Field Trip with Thai Students

Today was so much fun. John and I went with six students and two other Thai to the Crocodile Farm and Ancient Siam. What a blast! Some of our students (ages 14-50 years old) had never been to one or both of those places, so it was a new experience for several of us!

We took two cars to get to the crocodile farm, which was quite enjoyable. Our students got to practice their English, John and I got to be exposed to more of the Thai language, and we got to see more of Thailand than the ten to fifteen blocks of LadPrao Road in Bangkapi, Bangkok. We went inside the Crocodile Farm and immediately saw a chimpanzee and a tiger. For 200 baht (roughly $6.50) you could take a picture with the tiger and they would print it for you in a nice Crocodile Farm frame. John and I decided to do it. It was so fun! We got right up behind the tiger, who simply sat there and knew to look at the camera. I wasn't scared at all, but rather super super excited and happy to be up close next to a real tiger!

We then proceeded to where there was a crocodile show about to start. And holy cow was that unbelievable! The trainers would drag the crocodiles from the water by the tail, position them on dry land, and the crocodiles would just stay there. Some weren't too happy at first to be out of the water and would try to snap the trainers or do a death roll while they are holding the tail. Crazy stuff!! The trainers would have the crocodile open their mouth, and one would then stick his hand into its mouth! Say what?! But wait, it gets better. Then one of the other trainers stuck his HEAD into its mouth! And it didn't snap its mouth shut! The trainers would tap the crocodile with something that looked like a bamboo stick and it would snap its mouth so fast and hard it made a sound that sounded like a whip. That's the best way I could explain the sound. So loud and kinda freaky!

After the show, we had the opportunity to feed a few crocodiles. I was hesitant at first but John went and did it. Then David, one of our students, brought me my own feeding pole with a huge chunk of meat on it. And it was actually really fun and not as scary as I thought it was going to be.

We then went to an elephant show where they would bowl using a soccer ball, walk on ropes, and take money from people in the stands with their trunks.

Then after the elephant show, we RODE AN ELEPHANT!! YES!! Pictures will explain enough here I think.

After the crocodile farm we went to the ancient city. It's a mini scaled down version of ancient Siam. We rode bicycles through the area, but since we didn't have a lot of time, we were only able to stop at a few places out of the 100+ you can view. It was like a huge outdoor museum, except you can go into places.