Days 185 to 188. From Chiang Mai to Bangkok

The trek left us both quite sore and therefore a free day ensued, which were getting quite more frequent as we approach the end of our travels. Along with approaching the end of travels comes approaching the end of the allocated travel money. This is quite a sobering thought. Looking at the bank balance back in April and seeing a healthy 5 figure sum, now reduced to 3 figures. You look back on the amount spent and quantify with yourself, was it spent wisely? Did we get all we could out of it? What did we intend to get out of it? I'm probably going to ask that again in my summary and many times after that. Especially in times in the future when we are hard-up.

Day 186 and 6th October we were booked on the night train to Bangkok at 5:30pm, leaving us a day in Chiang Mai. We filled most of this day with what may be the most interesting and memorable experience of the journey. We went to the Tiger Kingdom.

You will be right in assuming that tigers are involved in The Tiger Kingdom, and you may rightly assume it is touristy. That's not to take away from it. Tiger Kingdom is about 10km outside of Chiang Mai, and once inside you can play and cuddle tigers. The tiger sizes come in Smallest, Small, Medium and Big. There are various packages on offer combining sizes of tiger to interact with. We chose Smallest + Small + Big for B1250 each (£25 or $40).

There is no set order you need to do this, but we chose the Smallest first. There are some rules and guidance to follow. The main one is to not touch the tigers head, and always approach them from behind. The opposite to approaching a horse then. In any case on purchase of a ticket, you signed away all liability of Tiger Kingdom, should these beasts chew off your arm in a rage. Therefore, it is best to follow the rules.

The Smallest are about 3 months old, and very playful they are. Mostly with each other, although they can be playful with you. But being playful is a bit of nipping with each other, and you can see from a young age what razor teeth they have. You are not allowed to pick them up, but stroking and rubbing their tummy is loved, and they become very docile. The youngest are probably the most fun, as they are awake during the day. The latter ages they start becoming more tiger and like their 18 hours sleep a day, like George Bush did.

The Small category are aged about 6 months and are showing traces of cub cuteness, but evolving into the proud creatures they will be, the Big ones aged 18 months are a more amazing experience. The same rules apply for all the tigers remember, don't touch the head. You may even tickle their balls, and all you will get is a flick of the tail, but not the head. Incidentally the guard encouraged us to tickle a Small tigers balls. I was sceptical, but I did.

I can honestly say, and you won't believe  me unless you visit Tiger Kingdom yourself, I felt no fear with the big tigers. I could see their teeth and they were huge things, and the animal could rip the flesh off me like a well cooked barbecued rib, but still they are so calming. We both approached from behind and put our arms around a resting tiger. I smelt him and they smelt like a friendly dog (a smell I miss and love) and my arm raised up and down with the tigers breathing. Only occasionally did I think; wow I'm cuddling a huge killing machine.

They are drugged Chris, you cry. All I can say is again and again we were told they were not drugged. They are petted by humans from 3 months old, so they only know the nice side of humans. After 18 months they are sold to zoos, as after that point they become unpredictable, and maybe nature takes over and tells them, they are there to hunt and kill not have back-packers tickling their balls. They are so docile, because tigers need so much sleep, so their sleep pattern is the calmer also.

It is a zoo of sorts, and the animals will never be free, so make your own moral decisions based on that. However, I don't think there are many other ways to fully appreciate a tiger than to get this close. It has made me care more about the existence of the species in the wild, and I will look into how I can help personally. There are also tigers near Bangkok which are run by monks. However, I have read that despite this being run by monks, those beasts are more likely drugged, even though the setting looks more wild.

So after a lunch of burritos we caught the night train to Bangkok. You are expecting some expression of feelings as we complete the overland journey of 5,252 miles from Singapore, to Penang to Bangkok, through Cambodia, south to north Vietnam, to Vientiane in Laos to Lunang Prubang to Chiang Mai and back to Bangkok. I don't think I have any right now.

Last night we went out for dinner and here in Bangkok and Sarah wanted to go back in at about 7pm. She has been feeling run down as we reach the end. I stayed out a bit. Just two solo beers, watching the travellers and people go by. I think I wanted to be alone with Bangkok for a bit. I also enjoyed people watching and I felt so used to seeing travellers and back-packers, I could spot immediately which ones were at the beginning of their Asian journey and those at the end or a long way into. Maybe something about the look, less wide-eyed than the new arrivals. New arrivals over-do the "I know what I doing and where I'm going" look. And if I can spot this after 5 months in Asia, you can be sure the hawkers can.