Thailand, Day #4

Day #4 was my favorite day in Thailand... we were heading up north, but we made several really fun stops along the way. First, we stopped at the orchid and butterfly factory. They actually take the live orchids, cover them in some stuff (I know that sounds really scientific) and then outline them with gold and sell them as jewelry.

Next, we stopped at the Tiger Place (not the official name, but I can't remember!) Not only can you go in and look at all the tigers, but you can take pictures with them as well. I'll admit that I felt a little bad about doing this because the place advertises that they don't drug the tigers in any way, but that's pretty hard to believe. The tigers are up playing around one minute and the next, they're laying down calmly the next. But, it felt like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, so we took it!

They actually charged more to get pictures/pet the baby and small tigers. So, of course we were cheap and got pics with the largest tigers. Once we got up to their cages, I got a little nervous though!

Then, we went to see the elephants! You can pay to watch the elephant shows (which we missed), feed the elephants (which we again missed), and ride the elephants (which thankfully we made!) They have local Thai people who are "steering" the elephants, but then you ride on a cart on their backs... definitely my favorite thing that we did!