Thailand Archive

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Tiger Temple – Kanchanaburi, Thailand 

Megumi living her life-long dream of feeding & playing with the big cats 
タイ・カンチャナブリにあるタイガーテンプルでやんちゃ盛りの子トラたちと遊ぶ

大の猫好きの私、その度合いはというと、道端でネコを見かけたらその脇にしゃがみこんで話しかける。それがTVの画面であろうと写真であろ うとおかまいなし、ついつい手を出してナデナデし てしまう困り者。そんな私の数年来の夢、それはタイ・カンチャナブリ近郊にあるタイガーテンプルを訪れることでした。

初めてタイガーテンプルのことを知ったのは、友人からのメールに添付されてきた写真を見た時のこと。友人の膝の上に頭を乗せて大きな猫そのままにリ ラックスして写真に写っているトラたちの姿、広い敷地内やお寺の境内らしきところで遊ぶ子トラたちの写真を見た時、「いつか絶対ここに行く!」と心に誓っ たのでした。それから数年が過ぎ、今回世界一周旅行を計画するにあたって、「行きたいところリスト」にタイガーテンプルと真っ先にリストアップしたのは言うまでもありません。

タイガーテンプルについてはここ数年、かなりのメディアで取り上げられてますよね。ナショナルジオグラフィックスやアニマルプラネット、NHKで も、お寺でお坊さんたちと暮らすトラたちを紹介する映像を見たことがある人も多いかと思います。その影響か、タイガーテンプルはいまやかなりの人気観 光スポットのよう。バンコク・カオサンロード周辺にある旅行代理店に行けば、どこでも半日や終日ツアーが用意されていて簡単に参加することができます。も ちろん個人で電車とタクシーを使って行くこともできるけれど、翌々日ラオスに向かうことになっている私たちは手っ取り早く、ゲストハウスに併設の旅行代理 店で半日ツアー(850Baht)に申し込み。カンチャナブリ観光と抱き合わせのツアーもありましたが、タイガーテンプルで過ごす時間を削りたくないので今回はタイガーテンプルのみの訪問です。

Tiger Temple Admission Agreement

トラに噛まれても文句は言いません・・・

朝10時、迎えのバンに乗り込み走ること3時間程、カンチャナブリに到着。カンチャナブリは第2次世界大戦時、日本軍による戦争捕虜の強制労働が行 われた場所であり、映画「戦場に掛ける橋」の舞台となったところですが、私たちのバンはそこから更に30分ほど走ったところにあるタイガーテンプルへ。は やる気持ちを抑えつつ、ドライバーから指し示された入り口らしきところで、まずは入場料の支払い(500Baht/人)と入場に際する注意事項を確認すると・・・

敷地内に住む動物たちはあくまで野生動物なので、その点忘れないで行動すること。万が一なんらかの事故で怪我をしたとしてもお寺に責任はありません、というような意味のことが書いてあり、その下に署名するようになっています。

ちょっとどきどきしながら署名し、いざ入場!しかし・・・門内に特に案内などなく、どこになにがあるかよくわからない・・・入場時にもらった地図をみながら、放し飼いの孔雀や牛を横目にうろうろ歩くこと15分ほどで広場のようなところに出ました。そしてそこには。

TigerTemple2

「しょーがねーなー」と言いたげな子トラくん

お坊さんやボランティアメンバーらしき青い上着を着た人たち、そしてビジター数人に囲まれて、木陰や噴水脇でだらーんと横になってくつろぐ子トラたちを発見!生後6ヶ月ということですが、体長1メートルはあり、貫禄十分。やはりトラはトラなのです。赤ちゃんの頃から完全に血抜きされたゴハンを食べ、人間に慣れている子たちですが、ネコとじゃれるようなわけにはいきません。ボランティアさんに促されて、こわごわと近寄ってそっと背中に触れてみると、思ったより滑らかな毛並み。ボランティアさんたちは心得ていて、さっさと私たちのカメラを取り上げて写真を撮ってくれます。

TigerTemple5

「めっ!!」

ボランティアさんたち、お坊さんたちはさすが慣れており、子トラたちがじゃれつくと、教育的指導!している姿も見ましたが、私たちビジターはあくまでこわごわ背中や頭を触るのみ。それ以上接触しようとするとささっと引き離されてしまいます。

ひとしきり写真を撮り終え、ボランティアさんの示すその日のアクティビティメニューを見ると、虎の谷でのトラたちの水遊び見学と赤ちゃんトラのミル クフィーディングの2種類があり、私はトラたちと一番ふれあいが多そうなミルクフィーディングを選択。ミルクの時間まで1時間弱の間、虎の谷の見学に行くことにしました。

TigerTemple3

だれてます、虎の谷

ちょうど午後1時過ぎ、目が眩みそうな強烈な日差し中虎の谷へ向かう坂を下ると、少し奥のほうに仕切りがあり、いくつか立てられたビーチパラソルの ところで沢山のビジターが並んでいるのが見えました。そしてその更に奥、これまたかなり大勢のボランティアが立つ中、地面にごろごろと寝転ぶトラたちの姿 が!

