Tigers, Temples and Treks in Thailand

Sunday, June 3, 2012 – a red letter day – it was the day I was scheduled to visit the Tiger Temple at Kanchanabhuri in Thailand.  It had been in my mind ever since my first trip to Thailand, but every earlier trip, I’d gone there on a packed work schedule, and now at last, my manokamna (the unvoiced wish of my mind) was being fulfilled.  K. Bob was coming for me at 7:00 am, so at 6:00 am, I decided to head out to one of the 24 hour restaurants I’d spotted in the neighbourhood.  With my mind totally focused on choosing between the Taco joint and the Diner, I walked on oblivious to my surroundings.  The Diner smelt of cigarette smoke, so I ordered an omelette and toast with orange juice at the counter and went and sat in the outdoor dining space.

And then for the first time, I became aware of my surroundings …. The outdoor dining space shared by all the eating joints in the vicinity, was full of people who’d been carousing all night.  So in the midst of scantily clad, heavily made-up girls eating soupy noodles and guys chugging beer with French fries, I sat in shorts and t-shirt, eating my omelette and toast!

With an inward laugh at the incongruity of the start, I met K. Bob and we left for Kanchanbhuri.  It was a good 2.5 – 3 hour drive, towards the Thailand – Myanmar border.  K. Bob very sweetly changed the Thai music to which he’d been listening, and put on an MP3 with an inexhaustible supply of old English songs.  So happily humming, foot-hand tapping, head bopping and tunelessly singing along, I enjoyed the nostalgia of hearing songs which I’d not heard in probably 30 years or more.

As per instructions K. Prapai had given him, he took me to the war cemetery, where WWII soldiers who’d died (many during the construction of the infamous bridge on the river Kwai) had been buried.  Similar in look, feel, atmosphere to Arlington, though on a smaller scale.  The graves were interspersed with well kept rose bushes and a well maintained lawn.  What caught my eye were the Jewish and Christian graves next to each other. 

I read a couple of headstones and almost wept at the sight of the graves of kids in their 20s. It was a relief to see someone who’d died at 42 - everything is relative.

From the war cemetery, we went to the bridge on the River Kwai …. Since K.Bob’s English was limited, I couldn’t ask him any questions … could only read the legend mounted at the site, but I suspect there was more than 1 bridge built on the River Kwai and I’m not too sure that this was The One.  Somehow, I’d always thought that the atrocities had happened in what was then known as Burma, and here this was in Thailand, admittedly near the border.

 Anyway, in the sweltering sun, we walked the tracks and stood by the side of the tracks (amazingly close) as an old engine chugged its way past us carrying waving tourists along the bridge that was probably no more than a 100 mts long, if that.  K. Bob took some nice pictures of me, and we left.  But not before I stopped to buy myself a hat … a traditional hat, rather than one of the pretty dainty ones that look the same in every country.  It pleased me tremendously when, a couple of days later K. Prapai took one look at it and exclaimed – “Oh, I remember my grandfather wearing a hat like this!”

From the Bridge, we again took to the road and soon we were at the Tiger Temple.  With my heart brimming with expectations, we stopped while I posed for a picture in the gaping tiger’s mouth that made up the entrance.   

Heading up the driveway, we finally came to the place where the ticket counter, restaurant etc was, only to discover the temple only opens at 12 noon.  It was 10 am when we reached.

Back to the car, and we headed to the nearby Sai Yok waterfall.  It was not a very big or forceful one, but very pleasant, with lots of interconnected pools.  Since it was a holiday, there were lots of families there, most  with young kids.  The kids were all swimming while the parents mostly sat around and watched.  I sat and watched for a while, letting the peace of the place seep into my soul.  The lady who rented out rubber tubes was curious about me – probably the only person there who was without any kids, or even friends, in tow.  Luckily for her, after a while, the lady sitting next to me started making conversation in English and they realized I was passing the time till the Tiger Temple opened.  So they pointed out to me how I could climb up the waterfall if I so wished (in clear contravention of the signs posted around that warned people against climbing the rocks as they were slippery).

Of course, I had to try that and it was very pleasant …. Through a thin layer of slow flowing water, I found non-slippery footholds and made my way to the next level up in the waterfall.  And lo and behold, K Bob was already up there, ready to click photographs of me enjoying the waterfall!  After a while, we made our way down again and started wandering around, each by ourselves.  Around 11:30, I made my way to the car, where I found Bob examining a map mounted on the roadside, showing all the spots in the area that were of tourist interest. 

Pantheon of Indian Gods

Dhruvika had recommended a visit to a cave full of stalagmites and stalactites that she had visited, which she’d said was on the way to the Tiger Temple.  So spotting a Lava Cave on the map, I pointed it out to K Bob and got his confirmation that it was nearby.  So back we hopped into the car and to the Lava Cave.  That was a bit of a disappointment – the formations were there, but there was nobody around to show the best angle from which to look at it, or to point out its resemblance to anything.  There were notices around, but all in Thai, so I had to fall back on my own imagination.  I decided to call the first one I saw – Pantheon of Indian Gods and then felt I spotted a Ganapathi somewhere else – too far for my flash to be effective, so I couldn‘t capture it on camera. 

By then it was past 12, and we headed back to the Tiger Temple, where we got the tickets.  I changed from my shorts to the long pants I’d carried, on the hunch that shorts may not be allowed in the temple (and sure enough – the notices there specified no sleeveless clothes, no shorts and skirt / dress length enough to cover the knees).  Also, the women were not to try to speak to the monks!

