June
24, Sunday
Some small
with beautiful ponds
and some that are very tall. Can see see the person at the bottom of the waterfall, beside the moss covered bolder?
There are actually 7 series of falls that you can walk up to, (the trail is 1,010 meters long), but I opt to stop at the 4rth level since there is a warning about the conditions of the rest of the “route” (and I use the term loosely)to the 5th, 6th and 7thlevels. The pools of water are SO inviting and many people swim in them.
The trail is getting more and more difficult; the steps are naturally formed by tree roots
So beautiful
While I’m sitting with my feet not quite fully immersed in the water (there are fish in the pools of water and the little ones nibble your feet !)
I see a group of monkeys swing by in the trees above me, heading to the lower levels of the falls.
Her baby looks eerily human
I make my way back down and rest at levels 3 and 2 again where there are more families enjoying a Sunday in the park. The monkeys have made their way down here and are quite brazen. I had been sitting on one of the bamboo platforms resting when a local family arrived to share it while they ate their lunch.
In no time at all one of the monkeys had swung over into a tree above us and looked like he would jump down any minute to grab some lunch for himself.I quickly moved to a different platform !
I made my way back to the entrance and waited there for the rest of the group to return. They all made it up to the 7th level but confirmed that the trek up had been difficult.
After a quick lunch Carole and I are the only ones left and we are off to the Tiger temple.
“Tiger Temple, or Wat Pha Luang Ta Bua Yannasampanno, is a Theravada Buddhist temple in western Thailand that was founded in 1994 as a forest temple and sanctuary for wild animals, among them several tigers, mostly Indo-Chinese Tigers. The temple is located in the Saiyok district of Thailand's Kanchanaburi province, not far from the border with Myanmar. Several tiger cubs were given to the temple, typically when the mothers had been killed by poachers, people whose "pet" tigers were getting too big, or those who had to when the laws about the keeping protected species became more strict. As of 2007, over 21 cubs had been born at the temple, and the total number of tigers was about 12 adult tigers and 4 cubs. As of May 2012, the total number of tigers living at the temple has risen to over 100.” The temple also has horses, boars, peacocks, bears, buffalo, deer, cows, goats, etc. “Why are all the tigers so calm? Are they drugged? No, the tigers have been hand raised and imprinted to humans and therefore have no fear of people. Our tigers have been regularly handled from a very early age and thus became decensitized to being touched by people. This is why they are able to sleep while people sit next to them for photos.”
This is a young tiger and though he appeared not to be tied up, his post was behind him
We are taken down to touch or pat each of the tigers who have been brought down into the canyon
The individuals in the red shirts work here. One takes us by the hand and takes us around while a second one uses our cameras to take picutres.
I had the choice of either using my camcorder, or my camera, and opted for my camcorder. Might not have been a great idea since I had no idea if the worker would be able to use it or not. I was too nervous about going into the canyon to touch the tigers.
Some of the photos I later took from the film on my camcorder
Some of these tigers are HUGE ! PINCH ME, AM I REALLY DOING THIS?
and some are smaller
I snapped a few more pictures before we left the canyon area to walk through the rest of the park
We found a very young tiger tied near a pond. It did not look like the leash was long enough to even let him drink
but he soon demonstrated that no only could he drink from the pond, he could go in for a cooling dip in the water
It is a small pond where families can gather for free on a Sunday afternoon and enjoy the water.
Juliana made a new friend while she was up at the top of the huge bolder. This little girl would not let her put her back down,
Families enjoying the water
Shallow enough for babies to enjoy
and deep enough for others to walk in and play with their children
I wake up before the sun is out to the sound of howler monkeys
in the forest. I recognize their call
from my Peru trip with Yvette along the Amazon rivers. I manage to get back to sleep for a few more
hours before breakfast at 7 am. By 8 am
we are off by mini-van to visit the Erawan National Park and falls.
The trail starts off flat and wide
I climb up the trail and see a series of waterfalls
The trail starts off flat and wide
Some small
with beautiful ponds
and some that are very tall. Can see see the person at the bottom of the waterfall, beside the moss covered bolder?