思わず小走りに近寄り、仕切りの前でしばし立ち尽くす私。長年夢見てきたタイガーテンプルの虎の谷に実際に立ち、放心状態に陥ってしまったのでし た。スコットはそんな私の代わりに受付でトラたちとの記念撮影料金1,000Bahtを支払ってくれ、私はボランティアさんに手を引かれて仕切りの中へ。

TigerTemple4

和尚様と記念撮影

仕切りの中には10頭前後のトラたちがおり、真昼の暑さでかなりだれている様子…。私たちはボランティアさんに手をひかれてトラたちの傍に近寄り「ここに座って!」と指し示されるまま、地面に寝転んでいるトラの横に腰を下ろしました。と、別のボランティアがトラの頭を持ち上げ、ドサっと実に無造作に私の膝 の上にトラの頭をのせ、案内役のボランティアが私たちのカメラで数枚角度を変えてパパっと写真撮影。終わるとすぐに次のトラのところへ移動し、ただただボ ランティアさんたちの言うままにポーズをとって写真撮影、そしてまた次のトラのところへ。ものの5分程度で撮影は終了。完全に 流れ作業化されていて、「トラたちとの触れ合いを楽しむ」というようなものではありませんでした。

拍子抜けし、しばし仕切りの前で呆然とした私ですが、気を取り直して次なるアクティビティ、赤ちゃんトラのミルクフィーディングへ。虎の谷から広場を通り、大きなゲートで区切られたトラたちの居住エリアへ移動します。2人のボランティアさんに伴われて檻の中に入ると、いました!!初めに見た子トラたちよりかなり小さめのコたちが3頭、入っていった私たちに興味津々!ここでボランティアさんたちからいくつか注意が。

TigerTemple8

遊ぶ?遊んでいい?

「このコたちから目を離さないように気をつけて。絶対背中を向けちゃだめよ。それから、もし真正面から向かってきたら頭を手で押さえて方向を変えさせて。こんな風に」と、話すそばからボランティアさんに向かってとっとっと小走りにやってきたコの頭に手を添えて横に方向転換。「3ヶ月の赤ちゃんだけどトラだってことは忘れないでね。この前わたしも後ろからやられちゃって、ほら、こんなになっちゃった」ボランティアさんの膝の後ろの手の平ほどもある大きな内出血のあとを見て少々ビクつきながら、渡されたオモチャを手にいざ赤ちゃんトラと対峙!!

TigerTemple6

両者幸せの局地

かなりやんちゃな赤ちゃんトラたち、天井から下がっているタイヤをジャンプしてくぐったり、オモチャにじゃれつく姿はネコそのまま!ひとしきり遊んでから今度はミルクフィーディング。ミルクボトルを見た途端、それまで思い思いに駆け回っていた赤ちゃんトラたちが夢中で膝の上に。前足で膝をモミモミしながらあっという間にミルクボトルをカラにしてしまいました。

ミルクのあとはお昼寝、それぞれごろんと横になり、それまでのやんちゃぶりはどこへやら、とろーんとした目でこの通り…

わたちおなかイッパイ、もうなんとでもして~

わたちおなかイッパイ、もうなんとでもして~

45分はあっという間でした。ネコ好き、ビッグキャット好きの皆様、プラス2000Baht払う価値ありありですよ!そうなのです、虎の谷でトラと一緒に記念撮影するには、別料金で一人1,000Baht、ミルクフィーディングも別途2000Bahtとられます。このあたりも実にしっかり観光地、ですが、それも安全面、そしてトラたちを養い施設を維持していくため収入源としての運用と考えれば仕方ないことなのでしょう。長年の夢だったタイガーテンプル訪問は、動物保護の理想と現実についても考えさせられる時間となりました。

【タイガーテンプルを訪れるにあたっての注意事項】

  • 赤系の服を着ていると虎が興奮するので入場出来ません。また、タイガーテンプルはあくまでお寺ですので、露出の多い服装の人は入れてもらえません。気をつけましょう。
  • 谷に虎が現れるのはたしか午後1時~4時の時間帯で、天候によっては中止になることもあるようですので、事前に確認することをお勧めします。
  • ツアーで訪れる方は、タイガーテンプルで過ごす時間が何時から何時になるのか、事前に確認することをお勧めします。カンチャナブリ等と抱き合わせのツアーの場合、タイガーテンプルで過ごす時間が1時間程度と短く設定されていることも多々あるようです。

