More Tigers

So we showed up at Tiger Wat bright and early the next morning. They had us "make merit" with the monks (donate food) and then they brought us up to the temple for breakfast. We get there, and all the volunteers are sitting in a circle with the tiger cubs running around playing. So we sat down and immediately, one of the cubs come over to me and starts chewing on my pants!

We got it off of my pants & it moved right to my purse!

They were a lot of fun to play with!

Here's Tina.

After we ate, it was time to feed the tigers!

Then it was time to take them for a walk down to the canyon so they could play.

We each took a tiger (with a trainer of course). Here's my tiger.

And Tina.

And her mom.

We took them down to the canyon so that they could play in the water. We had to form a line to "block" the tigers from running out of the canyon. There was NOTHING between us & the tigers & I have to tell you, if you of those guys really wanted to get by, I'm not going to stop them! Here's video of the playing. (We took the younger tigers first & then did it again with the older tigers). Here you can see that there's nothing between them & us.

And here they were playing right at our feet.

And here they're really playing!

After playtime, we had to give them a bath (I don't have the pics for this right now, but I'll get them up as soon as I get them).

12:30 rolled around & they opened it up to other visitors and we took that time to do a little exploring. We found a momma tiger that had just given birth 11 days ago!

There were a lot of other animals on the grounds. Here's a very friendly deer!

It was a pretty awesome experience. And as for the speculation that they drug the tigers, I really can't say one way or the other. The staff at the temple say that big cats sleep during the hottest part of the day to conserve their energy for hunting (even your cats at home spend a big portion of their time sleeping). They also say that drugging the tigers everyday would be physically impossible as the tigers would develop a resistance to the drug & you would have to keep giving them more & more until they eventually die. It makes sense, but then I'm not a vet. If you want to learn more about Tiger Wat, you can visit their website at: www.tigertemple.org.

Tiger Wat

The guesthouse we stayed at in Kanchanaburi was really neat. They were little bungaloes out over a marsh.

The first day, we decided to do an afternoon trip to Tiger Wat. I had thought about taking my family there when they came to visit, but we were told that they drug the tigers so we didn't feel comfortable going (I now totally regret that choice).

We got there late in the afternoon & there was a short line of people waiting to have there picture taken. They had about 10 tigers stationed throughout a canyon & they would take people around to the tigers to have their picture taken.

It was nearing the end of the day, so they made us line up against the canyon wall as they walked the tigers back to their cages.The abbot took the last tiger up & we were allowed to walk with the tiger. (Notice the guy behind me in the yellow shirt? Those are not really his shorts...they were his girlfriends, but as this is at a temple, her shorts were considered inappropriate. She didn't have anything else so her boyfriend was kind enough to switch with her).We were told that they had another program where you could come in the morning & play with the tigers & feed the babies. Tina & her mom really wanted to do it, so we signed up to come the next day.

Bangkok

After a few days in Chaing Mai, Tina, her mom, and I flew down to Bangkok. Where I took them to the Grand Palace...

The temples at the Palace are amazing. I don't like to go there though, because it makes me so frustrated! The charge foreigners a fee for entering...which is completely fine, don't get me wrong, but they do it based only on looks...they don't check identification. So if you "look" Thai, you can enter without paying (one of my fellow volunteers can get in without paying because she "looks" Thai...her mother is from Afghanistan & her father is caucasian).

Anyway, after the palace, we took the river taxi back to the guesthouse then went to Cabbages & Condoms for dinner. And the next day we headed out to Kanchanaburi to see some tigers!

Tina & Elephants

My friend Tina & her mom came to visit me last week. They arrived on the 20th & we spent that first day relaxing, getting foot massages, and shopping. The next day we went up to Doi Sutep Temple outside of Chaing Mai (I've posted pictures of the temple already so I'm not going to do it here).

The next day, we went to visit an elephant camp about an hour outside of Chaing Mai. We were the first ones there so Tina & her mom got an elephant ride in (I skipped out as I've already done it). Then they brought the elephants by for "feeding."

Then they got a bath.

Then we went to the "show." Here's one of the elephants raising their flag.

Then they had a parade.

And took a nap.

Displayed amazing feats of balance by walking on a log.

Did some work.

Painted a picture.

And played us some music.

After the show, we headed over to the animal hospital to try to find Motala. Motala was working in Cambodia when she stepped on a landmine & shredded her foot. She walked to Thailand & found help. They had to amputate her foot & they fit her with a prosthesis. Tina's mom had seen Motala when she was here back in 2002 & wanted to check up on her. So we set off for the elephant hospital. We found a sick elephant.

And some babies.

But no Motala. So I asked some of the elephant trainers & they told us she was at the hospital. So we went back to the hospital & I asked there. They pointed up this really steep hill so we started walking. We had gotten about 2/3 of the way up when a guy on a motorcycle stopped and asked where we were going. We told him that we were trying to find Motala & he pointed back down the hill to the hospital. So we went back down and I asked someone else at the hospital. They told me that she was at another hospital about 500 meters up the hill (the same hill we had just climbed up). As we seemed to be getting the run-around, we headed back to where they put on the elephant show so that I could ask someone in English. We were told that Motala had been moved to the Royal Stables and was not allowed out in public or for the public to visit her. This was pretty frustrating as we had just spent an hour looking for her. So we got on the tram to head out of the park. I could tell that Tina's mom was pretty upset...she really wanted to see Motala, so I gave it another try at the front ticket office. They told me that she was at another hospital & that our driver could take us. The driver went to ask for directions then we headed back into the park. Apparently there are two elephant hospitals right next to each other. The big one that everyone goes to is sponsored by the Thai government. The other hospital is privately run & they are the ones that have Motala. Here she is without her prosthesis.

The surgery to remove her leg made the Guinness Book of World records for the most vets involved any surgical procedure.

Another look at her shoulder harness.Apparently the run-around that we received trying to find Motala was not unusual. When trying to find her, people have been told that she was dead, that they can't see her, or that she was no longer at the hospital. The hospital has received threats & has had a number of suspicious fires set on their grounds. If you would like to find out more information, or would like to help a sick elephant, you can visit www.elephants-soraida.com