While researching things to do in Bangkok I started seeing ads for the Tiger Temple and instantly wanted to go. The idea of tigers not being caged really appealed to me. I've always hated seeing these beautiful animals pacing back and forth in boredom in tiny cages in the zoo. How could they not be bored? They live in cages the size of my bathroom. The Tiger Temple is about 3 hours outside of Bangkok in an area called Kanchaburi and is run by Buddhist monks. Most of the animals at the Temple have been rescued from illegal capture.
So after we left the floating market we drove to Kanchaburi. I wasn't really sure what to expect but kind of thought it would be like a zoo. I thought wrong. We walked thru the dirt parking lot to buy our tickets and got a quick review of the Temple rules. I had to buy BGC a shirt as she was wearing pink and that's one of the colors that supposedly agitates the tigers. You also can't wear anything shiny or dangling. No earrings or necklaces or bracelets. No camera swinging from your neck. No flowy hair things or shoes with anything hanging off of them.
We were finally ready. There wasn't a lick of pavement anywhere. We walked in the dirt dodging animal poo the whole way. The Tiger Temple actually houses a lot of different animals from ostriches to water buffalo and everything in between and nothing is in a cage so there is a wide variety of poo to avoid. We started at the house for for the young tigers where there were several monks milling about. Many were walking around with a tiger on a leash. Can't really put into words how strange that is to see in real life. Once we saw the tigers, we HAD to get closer and touch one. Even though they were less than a year old they were the size of a lab and had enormous paws. Some of the tigers were chained to posts and those are the ones you can take pictures with. I patiently waited my turn and when I touched the first one he shivered a little bit and then relaxed again as if a fly had landed on him. I was talking to him in my mommy voice but had no idea why. We made our way around the area and got to the last tiger. This one was a little bigger and seemed a little less relaxed than the others. So we took pictures with one of the monks behind the tiger and got ready to leave when the tiger caught a glimpse of Miniman (my son) in his peripheral vision and his whole body froze. I swear he stopped breathing. This is the best way I can describe the tiger's reaction: you know when you're standing outside on a cold night waiting for someone to light a bonfire and everyone holds their breath for a split second waiting for the match to hit the fuel, and then it does and the still, emptiness of the night is replaces with dancing amber flames? Well, that's what happened in the tiger's eyes. It was like a veil had been lifted revealing the real life hidden behind. Like someone turned on the lights behind the globes. You cold literally see all those years of evolution take over and the tiger start to form a plan of how to make my son his next meal. Some animals were never meant to be tamed. The monks quickly moved us far away from the tiger and we were sent off to the part of the temple where you find the adult tigers.
We trudged thru more dirt and dust and eventually made our way to the adult tigers. By the way, there are no signs anywhere so thank goodness Rat was with us or there's no telling where we would have ended up. Here's the deal with the adult tigers: only one person can go at a time and only with a monk or volunteer. Parents cannot accompany their children as only one person can go at a time. So, you have to decide then and there if you're going to trust a stranger with your offspring and large adult tigers or not. Great. The volunteers constantly fan the tigers to keep bugs from spooking them.
Vet students come here from all over the world to get experience with large, exotic mammals. Apparently it's tough to get such experience but it helps you get into vet school or get a job out of vet school so there are college kids everywhere. The volunteers live and eat at the Temple so it's a pretty sparse existence. I gave one volunteer from the US a pack of peanut butter crackers and thought he was going to ask for my hand in marriage. I was talking to the same volunteer about the young tiger's reaction to Miniman and asked if the tiger had wanted my child for a snack or a toy and was told "both." First, the tiger would have played with him for a while. I have a feeling this would have only been fun for the tiger. Then things would have gotten a little gory so we just won't even go there.
We made our way to the front of the line and BGC was up first so I held my breath as she made her way thru the tigers. There was part of the path I couldn't see from the line but she re-emerged smiling and in one piece. Now it was Miniman's turn. Keep in mind he was only 3. Instead of going with volunteers, five monks take him. They get to the first tiger and one of the monks puts my youngest baby angel on top of the tiger. Nothing about this seems like a good idea to me. I'm the kind of parent that doesn't let my kids pet strays for fear of them getting bitten and now my baby is on top of a real-life tiger. Several pictures are taken without incident and then it's my turn. And I'm a total coward. It was kind of like thinking you want to ride a roller coaster until you climb to the top of the platform and look down. I didn't want to be that close to an animal that large that eats red meat. In life, especially in life as a parent that travels with kids, sometimes you just have to suck it up and be a big girl. This was one of those times. I plastered a smile on my face, waved to my kids, and followed the volunteer to my impending doom. Only it wasn't. They were lovely. Had I backed out, I would have shown my kids that it's ok to give into your fears and I would have missed the experience of a lifetime. Inexcusable.
As much as I enjoyed getting to be that close to these amazing animals, it was still sad that they had to be there. In a perfect world tigers would have vast expanses of land to roam without the threat of poachers but we don't live in a perfect world.
We had two more adventures ahead of us that day and a long drive back to Rat's B&B so it was time to go. We were so giddy we practically danced out of the Temple.
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