Tales from a 12-Year-Old: My Trip to Bangkok - Day 1

Arriving in Bangkok

My trip to Bangkok started with a 2 hour-long flight from Singapore and an equally long wait at the airport for immigration and visa on arrival (make sure you travel with a passport size photograph and 1000 Thai Baht per person or this wait could be longer). Mom and I met my affectionate and fun loving uncle at the airport who dispensed all the irritation I felt and started our hour-long journey to his home through rush hour traffic.

Tiger Monastery

Early in the morning, with our picnic of puri and aloo (a delicious Indian vegetarian wrap) we started our 2-hour drive to the Tiger Monastery. A trip to Bangkok is incomplete without a visit to this fascinating place.I had visited the monastery six years ago when I was 6 years old, and could not contain my excitement of seeing these beautiful wild animals in the most spiritual surroundings. When we reached there I was told we couldn't wear red clothes or sleeveless tops, as it would offend the tigers and monks. I was wearing a pink half sleeve t-shirt, so it did not matter. The 10-minute walk from the gate to the tiger site had an aviary filled with Hornbills and other birds. Mom enjoyed watching them. She took many pictures and we reminisced the Asian Hornbill on the way back home

After walking for a few minutes, I saw a crowd huddled together as if they were penguins in Antarctica. When I went closer, I saw about 12 tigers lying under the canopy of the trees and people touching them. Since this was not the first time I have been to the Tiger Monastery, I wasn’t that surprised by the site. In fact I noticed that this time around, one could only stroke the tigers from the back unlike last time when we could even keep their head on our laps. Taking pictures with a tiger is truly a once in a lifetime opportunity. As I was busy clicking a herd of cows and deer came near the tiger site. The tigers immediately stood with their ears perked up. All of us had to move away in case they started chasing the wandering animals. This was a Buddhist monastery so it is against the rules to kill any animals on the monastery grounds. If a tiger tries to kill an animal, the staff has to go and protect the animal under attack. As fun as being a volunteer at the tiger monastery looked it is a job filled with peril!!

It was time for the tigers to go down to the canyon for a bath. They were brought down one by one. I held the tiger’s leash and took photographs as we walked down the hill with the monk. After 10 minutes the animal started marking his territory by doing his ‘business’. All of us started walking away because it wasn’t a nice smell. When we reached the canyon I asked the volunteers some questions about the tigers, and they were very knowledgeable and helpful and answered all of them with immense patience. I really enjoyed clicking pictures with the tigers as they lay about. It made me wonder that even the wildest amongst the wild become calm at Buddha’s feet. I could almost hear them chant “Buddham Sharanam Gachami, Dharamam Sharanam Gachami, Sangham Sharanam Gachami” (“I take refuge in the Buddha, I take refuge in the Dharma, I take refuge in the Sangha”). As we walked towards the Bodhi tree to play with a tiger cub, a Sambar Deer walked up to me and I took a few selfies with it. By the end, we were extremely tired and headed back to my uncle’s place.