Our day started as usual with yet another buffet breakfast, and by now we are totally over it....the selection doesn't change that much and we are all starting to notice the expansion in our waste lines, thank god for these flowing dresses we have purchased!!! We hung out by the pool in the morning then headed out for a walk around Karon, but this did nothing to relieve Marty's boredom. We were trying to keep him happy but was a bit unsure of what he wanted to do, always beating around the bush. So that lead to us bickering and l decided that l wasn't going to leave it up to him to organise anything anymore, this is not his strength, it is mine, the conclusion being that this is how we balance one another out. So with that, l decided we would head in the other direction by tuk tuk and check out Kata. It cost around $200 Baht for the ride which seemed like a rip off seeing it took only 5 mins to get there. We got dropped off in the middle of town and had a stroll, checking out a few of the shops and stalls. We had heard about this awesome place called Dino World, which had decent food and also was in the theme of the Flinstones with a put put golf course, so we headed there. The mood balanced out between Marty and l throughout the course as we sweated furiously and had a laugh. We all had a ball, even when Meg got upset as she tried to master the art of putt putt golf. Boo took the responsibility of scoring and thrived, and as we watched her take lead it became aware to Marty and l that we should let her take more responsibilities and let her grow up, she loves it!!! After all the laughs and buckets of sweat, we finished the course with Marty winning, having bet me by 3!!!! Seeing we had filled up on breakfast, we all just craved thirst and ordered some refreshingly cold drinks and gorged on quickly melting ice cream sundaes! The girls went off and played in the Flinstone car whilst Marty and l chatted to a couple from Canberra who were equally drenched in sweat!!! Lol
 |
| Another perfect day in paradise.... |
 |
| Rocking out to the tunes,,,,,look at all those speakers! |
 |
| Think he likes being chauffeured around like a king.. |
 |
| Meg the wanna be dinosaur! |
 |
| So love the course, really got into the theme! |
 |
| Missed it by that much! |
 |
| Time to cool off with our melted ice cream! |
 |
| Meet the "Flinstones"... |
 |
| Inside the restaurant... |
We took a stroll back up the streets of Kata and then decided to take a tuk tuk back to Karon and stop off at the Temple Markets. It was late in the afternoon and the day had gone so quick, it was so nice to have a cruisy fun day. As we meandered thru the markets l accidentally dropped my camera bag and her a smash, l was so scarred to open the bag to see what l would find. l had just got the new lens in Darwin before we left after the last one had been smashed in El Questro. Opening the bag l found glass and expected the worst, luckily after more examination it was only the lens protector that was smashed and no damage was done to the actual lens. I was so angry with myself and refused to carry the bag anymore. This new lens was becoming a bad omen with having lost the sun visor for it on the Phi Phi island tour as it fell off into the ocean whilst taking a pic hanging over the boat as it hammered along the water. Anyway, after calming myself down, we continued with our journey thru the markets. Meg had turned a little whiny and l had had enough, so Marty took her off for a walk whilst Boo and l went in a separate direction. We had so much fun together. These markets are great as most things are a reasonable set price, so they don't harass you or try to haggle too much which means you can actually look at the stalls without them pestering you. Boo and l brought a few singlets and dresses and l even picked up a cool wooden elephant piece of art that could one day be put up on a wall, if we ever go back to a house that is!!! We eventually met up with Marty and Meg again, stopping off for some nutella pancakes for the girls whilst Marty feasted on the spring rolls from the market, thankfully he shared one with me, they were so delicious!!! I was holding out for the Pad Thai on the way home from an outside kitchen out front of the resort. We decided to leave the cockroaches, grubs and caterpillars this time for everyone else to enjoy!! Lol....
Sadly our time in Phuket was coming to a close with only a few more days left. Again we took the opportunity to laze by the pool for the morning before heading out to barter further with a tuk tuk driver for his services. We ended up finding a great guy for $600 Baht to take us to Tiger Kingdom and wait for us while we were in there and then drop us off at Junselong Mall. Seemed like we were taking advantage of him, but he seemed pleased with the deal. So off we went, the girls totally loving these tuk tuk rides still, listening to the duff duff music! We arrived at Tiger Kingdom, me being so excited whilst Marty seemed a bit reserved. We got a deal that cost us $6000 Baht, which converts to around $200 AUS. This was for the lot of us to interact with the tigers, get our pics taken and a complimentary CD to take home with us of all the pics. Great deal!
We entered the kingdom and saw all the tigers behind the steal bars, now that would seem to anyone to be inhuman but as we watched the tigers interact with their keepers, it seemed like they were just big kittens playing with their owners. The enclosures were big, filled with lush grass and even a swimming pool.