タイガーテンプルホームページ(英語): http://www.tigertemple.org/Eng/index.php

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Sunset on Koh Tao, Thailand

A glimpse of the exceptional sunsets on Hat Sai Ri, the 2 km beach on Koh Tao
タイ・タオ島に2kmに渡って伸びる白砂のビーチ、Hat Sai Ri での夕暮れ。

A glimpse of the exceptional sunsets on Hat Sai Ri, the 2 km beach on Koh Tao
タイ・タオ島に2kmに渡って伸びる白砂のビーチ、Hat Sai Ri での夕暮れ。

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Learning to Dive

A few days post fasting and we were finally ready to break free of the hippies, so caught a ferry from Koh Phangan across to […]
Padi

Padi textbooks & tests

A few days post fasting and we were finally ready to break free of the hippies, so caught a ferry from Koh Phangan across to Koh Tao to learn to how to scuba dive. Koh Tao is a small island, 20km in circumference about an hour or so from Koh Phangan and is famous for diving – the island is covered in literally hundreds of dive schools and offers some of the best value dive courses in the world.

Our thinking was that we may as well get a basic scuba diving license here, then in our travels as we came across those amazing underwater locations like Zanzibar, Egypt, Galapogas or anywhere in Central America, we could just charter fun dives to experience it, without the hassle and expensive overheads of the courses etc.

For those that haven’t scuba dived before, the PADI system of diving seems to be a fairly global standard these days. The most basic level of PADI training you need to be able to dive is the “Open Water” certificate, which license you to dive to a depth of 16 metres. The certification requires a combination of basic training, written tests and supervised open water dives.

Scott_diving

Playing around underwater

So we signed up to a reputable dive company on the back of several friends recommendations – “Buddha View” and booked into a cheap bungalow next door (The Tropicana) and prepared ourselves for 4 days of study and diving. The total course costs around 9,000 Baht (Just under US$300), plus textbooks and bungalows (About US$12 or so a night)

I wont bore you too much with the details here, suffice to say lots of stuff happened underwater and we passed. The diving course and diving in general is pretty easy once you have nailed the basics. We did however get very lucky with both our fellow divers and instructor James, (an Aussie guy who has been instructing on Koh Tao for 6 or 7 years) which made everything that much more enjoyable. As a result we decided to extend for an extra couple of days to do some more diving. This mean’t that on top of our “Open Water”, we did another 5 dives and were able to complete our “Advanced Open Water” certificate as well – thus licensing us to dive to 30m and at night etc.

Meg_Dive

Megumi Style

Some of the key highlights:

  • New Horizons – Realizing we now have access to a whole new dimension to our global travel destinations – ie underwater.
  • Night diving with Barracuda’s: Giant Barraccuda’s (2-3 m) hunt other fish by swimming alongside us and using our spotlights as spotters for other fish at night. They then swim right past you to go for a kil. We saw 3 different Barracuda’s, make 4 kills this way in our 45 min. night dive.
  • Several amazing “Aquarium like” swims at the “Shark Bay” and “Chomphon” dive sites, just teaming with aquatic life.
  • Drinks & Sunset on Sai Ri beach – quite stunning.
  • Knowing we can now dive wherever / whenever we want!!
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Dive Boat Kitty

A Mama Cat with 4 kittens lived on the dive school boat in Koh Tao, making everyone smile.
ダイブショップのボートに住む船乗り猫一家はダイバーたちの人気の的。

A Mama Cat with 4 kittens lived on the dive school boat in Koh Tao, making everyone smile.
ダイブショップのボートに住む船乗り猫一家はダイバーたちの人気の的。

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8 Days, No Food & a Beach – Part 2

Simply put I found the “fasting” experience fantastic and right up there with one of the best things I have done! In part this was […]

Simply put I found the “fasting” experience fantastic and right up there with one of the best things I have done! In part this was purely the physical effects of the cleansing – my skin felt great, the body free of toxins (possibly for the first time in 20 years) and I generally felt healthy and full of energy. Certainly there was also the satisfaction that comes with actually finishing the fast itself (and quitting smoking for that matter), something I wasn’t too sure I could do when I started.

