The next day, we were off to Kanchanaburi to see the Tiger Temple. This temple cares for orphaned tigers as part of its Buddhist mission to provide refuge to all living creatures. When we got there, we paid 600 Baht to enter the temple and see the tigers. The whole idea of a Tiger Temple is quite controversial, since many believe that the Tigers are drugged in order to remain tame around tourists. However, the Monks claim to train and domesticate the Tigers from a young age. The whole temple was quite an experience. There were tourists playing with tigers in the water, Monks walking tigers on a leash, and tigers placed throughout a canyon, where tourists could take pictures with them. I couldn’t believe that I was actually able to touch a live tiger. Overall, the travel time to get outside the city and the entrance fee was well worth it. We also got to see peacocks, water buffalo, bears and hogs that were running freely around the temple.
At night, we decided to go to Khao San road to shop and hit up the party scene. None of the bars were too great, and a bit sketchy at times, so we spent the majority of our night walking up and down the street filled with tourists. At the end of the night, we decided to get street Pad Thai…big mistake. The noodles tasted soggy, there was no flavor and the chicken was not fresh. Note to self: never eat street Pad Thai past midnight. It probably has been sitting out all day and only drunk tourists think it’s a good idea to buy it.
On Sam and Astrid’s last day in Thailand, we decided to hit up the famous Weekend Market. We were told prior to going that it is the most overwhelming market we will ever go to…and they were certainly right. The market was huge and had everything from clothes and paintings to puppies and carpets. The clothes were 1-3 dollars a piece and looked like clothes that you would buy at H&M or Forever 21. The only problem was we weren’t allowed to try anything on, so you kind of had to eye it. Since all the clothes were mostly made for an Asian type body, I was a little disappointed when I went to try on my purchases. Oh well, I definitely learned my lesson for future trips to an Asian market. At night, we had celebratory drinks to our perfect trip to Thailand. It was sad goodbyes, but it was a great end to our long and amazing three week journey together.
On the last day, Lauren and I decided to do some sightseeing around Bangkok. We walked to the Princes Palace and the Reclining Buddha. Not knowing or really hearing anything about the places, we were stunned when we arrived. The Palace was breathtaking with every building covered in colours, painted flowers and mosaics. There were door passage ways everywhere you looked that would lead to a whole courtyard of more temple tops. We then headed to the Reclining Buddha. It was probably the biggest Buddha I had ever seen. It was probably the size of two football fields and covered in gold. It was beautiful.
Lauren and I decided to end the day and our trip with some green curry, chicken Pad Thai and Chang beers. After feeling a little buzz from the beers and discussing Ping Pong shows with a very interesting Australian tourist, we decided to take one last walk up Khao San road to get Nutella and peanutbutter pancakes. Yum!! It ended up being a perfect trip and a great way to end my semester. Before I knew it, I was heading home to Canada for Christmas break.
No comments:
Post a Comment