The girls were first off the ranks and we were told that it would cost us more for Marty and l to enter the enclosure. We felt a little nervous letting our two young girls enter a locked enclosure with tigers without us, but the girls didn't seem to mind. The tigers were only little cubs, but if they wanted to they could still do damage to the girls l would have thought. As the guides handled the cubs, we watched the girls with awe as they interacted with these cute little animals, only thru the instructions of the handlers that is. They were guided to put their hand on their bellies and pose for pics, the girls eyes soaking up these gorgeous little tigers. Was very happy that the girls still had an element of caution when getting close to the cubs, whilst still having a great time being so close to them.
 |
| Girls getting their instructions for their tiger encounter... |
 |
One of our favorite pics of the day...faces are full of
happiness! |
 |
| Boo looking with wonder.. |
 |
| Tiger pillow... |
 |
| Sshhh.... |
Next it was Marty and my turn to the girls disappointment. They had to stay on the other side of the caged area whilst we went in. First tigers we were to get up close and personal with was the "small ones", which looked full grown to us!!! There were three lying down together having a play fight, they were 7 months old and were brother and sisters. Marty went first and l have never seen him so weary in my life, flinching with any sudden movement from the tigers. I, on the other hand, loved it, almost embracing the minutes we had with the tigers, no fear thought of. We both struck our poses as per the handlers and watched the tigers frolicking with one another. We were amazed at them being classed as "small" as their paws were bigger than our hands! They are just like over sized pussy cats, have always been captivated by these animals.
 |
Marty's a bit unsure..
 |
 |
| Last kiss??? lol |
 |
| Nigh nigh time... |
After a good time with the small tigers we moved onto getting close with the "big tigers", to the girls disgust!! They weren't totally happy that we got more time with the tigers led alone being able to go in with two sets of tigers! Never happy are they..... Anyway, the 'Big Tigers' were 19 months old and we could see the difference in size from the last, gob smacked at what 12 months difference in age makes. When they yawned we saw that our heads could definitely have fit in their mouths if that's what they wanted to happen. The trainers were awesome, so respectful of the tigers and had great rapport with them, like any master would have with their pets. We both posed for our photos, Marty looking pretty nervous and feeling unease. I was the most relaxed l had been on this holiday l think. Totally enjoyed laying my head on their belly and giving them a cuddle. Maybe the tigers sensed his fear as they did have their ears turned back a bit when he was near them?! After getting our pics l think Marty sighed a huge relief that he had not been gobbled up by them and still lived to see the day! We watched close by as the trainers played with the tigers, teasing them with leaves on the end of long sticks as we would with cats and a ball of wool or hand under a dooner. They playfully got them into the pool, leaping up in the air to try and grab the end of the sticks. So cool seeing a tiger do a huge bomb in a pool metres away from you!!!
 |
| Now these are big buggers! |
 |
| Marty's not too sure about this!! |
 |
| Me...l loved it!! |
 |
Marty's crapping his dakes so bad....look how the tigers ears are
pointing backwards!!! |
 |
| Look how big that mouth is! |
 |
| Nah, cant match it!!! |
 |
| Look at our faces when the tiger on the right turns around!! |
 |
| Time for some play!!! |
 |
| Getting some air! |
 |
| I'm impressed obviously! |
 |
| Am so fascinated by them....gorgeous animals. |
 |
| Drink time... |
 |
| So toned and strong! |
 |
| The tigers do trust their trainers... |
 |
| Wow...who needs Michael Jordan? |
Sadly our time was up, and we were so grateful at the experience. We saw no tigers harmed or coerced into performing, no tigers pacing around the enclosures or any signs of mistreatment. All we saw was kindness, love and respect from the handlers to the tigers. We also felt that we had heaps of time with the tigers and our experience wasn't rushed. We collected our CD of all the photos the tiger kingdom photographers had taken for us with their HD cameras, as well as having our own pics on the Nikon which they also took. Totally amazing and unbelievable experience, we all left on a high!!!
When we got out the front our loyal tuk tuk guy was sitting waiting for us. He dropped us off at the Junselong shopping centre where we enjoyed some lunch and the air conditioning. We then took the long walk down the street to try and complete Marty's experience of the OTOP markets. We hadn't had much luck with this as the first time the girls sooked to much that we left and the last we didn't even make it in due to the "scam" moment. I did say to Marty that maybe it wasn't meant to be, but him being stubborn, didn't believe that. Thank god it would be our last time here though, l don't think l could stand another market. So the girls and l just sucked it up and let him look at what he wanted. The girls obviously understood and their behaviour was wonderful, or maybe they were just joyous from the tiger experience. We must have even bartered well as we received a black bag!!! The girls and l decided Marty should have a stroll by himself so us girls stopped off at "The Chopper Bar" for a soft drink. Their were heaps of these makeshift mini bars throughout the middle of the markets out in the open air. You could tell they were themed for the westerners as they had Aussie music playing and all the replica around their 'bars'. As we sat, we watched this drunken Pommie playing this huge Jenga block game on the bar, totally hilarious to watch. These Thai's are so smart, they bring you into their setting and keep you there seated at the bar with free heaverly salted peanuts which meant you would be more thirsty and buy more drinks, and playing games with you. Very smart indeed. The girls enjoyed a game of Connect Four whilst listening to the doof doof music playing loudly. They then went out to these large wooden stumps were they could band nails into the wood with a thin hammer. I had a go and was pretty hard! Kept us all amused while Marty had his last wander around the bloody markets!!! When he finally appeared we were well and truely ready to go.
We got a tuk tuk back to Karon, getting dropped off at the Red Onion for yet another fabulous meal...so loving authentic Pad Thai!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment