FROM BANGKOK, THAILAND

Countryside, Day 4 (June 25), Part  2 of 4

CONTINUED from Part 1 of 4...

Snake & Tiger Shows

AYUTTHAYA, June 25, 2006 - I barely had a chance to catch my breath after the elephant ride, when I was invited to a private snake show.  

My guide, Tu, joined me as well, but being scared of snakes, as we now know from my Bangkok river ride, he climbed up practically to the rafters of the building, the farthest place possible from the snake pit.

Well, the show started with these two cobras trying to bite the "snake man" when he teased them and then quickly moved away.

I figured it was a matter of reflexes... outwitting the snake by being faster than it.

But with snakes like a cobra, you cannot afford even a single mistake.

The "snake man" forced a cobra to bite through the saran wrap covered glass jar.

And then the "snake man" explained that that little drop that you can see above highlighted in yellow, is powerful enough to kill an elephant and/or one thousand rabbits.  A man dies within half an hour if bitten by a cobra.  See what I mean about not being able to afford even a single mistake?

Before he put his two cobras away, the "snake man" offered one for me to touch, "for good luck," as Tu later explained.  "They are considered good luck to touch, except in the jungle," he said.  "If you touch one in the jungle, it's bad luck.  You die."

I got the message.  Meanwhile, Tu looked horrified when I touched the snake...

... and then slightly embarrassed when I took this picture.  And then the "snake man" moved on to other kinds of snakes...

...such as this "jumping snake" that he teased mercilessly while it tried to strike him...

...even bringing it to within an inch of his mouth...

...and then swallowing the deadly snakes' head in his mouth.

And then it was time for the "grand finale," a python show.

Again, the "snake man" tried to irritate the heck out of this big snake that kills by strangling its victim with its powerful body, and then eating it with two rows of 52 razor sharp teeth.

The "snake man" then brought the python right to me...

...squeezing its mouth open so I could see the scary 104 teeth close up (as if I didn't take his word for it!).J  

The "snake man" then had the python bite through a plastic wrapper that he vainly tried to pull out.  The snake's interlocking teeth are at such an angle that once it bites into something, like your leg or hand, for example, it is impossible to tear it out, unless you kill the snake before it kills you.  "Unless..." I learned later on from an unlikely source - Tu, the man afraid of snakes.  "Unless you hit the python at an exact spot in its tail."

"Really?  What good does that do?"

"I don't know exactly," Tu said.  "But I have been told that that spot is very painful for the python, so it instantly releases its would be victim and slithers away.

Had I known that, I would have tried it when the "snake man" (above) asked me to release his leg from the potentially lethal grip of the python.  Instead, I just patted the reptile, and said jokingly, "I wonder if you would let it wrap itself like that around your neck."

I suspected that the the crazy guy probably do it (which Tu later on confirmed), so I waved my arms saying, "I am only kidding."

Finally, to Tu's visible relief, the snake show was over and we moved on.

Feeding a Tiger

While we were watching the snake show, a big coach  had arrived disgorging a bus load of Japanese tourist.   "Lucky we got here so early," Tu said to me.  "Ayutthaya and the elephants are very popular in Japan."

"You're not kidding," I replied.  The only thing I detest more than crowds in general are the crowds of organized group tours.  Looking at the long line of Japanese tourists waiting to have their turn at the elephants, I felt fortunate to have my both my jungle ride and the snake pit experience in nearly complete privacy.

As we walked toward the parking lot, we saw this man holding a baby tiger.  "Do you want to hold it?" he asked me.

"Why not?" I replied as I sat down next to him.  I never ran away from any adventure, but I never dreamed that I'd be holding a tiger in my hands one day, not even when I was a kid.  It turned out it was a great experience.  And not just for me...

In an instant, a large group of Japanese tourists gathered around us, flashing their cameras at the tiger and I from a safe range.  Tu, who took these photos, also kept a respectable distance.

Things got a little more exciting when this guy, another one-year old tiger, got a little jealous of his brother being fed by me.  

He jumped onto the bench and started growling angrily.  Then he tried to bite my right hand in which I held the bottle.  This cleared the crowd in a hurry.  But I kept talking to him the way I talk to dogs - "good boy, good boy... sit!" - which is what I suspect his trainer also did, only in Thai.  Eventually, the jealous sibling settled down on the other side of the bench.  And To moved in for the final shot.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Go to Ayutthaya Ruins... (part 3 of 4)

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