Buddhas and Tigers and Snakes Oh My!
This is our 3rd time here and I could live in
Thailand I love it that much! The first time we rode elephants and spent time
on the beach. (were hoping to snorkel but the surf was up) Last time we
snorkeled Phi Phi Islands and had one of the best lunches of the cruise on Phi
Phi Island. This time I set up a taxi tour with Alex. My main thing to do today was to go "play with the tigers."
http://www.alextaxiphuket.com/phuket-city-tour-itinerary/
http://www.alextaxiphuket.com/phuket-city-tour-itinerary/
We arrived a bit late as it seemed to
take a while to get the gangway set up for the officials to come aboard to
clear the ship. We met our taxi driver for the day and when I asked his name it
was Alex who owns the company. What a surprise, I figured it would be one of
his drivers. I wouldn’t hesitate to use his company again as he offers many
tours as well as just taxi service.
waiting on the balcony for the ship to clear
Javan Myna
the officials coming on to clear the ship
Rock Dove
Rock Doves
I had planned a “hodge podge” of
things to do today of things we haven’t done here. Our first stop was Chalong
temple and we also went to some of the other temples around it. There were people
performing music and dancing outside of one of the temples. One had Buddhist
monks worshiping so we didn’t go inside, but got a couple of quick photos
through the door. Then, we toured the Chalong Temple which was very nice.
Common Myna
the Big Buddha far in the distance
From there we were driven to the Big
Buddha where we first grabbed a cold drink before touring. There were beautiful
views in all directions from up there. They were doing quite a bit of
restoration, but it was still a very interesting stop. After taking in all of
the areas in and around the Big Buddha, we got another cold drink and I bought
a fan that is beautifully painted.
We found Alex and then he asked if we
were hungry yet. It was around 11:00 or so and we weren’t too hungry yet so we
headed to Tiger Kingdom. On the way we felt like we could eat and decided on
eating at Tiger Kingdom when we got there. I got the Green Chicken Curry with
fruit and Greg got Stir Fried Chicken & Cashews. We ordered some garlic
bread and some rice. I thought we both were getting our own rice and I poured
my curry over the rice. Most of the way through my meal I realized that Greg
didn’t get any rice. Oops! He said if he wanted any he would have taken some. From
our table we could see one of the Big Tiger enclosures and watched the people
posing with their tigers. After we ate the server took us inside the restaurant
to see the one White Tiger they have there. She opened a window so we could get
photos.
drive to Tiger Kingdom
Then, we chose our “tiger package”.
We decided on Big Tigers and Smallest Tigers.
We had a bit of a wait until it was our time for the tigers, so I browsed
the gift shop.
You can go in and walk around the
enclosures to see all the tigers until it was your turn. We were taken into the
Big Tigers first. After our briefing on the “dos and don’ts” of being in the
enclosure with the tigers we got to go in. The handler takes you in and leads
you to your first tiger. Then, tells you how to approach it. (from behind so he
doesn’t think you want to play) You are to sit and then you can touch it firmly
anywhere except the head and the front paws. So, you can lean on it, lay on it,
lift it’s tail or paw if you are strong enough to lift one of those paws. We
took photos of each other and the handler took photos with our cameras as well.
Then, we move to another tiger in the same enclosure. He had us pose in various
ways. This tiger was wet as he had been cooling off in the water earlier. I
laid on him anyway. We got some great shots of each other and the handler also
got some fantastic shots for us.
Then, we had to wash our hands before
going in with the Smallest Tigers and remove our shoes and wear disposable
slippers. There were 2 young ones we could play with. The first one was laying
down and the handler had me lay down next to it and rub it’s tummy. It cuddled
in and held my hand between its’ paws. I could hear it’s heart beating and it’s
breathing. Awesome! Then, it was Greg’s turn with the little one. She also got
us both together.
The 2nd young one was a
rascal. It seemed to really like my pants. The handler said maybe it liked my
smell, but this little one was clawing into my pants and then biting me in the
thigh. She would pull it away and it would crawl back on me. It didn’t do that
with Greg. When, she got the 2 of us together it went for me again. It was super
fun and an amazing experience.
We walked around the area until we
had seen all of the tigers and then grabbed an ice cream bar in the snack bar
area. I grabbed my token magnet and then we went to find Alex.
From there we went to see a Cobra
Show. First, they had us pose for photos with a python around my neck. Then,
Greg got his own snake and we posed together. They used our cameras to take
photos of us. Our snakes wrapped themselves around us and mine got wrapped
around my purse and they had to unwrap it.
After that, we went to see various
snakes in their enclosures. Cobras, pythons etc. There was also an otter
hanging around that I petted. Then, the show started. First of all, despite the
serious business of snake handling, they were quite the hams. They had several
rubber snakes. Greg saw a snake on the ground and said, looks like one got out
and the handler picks it up and throws it to the ground. It was rubber.
During the snake show they used a few
rubber snakes in humorous ways to try and scare us. (or just make us laugh) The
handler was very good at handling the cobras. (though he has a mangled finger
from an incident a long time ago) After the cobra portion the other handler
took out 3 non-venomous snakes and asked us to come down and sit with them. We
were to not move, and they wouldn’t bother us. I went down first, and the handler
pulled the 3 snakes around me. Then, before I got up he pulled them away. As I
was walking away he yells, there is one behind you! Eek. Yep, it was one of the
plastic ones. Then it was Greg’s turn. They like to get the snake to go near
“the family jewels”. Yep, I have photos…..
Last, the first handler gets out a python
and throws it in the water and it swims around. He then jumps in the water with
the python. After some horsing around, he goes down and brings it back up and
he gets out of the water with it.
We really enjoyed the show that was
done just for the 2 of us.
Our last stop was at Phuket Town.
There are lots of shops and restaurants there. We wandered up and down each of
the streets and stopped for some dessert Roti. (thin pancake) and we split one
Nutella and one banana. Both were quite tasty. I found a coconut bowl that was
painted a beautiful palm tree scene. There was another temple across the
street, but we skipped that this time.
We found Alex and had him take us
back to the ship. There was shopping at the port and after we paid Alex, we
still had some Thai Bhat to spend off. So, Greg got a couple of beers while I
shopped. Found another swimsuit coverup and a blouse, plus a couple of small
purses.
Alex
We went back on board and got
showered and grabbed dinner upstairs again. I wasn’t all that hungry after
everything we’d eaten today so I had a huge salad. Ran into our table mates up
there as well. I imagine the dining room has been sparsely attended with these
later port days.
We went to the evening entertainer
that was billed as a “unique Instrumentalist & Dulcimer Virtuoso named
Pingxin Xu. We have seen him before and he is very good. A dulcimer is kind of
like a xylophone, except instead of metal it is 144 strings. More like the
insides of a piano if you were to pluck the strings. He plays classical and
some modern songs as well.
Finally, we have 3 sea days to
recharge our “batteries” before we visit Sri Lanka.
Phuket, Thailand part 1 - town https://photos.app.goo.gl/SoNxxMoDTmceFddE8
Phuket, Thailand part 2 - https://photos.app.goo.gl/M9eCC61hDWSTPYv5A
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