There was also an aquarium in the basement of the shopping centre which was pretty interesting.
Pictured are spider crabs.

Our day in the shopping district was pretty interesting because we got a chance to see Thai people in their day to day lives, instead of the ones that are always dealing with tourists on Khao Sarn Road.

The next thing we did was take a one day tour to the Floating Market, the Bridge over the River Kwai and the Tiger Temple. This also included a Snake Show which we had to pay extra for.

We left at about 7am and, with no time for breakfast, got in a minibus, which had to drive for about two hours. We were all wrecked tired but I didn't want to sleep because I would wake up all disorientated and I didn't think it was worth my while sleeping. If I had known how long it would take I would have slept. At one stage the driver jammed on the brakes and we all went forward in our seats, there was an aligator or really big lizard ponderously crossing the road in front of us.

When we finally got to the floating market we were offered a beautiful breakfast of sticky rice cakes wrapped in banana leaves. They were quite nice enough and I was starving so I had two. The floating market was kind of shit. I expected it to be though, because it said in my guide book that it had become very commercial. It was nice and relaxing at first, we were in a long boat sitting in pairs with two women at either end rowing, but when we reached the main stretch it wasn't so relaxing. There were dozens of boats filled with toiurists and all that was on sale was fruit and the same touristy crap you can buy on stalls on Khao Sarn Road. It was really busy and a really tight squeeze down the main waterway. I kept thinking the boat was going to capsize and all my camera gear would be destroyed.

So the floating market itself was a bit of a bust but it was nice and peaceful in the quiet parts.

After that we drove for a heil and then came to a Snake Show arena, which we had not been told about. It was an extra two hundred baht to see, which was annoying, but we paid it anyway because it sounded good.

First there was a few snakes in glass cages which you could walk around and look at, then we waited in the arena for the show to start. It was pretty cool, but a bit cruel in parts, they held open the snake's jaws and paraded it around to show the size of its teeth for example. They showed a cobra fighting with a mongoose aswell, which looked a bit unpleasant for the snake, and the mongoose must have been a bit annoyed thinking he was getting a feast and then having it snatched away from him. Sheena hated most or all of it because of the cruelty. I'll upload a picture of one of the guys catching a snake in his mouth in the next post.

Then we headed to the Bridge over the River Kwai which was a big bridge and not all that interesting really. It was quite scenic though. There was also a museum there which was 30 baht but none of the others wanted to go to it because they thought everything was included on the tour and we had already paid extra for the snake show. I should have gone anyway, but not to worry.

Then we drove to the highlight, which was the Tiger Temple. This is a Buddhist temple founded in the early nineties which also doubles up as an animal shelter. Their main attraction is obviously tigers, but there are also wild boar and dear on the grounds. They are apparently trying to raise money for building a tiger island on the grounds where the tigers will live in a more natural enviorment and be prepared for going back to the wild some day. There are around ten tigers there, and we got our photos taken with about five or six of them each.

It was a little nerve racking, you gave your camera to one of the staff and then another one of them led you around buyy the hand to each of the tigers, where you hunkered down beside them and stroked them. From time to time they were growling and rolling around and you could see some of them were getting frustrated, but it was cool being so close to tigers, and getting the full appreciaton of their size. I'll upload pictures from there too.

All in all it was a good day, but there was a bit too much driving around, but that couldn't be avoided really.