Postcards form a Backpacker

Tiger Temple Kanchanaburi

Posted in South East Asia, Thailand, Kanchanaburi

The Tiger Temple in Kanchanaburi was somewhere I wanted to visit in Thailand to see the big cats that I had not seen in Africa as they are not native to the African continent. It is getting towards the time I will have to leave Thailand and this will be the last attraction, so to speak, in Asia. In Kanchanaburi we stayed in a room that was floating on the river Kwai with a view across the river. The river is a historic site that was featured in the film “The Bridge on the River Kwai” (1957). The bridge is part of a railway line that was built by prisoners of war (POW’s) when the Japanese invaded Thailand. Many lives were lost in the building of the railway that took 16 months to complete. The bridge was originally built from wood but has since been replaced by a steel bridge some years later. You can walk across the bridge except when it is being used by the train of course.

The Tiger Temple is located 38 Kilometers outside the city centre so we rented a moped and took a drive. The temple was started by a monk who took in a stray tiger cub one day, and as word spread the temple received more tigers and more visitors. The temple now has lots of tigers and received 250 visitors on the day we were there. The tigers have leashes on to stop them running about while the tourist have their photos taken with them, and seem lethargic during the day. At 5pm the temple closes and they are walked back to the cages for the night. They become more alert and playful at this time of day. They seem docile but a few years ago, a tourist was mauled by one of the tigers which are still dangerous animals.

The following day in Kanchanaburi we visited several waterfalls, which were an hour’s bus ride from the city. It happened to be a Thai public holiday, and was very busy until it started to rain and everyone cleared out. I took a swim and was bitten lightly a number of time by small fish in the pools beneath the falls. Before leaving I also took a swim in the river Kwai.

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