As we entered the tiger temple, I noticed a procession of a tiger accompanied by a monk walking to our left, moving towards us and followed by a procession.  I was so excited – I asked K Bob whether I could join the procession and at his nod, started to run towards them.  A yell stopped me in my tracks – a volunteer was waving at me pointing out the path I was supposed to follow.  And then I saw – there was a whole bunch of people waiting their turn to join the procession behind the next tiger.  There were 2 tigers, sitting tethered under a tree near where our queue had been formed.  The volunteers were squirting water from a hole in a bottled water bottle into their mouths, and the tigers were gratefully (one assumes) drinking it in the heat. 

As we waited for the next tiger to be walked, a deer of some kind came and examined all of us in the back of the line.  A lady got out a boiled candy to feed it, and the deer started snatching it out of her hand even before she could finish unwrapping it.  She had to pull the paper wrapping out of its mouth!  We were all laughing at the impatience and craving.  Meanwhile, I gave my camera to a volunteer and had her photograph the waiting tiger at close quarters – she did a very good job

Finally, the monk returned and we all got our instructions – the monk would walk with the tiger in front.  All of us would walk behind the monk in a line.  The person at the head of the line would step up behind the monk, stroke the tiger on his back and then step to the side, allowing the next person behind to do the same.  Umbrellas were to be closed so as not to spook the tiger.  We were to stay behind the monk at all times.  No self photography.  If we wanted to be photographed while stroking the tiger, we had to give our camera to the volunteer who would click the photo.  The tiger would spray trees as he passed – if we got into the way of the spray, we were not to scream and spook the tiger.  The locals considered it lucky to be sprayed thus, though it smelled quite strongly. 

By the time my turn came, we had almost reached the canyon (which is where the tigers were being taken) and none of the volunteers were around to click my photo.  I was quite disappointed, wondering “Is this all?  For this, I built up so much anticipation?”

With a vague sense of letdown I trailed along behind the tiger to see where he was being taken – down a hillside and round a rocky outcropping.  And as I rounded the second corner, I found some 10-12 tigers, each staked to the ground, sitting on the ground and calmly looking around.  There was an arrangement of benches in a covered area in front of this canyon, with a volunteer with a hand mike ready to address us all.  I found myself a place and as I settled down, I noticed – right in the middle of all the tigers, the monk who’d walked the tigers sat cross legged on the ground, with the head of a tiger in his lap as he caressed it and spoke in his ear!

The volunteer then announced the protocol – there were 2 formats that could be followed – you could be part of a group of 6 of your own choosing, and have the privilege of a photograph with 1 of the group sitting with this 250 Kg tiger’s head in his lap, while the other 5 clustered behind.  This would cost 1,000 Baht (at a little under Rs 2 per Thai Baht).  The other option was a free one – you would be taken individually to pet some of the tigers on their backs only, while a volunteer clicked your photo using your camera.  I went for the free option, and enjoyed stroking 2 adult tigers and 3 cubs of around 6 months each.  Two of the cubs were tethered close together and were probably siblings.  As I petted the one on the right, the other one perhaps felt neglected and walked away in a sulk even as I tried to lure him back with sweet talk.

After petting the tigers, I also wanted to visit the Buddha temple in the complex, so I made my way there and admired the idol and the photographs adorning the walls.

Having done that, I was ready to leave and went out to find K. Bob. 

Unable to keep the smile off my face, I relaxed in the car as K. Bob drove in his usual competent way, with the music playing on.  Gradually, I became aware that we seemed to be returning by a different route from the one by which we’d come.  I questioned K Bob, and he told me he was taking me to Erawan Falls.  I tried to tell him, I was thrilled with the Tiger Temple visit and there was no need for any further sightseeing, but he’d received his instructions from K. Prapai and he was going to follow them!

And so, we reached Erawan Falls where as we walked towards the falls we met hordes of people on their way back, complete with kids, picnic baskets, wet swimming gear and accessories.  Wonderingly, I walked on until we came to a map that showed how there were multiple waterfalls at different levels and how far you had to climb to get to each one.  Gamely, K Bob and I climbed on, each trying to outdo the other all the way to Level 4.  There was a big pool at Level 4, with lots of teenage kids playing in the water.  There were more kids perched on the big rock from where the water fell, and every few minutes, one of them would relax the grip of his backside on the rock and slide down the rock to land in the water with a big splash.  It seemed like great fun, but I had neither the courage, nor the right company, nor the swimming clothes to attempt any such derring-do.

Having rested there for a while, K Bob indicated to me that I was free to climb on if I wished, while he waited for me right there.  I told him I’d had enough too (the park authorities had warned us that the park closed at 5:30 and we had to get out before then, and we were both quite tired after a long day) and we could head out.  Once back in the car, I told him, let’s head back to Bangkok, no more sightseeing.  I could make out he was tired and when I asked him, he told me his knees were aching from the long hours of driving.  But he still wanted to take me to Srinakarin Dam.  I told him – I have no money left (having exhausted all the Thai currency cash I was carrying, and there being no currency exchanges at any of the places we’d visited that day, nor credit card transactions).  He assured me it was free, and the view from there was beautiful and it would barely take us half an hour. 

That was our last stop for the day – truly a breathtaking sight – the dam on one side and the lake created by the dam on the other.  Gushing water on the one side, and an absolutely calm lake on the other.  Having looked around, and posed for the mandatory picture (K. Bob would demand “camera-camera” from me at each stop), we took off and then it was non-stop back to Bangkok.  A lovely day, which I ended with 28 Thai Baht in my pocket when I tallied my cash before changing some money so I could eat dinner!


Thank you, K. Raj, K. Prapai and K. Bob, for a truly memorable trip!