My grandmother used to have about 10 years worth of National Geographic magazines that she kept shelved in a small reading room. When I was growing up, I spent numerous hours there reading about different exotic places and wishing that one day I would get to see them.
One of the things I wanted to see was the floating markets in Thailand. I made a day trip to one of the largest ones located in Ratchaburi. It was really amazing! (and yes, I know I use that word a lot when talking about my trip) There are canals that are used instead of roadways through some parts of the country. People live along the canals, so the merchants simply take their wares from home to home... kind of door to door salesmen on water.
In the main market areas, there are shops both along the edge of the water as well as in longboats in the water. You can find almost anything you can image-- from hats to fresh produce to souveniers to food cooked fresh on the boat.
When we left the floating markets, we made a short stop to see the Bridge over the River Kwai (yes, the one from the movie).
We then finished off the day by a visit to the "Tiger Temple". Apparently, a number of years ago someone gave an orphaned tiger cub to one of the monks at a Buddhist temple to care for. Others soon followed, and now there are a couple of dozen beautiful cats there, as well as other animals such as camels and water buffalo that roam the grounds freely.
During the afternoon when the tigers are feeling lazy/sleepy they let visitors come and interact with them. It was absolutely incredible to be able spend the afternoon petting tigers.
Ever feel like you've got a tiger by the tail? lol
I was even able to help walk the biggest one back to it's cage as they were closing up for the day.
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