The Usual

So...I had a tigers head on my lap yesterday - what did you do?
He hee - it was very commercial, but sooooo cool! I had been loitering around for most of the day waiting to get on the bus out to the Tiger Temple at 2.30 (no one told me they had the cubs out to play at 12.30!!!!! Grrr). I was proud of my composure in front of the other tourists, quite frankly - there was no literal bursting with excitement. So we not the 1st to get there, which is OK I guess, and well its a funny thing, they are all chained to the ground and mostly really sleepy (I won't rule out sedation at this point - although it was damn hot, I don't think I'd feel like eating people in that heat either) and you just hand your camera over to one of the handlers, and another handler holds your hand (perhaps they knew I'd run about excitedly if they didn't) and led you around to about 5 of the 7 or 8 tigers there and sat you down behind for a good pat! He Hee! So the fur was kinda course, but under their chin is soft, just like a puddy tat, then they'd flick their tale and could probably knock you over with a decent or deliberate contact... When that was done you went to the back of the queue and could line up to do it all again!! It was pretty amazing, I have to say. They are massive, and so awesome! There was no growling until we'd walked them back to the cages when one let rip and it was a frightening site, even with 3 sets of bars in between you and those teeth. Full on aggressive posture and was totally excellent. Dude. Sorry I don't have pics ready to go, hopefully when I get back to Bangers I can hook you up.
So This all happens about 45kms from Kanchanaburi where I am now. This is where the Bridge is spans the river Kwai, so a bit of history that I've forgotten due to obvious other distractions. It is hot - we're heading into the hottest time in the region so I have been required to leave small salty puddles of sweat on seats all over town. Nice. I have 2 showers a day, and am disappointed when the water comes out hot from sitting in the pipes for 3 seconds. But the food is awesome, of course. I'm heading back towards Bangkok today, but stopping off at the floating markets for a night to check out the idyllic Asian image of produce bargaining on water!
And I mentioned the tigers, right?