Thailand is one of the most popular summer destinations for people from all over the world today. This is quite understandable as Thailand has a wide variety of activities that caters to almost any preference imaginable. From city life to the wild to beaches, you can find these in Thailand.
Just a month ago, we went to Bangkok and its surrounding areas. One of my best experiences was a great mixture of the wild and safety – the Tiger Temple in Kanchanaburi. I actually heard about this place earlier this year while I was watching the National Geographic channel. There was this documentary about monks taking care of tigers somewhere in Thailand. I saw tourists and locals alike petting live tigers and I was thinking, wow that would be quite an experience! That was it – I had decided that one of the main highlights of our trip was going to be a trip to the Tiger Temple.
Surprisingly, not too many locals knew all about the place. Perhaps it is because the Temple is located in Kanchanaburi, a province about 2 hours away from Bangkok. I was lucky to have found a tour guide who took us there in her own car for a good price. The trip up there itself was very enjoyable as the scenery was calm and interesting.
Once we got to the Tiger Temple, my adrenaline started pumping. They told us that we had to walk to the canyon where they took out the tigers for their afternoon romp. Walking down the incline to the canyon, I was thinking that maybe I would pass up the chance to actually go near them. This feeling became even more intense when I saw about 5 or 6 tigers lounging in a small roped off area. True, they were chained but there was this one male that kept prowling his area and making scary noises.
In the end, I couldn’t resist going in and at least getting close to the tigers. A guide walks around with you and takes your pictures. After one round you have to go outside of the roped off area. You could go back if you wanted more pictures though. As for me, the experience of having that growling male behind me as I posed with a sleeping tiger was enough. Oh and yes, it can be a trip for the whole family!
For more information, visit their web site at www.tigertemple.org/Eng/.