Tiger Temple (Wat Pha Luang Ta Bua)

The thing about Thailand that hooks people in and keeps them coming back is all of the many different tours available. All inclusive packages that span the entire tourist attraction world make it so easy for weary travelers tired of planning out everything from where to stay, what to see, where to eat and so on. The Thai people have turned tours into an art. We started Monday out with a Tiger Temple trip. Our tour company at the guesthouse also works with the Jolly Frog and a couple of the other guesthouses along the backpacker strip. We were lucky, because the VN is the hub, so we were always the first in the tour. Safari taxis are the thing in Kanchanaburi, so we rode another one around with a French family. We picked up two Australians, an English couple and Alex at the Jolly Frog and another English couple at another guesthouse. We had a pretty good group and got acquainted on the trip there and back. Here is a video of our tour group. We actually took it after our tour, but since I just introduced everyone in the beginning of this post, I thought I'd put it here.

The Tiger Temple is in a ravine near Kanchanaburi where Monks and volunteers take care of animals of all sorts. There are tigers, deer, peacocks, pigs and various other animals. It’s such a cool place and really the only place you can pet and hold tigers! Although, before you go in, you have to sign your life away or they won't let you inside!

We walked into these huge gates (all the better to hold the animals in) and down a dusty dirt road towards the tigers. The tigers are led to a little valley, surrounded by cliffs and a man made waterfall, in the middle of the day. Tigers sleep through the hottest part of the day, so it's the only time to visit. Once you arrive, it is made clear that you are to use whispers at all times, so as not to disturb the tigers. They keep them on a leash for tourist safety. I was never scared, or thought I had to be. It was more cool than anything else, and I was a little confused when others around me hesitated to get in the "meet and greet" line. There were a ton of volunteers there, so we chatted to one from Germany while we waited to take pictures. She was very nice and our efforts would turn out to be quite fruitful at the end of the day. When you get up to the front of the line, you give your camera to a volunteer who takes your arm into theirs and leads you to different tigers lounging about. Then they take pictures for you as you pet them! It's all very organized. Once you've seen them all, they take you back to the front to approach the next person in line. It was so fun! We stayed for quite awhile and got some good pictures and movies.


At about 4:30ish, they lead the tigers back into their dens. This is where chatting it up with the volunteers help. My German volunteer friend found me and led me to the front of the procession, where I was the second person to hold the tiger's leash and lead him! It was awesome!

After that we walked up to where they feed the other animals. They drive a truck down the road and throw out food, consequently all the animals run up to the road to eat. I should mention, this is the same road we walked up and were still walking on. We were all walking along, with no warning that random bulls would come running up from everywhere to eat! It was quite exciting. We never did figure out what the food was they feed the animals. It was quite big and light green. Craziness reigned for a few minutes as pigs and all manner of animals went charging about for food.

We went over to where they kept the tigers and were surprised to find two tiger cubs! They were in a cage for a long time, and we all took pictures. Then the volunteers took them out so we could get closer. Then, as if the day couldn't get any better, a volunteer asked me if I wanted to hold one! So then she gives me the cub, and I'm like dude, I'm holding a tiger! However, the cub didn't seem to take to me. As it squirmed, roared and tried to eat me, I quickly gave it back to the volunteer.

Sadly, I got the evil one. Kari on the other hand got the sweet cub who just laid in her arms happily.

I got a pic with the nice baby tiger once Kari finished holding it.We realized that we were the only ones left in the park (it pays to stay behind from the group, as we were the only ones to get to hold the baby tiger cubs, everyone in our group was so jealous!), so we rushed out, got lost and finally found the exit. It turns out our tour group had been waiting for 10 minutes for us. Oddly enough, making our tours wait for us turns into a trip theme, as we did it quite often.