But I think the real value for me was the result of the overall process, what I would perhaps call the “body meditation” – effectively 10+ days of reading, thinking about (and experiencing) the bodies various “ins” and “outs”, how we treat it, what it needs. And in doing so I realized that this process was something I had never really sat down and thought through in a lot of detail before – quite amazing really, how much we take our bodies for granted. Taking time out to educate, experiment and “clean house” so to speak, couldn’t make more sense to me in the context of our co-dependency (body + mind).

All of which created a lot of clarity and resolve for me personally, on how I aspired to live my life moving forward – perhaps moving my diet away from processed foods – starches, dairy and meat towards more raw food – fruit & vegetables. And in other ways looking to control my acidity better and more regularly cleanse – the “liver” and “kidneys” are definitely next!

 

That’s was the gist of it at least – it is hard to really distill the whole experience into words, but I have structured a range of other thoughts below to summarize this where I can.

The Big Picture (My version at least) – The modern diet in the last 20-30 years has changed dramatically with all its processed foods, alcohols, cigarettes and drugs etc. These have created a lot of new challenges for a body that was never designed to deal with these things. The end result is that these come into the body much more acidic than simple fresh foods would be and your stomach has to break all this down and make it more alkaline to process it. As the body is not designed to operate at these levels, it reacts by compromising maintenance in other areas of your body – stomach, colon etc (Likely responsible for many modern cancers) and also fortifies your intestines / bowel with a special lining in order to protect the body from the higher acidity levels of food that is now required to process. Over time, the typical westerner’s intestine becomes lined with 20 – 30 feet of this ‘Mucoid plaque’ that is lining the walls, some of it up to an inch thick. The net result of this plaque is that

  • Many toxins get caught up in the lining (including those from stress & bad memories !)
  • The lining makes it much harder (and much less efficient) to extract nutrients from food and
  • It therefore takes much longer for important titbits to enter the blood stream & get distributed

With all that said, the goal of the cleansing and colonic is really to remove much of this plaque and return the digestive system to its peak operating efficiency. Lots of amazing stories abound on the results of this from cancer sufferes etc, I’ll leave that paraphrasing to the Americans, but you can find out more by reading the following book by Richard Anderson, ‘Cleanse & Purify Thyself, Book 1, I highly recommend it and it forms the background to the cleanse program as we did it.

The colonic cleansing itself – Not as bad as I feared, the first day was intense but after that the whole process was fine. In terms of results, I certainly made a lot of progress clearing some of the mucoid plaque away from the intestines (several metres at least – big stuff!!), but can see that this needs another few fasts to really finish the job. Not many other fellow fasters had the same success on this front as me I think – as they were mostly healthy vegetarians, hippies and women I can see that I obviously fitted the bill and needed this the most.

Of hunger – was not really an issue actually. The first day was a little challenging, but after that I was pretty ok and didn’t crave food at all. I certainly felt that I could have kept going past day 8 (though I was ready to stop). The much harder challenge was the tobacco cravings. Megumi was different, after day 6 she had no energy and felt faint and really needed to eat or balance out things with some iron. She did some blood analysis after the colonic that was really interesting in showing this as well.

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Me, Ange & Megumi post fast

Of weight loss – Not very significant, I lost about 3.5 kg, which is not as much as I was expecting and I pretty much put it back on within a week of finishing the fast. Since I have lost almost 20 kg or so in the last 9 months anyway, I had probably already burned the easy stuff off.

Of first meals – Suprisingly disappointing on day 8, I had a bowl of fresh papaya and couldn’t finish it. After that, it was not the food, but the f lavours that I craved really, so once the stomach was ready to handle solids again, I quickly launched back into lots of thai soups, spicy salads and anything with a real zing or taste to it. I did manage to steer clear of meats, processed foods and starches for about a week though. Noticeably when I did start eating non-fresh foods again, I feel heavy and tired immediately afterwards.

And of the future – I would definitely do it again in the next 12 months I think and apply some of the principles and thinking to the rest of my life, hopefully. I do wonder though why we aren’t taught / educated better about these things as part of growing up though. Its not like fasting or enema’s are modern, it is mentioned in the bible and many other cultures fast religiously – obviously though its not in big corporates (Food, Medical & Pharma’s) interest to see us all eating better and more healthy, but maybe our kids will be better off.

