wild thing(s)!

04.28.2008- tiger temple

my last days in bangkok proved to be sweet indeed. i have my first-ever 'all you can eat fruit in 90 minutes' buffet. there is corn on the cob, fresh green coconut, spicy tamarind, the choclate coated cantaloupe, besides all different kinds of tropical fruit.

and then to maintain that sugar-high, i spend half an hour at the driving range next door- aiming for the top of a building! thats what you aim for when you are on the 17th floor :) the rest of the day was spend doing the last bit of shopping for things i need and most that i don't.

my last day at bangkok is spent watching 3 movies in a restaurant next door, running a few errands and an afternoon nap!

early yesterday morning, i get up after an hour of sleep and board the train to kanchanaburi. the only other 'farang' who boards this train AND who can converse in english is eric, from france. he traveled through south america for 6 months and is now exploring asia. a mellow train ride turns hilarious after eric's seat falls off seconds after he gets up to take a stroll! three hours of a scenic train ride later, i am at a guesthouse in kanchanaburi in a bamboo-roofed room overlooking the river.

everything is bit out of city limits here, so we decide to rent a motorbike for a day instead of taking tours, which prove to be expensive and are certainly not as much fun! its a sleepy town without crazy traffic, the freeway offers a view of pristine thai countryside with its coconuts and lotuses and paddy fields.

this is the town with the famous bridge over river kwai, although technically "the" bridge is not over the river kwai! after a quick stop at the bridge, we visit the tiger temple, essentially a petting zoo with tigers!

tigers are rescued and raised by monks here, and they are docile and used to human interaction. most of them are taking an afternoon siesta and seem to be fairly oblivious to crazy people posing with them. inspite of being a bit critical about wild animals in a zoo, i couldn't pass this one up! there are even playful cubs, with their cute chubby paws! its amazing to be able to touch such a beautiful and ferocious creature (and live!)

next is a burma-thailand railway museum, which has details about the railway track built from thailand to burma by PoWs of WWII. a 100000 men have died building this track, which was used by the japanese to extend their asian empire. there are heart-wrenching postcards written by PoWs to their families, people's life histories etched in aluminum mess containers, photographs and videos, presumably taken by the japanese for their television broadcasts. i wonder if it is still the truth in some parts of the world with all the wars going on?

my travels "really" began today, and the first day ends with me journaling this in front of my river-facing room, and moving tables every 10 minutes to avoid gheckos and red ants on the tables!!
life's good!