van and return to Bangkok. I was really sad to leave Kanchanaburi, it had been a quite fabulous and lucky day. There were 6 of us heading back to BKK and unlike on the way up, the returning van’s entertainment included a terrible ’90s action flick followed by some disastrous Thai pop music. Sleep was impossible so I ended up closing my eyes and reliving the day’s events. We were scheduled to leave for Colombo before sunrise the next morning so after a quick meal on Khao San road we headed back to the hotel to get some sleep. My second trip to Thailand had come to an end; and I find myself enjoying the country more and more each time.