Next time around, armed with some more foreknowledge I will probably do a more thorough preparation so I can get the maximum out of it. I also intend to flush my liver and do a kidney cleanse as well when I find some time in my travels, as these are the 2 organs I have probably been working the hardest over the last 20 years 😉

Also check out:  ‘8 Days, no Food & a beach’ – Part 1

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Haad Thien, Thailand

"The Sanctuary" at Haad Thien on Koh Phangan, the site of our detoxification...
今回の旅はタイ・パンガン島の Haad Thien にある "The Sanctuary" のデトックスセンターで始まった。

“The Sanctuary” at Haad Thien on Koh Phangan, the site of our detoxification…
今回の旅はタイ・パンガン島の Haad Thien にある “The Sanctuary” のデトックスセンターで始まった。

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Buddha Row, Thailand

Cute little row of Buddhas outside a bar in Haad Rin.
タイ・パンガン島の Haad Rin に建つバーの外にちょこんと並ぶかわいらしい仏像たち。

Cute little row of Buddhas outside a bar in Haad Rin.
タイ・パンガン島の Haad Rin に建つバーの外にちょこんと並ぶかわいらしい仏像たち。

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The Traveller’s Skin…

Comfortably seated, book and beer in hand, trying to re-aquaint myself with the concept of idle time and no fixed agenda.......... I am a traveller too now I realize, but what kind of traveller do I want to be?

 

September 3: Bangkok – Khao-san Rd

Megumi has been trying to finish up a translation project before we depart to the islands, so we are chained / leashed to a stable wi-fi connection for the first few days of our adventures. Forced off my computer (we are trying to share), I get to spend several days roaming the streets, shopping for essentials, sorting out travel details and just generally kicking back around Khao-san Rd.

For those that haven’t been to Thailand before, the area around Khao San Rd in Bangkok is to backpacking, what I assume the Vatican might be to catholics. It really does feel like a multinational mecca for young and independent travel. Packed with cheap accommodation (Sub US$15), travel outlets, internet cafes, cheap clothes & endless other trinkets. The place teems with thousands of backpackers and travellers from all around the world – shopping, meeting, partying, relaxing and just generally preparing to embark on travels to anywhere in South East Asia or decompressing for the return home.

Back from the main street, past the Buddhist temple, there is an area around Rambuttri Rd that heads down towards the pier where things are a little more settled. Here the guest houses all have downstairs restaurants with Internet access and are quite comfortable, it attracts a little more mature traveler seeking to relax a little more, (vs the drunken chaos of Khao san) before foraging out into the Bangkok or SE Asian ether.

Appropriately I guess this is where I now find myself – comfortably seated, book and beer in hand, trying to re-aquaint myself with the concept of idle time and no fixed agenda. Slowly watching the backpackers in all their curious shapes, stereotypes, ethnicities and varieties stroll past me. And I find myself trying it all on like a new skin I guess – testing each for its different taste and feel. I am a traveller too now I realize, but what kind of traveller do I want to be?

To old for the thrillseekers and party animals, too wise hopefully for the standard gap year, tourist trappings and quite probably a little too cynical & twisted to settle for anything short of the new and challenging. All too quickly, I realize I am seeking experiences and new perspectives, not sights.

While the destinations are important, this journey to me seems as much about a reconnection with the self, as anything else. I am looking at travel as the chance to get out of my shell & break the deskchair evolutionary spiral; push some personal limits physically, emotionally and spiritually. I guess travel is the medium for doing this – new situations, cultures & perspectives of life to stimulate introspection. New environments that allow us to ask the big questions and test new limits or horizons more easily than those that we know.

Perhaps I need to adjust the itinerary to better reflect this I ponder and quickly realize again that I am still very much at the start. All this lies ahead unknown at this point I guess, the magic and unwritten p0tential of a new destination & horizon… Stay tuned!

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Auspicious Beginnings..

Sept 2: Bangkok, Thailand – somewhere in Banglamphu / Khao san Rd.

Signpost

Following a crazy week of packing, cleaning and trying to get things all wrapped up in Tokyo. We arrived at Monday morning having staying up all night with taking care of the last minute details. Monday was then full of symbolic activities – disconnecting the internet that has been my lifeline for the last 12 years; handing in and canceling the mobile phone number that I have had my entire time in Japan; handing over the car keys for shipping to Australia; passing on the house keys to my mate Marc and then the final act of lugging our last meager possessions onto our backs for the mad scramble to the airport. (Alm0st missed it as usual)

We finally arrived at Bangkok at 1am for the start of our travels and after checking into a late night hotel, the plan was to very happily sleep in and make up for several days with no such liberties in the chaos of our Tokyo departures. And as is the case with all great plans, our sleep-in  was in turn interrupted when we were woken up by the most magnificent sound eminating from a Mosque loudspeaker, right outside our room!

“The Azan” is a muslim call to prayer and you would really struggle to find a more beautiful piece of song / music anywhere in the world. A fantastic way to wake up & great omen really – Tokyo this most certainly not…!