oddly enough it cost more to cuddle a baby tiger than a giant one. who knew. pablo and i signed up for the big cat snuggle and shanti went with sol for a cub. children under a certain height aren't allowed in with the big cats because they look too much like food.
i will admit that i was a bit nervous going into the cage. there were about 5 big tigers, about 300 kilos each, walking around waiting for people to lay on them. pablo and i went in together with a guide who carried a small stick, if the tiger did anything that looked even remotely aggressive or impolite the guide tapped him on the head, and the tiger behaved. all but one tiger in our pen was male, and the female was pacing back and forth making little growling noises the whole time.
i had seriously considered asking at the reservation desk if it was ok to go into a cage with wild animals while i had my period, i couldn't help but wonder if they'd think i was either ready for mating or a dying animal that they could snack on.
the tigers were so comfy. they mostly just laid there while we petted and scratched and draped ourselves on top of them for good pictures. there was a sign on the door that we were required to read before entering, like no poking and prodding, no antagonizing, approach from behind so they don't think you're coming to play, so we were careful to walk away from their heads. one of the tigers was named roy and it made me think of the circus guy who got his throat ripped open by his own pet.
altogether we spent about 20 minutes in the cage. quality time.
next up were shanti and sol with the crazy little babies, each about 3 months old. they were the size of small dogs and totally cute and playful. they sat by a sleepy one and petted it and sol got to make his 'rowr' tiger sounds. they spent about 20 minutes as well. at one point sol was more interested in the guy running a hose because all the tigers decided to pee on the floor at once but there was alot for him to process. i wonder what he thought of the experience.
after possibly the only scary tuk tuk ride we've had, shanti and i went out for some serious shopping. we headed first to the grocery store and i loaded up on shampoo, toothpaste, typical beauty aisle products because they sell the same things here at a fraction of the price as home. we found some spices and thai products that we couldn't get on kauai. after that were the markets for more spices and gifts and lots of bargaining fun. i spent close to $100 and had to buy a big bag to carry on the plane. i definitely made up for 9 months without shopping.
to end my day i got my last thai foot massage and first pedicure. i will truly miss this aspect of southeast asia, considering i was there for almost 2 hours and it only cost me about $13. the spa i went to employed only women from the chiang mai women's prison to help them keep stable jobs and stay out of trouble. as i watched the women i tried to imagine what each of them might have been in prison for but i was having a hard time just imagining what is illegal here.
today was the last full day of my trip, 23 hours from now i'll be at the airport.
 |
| better than a hostel pillow |
No comments:
Post a Comment