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Our mega 2 day journey on the Mekong ended & it was time to say goodbye to Yang and his cool hair....he was getting straight back on a bus to Laos. We had a short transfer to Chang Khong for 1 night, pretty pointless. After a dip and cocktail by the pool, we found the only bar in town and ate bad food, watched Chelsea play and I beat the boys at darts and pool much to Alan's disgust. Then at 7am we had a 5 hour drive to Chiang Mai, I would have preferred to cut the night in Chang Khong out and have an extra night here as there is so much more to do and see.
Out hotel was pretty nice, sunny pool and really decent rooms and shower! I headed out with Katherine to explore, we saw a bit of the old town before stopping for massage number 5 (ranking number 2 still with Hoi An in the lead). We went for head/neck/back which once again meant full body and even weirder it turned into a couples massage where we lay next to each other wearing silly pyjamas. 90 minutes of pain, my body is in such a state everything just hurts so I think maybe no more massage and reinvest the cash in alcohol or clothes.
Quick change then headed out to the night market for more shopping, I wish I hadn't bought so much with me clothes are so cheap here...I'm buying up a supply of vests for less than a quid each! We found a small Thai restaurant and I ordered my first Pad Thai and a beer for less than £1.50!! Thailand is the cheapest place to eat so far, you could eat really well for about £5 a day if you eat street food or in cheap restaurants. I'm dying to try the street food but I think I need to build up my tolerance to germs first a little longer. A few of us had tickets to a Thai boxing match, I didn't really know much about it except it was better than shopping or drinking all night. It turns out it was all about drinking and I paid the price the next day. The matches started off with a couple of kids fighting, maybe 11 years old which wasn't very nice. I lost interest pretty quickly after I lost my massive bet (75p!-I know when to stop), but it was different and I'm glad I went. The best bit was during the interval when 4 chubby guys got in the ring, blindfolded and just had a fight...I'm easily pleased. On the way to the next bar a family of rats decided to cross the road, one the size of a cat ran across my bare foot...I think I must have jumped atleast 6 feet in the air and my throat hurt from the screaming-traumatised. I felt much better after beating the boys at darts...again.
The next morning some of us were going to Tiger Kingdom, I'd read bits before I left and asked a few people here about it and wasn't sure whether to go or not. I decided to go, obviously I wanted to see tigers and cuddle a baby and take loads of photos to show off to my friends. When you arrive they have 4 different tiger age groups and each package has a price, I ended up paying around £30 including transport to see small babies, big babies and the adults....although I was still unsure whether I'd go in and see the big ones that could quite easily eat me if as the place claimed they aren't drugged. I don't know what I was expecting but as soon as we walked in I just felt awful. The first tiger I saw was a huge white tiger pacing in a cage smaller than my bedroom, someone was taking a photo and he lashed out looking very stressed. There were 2 cubs a few weeks old behind some glass in a little cage, fair enough-they were only tiny and probably being bottle fed. There were others in similar small cages and some in slightly bigger enclosures with a bit of grass and water. We headed for the small baby section where you can go and play with them and take photos for 15 minutes. There was probably 8 or 10 young tigers, I'd say a few months old def not the tiny babies they harp on about. Every single one of them was lying asleep or doped who knows. There were staff inside with sticks who would position the animals to keep the tourists happy to make good photos. Sometimes if they woke up and walked off to hide under a table to get a break, they were dragged back out by their legs, laid out again and people were told to lie with their head on the tigers ribs and they'd wrap the tigers legs around their neck - lovely picture!! If they weren't responsive enough, the staff tapped the stick making noise to startle them or tapped them on the face. Like I said I'm not sure what I thought this place would be like, but I would never have forgiven myself if I'd taken part in it. I watched the others have their 15 minutes while looking after the bags and then left and waited out front till they'd all finished. What a horrible place, I'm so mad with myself for going and putting £25 in their pocket so they can continue to run such a cruel circus. I was hoping one of the tigers would eat it's stick wielding keeper! DONT VISIT TIGER KINGDOM!! Sorry everyone, no tiger photos from me.
So after wasting all that money on supporting animal cruelty I thought I'd just sunbath by the pool before leaving for the overnight train to Bangkok. I popped out to grab some lunch by myself and found a cute little cafe and sat watching the world go by eating more Pad Thai. You don't get much time by yourself on these tours, a girl asked me at the pool if there'll be tears when we all go our separate ways - I asked her if she meant tears of joy?!
The sleeper train is different to the one in Vietnam, we don't have our own little rooms to share, the seats turn into beds. I've already done some sewing to perfect my rucksack. I spent hours the other day on the boat sewing little flags onto my backpack for every country I'll be visiting. It was a bit upsetting yesterday when I realised I'd sewn one on upside down so it looked like I'd nipped over to Poland in the middle of my SE Asia adventure.
Well we're two hours into the 14 hour journey and the earphones are firmly in and turned up loud, hope my battery lasts.
Just before 10pm we found the party carriage, just before it closed - I will spread the word for next time.
- comments
Sal Hate the tiger baddies, love the polish flag! Xx