There are actually 7 series of falls that you can walk up to, (the trail is 1,010 meters long), but I opt to stop at the 4rth level since there is a warning about the conditions of the rest of the “route” (and I use the term loosely)to the 5th, 6th and 7thlevels. The pools of water are SO inviting and many people swim in them.
The trail is getting more and more difficult; the steps are naturally formed by tree roots
So beautiful
While I’m sitting with my feet not quite fully immersed in the water (there are fish in the pools of water and the little ones nibble your feet !)
Her baby looks eerily human
I make my way back down and rest at levels 3 and 2 again where there are more families enjoying a Sunday in the park. The monkeys have made their way down here and are quite brazen. I had been sitting on one of the bamboo platforms resting when a local family arrived to share it while they ate their lunch.
In no time at all one of the monkeys had swung over into a tree above us and looked like he would jump down any minute to grab some lunch for himself.I quickly moved to a different platform !
I made my way back to the entrance and waited there for the rest of the group to return. They all made it up to the 7th level but confirmed that the trek up had been difficult.
After a quick lunch Carole and I are the only ones left and we are off to the Tiger temple.
“Tiger Temple, or Wat Pha Luang Ta Bua Yannasampanno, is a Theravada Buddhist temple in western Thailand that was founded in 1994 as a forest temple and sanctuary for wild animals, among them several tigers, mostly Indo-Chinese Tigers. The temple is located in the Saiyok district of Thailand's Kanchanaburi province, not far from the border with Myanmar. Several tiger cubs were given to the temple, typically when the mothers had been killed by poachers, people whose "pet" tigers were getting too big, or those who had to when the laws about the keeping protected species became more strict. As of 2007, over 21 cubs had been born at the temple, and the total number of tigers was about 12 adult tigers and 4 cubs. As of May 2012, the total number of tigers living at the temple has risen to over 100.” The temple also has horses, boars, peacocks, bears, buffalo, deer, cows, goats, etc. “Why are all the tigers so calm? Are they drugged? No, the tigers have been hand raised and imprinted to humans and therefore have no fear of people. Our tigers have been regularly handled from a very early age and thus became decensitized to being touched by people. This is why they are able to sleep while people sit next to them for photos.”
This is a young tiger and though he appeared not to be tied up, his post was behind him
We are taken down to touch or pat each of the tigers who have been brought down into the canyon
The individuals in the red shirts work here. One takes us by the hand and takes us around while a second one uses our cameras to take picutres.
I had the choice of either using my camcorder, or my camera, and opted for my camcorder. Might not have been a great idea since I had no idea if the worker would be able to use it or not. I was too nervous about going into the canyon to touch the tigers.
Some of the photos I later took from the film on my camcorder
Some of these tigers are HUGE ! PINCH ME, AM I REALLY DOING THIS?
and some are smaller
I snapped a few more pictures before we left the canyon area to walk through the rest of the park
We found a very young tiger tied near a pond. It did not look like the leash was long enough to even let him drink
but he soon demonstrated that no only could he drink from the pond, he could go in for a cooling dip in the water
WOW ! WHAT A DAY
! I CAN”T BELIEVE I PETTED not only 1, but 6 tigers !
On our way back to the Kitti Rafts for dinner, we stop at
the Sai Yok Noi waterfalls, which we were supposed to visit on the first
afternoon, but stopped at a local market instead. While here, Carole and I meet Juliana from Belgium, who
will be joining us for the rest of the day and our elephant ride tomorrow.
It is a small pond where families can gather for free on a Sunday afternoon and enjoy the water.
Juliana made a new friend while she was up at the top of the huge bolder. This little girl would not let her put her back down,
Families enjoying the water
Shallow enough for babies to enjoy
and deep enough for others to walk in and play with their children
Back to the Kitti Rafts Restaurant for dinner
the view from the shore
Our dinner, which was quite tasty
and another boat ride up river to our raft hotel. This time I went back down to the first level to read and chat with Carole and Juliana, but I was being eaten alive by ants and tiny little flies/midges so back I went to my room for the night.
the view from the shore
Our dinner, which was quite tasty
and another boat ride up river to our raft hotel. This time I went back down to the first level to read and chat with Carole and Juliana, but I was being eaten alive by ants and tiny little flies/midges so back I went to my room for the night.
No comments:
Post a Comment